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The Vanished
194 passengers. 24 hours. No memories. One deadly countdown.
Dr. Joshua Hammond wakes up on a flight with no idea who he is—only a glowing green implant ticking down from 24 hours. Everyone on board has lost their memory. Everyone has the same timer.
When the plane lands in a ghost city and passengers start dying, the race to escape becomes a race to uncover the truth. A supposed safe zone may hold answers, but the deeper Joshua and fellow passenger Amy dig, the more sinister the puzzle becomes.
The clock is lying. And what's waiting at zero isn't survival.
For fans of Blake Crouch and John Grisham.
Dr. Joshua Hammond wakes up on a flight with no idea who he is—only a glowing green implant ticking down from 24 hours. Everyone on board has lost their memory. Everyone has the same timer.
When the plane lands in a ghost city and passengers start dying, the race to escape becomes a race to uncover the truth. A supposed safe zone may hold answers, but the deeper Joshua and fellow passenger Amy dig, the more sinister the puzzle becomes.
The clock is lying. And what's waiting at zero isn't survival.
For fans of Blake Crouch and John Grisham.
Audible Audio
Published January 13, 2026
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Joshua T. Calvert
57 books262 followersJoshua T. Calvert has traveled the world--on foot, by Jeep, by bicycle, by motorcycle, and lots of other ways besides. As you might imagine, he's seen many things most people never see - including an Iranian prison cell, from the inside! In Kyrgyzstan, he fared slightly better, narrowly avoiding being kidnapped for ransom. Skydiver, scuba diver, martial artist, adventurer - his goal is to experience everything possible, and then make it real to you in his books. And he's made a good run of it so far: in the Philippines, he did police training on multiple types of firearms (despite being no fan of guns himself); dove in Asian waters among sharks and shipwrecks; and patrolled with Sumatran jungle rangers.
That's what defines Calvert's approach to method writing: pushing himself beyond his own limits, to experience first-hand what his characters experience, to make your immersion in his stories as deep as it can be.
For Ganymede Rises, after a slight detour with some smugglers in the deserts of Uzbekistan and the steppes of Mongolia, he traveled by dogsled and snowshoe to the Arctic Circle to experience first-hand what it's like to be utterly isolated in the coldest place on Earth. For his book The Fossil, he sat with professional pilots in flight simulators for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft to learn what it's like to fly a passenger jet. His latest adventure: a parabolic flight with European Space Agency astronauts, to experience zero-gravity. All so he can describe it to you, in his own words.
That's what defines Calvert's approach to method writing: pushing himself beyond his own limits, to experience first-hand what his characters experience, to make your immersion in his stories as deep as it can be.
For Ganymede Rises, after a slight detour with some smugglers in the deserts of Uzbekistan and the steppes of Mongolia, he traveled by dogsled and snowshoe to the Arctic Circle to experience first-hand what it's like to be utterly isolated in the coldest place on Earth. For his book The Fossil, he sat with professional pilots in flight simulators for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft to learn what it's like to fly a passenger jet. His latest adventure: a parabolic flight with European Space Agency astronauts, to experience zero-gravity. All so he can describe it to you, in his own words.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I'm going to start off by saying the narrator did a great job in this audiobook version. I don't think I would have enjoyed this book as much if I had just read the physical book. The only voice I didn't like was Ruth's. I found it creepy, and I thought that was intentional until further along in the story, then I realized it was just the voice he chose for her.
After reading the description of the book I couldn't wait to read it. Almost 200 people wake up aboard an airplane with a timer in their arms counting down and no one has their memory. When the plane lands the airport is empty, and seemingly, the rest of Miami is too. As the reader, I didn't know much more than the main character, so it was such a suspenseful ride following along and trying to piece together what was going on. I was absolutely drawn in and could not put this down for like the first 50-70% of the book.
The main thing I didn't like about this was how no one, besides the main character and two other characters, seemed too upset with what was happening. There's almost 200 passengers! How are they all just quiet and following along with what the plane crew is telling them. The whole situation is suspicious and they rarely question things. If this were real life, I feel like there would be a greater number of people visibly upset and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Instead, they are almost always seen just sitting around, casually talking to each other and just waiting. I understand herd mentality, but I don't think it makes sense in this scenario. It's literally not a plane crews job to go to the food court taco spot and make up food and drinks for everyone while they wait. It makes no sense that people would even think this is normal. They just assume they're doing it to keep everyone calm, but it's an obvious red flag.
There's times when the info dumping is unnecessary and not relevant to the story. The countdown is for 24 hours so I didn't feel like the shower scene was necessary. I felt like it was just a way to force the characters to be naked together. There's also another scene later on where I literally rolled my eyes because I felt like it was another way to force another naked scene into the book. They weren't realistic situations, and you can see where they were leading up to them having to be naked again. It made me actually laugh out loud. There's a scene later on where the main character is soaked and looking for dry clothes and you can tell there WASN'T going to be a naked scene because he was with another guy character.
By the end of the book a lot of questions are answered, but more questions are brought up. The ending is left in a spot where you're like, "Wait! Are you serious?!"
Overall, this was a pretty good suspenseful sci-fi thriller. And don't get me wrong, even though I was a little critical of certain parts I still enjoyed most of this book. The faceless people were so creepy and not knowing what was going on most of the book, and not knowing who to trust made it so that I just wanted to keep reading until the very end. I'm sure there will be readers who absolutely love this book, but the last 30% tanked the rating for me. It should've ended sooner or had a good bit of it taken out.
After reading the description of the book I couldn't wait to read it. Almost 200 people wake up aboard an airplane with a timer in their arms counting down and no one has their memory. When the plane lands the airport is empty, and seemingly, the rest of Miami is too. As the reader, I didn't know much more than the main character, so it was such a suspenseful ride following along and trying to piece together what was going on. I was absolutely drawn in and could not put this down for like the first 50-70% of the book.
The main thing I didn't like about this was how no one, besides the main character and two other characters, seemed too upset with what was happening. There's almost 200 passengers! How are they all just quiet and following along with what the plane crew is telling them. The whole situation is suspicious and they rarely question things. If this were real life, I feel like there would be a greater number of people visibly upset and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Instead, they are almost always seen just sitting around, casually talking to each other and just waiting. I understand herd mentality, but I don't think it makes sense in this scenario. It's literally not a plane crews job to go to the food court taco spot and make up food and drinks for everyone while they wait. It makes no sense that people would even think this is normal. They just assume they're doing it to keep everyone calm, but it's an obvious red flag.
There's times when the info dumping is unnecessary and not relevant to the story. The countdown is for 24 hours so I didn't feel like the shower scene was necessary. I felt like it was just a way to force the characters to be naked together. There's also another scene later on where I literally rolled my eyes because I felt like it was another way to force another naked scene into the book. They weren't realistic situations, and you can see where they were leading up to them having to be naked again. It made me actually laugh out loud. There's a scene later on where the main character is soaked and looking for dry clothes and you can tell there WASN'T going to be a naked scene because he was with another guy character.
By the end of the book a lot of questions are answered, but more questions are brought up. The ending is left in a spot where you're like, "Wait! Are you serious?!"
Overall, this was a pretty good suspenseful sci-fi thriller. And don't get me wrong, even though I was a little critical of certain parts I still enjoyed most of this book. The faceless people were so creepy and not knowing what was going on most of the book, and not knowing who to trust made it so that I just wanted to keep reading until the very end. I'm sure there will be readers who absolutely love this book, but the last 30% tanked the rating for me. It should've ended sooner or had a good bit of it taken out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2026
This was a review copy of The Vanished. I mention in my notes that it reminded me of The 4400 and Lost but after finishing it, I think the best comparison of the story really connects with the concept of the show, 24. Even a bit of Matrix-y in some chapters when it came to memory and time displacement. The main character Joshua anchors the story emotionally while also critically thinking through scenarios. I always find that to be tricky when it comes to memory-loss or amnesia in stories and how characters define things without direct links or memory of them.
A lot happens and there's a lot that the main characters experience in this time-frame of 24 hours. At the same time, it felt like a slow-paced thriller that dipped and flowed. Most of my questions in the beginning were eventually answered but readers should know that you're going to have to hang in there for those answers.
Narration was great and I would like to read from this author again.
A lot happens and there's a lot that the main characters experience in this time-frame of 24 hours. At the same time, it felt like a slow-paced thriller that dipped and flowed. Most of my questions in the beginning were eventually answered but readers should know that you're going to have to hang in there for those answers.
Narration was great and I would like to read from this author again.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you Podium Audio for an Advance Listener Copy.
Picture this: You wake up in an airplane, the passengers have no memory, and the crew is acting weird. You land in an empty airport. Who do you trust? Where do you go? What on Earth is going on?
This psychological sci-fi thriller had me at the edge of my seat. The narrator does a spectacular job at keeping you on your toes. It's a compelling story with a very satisfying ending.
Picture this: You wake up in an airplane, the passengers have no memory, and the crew is acting weird. You land in an empty airport. Who do you trust? Where do you go? What on Earth is going on?
This psychological sci-fi thriller had me at the edge of my seat. The narrator does a spectacular job at keeping you on your toes. It's a compelling story with a very satisfying ending.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews