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Vanished
Listening Length: 11 hr., 8 min., 34 sec.
From the groundbreaking author of 55 comes an extraordinary new thriller...
The Kane family, Lorcan, Naiyana and their young son, relocate from Perth to Kallayee, an abandoned mining town in the Great Victoria Desert to start over again, free from their chequered past.
The town seems like the perfect getaway: Peaceful. Quiet. Remote. Somewhere they won’t be found.
But life in Kallayee isn’t quite as straightforward as they hope. There are noises in the earth, mysterious shadows and tracks in the dust as if the town is coming back to life.
But the family can’t leave. No one can talk sense into them.
And now, no one can talk to them at all.
They’ve simply vanished.
Now it's up to Detective Emmaline Taylor to find them… before it’s too late.
From the groundbreaking author of 55 comes an extraordinary new thriller...
The Kane family, Lorcan, Naiyana and their young son, relocate from Perth to Kallayee, an abandoned mining town in the Great Victoria Desert to start over again, free from their chequered past.
The town seems like the perfect getaway: Peaceful. Quiet. Remote. Somewhere they won’t be found.
But life in Kallayee isn’t quite as straightforward as they hope. There are noises in the earth, mysterious shadows and tracks in the dust as if the town is coming back to life.
But the family can’t leave. No one can talk sense into them.
And now, no one can talk to them at all.
They’ve simply vanished.
Now it's up to Detective Emmaline Taylor to find them… before it’s too late.
12 pages, Audible Audio
First published April 15, 2021
29 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
James Delargy
8 books61 followersJames Delargy was born and raised in Ireland but lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives.
He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. He would like to complete a round-the-world series of novels (if only for the chance to indulge in more on-the-ground research).
James is currently working on another novel set in Western Australia.
He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. He would like to complete a round-the-world series of novels (if only for the chance to indulge in more on-the-ground research).
James is currently working on another novel set in Western Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
March 19, 2024
EXCERPT: Detective Emmaline Taylor - A family was missing. They had been in the town and then they weren't. What they were even doing there in the first place wasn't yet known. No one should have been there. No one had been for close to fifty years.
ABOUT 'VANISHED': Lorcan and Naiyana are desperate to move their young family far away from the hustle and bustle of modern city life.
The abandoned town of Kallayee seems like the perfect getaway: no one has lived there for decades. It will be peaceful. Quiet. Secure.
But life in Kallayee isn’t quite as straightforward as they hope. Lights flicker at night. Car tracks appear in the dust even when the family hasn’t driven anywhere. And six-year-old Dylan is certain he can hear strange sounds.
Lorcan and Naiyana refuse to leave. No one can talk sense into them.
And now, no one can talk to them at all.
They’ve simply vanished.
MY THOUGHTS: I loved 55 by this author, and the opening paragraph in Vanished had me intrigued. The opening chapters had me glued to the page, but then it all just got a bit messy.
The flow was disjointed: there were too many points of view; too much jumping around in the timeline. The reason for the Maguire family being in this ghost town didn't ring true. If they were 'hiding out', they were doing a lousy job of it, making frequent trips into the nearby town of Hurton, sometimes multiple trips in a day. They weren't exactly lying low.
The family is only in Kallayee for a couple of weeks, but I find it difficult to believe that all this could have happened in such a short period of time. There's just too much, too fast. Plausibility is sacrificed for cliffhanger endings on a large number of the 135 short chapters in the interest of an overly fast-paced storyline.
It didn't help that I didn't connect or sympathise with any of the characters. I realise that, with all the pressure the family was under, there were bound to be ill-considered decisions, but Lorcan's decisions bordered on the bizarre, and Naiyana was an emotional time-bomb. I felt sorry for their son, Dylan, who was the only innocent party in all that happens. The author's depiction of this poor child was inconsistent - often in the same paragraph.
There were a few things I liked about this book. The first was the setting. I have visited some of these ghost towns. It's an eerie feeling, which could have been used to a greater advantage. I loved the touch of the kangaroo skeleton at the crossroads. I could visualise that, clearly. I liked Emmaline's character. She is dogged, determined and thorough. She thinks outside the square.
All in all, a very average novel and definitely not the suspenseful read I was hoping for.
⭐⭐.5
#VanishedJamesDelargy @WaitomoDistrictLibrary
THE AUTHOR: James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland but lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives.
He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. He would like to complete a round-the-world series of novels (if only for the chance to indulge in more on-the-ground research).
James is currently working on novels set in New South Wales and West Virginia.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
ABOUT 'VANISHED': Lorcan and Naiyana are desperate to move their young family far away from the hustle and bustle of modern city life.
The abandoned town of Kallayee seems like the perfect getaway: no one has lived there for decades. It will be peaceful. Quiet. Secure.
But life in Kallayee isn’t quite as straightforward as they hope. Lights flicker at night. Car tracks appear in the dust even when the family hasn’t driven anywhere. And six-year-old Dylan is certain he can hear strange sounds.
Lorcan and Naiyana refuse to leave. No one can talk sense into them.
And now, no one can talk to them at all.
They’ve simply vanished.
MY THOUGHTS: I loved 55 by this author, and the opening paragraph in Vanished had me intrigued. The opening chapters had me glued to the page, but then it all just got a bit messy.
The flow was disjointed: there were too many points of view; too much jumping around in the timeline. The reason for the Maguire family being in this ghost town didn't ring true. If they were 'hiding out', they were doing a lousy job of it, making frequent trips into the nearby town of Hurton, sometimes multiple trips in a day. They weren't exactly lying low.
The family is only in Kallayee for a couple of weeks, but I find it difficult to believe that all this could have happened in such a short period of time. There's just too much, too fast. Plausibility is sacrificed for cliffhanger endings on a large number of the 135 short chapters in the interest of an overly fast-paced storyline.
It didn't help that I didn't connect or sympathise with any of the characters. I realise that, with all the pressure the family was under, there were bound to be ill-considered decisions, but Lorcan's decisions bordered on the bizarre, and Naiyana was an emotional time-bomb. I felt sorry for their son, Dylan, who was the only innocent party in all that happens. The author's depiction of this poor child was inconsistent - often in the same paragraph.
There were a few things I liked about this book. The first was the setting. I have visited some of these ghost towns. It's an eerie feeling, which could have been used to a greater advantage. I loved the touch of the kangaroo skeleton at the crossroads. I could visualise that, clearly. I liked Emmaline's character. She is dogged, determined and thorough. She thinks outside the square.
All in all, a very average novel and definitely not the suspenseful read I was hoping for.
⭐⭐.5
#VanishedJamesDelargy @WaitomoDistrictLibrary
THE AUTHOR: James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland but lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives.
He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscape and culture picked up on his travels into his writing. He would like to complete a round-the-world series of novels (if only for the chance to indulge in more on-the-ground research).
James is currently working on novels set in New South Wales and West Virginia.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
May 3, 2021
James Delargy’s first book ‘55’ was one of my favourite psycho-thrillers in 2019. It was an intense,claustrophobic and atmospheric story sei in a small settlement in the Australian Outback with a shattering ending.
Hunted is wider in scope, set in a desolate, long deserted Outback mining town of Kallayee. It later sprawls through three Australian States while adding more characters. Its author manages to deftly convey a immersive sense of place of scrubland, semi-desert, sweltering heat, dryness, dust, and biting insects. The characters are mainly flawed and difficult to like, their weaknesses exaggerated through their oppressive surroundings.
In this gripping storyline, anyone could become guilty of theft, blackmail, murder or fall victim to these crimes.
A married couple, Lorcan and Naiyana have fled their comfortable home and lifestyle in the big city of Perth with their 6 year old son, Dylan. They have come to the now inhabited town of Kallayee. Its buildings are not only empty but in a shocking state of collapse, dirt, and disrepair. They have come to escape problems with their respective business dealings resulting in their loss of wealth and social standing. The rough road to the town is marked by a kangaroo skeleton at its entrance.
The couple have chosen to move into a dusty, dilapidated house that is the best in the area, but needs much repair and renovation. Lorcan fancies himself capable of doing the work to make this into a liveable home. He has been studying do-it-yourself books and videos. In fact, he plans to write a handyman book. His ineptitude after weeks of work is shown. One night the family hears a loud blast and fears the house is under attack by gunfire. Actually, much of his renovations and part of the roof have collapsed with a resounding bang. The couple drift apart, their love is gone, and they are lacking in trust of each other.
There are strange rumblings at night, dingoes howl outside, and Dylan says he has seen a stranger watching from a distance. His parents think this is due to the lively imagination of a lonely child. It is a 5 hour round trip to the nearest town for groceries and hardware supplies. Eventually, they learn that they are not alone. A tiny group of men are secretly there without a legal permit. The couple begin to make terrible, impulsive and stupid choices. Everything is all doom and gloom.
Then the family vanishes.
Emmaline, a police detective, is in charge of the mysterious disappearance. She is ambitious, strident, outspoken, and gets pleasure in making suspects squirm under her abrupt questioning. She and her team are determined to solve the mystery. Blood is discovered in the home and outside. Several bodies are found, two of them so badly burned in a vehicle they cannot be readily identified. The investigation takes Em back to Perth to question two powerful businessmen from the couples’ past. We’re they involved or hire a hit man? The police believe a wounded Naiyana and her son may have survived their bloody injuries and might have been kidnapped. The police search leads them from West Australia into the Northern Territory and into the north of Queensland. There are dark, violent, unpredictable revelations of murder, greed, lust and betrayal.
Hunted is wider in scope, set in a desolate, long deserted Outback mining town of Kallayee. It later sprawls through three Australian States while adding more characters. Its author manages to deftly convey a immersive sense of place of scrubland, semi-desert, sweltering heat, dryness, dust, and biting insects. The characters are mainly flawed and difficult to like, their weaknesses exaggerated through their oppressive surroundings.
In this gripping storyline, anyone could become guilty of theft, blackmail, murder or fall victim to these crimes.
A married couple, Lorcan and Naiyana have fled their comfortable home and lifestyle in the big city of Perth with their 6 year old son, Dylan. They have come to the now inhabited town of Kallayee. Its buildings are not only empty but in a shocking state of collapse, dirt, and disrepair. They have come to escape problems with their respective business dealings resulting in their loss of wealth and social standing. The rough road to the town is marked by a kangaroo skeleton at its entrance.
The couple have chosen to move into a dusty, dilapidated house that is the best in the area, but needs much repair and renovation. Lorcan fancies himself capable of doing the work to make this into a liveable home. He has been studying do-it-yourself books and videos. In fact, he plans to write a handyman book. His ineptitude after weeks of work is shown. One night the family hears a loud blast and fears the house is under attack by gunfire. Actually, much of his renovations and part of the roof have collapsed with a resounding bang. The couple drift apart, their love is gone, and they are lacking in trust of each other.
There are strange rumblings at night, dingoes howl outside, and Dylan says he has seen a stranger watching from a distance. His parents think this is due to the lively imagination of a lonely child. It is a 5 hour round trip to the nearest town for groceries and hardware supplies. Eventually, they learn that they are not alone. A tiny group of men are secretly there without a legal permit. The couple begin to make terrible, impulsive and stupid choices. Everything is all doom and gloom.
Then the family vanishes.
Emmaline, a police detective, is in charge of the mysterious disappearance. She is ambitious, strident, outspoken, and gets pleasure in making suspects squirm under her abrupt questioning. She and her team are determined to solve the mystery. Blood is discovered in the home and outside. Several bodies are found, two of them so badly burned in a vehicle they cannot be readily identified. The investigation takes Em back to Perth to question two powerful businessmen from the couples’ past. We’re they involved or hire a hit man? The police believe a wounded Naiyana and her son may have survived their bloody injuries and might have been kidnapped. The police search leads them from West Australia into the Northern Territory and into the north of Queensland. There are dark, violent, unpredictable revelations of murder, greed, lust and betrayal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2021
Wow that was one heck of a page turner, a novel where tension bubbles underneath the surface with every page and keeps you hooked into the narrative from first page to last.
After the brilliant 55 I did wonder if the author could keep that level up, but he sure can - Vanished is a very different book but equally compelling, equally unpredictable and lives up to its promise with a cleverly emotive finale.
The characters are the kind you love to hate to love, the plotting is tight and cohesive, moving back in time to show the reader how events unfolded whilst the investigation is itself ongoing. The setting is vividly described and adds depth to the whole feeling of it, hot, isolated, giving the story a claustrophobic feel.
Overall I loved it. Vanished is a classic mystery in a modern world and I definitely recommend it.
After the brilliant 55 I did wonder if the author could keep that level up, but he sure can - Vanished is a very different book but equally compelling, equally unpredictable and lives up to its promise with a cleverly emotive finale.
The characters are the kind you love to hate to love, the plotting is tight and cohesive, moving back in time to show the reader how events unfolded whilst the investigation is itself ongoing. The setting is vividly described and adds depth to the whole feeling of it, hot, isolated, giving the story a claustrophobic feel.
Overall I loved it. Vanished is a classic mystery in a modern world and I definitely recommend it.
May 29, 2021
The focus on outback Western Australia as the setting for this delightful crime story is the second novel by Irish author James Delargy. A family flees controversary and moves to a remote unhabituated ghost town. As they settle in and try to make the best of a difficult situation, they are disturbed by underground rumblings. Searching the empty buildings provides no answers and the nearby town locals are not very welcoming. Told as two narratives that seamlessly flow together, this is a riveting psychology tense read. A well written tale with a mystery to solve and a four-star rating of a great addition to Aussie crime noir.
May 19, 2021
“A family was missing. They had been in the town and then they weren’t. What they were even doing therein the first place wasn’t yet known. No one should have been there. No one had for close to fifty years.”
James Delargy has followed his impressive debut novel, 55, with another compelling thriller set in Australia’s unforgiving outback, Vanished.
Tasked to investigate the disappearance of the Maguire family, Lorcan, his wife Naiyana, and their six year old son, Dylan, from Kallayee, an abandoned town on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, Major Case Squad Detective Emmaline Taylor is puzzled by what she finds left behind - a home on the brink of collapse, its contents ransacked; blood smears, though not enough to suggest a fatality; a tunnel littered with chocolate bar wrappers, a dead end, like all their leads seem to be, until she finds a body being savaged by a pack of dingo’s on the outskirts of town.
Unfolding from multiple perspectives, shifting between before and after their disappearance, it soon becomes apparent that the Maguires left Perth to set up home in the remote West Australian ghost town not in the spirit of adventure, but because they had few alternatives available to them.
Though the Maguire’s tell themselves they are in Kallayee to become closer as a family, the cracks in their marriage are obvious. They lie to themselves as much as they lie to each other and eventually neither Lorcan nor Naiyana are particularly sympathetic or even likeable. If not for the presence of Dylan I’m not sure I’d care much what happened to them. I liked Emmaline a lot though, she’s smart, determined and interesting.
Clever plotting ensures there are several possibilities, from the benign to the ominous, that may explain the family’s disappearance. Even though we are privy to information Emmaline is not, Delargy doesn’t share everything with the reader, subtly undermining what we think we know, allowing for surprising twists.
Short chapters ensure a good pace, and the author effectively builds the suspense in both timelines. The desolate, broken landscape creates a claustrophobic, hostile backdrop to the story that adds to the tension.
Vanished is a gripping, atmospheric thriller with an unexpected but satisfying conclusion.
James Delargy has followed his impressive debut novel, 55, with another compelling thriller set in Australia’s unforgiving outback, Vanished.
Tasked to investigate the disappearance of the Maguire family, Lorcan, his wife Naiyana, and their six year old son, Dylan, from Kallayee, an abandoned town on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, Major Case Squad Detective Emmaline Taylor is puzzled by what she finds left behind - a home on the brink of collapse, its contents ransacked; blood smears, though not enough to suggest a fatality; a tunnel littered with chocolate bar wrappers, a dead end, like all their leads seem to be, until she finds a body being savaged by a pack of dingo’s on the outskirts of town.
Unfolding from multiple perspectives, shifting between before and after their disappearance, it soon becomes apparent that the Maguires left Perth to set up home in the remote West Australian ghost town not in the spirit of adventure, but because they had few alternatives available to them.
Though the Maguire’s tell themselves they are in Kallayee to become closer as a family, the cracks in their marriage are obvious. They lie to themselves as much as they lie to each other and eventually neither Lorcan nor Naiyana are particularly sympathetic or even likeable. If not for the presence of Dylan I’m not sure I’d care much what happened to them. I liked Emmaline a lot though, she’s smart, determined and interesting.
Clever plotting ensures there are several possibilities, from the benign to the ominous, that may explain the family’s disappearance. Even though we are privy to information Emmaline is not, Delargy doesn’t share everything with the reader, subtly undermining what we think we know, allowing for surprising twists.
Short chapters ensure a good pace, and the author effectively builds the suspense in both timelines. The desolate, broken landscape creates a claustrophobic, hostile backdrop to the story that adds to the tension.
Vanished is a gripping, atmospheric thriller with an unexpected but satisfying conclusion.
January 5, 2022
Not a bad read but not amazing either. I enjoyed the setting of the outback and the ghost town and the concept was intriguing. However the characters weren't very appealing. I feel they were somewhat two dimensional and I needed more background to understand them. They didn't even show much love for their son. The story held great promise but by the end I had lost interest and was in a hurry to finish it.
April 18, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed James Delargy’s previous book 55, so no hesitation in picking up his second, Vanished, once again transporting us to the Australian outback, and into the grip of an intriguing mystery…
The absolute hook of this book throughout is the use of location, and how Delargy depicts this totally inhospitable, bleak and uncomfortable landscape to such great effect throughout the book. The abandoned gold mining town of Kallayee (use the skeleton of dead kangaroo to navigate your way there- how creepy is that?) is a gem of a place to set a deeply unsettling and dark mystery, with its biting sense of desolation and emptiness, punctuated by strange noises, mysterious overnight visitors and the overall creepiness of this barren location. The idea that any family would want to locate there, whatever they are running from, does beggar belief, but that’s just what Delargy’s characters do. More fool them. This is a haunted town with a dark history, with blood in its very foundations, and as the plot unfolds, there will be more bloodshed and death of that you can be sure…
Told through the contrasting viewpoints of the family members, Lorcan and Naiyana, the detective Emmaline Taylor tasked with investigating their sudden disappearance, and some additional characters that I can’t reveal for fear of spoilers, the story takes the reader on a journey from a crime committed in the big city, to a family on the run. Delargy’s characterisation is assured and I liked the way he played with the strength and weaknesses of his main protagonists, subtly manipulating the reader’s feelings towards them. There did feel like a little bit of box ticking in terms of a couple of his characters, especially Detective Emmaline Taylor with the superficial emphasis on her being a woman of colour, which wasn’t really developed with any particular nuance throughout the book. We do, however, perceive how professionally she conducts her investigation, and her reluctance to let others overshadow her, and to dictate the course of her actions. I thought overall she was the strongest voice in the book, and really held the plot together in the shadow of the bizarre events playing out around her, and would love to see her return in future books maybe with her strident character and attitude.
Along the way in Vanished we meet a small band of badly behaving characters who threaten the family’s safety, but how much can this family really trust one another? And there’s the rub, as Delargy pulls us in different directions, undermining our belief and trust in the characters he portrays, until the book hurtles towards a host dark and violent reveals, some of which will surprise and unnerve you. I will be completely honest, and say that I didn’t completely buy into some of the plot twists, with the ending giving me somewhat of a furrowed brow, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride overall, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of this tale saturated with rapacity, violence, lust and dastardly betrayal. Worth a look if only for the trip to the truly creepy town of Kallayee. Mwhahaha…
The absolute hook of this book throughout is the use of location, and how Delargy depicts this totally inhospitable, bleak and uncomfortable landscape to such great effect throughout the book. The abandoned gold mining town of Kallayee (use the skeleton of dead kangaroo to navigate your way there- how creepy is that?) is a gem of a place to set a deeply unsettling and dark mystery, with its biting sense of desolation and emptiness, punctuated by strange noises, mysterious overnight visitors and the overall creepiness of this barren location. The idea that any family would want to locate there, whatever they are running from, does beggar belief, but that’s just what Delargy’s characters do. More fool them. This is a haunted town with a dark history, with blood in its very foundations, and as the plot unfolds, there will be more bloodshed and death of that you can be sure…
Told through the contrasting viewpoints of the family members, Lorcan and Naiyana, the detective Emmaline Taylor tasked with investigating their sudden disappearance, and some additional characters that I can’t reveal for fear of spoilers, the story takes the reader on a journey from a crime committed in the big city, to a family on the run. Delargy’s characterisation is assured and I liked the way he played with the strength and weaknesses of his main protagonists, subtly manipulating the reader’s feelings towards them. There did feel like a little bit of box ticking in terms of a couple of his characters, especially Detective Emmaline Taylor with the superficial emphasis on her being a woman of colour, which wasn’t really developed with any particular nuance throughout the book. We do, however, perceive how professionally she conducts her investigation, and her reluctance to let others overshadow her, and to dictate the course of her actions. I thought overall she was the strongest voice in the book, and really held the plot together in the shadow of the bizarre events playing out around her, and would love to see her return in future books maybe with her strident character and attitude.
Along the way in Vanished we meet a small band of badly behaving characters who threaten the family’s safety, but how much can this family really trust one another? And there’s the rub, as Delargy pulls us in different directions, undermining our belief and trust in the characters he portrays, until the book hurtles towards a host dark and violent reveals, some of which will surprise and unnerve you. I will be completely honest, and say that I didn’t completely buy into some of the plot twists, with the ending giving me somewhat of a furrowed brow, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride overall, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of this tale saturated with rapacity, violence, lust and dastardly betrayal. Worth a look if only for the trip to the truly creepy town of Kallayee. Mwhahaha…
July 12, 2021
I hope no one will be put off by the three stars because I suspect this story set in the Australian outback will appeal to many. It certainly has its strong points in the short, tense chapters, the clever manipulation of timelines and in particular in the detail of the investigation during the last third of the book. For me though it simply failed to connect in a number of crucial respects.
For one thing, I found it really difficult to engage with any of the characters. All too often their actions defied logic, leaving me thinking 'but surely she wouldn't . . .' or 'why on earth doesn't he simply . . .?' Implausibilities were frequently heaped on top of illogical decision making and whilst the pressure the characters were under might be expected to produce bizarre behaviour from time to time, it became increasingly difficult to suspend disbelief.
Indeed, the behaviour of the characters was so contradictory in places that even the author appeared undecided. Chapter 90 starts with the lines: 'Not even Dylan was talking. He was just staring. In silent judgement at his father letting his mother go.' Then, literally 9 lines later, it continues: 'Dylan didn't seem one bit concerned that his mother had left. She had gone and she would come back.' Not one bit concerned? Even allowing for the short attention span of a six-year-old (who incidentally comes up with observations and commentaries on life that would challenge someone twice his age), this feels remarkably inconsistent.
More than anything else though, it felt to me as if plausibility was being sacrificed too often to the great god of pace and suspense. I didn't believe in the setting or the backstory of Lorcan and Naiyana who had managed between them to upset so many people that suspects were crawling out of the woodwork everywhere I looked. The structure of the timelines of the novel was, I felt, extremely well handled but the events they described often turned out to be false alarms, thrown in to provide the apparently obligatory cliffhanger ending for as many chapters as possible. When overused to this extent, these artifical constructs tend to cause any potential tension to bleed out of the narrative.
As I said at the beginning, this is very much a personal view and I'm sure there will be many who will be swept away by the narrative and hand out five stars with few reservations, so please read it for yourself and see what you think. There is plenty of evidence of a great deal of work and energy invested in the creation of this novel and it deserves (and will undoubtedly find) its audience. Not for me though . . . sorry.
For one thing, I found it really difficult to engage with any of the characters. All too often their actions defied logic, leaving me thinking 'but surely she wouldn't . . .' or 'why on earth doesn't he simply . . .?' Implausibilities were frequently heaped on top of illogical decision making and whilst the pressure the characters were under might be expected to produce bizarre behaviour from time to time, it became increasingly difficult to suspend disbelief.
Indeed, the behaviour of the characters was so contradictory in places that even the author appeared undecided. Chapter 90 starts with the lines: 'Not even Dylan was talking. He was just staring. In silent judgement at his father letting his mother go.' Then, literally 9 lines later, it continues: 'Dylan didn't seem one bit concerned that his mother had left. She had gone and she would come back.' Not one bit concerned? Even allowing for the short attention span of a six-year-old (who incidentally comes up with observations and commentaries on life that would challenge someone twice his age), this feels remarkably inconsistent.
More than anything else though, it felt to me as if plausibility was being sacrificed too often to the great god of pace and suspense. I didn't believe in the setting or the backstory of Lorcan and Naiyana who had managed between them to upset so many people that suspects were crawling out of the woodwork everywhere I looked. The structure of the timelines of the novel was, I felt, extremely well handled but the events they described often turned out to be false alarms, thrown in to provide the apparently obligatory cliffhanger ending for as many chapters as possible. When overused to this extent, these artifical constructs tend to cause any potential tension to bleed out of the narrative.
As I said at the beginning, this is very much a personal view and I'm sure there will be many who will be swept away by the narrative and hand out five stars with few reservations, so please read it for yourself and see what you think. There is plenty of evidence of a great deal of work and energy invested in the creation of this novel and it deserves (and will undoubtedly find) its audience. Not for me though . . . sorry.
July 16, 2021
‘A family was missing. They had been in the town and then they weren’t.’
Lorcan Maguire, his wife Naiyana and their six-year-old son Dylan arrive in the abandoned Westen Australian gold-mining town of Kallayee, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. They are looking to escape from life in the city of Perth. The skeleton of a kangaroo provides a marker, and they have their choice of houses to live in. They just need to choose one that is not entirely derelict.
But life in Kallayee is not what they were expecting. Dylan hears strange sounds at night, and car tracks appear where the family has not driven. If they are not alone, then who else is there?
They are advised to leave but choose to stay. The cracks in their marriage widen and they spend less and less time together. And then, they cannot be contacted. They appear to have disappeared.
Detective Emmaline Taylor is tasked with investigating their apparent disappearance. What she finds is puzzling: a house on the brink of collapse, ransacked, with smears of blood apparent. There is a tunnel littered with chocolate bar wrappers, but that seems to be all. Until she finds a body, savaged by a pack of dingoes on the outskirts of the town.
‘That something had happened here. Something bad. And that, for a town that had been dead for forty years, a lot of blood had been recently spilled.’
The story shifts, between before and after the Maguires disappear, and between different characters. As we learn more about the past, we see more reasons why the Maguires chose to move to Kallayee. But where are they?
Mr Delargy maintains the tension throughout, through a series of quite bizarre events, with a few unexpected twists through to a satisfying but quite shocking conclusion.
‘We all have secrets.’
Recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Lorcan Maguire, his wife Naiyana and their six-year-old son Dylan arrive in the abandoned Westen Australian gold-mining town of Kallayee, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. They are looking to escape from life in the city of Perth. The skeleton of a kangaroo provides a marker, and they have their choice of houses to live in. They just need to choose one that is not entirely derelict.
But life in Kallayee is not what they were expecting. Dylan hears strange sounds at night, and car tracks appear where the family has not driven. If they are not alone, then who else is there?
They are advised to leave but choose to stay. The cracks in their marriage widen and they spend less and less time together. And then, they cannot be contacted. They appear to have disappeared.
Detective Emmaline Taylor is tasked with investigating their apparent disappearance. What she finds is puzzling: a house on the brink of collapse, ransacked, with smears of blood apparent. There is a tunnel littered with chocolate bar wrappers, but that seems to be all. Until she finds a body, savaged by a pack of dingoes on the outskirts of the town.
‘That something had happened here. Something bad. And that, for a town that had been dead for forty years, a lot of blood had been recently spilled.’
The story shifts, between before and after the Maguires disappear, and between different characters. As we learn more about the past, we see more reasons why the Maguires chose to move to Kallayee. But where are they?
Mr Delargy maintains the tension throughout, through a series of quite bizarre events, with a few unexpected twists through to a satisfying but quite shocking conclusion.
‘We all have secrets.’
Recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 6, 2021
Mon avis en français
My English review
Je n’ai pas lu Victime 55 mais à voir les nombreux avis de ce roman, quand j’ai vu que l’auteur sortait un tout nouveau thriller, j’ai tout de suite été très intriguée ! Et je suis ravie de m’être lancée dans l’histoire car j’ai passé un très bon moment !
La famille Maguire a décidé de tout quitter après des évènements compliqués. Ils se sont ainsi installés dans une ville fantômes, une ancienne ville minière. Mais voilà, la nuit, ils entendent des bruits étranges… Et s’ils n’étaient pas seuls ? Ils n’ont pourtant jamais vu personne. Puis, du jour au lendemain, toute la famille disparait. Emmaline est envoyée sur place pour découvrir ce qui s’est passé et elle va tout mettre en œuvre pour découvrir ce qui s’est passé. Comment un couple et un enfant ont-il pu disparaitre sans laisser de trace ? Et si ce couple cachait de lourds secrets ?
J’ai passé un très bon moment avec ce roman et j’étais vraiment curieuse de découvrir ce qui s’était passé. Nous alternons les chapitres entre présent et passé avec l’inspectrice et les membres de la famille et j’ai adoré découvrir petit à petit l’histoire. Je me suis laissé emporter par l’écriture entrainante de l’auteure ! Je suis curieuse de me lancer dans d’autres de ses romans maintenant !
My English review
Je n’ai pas lu Victime 55 mais à voir les nombreux avis de ce roman, quand j’ai vu que l’auteur sortait un tout nouveau thriller, j’ai tout de suite été très intriguée ! Et je suis ravie de m’être lancée dans l’histoire car j’ai passé un très bon moment !
La famille Maguire a décidé de tout quitter après des évènements compliqués. Ils se sont ainsi installés dans une ville fantômes, une ancienne ville minière. Mais voilà, la nuit, ils entendent des bruits étranges… Et s’ils n’étaient pas seuls ? Ils n’ont pourtant jamais vu personne. Puis, du jour au lendemain, toute la famille disparait. Emmaline est envoyée sur place pour découvrir ce qui s’est passé et elle va tout mettre en œuvre pour découvrir ce qui s’est passé. Comment un couple et un enfant ont-il pu disparaitre sans laisser de trace ? Et si ce couple cachait de lourds secrets ?
J’ai passé un très bon moment avec ce roman et j’étais vraiment curieuse de découvrir ce qui s’était passé. Nous alternons les chapitres entre présent et passé avec l’inspectrice et les membres de la famille et j’ai adoré découvrir petit à petit l’histoire. Je me suis laissé emporter par l’écriture entrainante de l’auteure ! Je suis curieuse de me lancer dans d’autres de ses romans maintenant !
April 15, 2022
Vanished by James Delargy is a thriller set in outback WA with an engaging premise. The Kane family move to an abandoned mining town in WA with their six year old son Dylan, but soon the entire family disappears. What happened to them?
This was an intriguing enough premise to draw me in and the mystery kept me plowing through the book to find the answers. The family choose the least run down cottage in the town and try to make the most of their circumstances by engaging in a home improvement project.
The novel unfolds from multiple character perspectives, with each of the parents Lorcan and Naiyana in the past and Detective Emmaline Taylor investigating their disappearance in the present. Both Lorcan and Naiyana have their reasons for leaving family and friends behind in Perth so there's plenty to keep the plot moving.
The fictional abandoned mining town of Kallayee is located in the Great Victoria Desert, and Delargy does an exceptional job of bringing the remote location and the desolate landscape into sharp focus. The writing is also compelling, and I especially enjoyed this insight into the despicable nature of some elements of humanity.
"The unspoken had been uttered, leaving a bitter taste. It was disgusting. It was horrible. And now that it was out in the open, it was a possibility." Page 315
Vanished by James Delargy is highly recommended for fans of Jane Harper or Chris Hammer.
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *
This was an intriguing enough premise to draw me in and the mystery kept me plowing through the book to find the answers. The family choose the least run down cottage in the town and try to make the most of their circumstances by engaging in a home improvement project.
The novel unfolds from multiple character perspectives, with each of the parents Lorcan and Naiyana in the past and Detective Emmaline Taylor investigating their disappearance in the present. Both Lorcan and Naiyana have their reasons for leaving family and friends behind in Perth so there's plenty to keep the plot moving.
The fictional abandoned mining town of Kallayee is located in the Great Victoria Desert, and Delargy does an exceptional job of bringing the remote location and the desolate landscape into sharp focus. The writing is also compelling, and I especially enjoyed this insight into the despicable nature of some elements of humanity.
"The unspoken had been uttered, leaving a bitter taste. It was disgusting. It was horrible. And now that it was out in the open, it was a possibility." Page 315
Vanished by James Delargy is highly recommended for fans of Jane Harper or Chris Hammer.
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *
April 19, 2024
I know as readers, we usually compare books from the same author. I do it, and sometimes I wonder if it's fair to do so. But it just seems a natural part of being a reader, so how can we stop?
And when reading this, I did compare the story to Delargy's other novel, 55. A novel I thought was amazing. This was good, but not as amazing as 55. I was hooked on the concept, but there were a few parts that felt could have been tightened and, to be honest, I wanted this to be darker and more twisted than it is. It felt a little safe, as if the author held back for most of it. In my eyes, the setup and concept is perfect for a dark and twisted story, especially when our three main characters from the Kane family learn about the "others" in the abandoned town.
There are two main threads in this book. One involving the very recent past, mostly following the Kane family who are hiding out in an abandoned town. The second thread follows a police investigation, almost feeling like a police procedural story line, into the disappearance of the Kane family. Immediately, we're asked to wonder did they run or were they killed? And the road to the truth is certainly not a straight line.
What I liked about this book is the moments of shock, where things happen quickly and without pretext. The characters are shocked and so was I. Those moments were a sudden spike in tension and fear, and are wonderfully crafted. More for that would have gone down a treat.
And when reading this, I did compare the story to Delargy's other novel, 55. A novel I thought was amazing. This was good, but not as amazing as 55. I was hooked on the concept, but there were a few parts that felt could have been tightened and, to be honest, I wanted this to be darker and more twisted than it is. It felt a little safe, as if the author held back for most of it. In my eyes, the setup and concept is perfect for a dark and twisted story, especially when our three main characters from the Kane family learn about the "others" in the abandoned town.
There are two main threads in this book. One involving the very recent past, mostly following the Kane family who are hiding out in an abandoned town. The second thread follows a police investigation, almost feeling like a police procedural story line, into the disappearance of the Kane family. Immediately, we're asked to wonder did they run or were they killed? And the road to the truth is certainly not a straight line.
What I liked about this book is the moments of shock, where things happen quickly and without pretext. The characters are shocked and so was I. Those moments were a sudden spike in tension and fear, and are wonderfully crafted. More for that would have gone down a treat.
June 19, 2021
VANISHED
by James Delargy
An exceptional Australian crime thriller, albeit written by an Irishman, Vanished, by James Delargy, is not without fault but is guaranteed to draw the reader in to its pages and its story. The term ‘unputdownable’ is oft-times overdone, however in this instance it seems appropriate. I read the book over two nights - and begrudged the need for a pause between.
A warning: Start reading Vanished after breakfast, not dinner!
Lorcan and Naiyana Maguire create high level enmity in Perth society and run away with their six-year old son, Dylan, to the middle of nowhere (otherwise the Western Australian goldfields).
Bankrupted, Lorcan has been accused of stealing valuable investment data from a shonky company at which he worked and Naiyana, a vlogger/activist, of causing massive problems for a national company through its use of a questionable additive in children’s food preparations.
From the start of the book, the Maguires attempt to re-establish themselves under an archaic law, adverse possession, by moving into and making livable an old house in the long-deserted town Kallayee, somewhere north of Kalgoorlie ('...turn off at the kangaroo skeleton').
Lorcan, initially at least, is determined to make a go of it, but Naiyana runs both hot and cold about what they are doing. With limited funds and resources, they begin to make themselves comfortable, except Dylan is unable to sleep because of rumblings that appear to come from underground. His parents, too, become aware of the noise and vibration. It isn’t long before its source is made apparent.
The family disappears, authorities are alerted and the Major Crime Squad takes charge. Senior Detective Emmaline Taylor, 30-ish, alert, thorough and nearest to a likable character in the book, is in charge of the investigation. At first there’s little to go on, apart from finding blood on a patch of dirt, but then dingoes are disturbed and remains of a body discovered.
The story is told by several of the main characters, in past tense by Lorcan and Naiyana, and in the present by Emmaline. Its beauty is the manner in which the storyline is developed by James Delargy. There are enough people with a distinct hatred of the Maguires - in politics, manufacturing, investment, mining - any one of whom could be involved when it becomes evident a crime has been committed.
Chapters are short and sharp, a factor adding to the story’s tension, as do the clever twists and the author withholding detail until he’s ready for the reader to have it. In other words, his timing is impeccable. Vanished is a story well developed and well told.
Best Australian crime thriller in years.
by James Delargy
An exceptional Australian crime thriller, albeit written by an Irishman, Vanished, by James Delargy, is not without fault but is guaranteed to draw the reader in to its pages and its story. The term ‘unputdownable’ is oft-times overdone, however in this instance it seems appropriate. I read the book over two nights - and begrudged the need for a pause between.
A warning: Start reading Vanished after breakfast, not dinner!
Lorcan and Naiyana Maguire create high level enmity in Perth society and run away with their six-year old son, Dylan, to the middle of nowhere (otherwise the Western Australian goldfields).
Bankrupted, Lorcan has been accused of stealing valuable investment data from a shonky company at which he worked and Naiyana, a vlogger/activist, of causing massive problems for a national company through its use of a questionable additive in children’s food preparations.
From the start of the book, the Maguires attempt to re-establish themselves under an archaic law, adverse possession, by moving into and making livable an old house in the long-deserted town Kallayee, somewhere north of Kalgoorlie ('...turn off at the kangaroo skeleton').
Lorcan, initially at least, is determined to make a go of it, but Naiyana runs both hot and cold about what they are doing. With limited funds and resources, they begin to make themselves comfortable, except Dylan is unable to sleep because of rumblings that appear to come from underground. His parents, too, become aware of the noise and vibration. It isn’t long before its source is made apparent.
The family disappears, authorities are alerted and the Major Crime Squad takes charge. Senior Detective Emmaline Taylor, 30-ish, alert, thorough and nearest to a likable character in the book, is in charge of the investigation. At first there’s little to go on, apart from finding blood on a patch of dirt, but then dingoes are disturbed and remains of a body discovered.
The story is told by several of the main characters, in past tense by Lorcan and Naiyana, and in the present by Emmaline. Its beauty is the manner in which the storyline is developed by James Delargy. There are enough people with a distinct hatred of the Maguires - in politics, manufacturing, investment, mining - any one of whom could be involved when it becomes evident a crime has been committed.
Chapters are short and sharp, a factor adding to the story’s tension, as do the clever twists and the author withholding detail until he’s ready for the reader to have it. In other words, his timing is impeccable. Vanished is a story well developed and well told.
Best Australian crime thriller in years.
July 30, 2021
There are two time lines in this story, post something happening and the event that lead up to what happened.
The book starts, as does one time line, with the police starting the hunt for a family that has vanished from a small ghost town in outback Western Australia. The second time line is the family arriving in this small abandoned mining town. Ultimately the time lines join up in chapter 135, yes, 135, and than the book ends.
An interesting premise but badly executed.
At first I was enjoying the story but then my enjoyment turned to loathing and hatred of all the characters, even the little kid. I couldn't wait for it to be over and almost gave up. At times it seemed to lose it's way. The constant popping back to Perth I found totally ridiculous. It just lost me.
Australia doesn't have gas stations, they have servos or petrol stations.
The book starts, as does one time line, with the police starting the hunt for a family that has vanished from a small ghost town in outback Western Australia. The second time line is the family arriving in this small abandoned mining town. Ultimately the time lines join up in chapter 135, yes, 135, and than the book ends.
An interesting premise but badly executed.
At first I was enjoying the story but then my enjoyment turned to loathing and hatred of all the characters, even the little kid. I couldn't wait for it to be over and almost gave up. At times it seemed to lose it's way. The constant popping back to Perth I found totally ridiculous. It just lost me.
Australia doesn't have gas stations, they have servos or petrol stations.
January 19, 2024
Couldn't finish it. The characters were selfish and stupid. It's hard to care what happens to them when they're so unlikeable. The remote outback setting was also pretty harsh and somewhere you would want to visit, let alone visit every night when you read this book. I had to stop, I wasn't getting any enjoyment. The female police office was good.
April 26, 2022
A little disjointed at times. I didn't really feel like the main characters were ever fully fleshed out, so I didn't really connect to any of them. I did like the description of the town and the outback.
There were people in the story who really had no bearing or enhancement of the story.
There were people in the story who really had no bearing or enhancement of the story.
June 8, 2021
2.5 - it had its moments, but overall a choppy read and unlikeable characters.
February 23, 2024
the beginning was a bit slow but I liked the setting and the twists!
April 15, 2021
When Anne reached out to me with this book it really grabbed my attention. Having family who worked in the mining industry in Kalgoorlie I just had to get my hands on it.
Having had the opportunity to visit a Kalgoorlie mining site on my only visit to Australia to date I could picture very clearly the sort of run down abandoned town where this novel was set.
Kallayee is an abandoned mining town which has laid empty for years. The Maguire family have fled Perth for various reasons and are trying to lay low in the rural town until things blow over. Expecting to be alone the put the nightly rumbles down to crumbling in the old mines and brush off their child’s sightings of people as being over dramatic...until they encounter 3 “miners” working by torch light each night.
The short sharp chapters in the book kept me saying “just one more” and made for a pretty quick read.
The first chunk of the book fell a little flat for me and for all I kept turning page after page I didn’t quite get the hook that I needed to get me fully invested. I was waiting for the one moment to get me on the edge of my seat.
That moment finally happens when tensions between the family and the miners reach an all time high and desperation on both parts takes over.
How far would you go to protect your family?
Having had the opportunity to visit a Kalgoorlie mining site on my only visit to Australia to date I could picture very clearly the sort of run down abandoned town where this novel was set.
Kallayee is an abandoned mining town which has laid empty for years. The Maguire family have fled Perth for various reasons and are trying to lay low in the rural town until things blow over. Expecting to be alone the put the nightly rumbles down to crumbling in the old mines and brush off their child’s sightings of people as being over dramatic...until they encounter 3 “miners” working by torch light each night.
The short sharp chapters in the book kept me saying “just one more” and made for a pretty quick read.
The first chunk of the book fell a little flat for me and for all I kept turning page after page I didn’t quite get the hook that I needed to get me fully invested. I was waiting for the one moment to get me on the edge of my seat.
That moment finally happens when tensions between the family and the miners reach an all time high and desperation on both parts takes over.
How far would you go to protect your family?
April 22, 2021
Vanished is set in the Australian outback and it’s here the Kane family now live after leaving Perth, making a new, safe life in this inhospitable part of the world. But, why did they leave?
They now live in a remote area, but so does a group of men who also have secrets and there is an uneasy, tense agreement to live and let live between them. But things get dark with strange noises, and some creepy moments too.
The story is told gradually, with little asides showing how past events have led to this point. All the while there is a police investigation trying to find this missing family….
Well, what can I say? This is well written and full of tension with an oppressive atmosphere that’s almost claustrophobic. A slow burn of a psychological thriller that is utterly compelling from start to finish.
Thank you so Random Things Tours for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour, for the promotional material and an ARC of Vanished.
They now live in a remote area, but so does a group of men who also have secrets and there is an uneasy, tense agreement to live and let live between them. But things get dark with strange noises, and some creepy moments too.
The story is told gradually, with little asides showing how past events have led to this point. All the while there is a police investigation trying to find this missing family….
Well, what can I say? This is well written and full of tension with an oppressive atmosphere that’s almost claustrophobic. A slow burn of a psychological thriller that is utterly compelling from start to finish.
Thank you so Random Things Tours for the opportunity to be part of this blog tour, for the promotional material and an ARC of Vanished.
May 31, 2021
What a book!! Well to be honest at the start of reading it I was slightly apprehensive about the story with such few characters described in the synopsis. However I decided to read the first few pages and hope for the best.
It was the best decision. As soon as I read those first few pages I was hooked and realised I was on to a good read.
As each page and chapter passed the story gathered momentum and layer upon layer of expertly written details became evident.
The characters were identified and the alternating chapters told by one of the characters points of view. This added to the suspense and I became increasingly more interested in what really happened out there in the Outback of Australia to the young family that decided a new life there would be a new beginning. Little did I know as a reader or they as characters what would happen to change their lives forever.
A wonderful book, thoroughly enjoyed and with the suspense and intrigue a great page turner and grabber of your attention. Definitely worth a read.
It was the best decision. As soon as I read those first few pages I was hooked and realised I was on to a good read.
As each page and chapter passed the story gathered momentum and layer upon layer of expertly written details became evident.
The characters were identified and the alternating chapters told by one of the characters points of view. This added to the suspense and I became increasingly more interested in what really happened out there in the Outback of Australia to the young family that decided a new life there would be a new beginning. Little did I know as a reader or they as characters what would happen to change their lives forever.
A wonderful book, thoroughly enjoyed and with the suspense and intrigue a great page turner and grabber of your attention. Definitely worth a read.
August 9, 2021
Overall, quite a slow read up until about 3/4 of the way through. I liked the Australian setting was described so vividly, and enjoyed the overall feel of the book. I liked how it changed perspectives throughout the book, which meant we could gain a understanding of how each of the characters were feeling. It kept me engaged throughout the book, and i’ll definitely be reading James Delargy’s other book now!
October 16, 2025
A good book, a very good book! First time reading this author so will try more by him. Only issue really was that it ended very quickly
October 27, 2025
Don't let the star rating put you off, this is a really good book.
May 18, 2021
The first half is pretty slow but the second half was alright
November 7, 2022
Disclaimer: Jonathan Ball Publishers kindly sent me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
A lot of dark and terrible things have happened in the Australian outback and its surrounding deserts. The harsh landscape lends itself to acts of crime that are rarely traced because of its sheer size. In James Delargy's 2021 novel Vanished a familiar story of a dusty terrain, and a possible crime are the usual suspects in the genre, but this does not make this tale any less suspenseful, and any less addictive.
Lorcan and Naiyana Maguire, and their young son Dylan have left the bustling city of Perth for Kallayee. The mining town was abandoned years ago, and all that is left are rotting houses and dust. Despite there being nothing to come 'home to', they are determined to go off the grid and make it work. The house they choose to live in has an entire wall that has caved in, and even though Lorcan is not the most practical, he is planning to rebuild it on his own.
Something brought the Maguire family to this ghost town. Lorcan and Naiyana have secrets in their past that they are hoping to run away from, and it's the only reason the very impractical Maguires find themselves in a town that on first inspection is inhabited only by coyotes and silence.
Lorcan who once worked for a high-profile tech company has been accused by his boss of stealing some very sensitive data. The owners of the tech company have violent criminal pasts, and they might be very concerned that Lorcan is threatening to sell the data to the highest bidder.
Naiyana is one of the people responsible for almost bankrupting a massive food corporation, a corporation that is partially owned by a well-known Australian politician. She worked for a charity that organized boycotts of the company's products, and since then they've been struggling to deal with the bad press. Naiyana's influence indirectly caused a significant number of people to lose their jobs.
With limited communication with friends and family, the Maguire family is completely on their own, but they are not alone. At least not according to their young son who believes someone else is in Kallayee, and even though there seems to be no evidence of it, that doesn't explain the strange rumbling they have been hearing every night. A rumbling that seems to be coming from the very center of the Earth.
Less than six weeks later Detective Emmaline Taylor arrived in the abandoned town to investigate the case of the missing Maguire family. Something happened in those six weeks, and Emmaline is not leaving Kallayee until they are found - dead or alive.
"A family was missing. They had been in the town and then they weren't. What they were even doing there in the first place wasn't yet known. No one should have been there. No one had for close to fifty years."
Delargy's novel runs two separate narratives in parallel: in one we have the Maguires trying to live off the grid with Lorcan's stubbornness causing friction with Naiyana who has doubts that her husband will be able to protect them from whatever is lurking within the town's skeletal remains. On the other side, we have a detective searching for clues and interrogating possible witnesses, which includes an introduction to some of the area's more colorful and (sometimes) eccentric local characters who may or may not have light to shed on the missing family.
The reader can witness the family's turmoil, and the destructive last few weeks before their disappearance, whilst also following Emmaline's journey as she begins to put the pieces together, and discovers some very disturbing details about the Maguire family, and the tiny town they thought would be their sanctuary.
Delargy's novel is a tense, raw, and often terrifying tale of a modern family going off the grid, and the unfortunate entanglements that brought violence and fear into their lives and caused a loner detective to risk her own life to solve the mystery. This is a thriller that will keep you reading voraciously (and holding your breath in anticipation) until the bitter, bitter end.
"...Something had happened here. Something bad. And that, for a town that had been dead for forty years, a lot of blood had been recently spilled."
A lot of dark and terrible things have happened in the Australian outback and its surrounding deserts. The harsh landscape lends itself to acts of crime that are rarely traced because of its sheer size. In James Delargy's 2021 novel Vanished a familiar story of a dusty terrain, and a possible crime are the usual suspects in the genre, but this does not make this tale any less suspenseful, and any less addictive.
Lorcan and Naiyana Maguire, and their young son Dylan have left the bustling city of Perth for Kallayee. The mining town was abandoned years ago, and all that is left are rotting houses and dust. Despite there being nothing to come 'home to', they are determined to go off the grid and make it work. The house they choose to live in has an entire wall that has caved in, and even though Lorcan is not the most practical, he is planning to rebuild it on his own.
Something brought the Maguire family to this ghost town. Lorcan and Naiyana have secrets in their past that they are hoping to run away from, and it's the only reason the very impractical Maguires find themselves in a town that on first inspection is inhabited only by coyotes and silence.
Lorcan who once worked for a high-profile tech company has been accused by his boss of stealing some very sensitive data. The owners of the tech company have violent criminal pasts, and they might be very concerned that Lorcan is threatening to sell the data to the highest bidder.
Naiyana is one of the people responsible for almost bankrupting a massive food corporation, a corporation that is partially owned by a well-known Australian politician. She worked for a charity that organized boycotts of the company's products, and since then they've been struggling to deal with the bad press. Naiyana's influence indirectly caused a significant number of people to lose their jobs.
With limited communication with friends and family, the Maguire family is completely on their own, but they are not alone. At least not according to their young son who believes someone else is in Kallayee, and even though there seems to be no evidence of it, that doesn't explain the strange rumbling they have been hearing every night. A rumbling that seems to be coming from the very center of the Earth.
Less than six weeks later Detective Emmaline Taylor arrived in the abandoned town to investigate the case of the missing Maguire family. Something happened in those six weeks, and Emmaline is not leaving Kallayee until they are found - dead or alive.
"A family was missing. They had been in the town and then they weren't. What they were even doing there in the first place wasn't yet known. No one should have been there. No one had for close to fifty years."
Delargy's novel runs two separate narratives in parallel: in one we have the Maguires trying to live off the grid with Lorcan's stubbornness causing friction with Naiyana who has doubts that her husband will be able to protect them from whatever is lurking within the town's skeletal remains. On the other side, we have a detective searching for clues and interrogating possible witnesses, which includes an introduction to some of the area's more colorful and (sometimes) eccentric local characters who may or may not have light to shed on the missing family.
The reader can witness the family's turmoil, and the destructive last few weeks before their disappearance, whilst also following Emmaline's journey as she begins to put the pieces together, and discovers some very disturbing details about the Maguire family, and the tiny town they thought would be their sanctuary.
Delargy's novel is a tense, raw, and often terrifying tale of a modern family going off the grid, and the unfortunate entanglements that brought violence and fear into their lives and caused a loner detective to risk her own life to solve the mystery. This is a thriller that will keep you reading voraciously (and holding your breath in anticipation) until the bitter, bitter end.
"...Something had happened here. Something bad. And that, for a town that had been dead for forty years, a lot of blood had been recently spilled."
December 2, 2021
Detective Emmeline Taylor from the Major Crime Squad (MCS) doesn't usually become involved in misper cases but when three members from the same family go missing, it's another matter and so she is called to Kallayee, a deserted town on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. Until recently Kallayee was home of sorts to the Kane family, Lorcan, Naiyana and their six-year-old son, Dylan. Their decision to move to the former mining town arose less from their adventurous pioneer spirit and more because both were fleeing mistakes they made in Perth.
There's remote and there's Western Australia remote; the skeleton of a kangaroo greeting the family by the town's sign, an unsettling indication that life is just about to take a very different turn. It quickly becomes apparent that the couple's problems extend beyond their recent chequered past and with each keeping secrets from the other, their relationship is already shaky before Dylan starts to hear something rumble underground...
The storyline shifts between before and after the family's disappearance, following the differing viewpoints of Lorcan, Naiyana and Emmeline - and later a further character's voice is also added to the complex mix of truths, lies and suppositions. At first my sympathies lay with Naiyana but James Delargy artfully skews our perception of the characters, each change in perspective revealing something else about this flawed couple. They are not especially easy to like but nevertheless, their growing unease becomes almost palpable , particularly as their manipulative actions potentially put the innocent young Dylan at risk too.
At first his nightmares could just be interpreted as a child's response to their abrupt change in circumstances but perhaps they are not as alone in the abandoned town as they believed. It's a chilling thought, even in the oppressive heat of the Outback and the intermittent chapters tracking Emmeline's investigation means there's a tense inevitability to the story. As she gradually pieces together what occurred in Kallayee, the terrible sense of foreboding becomes as claustrophobic as the dry, dusty town itself.
With both Naiyana and Lorcan's previous actions coming under scrutiny, Emmeline and her colleagues have a number of leads to follow in this perplexing case. The back and forth nature of the novel cleverly reveals then obscures what really happened until late in the book but throughout, Emmeline is a breath of fresh air among some unsavoury characters. She is unabashedly herself; self-aware, at ease with her wants and desires, and not afraid to antagonise people in order to elicit a reaction from them. She is a character I enjoyed spending time with and as her role in the MCS, 'Fly in, work with what you get, investigate and fly out' gives plenty of scope for further cases, I hope James Delargy considers bringing her back in the future.
This intricately woven story is a slow-burning, compelling tale where the exploration of a doomed marriage amidst a hostile environment eventually reveals the dramatic truth behind the sinister fate of this troubled family. With its evocative descriptions of the harsh landscape, Vanished is an atmospheric, brooding thriller which haunted and intrigued me throughout. Highly recommended.
There's remote and there's Western Australia remote; the skeleton of a kangaroo greeting the family by the town's sign, an unsettling indication that life is just about to take a very different turn. It quickly becomes apparent that the couple's problems extend beyond their recent chequered past and with each keeping secrets from the other, their relationship is already shaky before Dylan starts to hear something rumble underground...
The storyline shifts between before and after the family's disappearance, following the differing viewpoints of Lorcan, Naiyana and Emmeline - and later a further character's voice is also added to the complex mix of truths, lies and suppositions. At first my sympathies lay with Naiyana but James Delargy artfully skews our perception of the characters, each change in perspective revealing something else about this flawed couple. They are not especially easy to like but nevertheless, their growing unease becomes almost palpable , particularly as their manipulative actions potentially put the innocent young Dylan at risk too.
At first his nightmares could just be interpreted as a child's response to their abrupt change in circumstances but perhaps they are not as alone in the abandoned town as they believed. It's a chilling thought, even in the oppressive heat of the Outback and the intermittent chapters tracking Emmeline's investigation means there's a tense inevitability to the story. As she gradually pieces together what occurred in Kallayee, the terrible sense of foreboding becomes as claustrophobic as the dry, dusty town itself.
With both Naiyana and Lorcan's previous actions coming under scrutiny, Emmeline and her colleagues have a number of leads to follow in this perplexing case. The back and forth nature of the novel cleverly reveals then obscures what really happened until late in the book but throughout, Emmeline is a breath of fresh air among some unsavoury characters. She is unabashedly herself; self-aware, at ease with her wants and desires, and not afraid to antagonise people in order to elicit a reaction from them. She is a character I enjoyed spending time with and as her role in the MCS, 'Fly in, work with what you get, investigate and fly out' gives plenty of scope for further cases, I hope James Delargy considers bringing her back in the future.
This intricately woven story is a slow-burning, compelling tale where the exploration of a doomed marriage amidst a hostile environment eventually reveals the dramatic truth behind the sinister fate of this troubled family. With its evocative descriptions of the harsh landscape, Vanished is an atmospheric, brooding thriller which haunted and intrigued me throughout. Highly recommended.
April 8, 2021
A suspenseful read where you’ll rabidly second-guess everyone’s motives and morals alike.
This can be 100% attributed to the way one young family’s destiny is meted out in tantalising bites, between which you learn the reasons why they abandoned their lives to experience a bitter taste of isolation that will linger unforgivingly.
The two distinct timelines, the present day and the family’s life in the town shortly before their disappearance, are perfectly balanced and achieve the very definition of suspense.
Yet a couple of incredible co-incidences take place – it’s not as if the events themselves were unconvincing, not at all, they just felt a touch improbable under the circumstances. This, and the unlikeability factor of most of the characters, had me flip-flopping all over the place – one minute I’d find myself sympathising with them, and the next they’d test my patience to breaking point!
But hands down, it’s the tension that’s the real winner here. So if you prefer a book that keeps its cards close to its chest then this is an excellent example. Would I recommend it? Yes, I absolutely would.
*** Actual rating: 3.5 / 5 ***
(I received a digital copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley, with my thanks, which I voluntarily chose to read and review.)
This can be 100% attributed to the way one young family’s destiny is meted out in tantalising bites, between which you learn the reasons why they abandoned their lives to experience a bitter taste of isolation that will linger unforgivingly.
The two distinct timelines, the present day and the family’s life in the town shortly before their disappearance, are perfectly balanced and achieve the very definition of suspense.
Yet a couple of incredible co-incidences take place – it’s not as if the events themselves were unconvincing, not at all, they just felt a touch improbable under the circumstances. This, and the unlikeability factor of most of the characters, had me flip-flopping all over the place – one minute I’d find myself sympathising with them, and the next they’d test my patience to breaking point!
But hands down, it’s the tension that’s the real winner here. So if you prefer a book that keeps its cards close to its chest then this is an excellent example. Would I recommend it? Yes, I absolutely would.
*** Actual rating: 3.5 / 5 ***
(I received a digital copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley, with my thanks, which I voluntarily chose to read and review.)
July 20, 2021
Beaucoup d'aller-retours entre le présent et le passé, beaucoup de blabla pour pas grand chose. Tous les personnages m'ont soit été antipathiques soit complètement indifférent. Cachés dans leur outback australien, les deux groupes, la famille et les mineurs, coexistent, mais pas vraiment; la femme aime son mari, mais pas vraiment, etc. Tout est trop gris, plat et on a pas vraiment d'émotions à la lecture. Le seul moment plus ou moins motif est la révélation du destin du père et du fils. Le premier roman de l'auteur, Victime 55, se révèlait trop vite, le second, Sous terre, trop longuet et trop plat...
April 17, 2024
This started off with a rip and a roar. Punchy, intriguing, short chapters with several narrators.(However all of the characters are totally unlikeable)
But then it just got hectic and downright silly. I did finish it as I wanted to find out what happened but I'm sorry... Not a fan.
But then it just got hectic and downright silly. I did finish it as I wanted to find out what happened but I'm sorry... Not a fan.
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