Vanished From Budapest

Vanished #1

by D.J. Maughan

Two graduate students fall in love, one goes missing…

Peter Andrassy, a native Hungarian and retired NYC detective, is racked with guilt over the murder of his wife. He’s moved home to Budapest seeking a fresh start as a private investigator, believing it will allow him a chance to focus on routine cases as he mends his broken heart.

Stephen, an American graduate student in Budapest, finds Peter and works to persuade him to locate his British girlfriend, Samantha. Peter is hesitant, worrying it may reveal skeletons from his past.

Seeing Stephen has nowhere else to turn, Peter reluctantly agrees but quickly becomes frustrated by how little Stephen seems to know about the woman he claims to love. As Peter unravels the mystery of Samantha’s disappearance, he discovers it may intersect with another case. Budapest has become a frightening place for foreign women, and Peter may be forced into a situation he’s desperate to avoid. Buy Vanished From Budapest today to see if Peter can find Samantha.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Ebooks, Fiction

291 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2022

Reviews

[Rachel Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vanished From Budapest” by D. J. Maughan is a fantastic start to The Vanished Series. This book introduces us to Peter Andrassy, a retired NYC detective and native Hungarian who returns to Budapest looking for a fresh start after the tragic murder of his wife. Hoping for lighter cases as a private investigator, Peter instead finds himself pulled into dangerous territory once again. The story blends mystery, crime, and suspense beautifully, and Budapest makes for such a vivid backdrop. This is an amazing crime thriller and a strong first book in what I can already tell will be a gripping series!

[Brooke Maughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this novel . A wonderful and thrilling detective story. I love how he describes the cities! I really want to visit those great places. I also like how he tells the story. I could feel and see what the characters felt and saw. I loved his descriptions without the need to use colorful and inappropriate language. I’m my mind that’s the mark of a good writer. I highly recommend this book! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Andrassy (or Andrassy Peter if we’re going Hungarian) is a former NYC detective who has moved back to his home country of Hungary after his wife passed. He is contacted by an American university student to help solve a missing person’s case. Meanwhile, he is also contracted out to investigate a local restaurant owner whose wife thinks he’s cheating. As Peter digs deeper into both cases he starts to wonder if they are connected somehow and how to figure out what exactly happened to the missing girl. It will take all his skills to untangle this mystery!

This was an amazing start to the Peter Andrassy series and I can’t wait to read more! I read Idaho Fall last year and I still recommend it! The author definitely knows how to tell a great story!

[Brandy D Osborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different

This book was different than the books I'm used to and took a different turn than where I thought it was going. It did take a bit for me to get into. All of that being said, I did like the turn out. It was a different pace but it turned out to be a good read.

[Daniel Roueche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved it! Kirby Heyborne does an excellent job, as usual. He is so good at voices and narration that each character feels so real. I kind of wish every audiobook was read by him! DJ’s descriptions of Budapest really helped me feel like I was in the actual setting. And his dialogue is just so natural and compelling. The story is engaging and filled with mystery and excitement. I was engaged from the very first page until the last. I cannot wait to read the follow up.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I was gifted this audiobook in exchange for an honest review*

The story pulls you in right from the beginning. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic!! Kirby is so good at voices and accents that he helps bring the story to life. I guessed the ending correctly, but only as we got to the last few chapters. Regardless, the storyline and characters were well developed enough that I will probably read more of the series.

[Corinne Vasilyev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor writing, very bad English, I had an impression some foreigner was writing in English, so many phrases that no English speaker would use. The plot is interesting, but situation is a little bit unrealistic, would not believe American student would hesitate to contact his school or police or anyone else only because he did not speak Hungarian...

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an ending

This blew my mind! Totally not the ending I was expecting. Wow. What a book. I knew something was fishy but I never even thought it would go the route it did. Can't wait to read the next one

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is my brain bleeding or is the most absurd ending ever written? I need to process before writing a real review. What the hell…? Someone come check on me in a few days….

[Ali O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vanished From Budapest by D.J. Maughan
Narrated by Kirby Heyborne
🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is an exciting and twisty crime thriller!!
This story follows Peter Andrassy, a retired NYC detective on some adventures around Hungary. He wanted a fresh start somewhere new as he was struggling with guilt over his wife’s murder. He takes a job as a private investigator and has some wild cases he works on trying to solve.

The story is very suspenseful and entertaining! It’s well written, has good character development, and totally sucked me in!
I listened to the audio version and the narrator did an excellent job! I highly recommend listening to the audio!! The accents and overall storytelling was so good!!

*I recommend checking out this Vanished series!! I’m excited to move on to book 2!*

Vanished series:
1) Vanished From Budapest (Can be read as a standalone)
.5) The Villians Mask (Prequel)
2) Pursuit of Demons
3) Revealing the Shadows
4) Chasing the Wicked

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen is a student in Budapest. Because Budapest is in the title, is why I picked up this book. I visited this city a few years ago and loved it. However, the story doesn't have much to do with this historical and cool city.
Stephen falls for a woman who is in one of his classes. They have some conversations and he likes her. She doesn't show up in class one day and Stephen is sure she is missing. He contacts a detective to search for her. Peter is a native Hungarian and a retired NYC dectective.
Stephen, for his age seems very naive and actually rather stupid.
The ending of this potentially interesting story was so unrealistic. I am not buying it. It just wrapped up very suddenly and neatly and took a serious mental health disorder and treated it quite lightly. And everyone ended up being an expert in psychiatry.

[Jocelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Vanished Series. This is a great start to the series. This story is entertaining, and captivating! The plot is well crafted, and enthralling, filled with drama, action, mystery, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns. Peter, a retired NYC detective, and private investigator, is an interesting character. The cast of supporting characters is impressive. The characters are well developed, and intriguing. Kirby Heyborne did an outstanding job bringing these characters, and this story to life. His voice is pleasant to listen to, and he has a great range of voices. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to Pursuit of Demons, the next book in the series.

[Mrs Crossley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vanished from Budapest" is a captivating mystery featuring retired NYC detective Peter Andrassy, a native Hungarian who moved back to Hungary to connect with his roots. The interconnected cases he investigates create a beautifully woven narrative. As someone with Hungarian ancestry, I loved the cultural references to cuisine, national parks, and authentic phrases that evoked cherished memories.

The plot is engaging, with a perfect balance of character development and suspense. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in discovering a lesser-known author who offers a unique perspective on the mystery genre. It’s a solid four-star read that left me wanting more.

[Ashly Wester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 2 days. I absolutely loved it, even though I called the big twist with Stephen from many context clues.

My only gripe, and I'm not really even griping, its a preference. If each chapter is about a different character, it would be nice if the chapters had the character names at the beginning.

I know this is an earlier work of Maughan and I love his writing, so I give much grace to this one.

If you like a little mystery with your thriller, this is a good book to read. Starting book 2 shortly!

[Kari Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read 911 and The Villain's Mask before this one, so I was already familiar with Peter Andrassy. This was such a twisty story, and I truly thought I had it figured out. I did not.

In true DJ Maughan form, this book is well written and has good characters that are relatable. I have definitely grown to love Peter, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series!

Highly recommend this book as well as DJ's others. He is such a consistently great writer. I love everything I have read by him, and I am down to just 3 books left to read!

[Anna-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definite plot twist at the end of this story. Stephen is trying to find his girlfriend who seems to have disappeared, but when he hires Peter to find her, Stephen can’t seem to give him much informant about her - including her last name. What’s the deal with that, and does it have anything to do with the disappearance of other young women in the area? Peter is almost killed trying to solve both cases.

[Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow start. I had trouble paying attention. Some parts seemed a bit implausible. A NYC detective that is Hungarian retires to Budapest and becomes a private investigator and has buddies in the police? A college kid who does not speak Hungarian rebels and decides to move there for college?

The parts about girls going missing seemed realistic. Lots of terrible people in the world. The fact that Stephen could stumble through life and not know that he was in a fugue state part of the time.

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never heard of this author, that doesn’t mean anything, since I’ve never heard of many of them, but the story line intrigued me and had to read it.
The main storyline was an eye opener.
I thought that Human trafficking was more of an “American” difficult problem, I had also heard that in Asia this was a big problem too, but didn’t know or even think that in Europe this horrible thing was happening too!!
The book was not very long, and of course the main storyline had to continue to book 2!

[Rendalynn S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot twist is fantastic

A really good read. Keeps you guessing right to the end. Truly enjoyed this story and was surprised that I had liked it that much. I've had the book for quite awhile but kept skipping over it trying to figure out why I even got it in the first place. Now I'm glad I did.

[Linda Niemeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. It is a short book and didn't take long to read. So things were wrapped up very quickly. If you want something to read in an afternoon, this author's books would be a good choice. I previously read Idaho Fall by this author which was also a short book and wrapped up very quickly.

[Samantha Behm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the type of book a girl named Samantha, from Cleveland, wants to read 2 weeks before she goes on a trip to Budapest 😑 overall it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. I found the ending very predictable (I predicted it in the first half of the book) and although the other story line made for a little more adventure, even that was predictable. It was…fine.

[Tandy Starkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent weaving of characters.

This book stands out to me because you could feel the city when reading about it. The character development was on point and you could easily keep track of them and not be lost in the transition between them. Excellent storyline and I can’t wait to read about these characters in following books.

[Cassandra Joy Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent novel !
I first read 911 by D.J. Maughan and Peter and Zuszua are on their honeymoon through the novel . I was so excited when getting into this book to find this is the adventure where they meet for the first time.
I never would have guessed what happened to Samantha!!! Highly recommend!

[Kami Espenlaub · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a page turner & I loved it! The characters are well developed & I enjoy the way Peter works and thinks. It’s also impressive how much knowledge the author has about history & Budapest. This author always tells a good story & I haven’t been disappointed by any of his books. Highly recommend!

[Mary Sue Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book of Surprises

This is a well written book taking place in Budapest. I really like the main characters and the way the story flows. It is definitely a psychological thriller. It was very interesting and entertaining.

[Ida Anak · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by this author

A very interesting story in beautiful Budapest.
A lot of interesting historical facts that I enjoyed and a good plot. I also liked DJ Maughan's story telling style.
A good book

[Colbert L. Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and detailed

Thorughly enjoyed this book by DJM. It’s a bit different f4rom some of his series but the characters and setting are as great ass those. I keep coming back to his works because they are so well developed and captivating. I will definitely be reading more.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

I really enjoyed this one.
A search for a missing girl, a cheating husband.
But nothing is as it seems.
I enjoyed the little twist at the end. Never would have guessed that one!
Great read!

[Frannie Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant! Loved it from start to finish. So much was happening, but it was so easy to follow, despite all the fabulous twists and turns. And I did not guess that final twist at all! Loved it!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this on audio. There are a couple of twists, one a little less surprising than the other. There are a few suspenseful moments that make you wonder what's next. Overall, it was enjoyable.