The Vanishing Place, Zoe Rankin (Review by Stacey Lorenson)
Rating: 4.0/5 Stars
The Vanishing Place is a heart wrenching debut mystery thriller. Author, Zoe Rankin, has created a multigenerational family drama, jam packed with lies, secrets, danger, and multiple plot twists. Set in the middle of New Zealand’s reclusive bush forest, this propulsive suspense novel had me speed reading to the very end!
Nine-year-old Anya has been discovered, emaciated and covered in blood, on June’s doorstep, narrowly escaping captivity in the bush. June contacts Lewis, a local New Zealand police officer and Effie’s childhood best friend. Lewis reconnects with Effie, who is also a police officer, and a survivor of a violent childhood in the bush. Together the reunited pair commit to unlocking the mystery surrounding who kept Anya chained up in an abandoned hut with a dead body in the remote New Zealand forest.
Still recovering from living in fear and scarcity, Effie returns to the forest, forcing herself to revisit her horrifying childhood. Abandoned by her violent father for extended periods of time, Effie assumed the role of mother to her three siblings, while her father insisted they remain hidden from the civilized world. To complicate matters, Anya bares a strange resemblance to Effie. Could this child be a relative of one of Effie’s long-lost siblings? As they unravel the labyrinth of questions that surround the hidden world she and Anya survived, the answers put them closer to the proximity of life-threatening danger.
Rankin takes readers deep into a world wrought with murder, deception, harrowing adventure and zealot, cult-like mentality. Rankin softens this emotionally traumatic story with an amazing assortment of supporting characters while transporting readers to an engrossing exotic locale. The well-crafted plot will leave you breathless until the satisfying conclusion. The Vanishing Place is a thrilling mystery adventure that will have you reading late into the night!