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myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
3.73/5 stars. It was decent if a little predictable and not very original.
kristy_k's review against another edition
3.0
Reminiscent of Mary Higgins Clark, The Vanishing Season is just dark enough and with the right amount of small twists to keep you guessing.
A serial killer may be on the lose the small town where Ellery is a cop, but no one else believes her. Worse yet, the crimes may be linked to her past. And the killer is taunting Ellery with that knowledge. She calls in the FBI agent that saved her all those years ago, and together they try to bring a killer to justice.
With so many people hiding secrets or acting strangely it was hard to pinpoint who may be behind the taunts to Ellery and the missing people. I felt I was constantly questioning everyone we met through Ellery and Reed and I loved that.
There were a few issues (for instance: DNA testing takes more than a day and in a place like Boston there would be no special favors that didn't stem from an already huge case; also, even though Ellery's name was kept out of the press (from when she was a child), in order to become a police officer one must pass multiple background tests and psychological testing. Her boss, Chief Parker, would have been aware of her past), but on the whole an enjoyable novel.
A serial killer may be on the lose the small town where Ellery is a cop, but no one else believes her. Worse yet, the crimes may be linked to her past. And the killer is taunting Ellery with that knowledge. She calls in the FBI agent that saved her all those years ago, and together they try to bring a killer to justice.
With so many people hiding secrets or acting strangely it was hard to pinpoint who may be behind the taunts to Ellery and the missing people. I felt I was constantly questioning everyone we met through Ellery and Reed and I loved that.
There were a few issues (for instance: DNA testing takes more than a day and in a place like Boston there would be no special favors that didn't stem from an already huge case; also, even though Ellery's name was kept out of the press (from when she was a child), in order to become a police officer one must pass multiple background tests and psychological testing. Her boss, Chief Parker, would have been aware of her past), but on the whole an enjoyable novel.
cath_a's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Not a book I would have come across had it not been in my subscription box from 'A box of stories. ' More people need to read this book.
maya1watson's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good thriller. Not amazing writing, but entertaining and was great to pass the time while I traveling.
segza's review against another edition
2.0
Boo - most predictable crime story I’ve read in a long time. Premise was compelling but delivery fell through for me. I recommend skipping this one if you’ve got a huge to-read pile.
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
4.0
The Vanishing Season is an impressive debut from Joanna Schaffhausen, and an equally impressive series start. All too often lately, I've been sucked in by a great prologue only to be let down by what follows, but that was not a problem at all with this book. The mystery is suspenseful and kept me on my toes, the procedural part of the story was interesting and thought-provoking, and the characters were terrific - even the ones I didn't like. Our main characters, Ellery and Reed are both likable and even though I've never been in either's shoes, they were still relatable. Ellery makes for a great protagonist. She's stubborn, determined, and will stop at nothing to solve this case even when no one else thinks there is a case. Does she always make the right decisions? Not even close, and she's also a bit broken by her past and keeping secrets that could come back to bite her. She's got plenty of reason to keep secrets, and who wouldn't messed up by what she's been through. She lived through a nightmare and is still pushing through the other side. Reed is equally likable and also a little broken. His story tugs at the heartstrings as he deals with things in his personal life while also trying to help Ellery. I really liked Reeds chapters and the way his mind worked as they raced to find a killer before someone else could be taken. The mystery is laid out very well, and the author does give us a pretty good red herring or two as the story progresses. I did guess the killer's identity, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story, and I will say that the author had me second-guessing myself more than once. All in all, this is a great start to the series, and I can't wait to see more of these characters.
mandylovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schuffhausen is a fantastic story.. Ellery Hathaway is a tough character and I am looking forward to reading more about her in future books. This book kept me guessing and on edge right til the end. The premise was intriguing and original which was really refreshing.
Ellie, at age 14, was taken by infamous serial killer Francis Michael Coben on her birthday. She is the only survivor of his killing spree, but she keeps this to herself. Years later she is a police officer in Woodbury MA where nothing much really happens. But for the past 3 years people have been disappearing around her birthday and her superior officers are not taking her seriously. In desperation she reaches out to her rescuers all those years ago - FBI agent Reed Markham. Reed's like is a mess at the moment - his marriage is falling apart and his colleagues are losing faith in him. Together they try to find these people and who took them and why. Is it all connected to Ellie and why?
Thanks to St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for granting my wish for this book. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
Ellie, at age 14, was taken by infamous serial killer Francis Michael Coben on her birthday. She is the only survivor of his killing spree, but she keeps this to herself. Years later she is a police officer in Woodbury MA where nothing much really happens. But for the past 3 years people have been disappearing around her birthday and her superior officers are not taking her seriously. In desperation she reaches out to her rescuers all those years ago - FBI agent Reed Markham. Reed's like is a mess at the moment - his marriage is falling apart and his colleagues are losing faith in him. Together they try to find these people and who took them and why. Is it all connected to Ellie and why?
Thanks to St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for granting my wish for this book. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.
reading2escape's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
● This is the third small-town mystery I've read in the last couple weeks in which it's been established that the interrogation room at the police station doesn't have a 'fancy two-way mirror or intercom technology' (224). I'm amused.
● Insufficient proofreading (for shame, St. Martin's):
- 'and it would soon the sizzle would be perfuming the downstairs' (61)
- '"you are stay away from my wife"' (151)
- 'If he was on the job with a badge behind, him he never would have dared' (162)
● I initially misread Sam's age as 'twenty-two years old' instead of 'twenty-two years older', which threw me off for the entire book (since his wife is described as 'middle-aged' (232), Sam's hair is 'an honest salt-and-pepper black' (5), and he 'worked his way up through the ranks in Boston before taking the small town position in Woodbury as chief of police' (5), none of which seem to fit with a twenty-two-year-old!). My fault for misreading, of course. Fun fact: he's 50, not 22.
● I'm reluctant to say that the book pulls punches (partly because I think I use that phrase too often), but I do wish it had followed through on some potential sources of tension.
- Reed is portrayed, at the beginning, as a womanizer and potential alcoholic. He's supposed to be the grizzled old hand battling demons, I guess. But neither women nor alcohol is ever an issue throughout the book: at most, Reed makes the decision to prudently limit his alcohol intake. It ends up feeling as though the book was going for the sense of a grizzled demon-battler without any of the actual complications.
- Ellery is having an affair with her boss, the police chief; this is established from the first chapter. On her part, it's a calculated move: he has more to lose than she does, and he'll be in a great deal more trouble if the affair comes out, so this gives her some power over him. But although their power struggle crops up on and off, it's never in a hugely significant way, and neither of them does more than make idle threats about exposing the affair.
- Ellery stays dead silent about her past for as long as she possibly can. On the one hand this makes sense (who wants to be at the centre of that kind of attention?), but on the other hand... I don't know. A couple problems with her silence, I guess: first, she really does have info that the other characters don't, and she's in a much better place to have insight into the killer's actions than anyone else. Plus, if he's actively targeting her, that's information that the (rest of the) police should have. And second, it has the potential to make her look guilty, especially when. Reed considers her as a suspect, of course, but he pretty quickly 'clears' her (to himself), and after a small hissy fit when they find out her past, Sam and the other police officers get over it. Feels like a missed chance for conflict.
- Reed's profile of the killer is kind of...wrong, no? Which is fine (it's not like it's an exact science), but I'm a little surprised that that doesn't end up being a character-development point.
●
● Overall, it was a solid read but felt a bit standard. I think that's best illustrated in the bit about the interrogation room: not that anything here is done badly, but it's been done before. Scarred heroine who was a killer's only survivor; corrupt police chief; that lack of two-way mirrors; etc.
● Insufficient proofreading (for shame, St. Martin's):
- 'and it would soon the sizzle would be perfuming the downstairs' (61)
- '"you are stay away from my wife"' (151)
- 'If he was on the job with a badge behind, him he never would have dared' (162)
● I initially misread Sam's age as 'twenty-two years old' instead of 'twenty-two years older', which threw me off for the entire book (since his wife is described as 'middle-aged' (232), Sam's hair is 'an honest salt-and-pepper black' (5), and he 'worked his way up through the ranks in Boston before taking the small town position in Woodbury as chief of police' (5), none of which seem to fit with a twenty-two-year-old!). My fault for misreading, of course. Fun fact: he's 50, not 22.
● I'm reluctant to say that the book pulls punches (partly because I think I use that phrase too often), but I do wish it had followed through on some potential sources of tension.
- Reed is portrayed, at the beginning, as a womanizer and potential alcoholic. He's supposed to be the grizzled old hand battling demons, I guess. But neither women nor alcohol is ever an issue throughout the book: at most, Reed makes the decision to prudently limit his alcohol intake. It ends up feeling as though the book was going for the sense of a grizzled demon-battler without any of the actual complications.
- Ellery is having an affair with her boss, the police chief; this is established from the first chapter. On her part, it's a calculated move: he has more to lose than she does, and he'll be in a great deal more trouble if the affair comes out, so this gives her some power over him. But although their power struggle crops up on and off, it's never in a hugely significant way, and neither of them does more than make idle threats about exposing the affair.
- Ellery stays dead silent about her past for as long as she possibly can. On the one hand this makes sense (who wants to be at the centre of that kind of attention?), but on the other hand... I don't know. A couple problems with her silence, I guess: first, she really does have info that the other characters don't, and she's in a much better place to have insight into the killer's actions than anyone else. Plus, if he's actively targeting her, that's information that the (rest of the) police should have. And second, it has the potential to make her look guilty, especially when
Spoiler
her saliva is on the envelopes for the missives she's received- Reed's profile of the killer is kind of...wrong, no? Which is fine (it's not like it's an exact science), but I'm a little surprised that that doesn't end up being a character-development point.
●
Spoiler
I'm kind of disappointed that Reed, and not Ellery, was locked in the closet at the end. Not that I wanted Ellery to suffer more, of course, but...seems like a chance for her to conquer her demons in a big way? Plus, we effectively have Reed being locked in a closet and escaping and saving Ellery's life, which is not necessarily what I'm looking for with a female protagonist. I can see an argument that it would be too expected for Ellery to be the one trapped again, but still...● Overall, it was a solid read but felt a bit standard. I think that's best illustrated in the bit about the interrogation room: not that anything here is done badly, but it's been done before. Scarred heroine who was a killer's only survivor; corrupt police chief; that lack of two-way mirrors; etc.