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A review by vkoka89
The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up to 4!
Mia Eliot is an up-and-coming British actress and is well-known for her role as Jane Eyre. After her long-time boyfriend ghosts her for a much younger co-star, she hopes to take her success to the next level by flying out to LA during pilot season to land the role of a lifetime. There she meets aspiring actress Emily Bryant at a casting audition and what begins as a simple favor to help out a fellow actress turns dark as Emily suddenly disappears without a trace, leaving Mia with her car keys and wallet. Mia manages to track her down in hopes of returning her wallet and keys, but things get weird pretty quickly when a different woman shows up at her door claiming to be Emily. Mia could just leave it alone and move on with her life, but she can't shake the feeling that the real Emily is in danger.
While it's marketed as a psychological thriller, I found the story to be more of a suspense/mystery. Nonetheless, it was still a fun read and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood and it's worth mentioning that the author was a British actress herself, so it was inevitable that she would write a story about the acting world. I found it to be a page-turner and I liked Mia, although she was pretty naive and could have easily avoided putting her own life in danger as well. As I was reading I thought I had the ending figured out, it seemed obvious to me, but after all the twists and turns I was genuinely surprised the direction it had gone. The author is a fantastic writer but for this particular story I wish there was more showing than telling. All in all, I still enjoyed it.
Special thanks to NetGalley, the author Catherine Steadman, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Disappearing Act is scheduled to be released on June 8, 2021.
Mia Eliot is an up-and-coming British actress and is well-known for her role as Jane Eyre. After her long-time boyfriend ghosts her for a much younger co-star, she hopes to take her success to the next level by flying out to LA during pilot season to land the role of a lifetime. There she meets aspiring actress Emily Bryant at a casting audition and what begins as a simple favor to help out a fellow actress turns dark as Emily suddenly disappears without a trace, leaving Mia with her car keys and wallet. Mia manages to track her down in hopes of returning her wallet and keys, but things get weird pretty quickly when a different woman shows up at her door claiming to be Emily. Mia could just leave it alone and move on with her life, but she can't shake the feeling that the real Emily is in danger.
While it's marketed as a psychological thriller, I found the story to be more of a suspense/mystery. Nonetheless, it was still a fun read and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood and it's worth mentioning that the author was a British actress herself, so it was inevitable that she would write a story about the acting world. I found it to be a page-turner and I liked Mia, although she was pretty naive and could have easily avoided putting her own life in danger as well. As I was reading I thought I had the ending figured out, it seemed obvious to me, but after all the twists and turns I was genuinely surprised the direction it had gone. The author is a fantastic writer but for this particular story I wish there was more showing than telling. All in all, I still enjoyed it.
Special thanks to NetGalley, the author Catherine Steadman, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Disappearing Act is scheduled to be released on June 8, 2021.