Book Description 

A shocking murder in the New Zealand bush—and the witness who looks all too familiar—draws a woman back to the very place she swore she’d never return to in this breakneck debut thriller.

A child who ran from the forest.

A woman who must return to it

Growing up with her younger siblings in the unforgiving New Zealand bush, Effie believed their parents had cut them off from civilization because they loved Nature. She never suspected that their reasons might be more menacing. After witnessing a terrifying episode of violence, she escaped the wilderness to forge a life for herself halfway across the globe.

Now, when she learns the only witness to a murder is a little girl who looks just like her, Effie is compelled to return to the scene of her troubled childhood, where the secrets of her upbringing and the terrors of her past come rushing back to the surface. In order to find out once and for all what became of her family—and possibly help this mysterious girl who could be her younger self—Effie must face her greatest fears once more.

My Review 

This is a taut thriller with a split timeline that unfolds in alternating chapters. There are tons of questions in both timelines, and the past does not always shed light on what is unfolding in the present day. Not only is the reader missing information, but narrator Effie is also unable to provide any explanations because she doesn’t fully understand what transpired out there in the bush when she was a girl. Furthermore, she never expected to return to the place she fled from years ago.

I must admit that the story took a turn in a direction I was not expecting. I had surmised something that was not the case at all. I can’t say anything more, but needless to say, it all led to an interesting turn of events. 

I would absolutely recommend The Vanishing Place. Effie is a great protagonist who displays strength and resilience for not only surviving her ordeal in the hut out there in the bush, but also for returning even though she swore she would never return. Somewhere between the past and the present is the location of the truth, and the answers take the reader on quite the journey.  

I received a digital ARC of this book from Berkeley/NetGalley.