Thank you Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Vanishing Place in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Berkley
Published: September 16, 2025
Summary:
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 thoughts:
I feel like a broken record but once again here I am saying how impressed I am with the debuts this year. Believe me when I say, Zoe Rankin just put herself on my must-read list with this book — it was that amazing!
This book completely consumed me from the get-go, from the setting to the characters to the unsettling dread that you feel as you read this one. It’s creepy, it’s suspenseful and will have you questioning everything. I loved how layered this was, delving into complicated family relationships, hinting at cult-like behaviors, and survival at all costs.
I flew through this book in a day, unable to tear myself away from it until I reached the end. The short chapters just beg you to keep going and the perfectly placed twists hook you even deeper into this brilliantly crafted story. This atmospheric, haunting thriller is one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon!
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