A young girl wanders into the small town of Koraha, her hands stained with blood. She won’t speak, but her path is tracked through New Zealand’s unforgiving wilderness to a cabin – and the scene of a double murder.

The townsfolk know this cabin; it has a violent history. Twenty years ago, another girl was forced to flee, leaving her siblings and father behind. But now that her family’s secrets have led to more victims, Effie has no choice but to return to the bush and face the truth of what happened there… and why she ran.

IN A NUTSHELL
This is astonishingly good. It’s complex and full of trauma, but completely believable. The two timelines of the story are perfectly intercut to deepen understanding and increase tension. The narration is first-rate. It is staggering that this is a debut novel. Zoë Rankin is a writer to watch.

Wow, what a read. ‘The Vanishing Place‘ was intense and complicated. It was very dark and disturbing in parts, but deeply engaging. 

It’s a psychological thriller about the impact of trauma on memories, especially childhood memories, loyalty, guilt, the bonds of family, and imperatives of survival. 

Much of the story is set in the New Zealand bush. The story is told in two timelines, one where Effie is a child living an unconventional life in New Zealand. and one where Effie, now a police officer, reluctantly returns from the UK as an adult to investigate an event that echoes an important moment in her own past, and which may bring her back into contact with the family she fled decades ago.

Many of the events described are traumatic, but they’re not contrived thriller-fodder. These traumas are complicated. They feel real. Some are experienced in real-time. Some are seen through the distorting lens of memory. They are all unsettling, emotionally charged, and open to multiple interpretations depending on whether they are perceived as a child or as an adult. Their meaning changes dramatically depending on who you decide to trust. 

The two timelines of the story are perfectly intercut to deepen understanding and increase tension. I particularly liked the parts of the story told from a child’s point of view. They were intense and powerful, but even when the events were dark, they were lifted by the yet-to-be-extinguished hope of a child.

The plot was twisty. It was almost, but not quite, a cheat. Everything worked, but there was no way the reader could figure everything out for themselves. I was OK with that. This was a thriller, not a mystery, and it was a hell of a ride. 

You’d never guess from the prose, the pacing, the vivid characters and relationships, or the complex plot that this was a debut novel. 

I recommend the audiobook. Eva Seymour’s narration is first-rate. Click on the YouTube link to hear a sample. 

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