This is the first book in an exciting series. Ellery is a very complex character and Reed is intriguing. There is a lot of past between these two, leading them to work a new case together this time. The story is full of surprises and suspense. This one will keep you up late. I didn't figure out the endgame until it was revealed. Leaves you wanting more.

This one had a super surprise twist that I really did not see coming...did that make it too forced? Or was I just not paying attention? Your heart breaks for the main character and her sense of betrayal and loneliness. BUT...there are twist and turns that take you on a fast paced ride until the end.

It’s been years since Ellery was a imprisoned in a closed by a madman, serial killer Francis Coben. Now, as an officer and the only one of Coben’s victims to escape, Ellery knows the fact that there is a new victim each year, around her birthday, is no coincidence, and there is only one man she can turn to...

Suspenseful and engaging! This is a must read book for crime and thriller fans.

Dark disturbing intense psychological thriller! Well written, tense and suspenseful, this thoughtful first novel will appeal to fans of Karen Slaughter.

I really enjoyed this book and it absolutely kept me on my toes. Ellery/Abigail was once the victim of a serial killer. She was the one who survived. She's now a small-town cop and it the only one who believes that a string of disappearances might be the work of another killer. Can she figure it out with the help of FBI Agent Reed Markham before anyone else gets taken?

This was a fast and engrossing read and I really enjoyed all the characters. I can't wait to see what's next for Ellery and Reed.

When Ellery Hathaway was 14 years old  she was victim number seventeen of serial killer Francis Michael Coben .FBI Agent Reed Markham  saved Ellery and now that she is in law enforcement herself , she needs her Reed’s help again. Ellery is pretty sure that she has encountered  another serial killer in the sleepy town Woodbury, MA,but no one believes her. Looking for another set of eyes she finally calls the man who saved her all those years ago to help solve the missing persons case.

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen is an intriguing debut mystery  read by Joanna Schaffhausen. It has well developed characters and is an excellent psychological thriller with lots of secrets and twists and turns  .A well written fast paced plot that does not let up makes it an entertaining read

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Blog: The Life & Times of a Book Addict

REVIEW:

Ellery knows someone else is going to disappear again. Time is running out and she needs to do something. The Police Chief doesn’t believe there is anything to worry about. He doesn’t see the connection that Ellery does, so she contacts someone she hopes will believe her. Ellery calls on Reed Markham, the FBI Agent that rescued her from the clutches of a serial killer all those years ago.

Reed is surprised to hear from Ellery. He’s always wondered what she made of her life. When he gets her plea for help, he knows it may not be the best move career wise, but he hops on a plane regardless. Despite making a big mistake on his last case; he is committed to his job and he will always try and help/save someone if at all possible. When he visits Ellery in her town of Woodbury, things don’t completely add up though. Is there a serial killer loose in Woodbury or is she obsessing over nothing?

I liked Ellery, she is tough and smart, but she also has a few inner demons she sometimes battles with. Who wouldn’t if they were held captive by a serial killer? She doesn’t tell people that she is the one victim of Frances Coben who survived. She likes to keep her private life private. No one but Reed seems to understand the urgency to find this possible serial killer before he or she strikes again. Reed and Ellery hadn’t seen each other since that day he saved her, so they are a little unfamiliar with each other at first. However, the more time Reed helps her with this investigation, the more they appear to work well together.

The writing and pace of the story was well done. There was just enough that kept happening to keep me turning pages and hold my interest. I liked the complexity of Ellery and Reed and the interesting course the author decided to take with her characters. The mystery was one I did not guess so easily, which I appreciated. All in all, I would say The Vanishing Season is a great start in a new crime fiction series.


RATING: 4 out of 5.

The first in a series that I was excited to start. Ellery Hathaway has moved to a quiet town to escape her past in Chicago. She wants to leave it all behind and just do her job as a police officer. There have been three disappearances and some mystery things happening and she swears it is related to her past but can't get the attention of her co workers until she calls an old friend from the FBI and gets things moving.

This was such a great mystery. There were definitely some gruesome moments so if you don't love to hear the gruesome details you may want to skip this one.

What I loved most about this book was the twist on how her past was reappearing. It was obvious and in your face and instead was subtle and had me guessing until the end. I know a mystery is good when I want to restart it the minute I finish to see if I can find the clues to the culprit faster the second time!

This is book 1 in the Ellery Hathaway series.

Ellery survived a serial killer and Reed is the agent who saved her, she's grown up to be a police officer in her home town of Woodbury and he's gone on to be a rogue FBI agent after blowing a major investigation. Ellery contacts Reed to help investigate the disappearance of 3 young people all taken from her home town around her birthday over the last three years. They work together to solve the case and help each other with their joint troubled pasts.

Both characters are flawed, they are trying to move on from their past but the situations they find themselves in keep them in the same mental and emotional state that they're been in for years.

I enjoyed this book even though I knew the ending quite early on, I like to see how they get there and how it's all explained. Loved the setting of the book, the way the characters were written, the interplay between them all and the overall feel of the book.

*Huge thanks to Joanna Schaffhausen, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

Solid for first in a series. Some predictability but I liked the main characters and would like to see more from this author.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC! I didn’t care for it, however, and would prefer not to leave a negative review.

Note: I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Schaffhausen's debut novel is a good one. I liked that The Vanishing Season had serial killers as an element - something that is always of interest to me. The fact that this was told from the perspective of someone who had escaped a serial killer was intriguing and Schaffhausen didn't disappoint. It was interesting to get perceptive on what Ellery had been through, while also seeing her work to solve a more current mystery.

I was a little confused about her relationship with Reed. I'm not sure I totally buy the romance here and at times, it seemed a little creepy.

All in all, this was an interesting and intriguing mystery/suspense!

Ellie knows that the three unsolved kidnappings are related to her abductor. It's only that her fellow police officers don't believe her. Her Captain thinks she's just imagining things. But, being the only survivor or her kidnapper has left her questioning the crimes committed. She brings in the FBI agent that rescued her, Reese. He believes she may be right. This starts their journey in trying to solve the abductions and who is sending Ellie birthday cards when no one knows who she really is much less her birthday.
A great read! Awesome characters and storyline. Definitely worth reading!

Speed Bump aka Bump the Bassett Hound is my favorite character. The profile of the killer was interesting. The murders were interesting.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

Minotaur Books and NetGalley gave me an electronic copy of The Vanishing Season. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

As a police officer in a small and relatively safe town, the biggest problem that Ellery Hathaway has faced since becoming an officer is a repeat domestic violence offender. When people start disappearing, the crimes barely register for the chief and the rest of the officers. Ellery has a past, which she has kept from her fellow law enforcement officers, that may have direct bearing on the current issue. Having a feeling that something far more sinister than simple disappearances is in play, Ellery calls the one person from her past that has the ability to help her solve the cases. Will Ellery be sucked into the past or will she finally be able to let it go?

Although the book moved along at a fast pace, some of the plot points along the way do not seem to fit. It makes no sense that Ellery would take as many chances with her personal safety that she does, considering the fact that it seems clear that she has not completely put her past behind her. I find it hard to believe that Ellery would be hired as a police officer without someone doing a background check. Her past should not have been a surprise to the chief, since it would never happen that way in real life. Although Ellery's past is a main part of the book, the author was short on details regarding what happened. There were too many side plots that had no bearing on the actual story and detracted from the book as a whole. As for the perpetrator, the author telegraphed that person's identity a little too much for it to be a surprise. Overall, The Vanishing Season was a good read and one I would recommend to readers who like mystery thrillers.

The Vanishing Season is the first book in the Ellery Hathaway series written by author Joanna Schaffhausen. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press-Minotaur Books for the advance copy.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A gritty crime novel with tormented characters, a hidden past, and a few twists.

THE VANISHING SEASON is a sensational debut novel from Joanna Schaffhausen. I will admit that the creepy clown card that the publisher sent with the book freaked me out a bit, but I still managed to get past my coulrophobia and dive in.

Even though the story of a woman being confronted with her horrific past is not unheard of in a thriller, the thing that set this book apart, for me at least, was the writing. Schaffhausen managed to get to the core of her characters and develop them in a way that heightened the mystery and suspense. Both Ellery Hathaway and Agent Reed Markham are such honest and flawed people, that you can't help but get drawn into the drama surrounding the murders in this book.

This smart, complex, and completely addictive thriller has me anxiously waiting for Schaffhausen's next book.

Story of a "final girl" who becomes a cop. I felt that the author made the ending a bit too obvious so the final reveal felt anticlimactic.

Ellery Hathaway is a survivor, the only survivor of a serial killer. Years later she is a police officer in a small Massachusetts town - and no one knows of her past. Something she would like to keep that way. For the past few years she has been receiving a birthday card from someone who appears to know her secret - and generally right before someone goes missing. Ellery would like to prevent the next one from happening only no in the police department believes there is any connection between the missing people and Ellery is not willing to share the reason why she suspects something. Desperate for help she contacts Reed Markham, the FBI agent who found her and saved her from becoming the next victim. Reed and Ellery work together to try and find out who knows Ellery's secret before it is too late.

This was a wonderful mystery book - not so much because of the mystery (I had a suspicion early on who the person was) but because I wanted to keep going to find out what would happen next and how everything tied together. I also liked Ellery's character and how it was shown her past affected her present.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a great thriller. It kept me guessing right up to the end; a great storyline with so many twists and turns, lots of action, with a great cast of characters. The main character, was so well developed, loved her.

Will definitely read more book by this author.