Member Reviews
Megan Miranda returns with another bestseller! In The Last to Vanish, Abby finds herself in the middle of her small towns most recent disappearance. When journalist Landon West goes missing, his brother shows up looking for answers. As Abby uncovers the story as to what happened years ago with the first disappearance, we see that she has secrets of her own.
Great read! Highly recommended for all. I found myself hooked on the story line quickly.
* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books in exchange for my honest review
Abigail Lovett has worked for the Passage Inn for the last ten years, she fell in love with the inn, and the beautiful mountain town, Cutter’s Pass. Even though she’s lived here for so long, she’s always felt like she was never welcomed by the residents so she always felt like an outsider. As the inn is settled near the Appalachian Trail, it’s a hotspot for people seeking outdoor adventures. Cutter’s Pass has been named the most dangerous town in the state due to mysterious disappearances in the last 25 years. When one of the missing person’s siblings comes into town looking for answers, it leads Abby on an adventure of her own to figure out the truth once and for all.
The Last to Vanish is a slow burn thriller, jam packed with mysteries and secrets. The setting was incredible, who doesn’t love a small-town mystery in an idyllic setting where you question everyone and everything. As the story progresses it gets darker and creepier, and I was here for all of it. The pace of the story was a bit too slow, that when everything was revealed, it didn’t give me that bang I love with thrillers. Overall, it’s a good book with some surprising twists and secrets.
Thank you netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A big thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC of The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda! This is the first book I have read by Megan but I will definitely check out more of her work.
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
Read this if you like:
- suspense
- nature
- slow burn
- mystery
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot! I loved the atmosphere, the descriptions of hiking trails and beautiful scenery. It seemed like a quaint town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by wildlife and nature. A place where everyone knew each other and everyone had a secret.
In the beginning, I liked that we got to meet the characters and get to know them. The story did take quite a while to unfold but it was suspenseful and kept me guessing.
The story picked up towards the ending and I couldn’t put the book down! At that point, I suspected pretty much all the characters. All of them had secrets and the town was not great with searching and finding clues. I enjoyed the ending so much! I was really shocked and at the edge of my seat! I highly recommend and I will definitely be checking out more of her books.
While I don't necessarily agree with the comparisons to Shirley Jackson or Stephen King's novels, I did really enjoy this story on its own value.
It's a solid thriller with a likeable protagonist. Small-town claustrophobic vibes made worse by the looming wilderness. A good choice for cottage reading this summer.
3.5 stars rounded to four for rating.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.
- 4.5 Stars -
This book was exactly what I needed. I have been reading a ton of romance novels lately, and while they are fun for the summer and easy to rip through, I was really feeling like I needed something to make my brain work harder. This book fits the bill perfectly. It had everything I needed! A chance for me to play detective, a creepy urban legend, unsolved cases and an eerie setting at a small town inn. I was hooked.
The story did take quite some time to heat up, so if you’re willing to wait for the last third of the book for the big plot twist and reveals, then this is the book for you. This was my first Megan Miranda book and I will definitely be reading more of her stuff! I may or may not have already gone out and bought Such A Quiet Place by her as well.
Abby, was a different thriller character than I would have expected to be following alongside. She just seemed a little too wary of everything going on around her and the people that she has known for years. Her routines are her routines and then this storyline comes in and totally destroys those routines for her. It was a really interesting main character to be reading this story through for sure! I genuinely have to say that I didn’t expect the plot twist to reveal what it did so you definitely want to look forward to that part of the book for sure! It also leaves just a touch unknown to both the reader and the characters which is always an epic way to end a thriller in my mind!
Thank you, @netgalley and @simonschusterca for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Readers Copy from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Cutter’s Pass, a mountain town everyone whispers about because of the disappearances. 7 sudden disappearances within 25 years with no leads or resolutions. That is until the latest missing person Landon West turns out to be a reporter investigating the disappearances with a new lead. The town is full of secrets, and even the people who live there don’t know what to believe.
Enter the main character Abby, who seems to be full of her own secrets, and Landon West’s brother Trey looking for his own answers as to what happened to his brother.
Megan Miranda weaved such an eerie slow-burn thriller that left me with chills, but also not wanting to stop reading. I followed all the clues I thought I was being left throughout the book, and still couldn’t have possibly come up with the twists that were thrown at me in the final chapters.
Incredibly well done, and would recommend this to fans of thrillers who can’t get enough twists and turns.
So many missing people! An entire town of suspect? So few clues!
Did I guess who the culprit(s) were? Yes... and no.
I did suspect one specific person from the very beginning, but the MOTIVES and the EXECUTION were way off! Megan Miranda certainly threw dust in my eyes more than once.
The writing, as usual, was very good. There was a Stephen King-like tension throughout, with a few hair raising scares thrown in for good measure.
As usual, you have to pay attention to all of the clues. And that added twist at the end: it just goes to show you: if you can beat 'em, you have to join 'em, right?!?
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this thriller in exchange for an honest review.
Abby works at the Passage inn which is a cozy resort near in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter"s Pass. Many poeple have dissappeared from this inn and no one knows why. When Trey, missing persons brother, shows up for answers, he and Abby start to find evidence and start diggin deeper into the other disappearances to see if they really are related.
I read this book in one sitting! I loved the small town vibes where everyone knows each other but not really because everybody has secrets. I found it really fun that as they found evidence for the cases, they jumped to the other case to go more into detail. I would've liked more cases but that's just because I love solving them. I also liked that we got a little backstory for the characters. They felt more real and I felt like I actually knew them.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend if you"re a fan of cozy mysteries.
I received this as an arc. Thank you to Net Galley for approving me!
Megan Miranda masterfully sets the scene of this small town, and the Passage Inn. I can vividly picture it in my mind, and it seems like a quaint cozy town that I'd like to visit - despite the disappearing visitors ;) The only problem is, I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book, and nothing has really happened. It just hasn't kept my interest. =\
Miranda set the atmosphere in this book so well. It was creepy with the small town, everyone in town seeming to know everything about everyone. All the locals were suspicious, including the MC, Abby. I really enjoyed how the book was broken up. Plus, the biggest twist of all I did not see coming at all!!! I imagine this will be great on audio too! This is going to be a fabulous fall read for lots of readers!
Thanks to NetGalley & Simon and Schuster Canada for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
Let me first state that I am a HUGE fan of Megan Miranda. ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, a mystery unraveled backwards, still remains one of my favourite thrillers of all time. I eagerly await every one of her summer releases and was beyond excited to receive an eARC as well as an advanced copy from Simon and Schuster Canada.
Ten years ago, Abby Lovett fell into a job she loves in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter’s Pass, which is best known for its outdoor offerings—rafting and hiking, with access to the Appalachian trail by way of a gorgeous waterfall—and its mysterious history. The string of unsolved disappearances that has haunted the town is once again thrust into the spotlight when an investigating journalist disappears. Abby has sometimes felt like an outsider within the community... when she finds incriminating evidence that may bring her closer to the truth, Abby soon discovers how little she knows about her coworkers, neighbors, and even those closest to her.
The premise of this book is eerie- a small hiking town where over the years, hikers- mostly tourists- just disappear, never to be seen again, bodies never found. There is no pattern or connection between the disappearances- or is there? This book is Miranda is her ELEMENT. Small, close knit communities. Atmospheric settings. Deep buried secrets rising to the surface. So many people but not knowing who to trust. The suspense of it all just gnawing at you. As always, the book had more than one great twist I did NOT see coming and I loved the resolution of it all.
Abby is a great protagonist as she has an element of mystery to her as well. Why did she come to Cutter's Pass? How did she find her estranged family who own the inn she now works at? Cutter's Pass is both a place that collects lost souls and grounds those who never leave- I love when a town itself becomes a central character in a book.
Miranda fans won't be disappointed with this one. The Last to Vanish comes out July 26.
This book was SO GOOD.
I was hooked right from the beginning. A town, where only visitors go missing without a trace? Where even people who had lived there for years were not considered locals? A remote inn?
Megan Miranda gave us all of the above and then some. This novel was excellently written and fast paced, with so many surprise twists that just when i thought i had it all figured out, the truth is revealed (to be completely different than what i was anticipating). I immediately rushed to the store to buy her other works.
An excellent thriller and mystery, not giving too much away, but definitely enough to let your mind wander...
The Last to Vanish brings much more to the storyline than the title indicates. Megan Miranda's writing is fabulous in this novel, giving the reader wonderful metaphors and amazing twists. Set at the foot of The Appalachian Trail, the lush countryside is clearly drawn. I wish I could include some quotes to show you her ability to describe natural aspects and give plot hints flawlessly, but until publication, that's not to be!
The novel unwinds steadily and slowly (not a fault), with a sleepy mood, which suits the setting and atmosphere, then engages us stealthily, every chapter adding more; by 50% of the way through, you get a deeper insight into main characters and the suspense is amped up. There is no way of knowing definitively how the plot is going to unfold. Each well-developed character creates suspicions, but good writer that Miranda is, she takes you on a new path each time you think you have the mystery solved. There are many pieces to this puzzle, and it is enjoyable watching them all fit into place.
A great example of this genre.
My thanks to NetGalley and to MarySue Ricci Books/Scribner for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Last to Vanish will draw you in slowly but surely and soon the pages will be turning quickly as the tension mounts.
Abby has made her home in Cutter's Pass North Carolina where she works at an Inn .
The town has quite the history of people going for a hike in the mountains and never returning or being found be it dead or alive.
The latest victim Landon West, a famous reporter, also vanishes and his brother Trey is now staying at the inn desperately trying to find out what happened to him
I cleverly followed the clues and the mysteries within the mysteries and thought I had it almost solved.
Wrong.
Megan Miranda never fails to put in a final twist or two that you wont see coming.
Get your copy of The Last to Vanish, put it to the top of your TBR pile and settle in for quite the adventure.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books for nail biting read.
I´m sorry to say I couldn’t get into this one. This author is hit and miss with me and had to stop reading as it just wasnt doing it for me….
This book had a great premise, but unfortunately was a bit slow and hard to get into. I am typically a fan of Megan Miranda, so was a bit disappointed that I struggled to connect with the characters and the plot. Everything did come together in the last 100 pages or so, but by that point I was a bit checked out and for the most part had already put together what was going to happen.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC of The Last To Vanish.
Personally, I love Megan Miranda so when I heard she had a new book coming out I couldn't wait to read it. And let me tell you this book did not disappoint. The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda, is my favourite book she has written.
Quick synopsis. Abby moved to the mountain town of Cutter's Pass over ten years ago, and it has proven difficult to be considered an insider. No one ever seems to answer a question straight, everything appears to be kept a mystery. Cutter's Pass is best known for its disappearances, six in the past twenty-five years. When Landon West's brother comes to town four months after his brother's disappearance, Abby decides to start poking around. And the town isn't what it seems.
Abby's character was a breath of fresh air to read from. I found myself thinking very similar to her. Megan Miranda did an amazing job of keeping me questioning everyone and how all the pieces fit together. And the big reveal shocked me. I did not see it coming. What I learnt from her book is trust no one.
I love Megan Miranda and was thrilled to get an ARC for The Last to Vanish.
The Last to Vanish did not disappoint! It was atmospheric, puzzling and filled with twists and turns. Miranda was constantly steering you in the wrong direction and kept me guessing until the last page.
I absolutely loved this one! Easy 5-star for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!
This was a slow burn but it kept me guessing until the very end which is always fun! I wish there was a little more twists and turns throughout the way, instead of all at the end, but it was still a good read. I loved the description of the setting which felt somehow felt both haunting and cozy.
The Last to Vanish is an intriguing slow-burn thriller.
Abigail Lovett has lived in Cutter’s Pass for the last ten years. It’s a close-knit community, but Abby finally feels like she belongs, except when she doesn’t.
Although the town is popular among tourists for its great outdoors, it is also notorious for the number of visitors that have disappeared, either in the town proper or on its hiking trails. The last person to vanish was an investigative journalist looking into these numerous disappearances over the last twenty-odd years.
Some months later, the journalist’s brother, Trey West, checks into the inn that Abby works at and is determined to uncover the truth behind his brother’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Abby finds herself simultaneously drawn into the missing persons’ cases and feeling that the locals are slowly shutting her out.
This thriller has lots of descriptive writing about the setting, mountains, hiking trails, and isolation. It was supposed to be atmospheric and bristling with tension, but it didn’t feel that way to me. Some parts did, especially the scenes at night, but for the most part, it felt slightly underwhelming.
Abby’s character grated on the nerves a bit too. It’s no secret that her imagination runs away with her, but it did induce some eye-rolling from this reader. Her tendency to accuse people without evidence and beg for the truth was a bit irksome. When she wasn’t doing that, I did like her character.
Even with those gripes, I did enjoy this novel on the whole. I felt compelled to keep reading. I guessed one twist correctly, but not the final one.
Although I didn’t completely love this one, there are many favourable early reviews already, so you may want to check those out. I recommend it if you enjoy slower-paced small-town thrillers.
Thank you to Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books for providing me with an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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