Megan Miranda has become a fast favourite author of mine, and The Last to Vanish is a culmination of what she does best. If you loved the outsider-vs-the-community vibes of The Last House Guest , this will be right up your alley.

The setting of Cutter's Pass is one of her best, and is richly described. Megan masterfully merges the present-day narrative with the stories of the missing men and women. No narrative tricks. No multiple POVs. Just bringing a new character, and a new place, to life, wrapped in a great mystery.

Thank you to Scribner and Megan Miranda for this ARC.

A frequent tourist to the mountains of my province, the setting of this book hit close to home. The atmosphere of tourists in the summer months, packed for hikes. The absolute cold and desolation of winter. I was there. While I found the book a little slow getting started, there was a lot of back story to catch up on to move forward. Once the ball started rolling I was hooked and needed answers! An overall good read for those who love a good mystery!

I was excited to read this as I really enjoyed the last book of hers. I was a bit disappointed. It took me a long time to get into the story I found the first half was very dry and boring and I was just waiting for it to get better. I didn't give up and I'm glad I was able to finish. It's about multiple disappearances that happen in a small town where everyone knows everyone and as all small towns everyone has secrets. When the brother of the last person who vanished comes into town looking for answers, one vital piece of information can change everyone for our main character Abby. She digs into the towns secrets, as she is one of them but still feels like an outsider.

Again this starts off really slow and I understand it has to build it up but it was over half way through to me the story got interesting. I wasn't sure how it would eventually end but am glad I finished it.

A creepy and sinister atmospheric thriller, suffocating and murky, that will get under your skin and hold you captive, lamp-lights burning (and doors locked) as you read on, losing conviction, (but still optimistic! ) that you will be able to figure it all out.

We. They.
Insider. Outsider.
Visitor. Home.

What is it that makes a town become home, an insider emergent; a village closing ranks around you; secrets in, and interlopers safely out.

Cutter’s Pass is a mountain town, sporting a hiking-trail winding deep into the interior of the Appalachians - an infamous spot, host to the unsolved disappearance of four young hikers, more than twenty years ago, cheerfully (chillingly?) and forevermore known as the “Fraternity Four”, leaving the four-mile area of Cutters Pass with the unlikely moniker of “the most dangerous town in North Carolina”.

In the decades since, three more mysterious disappearances have served to raise the town’s notoriety-profile to white-hot, as it now reluctantly extends hospitality to “trauma tourists” - modern-day ghouls seeking salacious details and a mystery to solve.

In the heart of it all, we meet Abby Lovett, twenty-eight years old, manager of the local inn, and the niece of its proprietor, long-time resident Celeste. Ten years after settling in town, Abby’s status is squarely nowhere - caught in the grey between the fortress of the town’s inner-circle and the loose-and-idle visiting tourists.

This uneasy balance is disrupted, suddenly and disturbingly, when the arrival of a visitor in town finds Abby drawn, unwillingly and with much trepidation, into the bowels of this mystery and its insidious hold over the townsfolk.

“You could be protected, as long as you protect in return”.

As the plot weaves and pulls, it is not at all clear what will emerge, as the “bones of the place” rattle, and questions become more prevalent than answers.

Thriller-lovers are in for a treat with this one, a captivating and hard-to-put-down read, which will keep you guessing, - right up to the satisfying and somewhat-tricky ending.

A great big thank you to @NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Great thriller like always with Miranda. Nice plot, good twists and likeable, in a good or bad way, characters. I like it and will recommend it without a doubt!

✨Book Review✨
The Last To Vanish
Megan Miranda

I was so excited to receive an E-ARC of Megan Miranda’s newest thriller! I’ve been a big fan of this Author since her debut.

The Last To Vanish was another excellent story by Miranda, who has a way with creating so much suspense in her novels, as a reader you are left with no other choice but to keep turning the pages!

The only thing I will say is that I did feel that at times in this story, there was almost too many characters to keep track of, so I would find myself having to flip back and re read a few sections, to confirm certain things. The setting is very picturesque, and the characters were very well done. You feel like you live amongst them.

I really enjoyed the format in which this story was presented, and thought it was very captivating and full of curveballs.

This book is a must read for this summer. Be sure to add this one to your list of must reads when it releases on July 26th!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

This wasn't a bad story, but I didn't really care for or connect with any of the characters. I feel like character development was missing from the story overall. I didn't know anything about any of them, so it was hard to care what happened to them. I was pretty bored the whole way through.

Part 1 of the story is pretty slow moving, and the pace didn't really pick up for me until parts 4 and 5. I didn't think the ending was surprising.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda is a perfect spooky thriller for a stormy night. Abigail Lovett works at an inn in a small town that is known for unsolved disappearances. She gets drawn into the hunt for the missing people and the rest is a wild ride.

What I liked: The book was tense with suspense and I kept reading because I needed to know what would happen next. I liked how Miranda built the suspense throughout the book. I felt like I could personally envision the small town, the risky trail, and the inn.

What could be better: I was really into the book right up until the very end. I wanted more out of the ending than that.

I think the book is a four-star read for me. If it hadn’t been for the ending, I think it would have been a five-star read. If you are a fan of thrillers and unsolved mysteries, you might like this book.

Last summer I read and really enjoyed Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda so I was very excited to get The Last to Vanish from NetGalley. I didn't like any of the characters in this one and that was a good thing, they all seemed a little shady and that helped the mystery as I didn't know who to trust, so of course I was surprised when all was revealed. That's the best thing that could happen to this reader.

I have to be honest and say this one is a slow burner of a mystery. There have been six missing person incidents in the last 20 or so years. Where did these missing people go? Was it the elements, animals, or was something far more sinister at work? The book is very atmospheric putting you right in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. I have visited the area often and absolutely loved it there. I really enjoyed the journey of getting to the answer, especially the last two (4 and 5) parts of the book. Megan Miranda never disappoints.

Atmospheric and tense, The Last to Vanish will keep you reading until the stunning conclusion.

Megan is a master of tension. She expertly crafts an impending sense of doom for the reader through her use of both the setting and the characters. Geographically isolated, she makes the small town feel almost claustrophobic, where everyone knows everything and yet you have the sense that everyone is hiding something.

Megan chose to tell the entire story from just Abby’s perspective and I think that was a great choice. It helps the reader really get behind Abby as a well-developed character and contributes to the sense of not knowing who else to trust. You know just enough about the other characters to suspect them, but not enough to rule anyone out.

I’ll admit, I am not the type of person that tries to guess the ending, I like to be surprised but sometimes you just can’t help knowing how it will end. That was not the case here. I didn’t see the end coming at all.

If you are a squeamish person who likes their thrillers without gore, this book is a good choice. There isn’t anything too twisted or graphic that happens. At the same time, there is plenty of eerie, dread-inducing suspense to keep even the most hard-core thriller fans interested and entertained.

Overall, a great read. I highly recommend it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go order Megan’s entire back catalogue.

Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.