When a class of ten children (I believe they were 10-year-olds?) and their teachers head off on a field trip, they're ready for a day of fun. But when the appointed time comes to pick them up, their parents (many of them wealthy and influential) are shocked to discover the bus never returns.

But how could an entire class just disappear?

This was an entertaining read. It did feel like it went on a little long in places, and pretty much all of the adults are horrible people (with the exception of the police), but I thought the premise was fresh and I was eager to read on to find out who was behind the kidnapping and why.

Thanks so much to HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for the invitation to read this book in exchange for a review through NetGalley.

A very good read that reminded me of the Chowchilla kidnapping in 1976 in California. While there are quite a few characters to keep track of, the author does a good job with development and personalities. There are so many twists and turns that only propel you to read faster!

Many thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for this ARC!

Description sounded very good but with so many characters I found it difficult to keep up . Lots of repetition spoiled it too.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book with a very gripping elevator pitch, and I was immediately hooked… up to the first 20%.

After that, the rest of the story fell flat and read more like a kidnapping story than a real mystery/thriller. Compared to Steve Cavanagh’s Fifty Fifty and Thirteen (two of my recent favourite mystery/thriller reads), this book lacked the mysterious elements and unexpected plot twists I would expect from books of this genre.

It probably didn’t help that there were zero likeable characters and the ending felt rushed/unsatisfactory. Even the police detectives were useless in their investigations, so much so that it defied reality.

Overall, it was still an easy, enjoyable read but slightly disappointing in the way that this interesting premise was executed.

Wow Jackie Kabler strikes again! I have loved all the books I have read by this author so the moment I saw this one I knew it was a priority. Having been off thrillers for a little while, I found they were creeping back into my choices a little more so I took the plunge. The storyline of this one had me hooked instantly, when the minibus with teachers and children goes missing I was engrossed to know more. It really kept me guessing right until the end and I completely devoured it in 2 days.
Loved it 🥰

Taken me quite a while to read this one. Didn't hate it, didn't love it ...

The basis of the story is quite compelling and the revelation at the end was amazing.

However, I did not find the sordid lives of the rich and famous interesting to read and some of the procedural elements of the police investigation and the characters thoughts were over explained.

How does an entire class of elementary school students just disappear? In this story you will discover all the secrets and lies the characters of the book are living through and how they will all affect their children's lives. This was a well thought out plot for how to kidnap a class, how to keep them alive, and then how to escape. I liked all of the various secrets that kept coming out, only to find out none of them are what the children were taken for.

The Vanishing of Class 3B started a bit slow for me but I got more invested as the story went on. This one was a little different to other mysteries as rather than a big reveal at the end as to what had happened to the class, we found out little snippets of information along the way. We find out early on that many of the parents have secrets, but we don't know what they are until later in the story.
There were no great surprises as to who people where, for example when I worked out who 'the Visitor' was, it was confirmed shortly later. But the mystery was why certain people behaved the way they did and who were they really. The story was told in alternating points of view, which was great to keep me hooked. We would just be given a snippet of information and want to know more about it, and then move onto a different POV. The last 2 chapters were kind of like epilogues from 2 different people's points of view - but they fell a little flat for me. One twist in the last chapter - but it wasn't really that exciting. Overall it was a great mystery where pieces slowly came together.
I will definitely be reading more of Jackie Kabler.

I read The Murder List by Jackie last year and really liked it, she leaves you guessing until the very last minute so I was quite excited when I saw she had another book coming out.

The Vanishing of Class 3b is focused on the disappearance of a school bus full of children and teachers - now normally I wouldn’t read a disappearing kids book but I may reconsider after this! As there were so many kids taken you also gain the involvement of all their parents, and cue lots and lots of drama! Digging into their past and trying to uncover buried skeletons means that tensions are running high and you start to wonder exactly who’s involved.

It’s safe to say, I didn’t guess correctly at all! There were little twists that I could pick up on but not the main who dunnit bit, and then Jackie gives you a final bow with even more unexpected twists! Her books really do leave you wanting more and I’m even more determined than before to get reading some of her previous titles.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this excellent book. It's a real mystery as a mini bus with 10 children aged 8 & 9 and 4 adults disappear on a return trip from a Wilderness Park. The school trip was planned in advance. Due to arrive back at school parents awaited their children's return only to find out they'd be delayed. The adults cell phones have been turned off and there is no way to estimate a time for their return. The children, after being taken from the bus are told it's a game of hide & seek and it's up to the parents to find them. The parents are frantic as the hours turn into days with no word until a ransom email alerts them that they have a few days to come up with 5 million pounds or a secret about one of them will be revealed. There are quite a few secrets that are purposefully withheld and when they are revealed POW it blows up the story. The parents all gather, and the secrets are revealed, and they mutually decide to pay the ransom against police recommendations. More than anything they want their children returned unharmed, A random sentence on the email sparks a memory to the head mistress of the school. It's a phrase used by one of the teachers who is with the children giving the police their first clue. The police put the clues together to figure out where the children are being kept and who has taken them. From page one to the final sentence the book is captivating. The characterizations are perfect and the book is very well written, the plot perfectly thought out. Highly recommended.

Every parents nightmare is sending a child to school, waving them off on a school trip and for the minibus never to return.

Set in a well to do area with wealthy and well known parents, 10 students and their teachers set off for a wildlife park, but the bus never gets back to school. The parents are mad with worry and the police are baffled.

The kidnappers have the upper hand and the hostages are being well treated. The children think they are in a game of hide and seek and their parents must find them.

Who are the kidnappers and why have these children been selected? Soon a message is sent to the parents, one of them has a secret which they need to pay for in more ways than one. Trouble is that many of them have secrets.

Good read and an enjoyable thriller. Would recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins, One More Chapter for an advance copy of The Vanishing of Class 3B, a stand-alone psychological thriller set in the Cotswolds.

Ten children and four teachers set out on a trip to a local wildlife park. They do not return. Detective Superintendent Sadie Stewart is the one to try and work out how and why a bus load of people could disappear into thin air.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Vanishing of Class 3B, which has a great premise that it lives up to with some extraordinary twists and a well concealed perpetrator and motive. I was glued to the pages, wondering what would come next and then surprised by what did happen.

The novel is split into two main narratives with the parents in one and the police investigation on the other. The police investigation covers the bases, like searching and asking questions, and while not perfunctory it’s fairly helpless due to a lack of information. The parents’ side is much deeper as they band together to keep their secrets and actions hidden from the police. The secrets come tumbling out between them and the irony in it all is that the main driver in it all is a forgotten secret. It’s really clever. I liked both sides as I am always a sucker for police procedurals and enjoyed Sadie’s predicament and the way she reacts to setbacks. I’m not such a fan of secrets and lies as they usually seem contrived, and some are in this novel, but I was fascinated by the selfishness of some of the wealthier parents who seem to think that the world revolves around them. The disappearance of their children brought a few chickens home to roost and, perhaps, a reevaluation of their priorities, but maybe not.

The Vanishing of Class 3B is a clever, engrossing read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

This book kept me up late, turning the pages impatient to find out what happened next.
A school trip, a day out for a class of children and four of their teachers. All were looking forward to it, other teachers and some parents waved them off in the morning, fully expecting their children home that afternoon, excitedly telling them all about their day. But they don't come home.
The bus has not been seen anywhere, the teachers on the bus are not answering their phones. The bus and everyone on it seems to have completely vanished.
Some of the parents of the missing children are famous faces, some are wealthy, some have secrets that they would rather stay secret. Is this a case of ransom for money, or something more sinister?
I just had to keep reading, there are so many twists and turns to this plot, it is full of suspense, and I did not see the ending coming.
Thoroughly recommended.

Very different. A whole class along with their teachers go missing after a school trip. Have they been in an accident? Has someone kidnapped them and why?

A different idea which made this book interesting and kept me going.
Short chapters and a plot well planned.

Thank you I enjoyed reading this 😊

Several children and teachers board a school bus for a class trip. But at the end of the day, the bus doesn’t return, and the school is unable to contact anyone on the bus. The Vanishing Of Class 3B is part police procedural, part soap opera, as we learn the reasons behind the disappearance, with the secrets of several of the well-heeled parents revealed in dramatic fashion. It’s an easy read, but the plot suffers from the repeated rehashing of events and storylines that completely squash any momentum, and only serves to prolong the book instead of furthering the story. The repetition coupled with the increasing implausibility of the plot made this a ho-hum thriller. I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a ride. A thriller about a bus load of kids and their teacher vanishing. Is it an abduction? Who are the parents and will they pay a ransom. As the story unravels you learn some devastating truths in each family involved. The ending ties up all loose ends with a bang. Overall, a fast read with lots of twists and suspense .

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This is a book which captures you from the first page. Class 3B’s ten children with four teachers set off on a day trip. Then they disappear. A message to the police suggests one or more parent has a secret in their past and will have to pay up to get the children back. But which parent is it? That leads to more revelations as the story unfolds. There is also well contrived information about what the children get up to during their captivity. Then the police get a hint as to where they may be being held. An already compulsive story becomes even more so as it goes to its climax. This is a top rate story and I recommend it.

Wow I liked this, such a page turning thrill read.

The Vanishing Of Class 3B centres around a class of primary school students who embark on a class trip with their teachers but when they are scheduled to be back they don’t return and cannot be located. The police quickly set into action looking for them and pinpointing few suspects they think know more as well as the kidnappers send out a ransom message as well as telling one of the parents have a secret which will be revealed if they want their kids back. We then have to figure out what the parents are hiding and how many of them have secrets buried and what lengths will they do to keep it hidden before it all leads up to a climax.

The parents of the children all have different personalities and traits and most of them I didn’t particularly like apart from the need they all fought for to bring their children home safe.. they all had secrets and I didn’t warm up to many of them. The police perspectives were different though, I didn’t like nor dislike their perspectives but Jackie Kabler did an amazing job on portraying them all differently.

I also really liked how we got a few perspective chapters from the children as well as the kidnappers.. the children were all adorable and sweet and I liked reading on how they were adjusting to the situation.

Interesting premise and an overall good suspense filled police procedural which instantly gets you engaged and wanting to read on to figure out what the secrets are and will keep you gripped and reading to the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

4.5⭐️

The children of Class 3B board the bus ready for their school trip, but while their parents gather in the playground waiting anxiously for their children’s return at the end of the day, the bus and everyone on board vanishes into thin air. Just what did happen to the teachers and children of 3B?

This book has a great premise and the title alone was enough to request this book on Netgalley. It started off great and I quickly became lost in the why’s of the plot.

However, there were so many POV’s running through it, that I did find it a struggle to make it to the end. Not only do we have the voice of the police and the head teacher, but we also have the key parents too. A former footballer, a celebrity chef and a TV personality. They’re rich and famous and prime targets for ransom. Surprise surprise! In the end It was just too many for me to focus on, and as the story evolved I found I couldn’t relate to any one of them. Sadly, I didn’t really care about the secrets they were hiding or why the children vanished.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review