I love a good mystery with a shifting narrator and this book pulled off both a mystery with a twist ending that didn't feel like cheating and a shifting narrator with so many different characters! It was so well executed that I never got confused or had to go back to figure out a relationship or configuration as it all fell into place so seamlessly.

There were definitely pieces of the mystery that I figured out which was satisfying, but the overall reveal was still a surprise and didn't feel too outlandish or unrealistic either. I also liked how the ending didn't tie up all the loose ends too neatly. Despite having a large cast of characters, the character development and family dynamics felt natural, which is hard to do with children as narrators.

I also really enjoyed having the perspective of the police officers investigating the disappearance as part of the narrative. It was fun to read the same scene from completely different perspectives and learn new information as you did so. Overall, a suspenseful read that was hard to put down!

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book got my attention right away, probably because it is indeed every parent's worst nightmare- you drop your adorable excited third grader for an anticipated field trip, and then they all disappear.

The book switches between the perspectives between different parents, and I especially like the chapters written from the kid's angles, I was getting second- hand anxiety reading them because I anticipated something bad was going to happen. It didn't. Whew

Once the grand reveal happened, I was slightly turned off by the self- righteousness behind the kidnapper's reasoning, and how they were written like the ultimate hero. I did not understand at all the last twist, and why there was even a need for that secret.

Overall, solid book!

My first read by this author and a good one. Told from multiple perspectives there are a lot of characters introduced quite quickly and it took some time for me to get my head around who was who. Once I had the first half of the book seemed to move at a fast pace. It slowed a bit then with a lot of discussion about which of the parents might be the reason for the kidnap, but the last 25% really ramped up again. What I will say is you will need to suspend belief reading this but it’s a novel so I personally don’t have an issue with that.

Briefly, 4 teachers and 10 pupils set off in a mini bus on a day trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park…only they don’t return. When the police find the mini bus one teacher is critically injured and everyone else is missing. Meanwhile the children are in a large room having been told they are taking part in a game by the teachers, and seem to believe them. The parents are trying to come to terms with what has happened and waiting for a ransom demand that doesn’t appear and the police seem totally mystified. How can 13 people just disappear?

The parents of the children are all rather unpleasant characters and I would have liked at least a few of them to be likeable, it’s hard to feel for someone who really doesn’t have some good qualities. I thought the children were particularly well characterised and came across well, although how that happened with their parents as role models I don’t know! The plot was good and I didn’t guess who the kidnappers were until the reveals, apart from ‘The visitor’. A well plotted crime drama with good twists and turns, I enjoyed it.

Parents in a wealthy community are devastated when they send their young elementary-age children on a school trip. The children and teachers are kidnapped. The story follows the abducted children and staff. The story moves between the class parents and the police. As the story unfolds, secrets about their parents are disclosed. There are so many secrets among the neighbors it makes your head spin. The plot moves fluidly between the abducted class and the parents.

The parents are scared. When the kidnappers send a ransom note demanding money, the parents question if they are the reason for the abduction. If someone discovered their past “sins,” now their children are paying the price.

As the story unfolds, the sins are ultimately revealed. This revelation moves the plot in a new trajectory. And just when the reader thinks they have all the pieces of the puzzle, they will be surprised by a shocking twist.

The story moves at a quick pace, with plenty of surprises. The characters are interesting and complex. As more is revealed about the characters, some readers may sympathize with them. But other characters were unlikable as more was disclosed about them.


An exciting story that will keep you guessing until the end.

With thanks to Netgalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Another gripping 4 star read!

When class 3B are late home from a school trip, parents and headmistress grow increasingly worried. As it’s revealed as a kidnapping with a random to be paid, for both returning the children and keeping a secret, whose secret is under threat?

A page turner that will keep you guessing. I was so wrong about who was behind it and really had no idea until it was revealed. I guessed the identity of “The Visitor” with about 100 pages left, but had no inkling of the links between them. The reveal at the very end was masterfully done.

Definitely one to check out for thriller lovers. Full of suspense and mystery, check it out! I’ll be reading more by the author in the future.

This was a great little thriller that packed a punch. Lots of intrigue with wondering what was going on and plenty of people to suspect. How does an entire busload of kids (along with their teachers) just disappear while on a field trip? And why? And who is hiding what secrets? And what's going to happen when those secrets are revealed? And what happens when even the secrets you reveal aren't your biggest secrets at all?

One spring morning, a bus full of children and their teachers from a Cotswold primary school head off on a much-anticipated day trip. But as night falls, and the well-heeled parents - one or two of them famous aa well as wealthy - wait at the school to collect their weary offspring. It soon becomes clear that something has gone very wrong. The children and their teachers simply do not come back.

Apart from Monique, none off the other parents seemed that bothered that their children had not returned from their day trip, The others were more bothered about trying to conceal their secrets. The story focuses more on the police investigation rather than on the families and what they were going through, I would have preferred more of a mixture of them both. I felt the ending was a bit rushed. It's told from multiple points of view. The pace was fast in the first part, then is was more of a steady pace in the second part.

I would like to thank #Netgalley #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter and the author #JackieKabler for my ARC of #TheVanishingClassOf3B in exchange for an honest review.

One spring morning, a bus full of children and their teachers from a Cotswolds primary school head off on a much-anticipated day trip.

But as night falls and the well-heeled parents – one or two of them famous, as well as wealthy – wait at the school to collect their weary offspring, it soon becomes clear that something has gone very wrong.

The children and their teachers simply do not come back.

What’s happened doesn’t seem possible.

How can an entire class of children simply vanish?

-------- REVIEW --------

Grabbed my attention right away at first. I was curious to know what had happened to the missing school bus and who was behind it. However, as we learn more about the people involved, we also learn who is behind it and why this is being done. I like to be surprised in the end when I read thrillers, but since we found out early on, I didn't like the last 20% of the book and just felt forced to finish it since I had already read so much. I also felt there was a lack of suspense in this book, but I don't want to mention the reasons why since they might be spoiling the read for anyone wanting to read this.

In this book, we get to read from many different perspectives. Police, parents, kids etc. There are many characters to keep track of, and sometimes I got confused and didn't know who I was reading about.

I give this book a solid 3 stars, because I liked the first part of the book and the chapters were short, so it was a quick read.

This book comes out 11 May.

Thank you, Net Galley and One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When a class goes missing during a school trip, the children’s parents are distraught. Things become even worse when they get a message from the kidnappers demanding money because one of them has a secret.

There were peaks and valleys for me in this one. I thought the first half of this book went really quickly and then it slowed down a lot. There was an interesting twist at the end! Overall, a solid thriller.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love drama, specifically when it makes my jaw drop. I wasn't expecting it, but around 75% through the book, the most jaw-dropping drama came out of this book, and I’m so happy I got to experience that. Secret after secret was dropped and I couldn’t get enough. The last 25% was literally exploding with gossip. The reason I gave it three and a half stars was that the dialect was a bit strange at times and it took me a bit of time to get used to it. I liked the storyline, the ideas, and the plot twists.

This book was so well written. Definitely kept me wondering about the kids and then all the different parents. This one is going to be a true hit.

Slow burner that gripped me at times but other times not so much..Some of the characters were unlikeable. Twist I didn’t see coming at end.
Overall though its an ok read and I would give the next offering a chance. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

well i hooked on this book from the first page! a modern who done it which had you wondering what the secret was from the start!
very well written and a very calculated crime!
a great read

Yet another domestic thriller in which everyone is hiding horrendous secrets behind banal shells. I'm so glad that real life doesn't look like this or I wouldn't be able to trust any of my kid's friends' parents! It was not the most well thought out book - the suspension of disbelief required here with somewhat more significant than usual, even given the genre, largely because the detectives didn't really detect, they mostly waited to see what world happen next, which was odd to say the least. A number of the twists were somewhat predictable, and it was populated with fairly stereotypical characters. All that said, it was engaging enough and entertaining enough for a quick, distracting beach / airport / weekend read.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

One morning, a small class of students head for a day trip to an animal park. The trip set off late so they will be back later than planned. All the parents gather in the playground ready to greet their children, who never arrive back. After the police get involved, the search begins, with no answers. The children and the staff accompanying them seem to have vanished in to thin air. There’s no clues. The police start to look at the children’s parents for answers, many of whom seem to be hiding things.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the plot, and the way it turned out. The characters were ok, but I didn’t have any favourites. We read the story from different perspectives so it’s easy to see how the story plays out. A really good, solid read.

This will be a mixed review as while I read the book fairly happily and quickly I did have moments of eye rolling “like that could really happen” incredulity. Having said that most thrillers and domestic noir contain implausible behaviour and settings as real life just isn’t that thrilling.
I thought the scenes in the ‘bunker’ with the children were really good and the characterisation of the children was very true to life for the age group but the adults were irredeemably miserable, self serving and lacked depth. All of the confessions made by the adults were things that modern policing would already have uncovered with intel research and the police don’t usually say to potential suspects “you chat amongst yourselves and find a motive for the crime and which of you is most likely to be the fault of it and get back to us”
Still, a nice quick read for anyone who doesn’t mind suspending their disbelief somewhat!
3.5 ⭐️

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.