This story pulls you in right from the start and coaxes you into a feeling of uncertainty when Emlyn's best friend Janessa has gone missing and the only one that can help is her ex boyfriend Tyler, who left her for dead several years ago. Has Tyler changed? Can she trust him? Will they find Janessa dead or alive or at all?

The author does a wonderful job of setting each scene and really making you feel like you are right there with these characters. There is a definite sense of foreboding as the story progresses and you don't know what is going to happen.

This was a very engaging read that will have you biting your fingernails until the end. I think fans of of authors like Charlotte McConaghy or Peter Heller will really enjoy this book as to me it gave a similar feeling in terms of mystery and backdrop.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Kimi Cunningham Grant for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A new and exciting thriller! Thanks to Netgalley for the early peak at this one! Emlyn lives in Idaho and falls in love with her best friends childhood neighbor. He loves the outdoors and does a lot of fishing and hiking. Emlyn loves it too but on one of their outings, things go terribly wrong. Coming in June, The Nature of Disappearing by Kim Cunningham Grant is a 4 star read.

I really enjoyed The Nature of Disappearing! I loved the blend of romance, friendship, and suspense combined with the picturesque Idaho wilderness backdrop. It was a gripping tale that explores the complexities of starting new while unraveling the ties of your past. Thank you to NetGalley, Kimi Cunningham Grant, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC.

Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and destroy, and forever to repair.

Emlyn and Janessa met in college and formed a strong bond of friendship. Janessa was always in rescue mode and came to Emlyn's side when the party got rowdy or the obnoxious guys leaned in too close. They had an almost sixth sense relationship.

But times change and so do the people within it. Janessa became an online influencer with her van-life blog. She and her nature loving boyfriend, Bush, took to the forests and highways reporting in every day about their new experiences. When Janessa drops out of sight for days on end, Emlyn knows something is wrong. Very wrong.

Then Tyler, her ol' flame, shows up at her door unexpectantly. He's getting the same vibe about Janessa. He and Janessa have known each other since they were kids. But there's bad blood now between Emlyn and Tyler. He did something to Emlyn in the past that was unforgivable. Emlyn has to move past the past since Janessa's safety is at the forefront now. They pack up and head for the last place that Janessa was suppose to be. And what exactly will they find?

Kimi Cunningham Grant lifts the veil on Emlyn's own past. She's now living in Idaho at a lodge as a fly fishing guide. And she's good at it. We'll meet Ruth also known as the Rev, an elderly woman with supersonic energy and Varden, a member of the Idaho Forest Service. Emlyn owes a great deal to both of them. But her allegiance is to the missing Janessa. Emlyn is a pro at tracking, but will her emotions get in the way?

The Nature of Disappearing is a solid read. But mind the fact that you'll not be liking all these characters. It's the circumstances and the strong element of trust that weaves its way throughout this one. Just how many times can a person look the other way and hope for the best? And at the core of this one is the stern reality that not everyone in our loop of friendship has our best interest in mind.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Minotaur Books (St. Martin's Press) and to Kimi Cunningham Grant for the opportunity.

This is my first book by Kimi Cunningham Grant and I can definitely say I will look for more from her.
2 friends who meet by chance and become inseparable. That is until a guy comes in the picture. A story that is very believable. A story about addiction and how far someone will come to hide the whole truth. No matter who it will hurt.
But honestly in the end I did not see the twist coming. And it blew me away. It did have its slow parts but all in all it was a good story.
I would definitely recommend this to someone who likes the outdoors and a good twist.
Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy

Another five star read from Ms Kimi C Grant! I loved her book These Silent Woods so I knew I wanted to read The Nature of disappearing as soon as I could. I will start by saying these are two very different books with very different stories and different meanings or things the author wants you to take away after reading. Both are similar in the setting of being deep in the woods which makes it a very atmospherically great read, I got in the mood to go hiking after reading this book. I also really like the twists were laid out throughout the book and that although not necessarily a "happy" ending you feel content with how the book ends.

I was super excited to read this book because I enjoyed These Silent Woods. This book quickly catapulted to the top of my favorite books list, and is just absolutely incredible. Kimi has solidified herself as an auto buy author for me

Loved The Nature of Disappearing! The setting, the characters, the plot and the writing style will keep you turning page after page from the very start until the end. Highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

I’m not an outdoorsy person and this story makes me kind of glad I’m not. Just like in real life there are dangers in the wild, but the biggest danger comes from who we least expect. This was a great read and I enjoyed the way the author developed the main character and showed a strong, competent woman who also doubts herself. Just like most of us!

Wowww this one kept me on my toes the whole way through! I love a good thriller/mystery and this one delivers!

I was very excited for this book because I loved These Silent Woods so much. I was disappointed. I didn't feel connected to these characters. In fact, I was immediately put off by the 'pick me' style with which Emlyn was characterized - going to a bar two towns away to avoid the sorority girls because she's 'NoT LiKe oThEr GiRls.' The plot dragged a little bit and in the end I didn't feel much of anything at the resolution. It seemed like we were supposed to be invested in Emlyn + Varden but there wasn't anything there to really invest in because of Varden's quiet, steady nature. There wasn't much 'there' there. Not much plot, not much character development, not much atmosphere. Like a Colleen Hoover book in disguise. I really wanted to love this one.

In The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant, Emlyn is still healing from a traumatic breakup with her boyfriend, Tyler, when he comes to her with a request: help find their friend who has disappeared in the wilderness. He knows that Emlyn is a master tracker and wants her to put aside her differences with him and the missing friend, Janessa, to bring her home safely. I don’t know much about survival and tracking, much less building traps and snares or cooking without the conveniences of home, but in my opinion, KCG has presented detailed research or experience of her own in painting a picture of being IN the book. The way she describes what Emlyn does, what she sees, the different things that happen depict a vivid picture in my novice mind if I was in her shoes.

As we dive deeper into the story, we learn from Emlyn’s perspective what word she defines a person by. Emlyn even characterizes herself with a word: pathetic. This word is revisited and expounded upon as different events unfold in the story. Even with all her tracking and survival skills that she has learned from the time she lives in Idaho, ultimately she’s going to have to figure out how pathetic she is. Is she putting herself into a situation that is a repeat of what happened three years ago with Tyler, or will she be able to redefine what is at the heart of who she is. Also in the back of her mind is the word she was told by Rev, who was part of her rescue three years before, who told her the word trust before she left to find her friend. KCG drops little crumbs of foreshadowing through the book that you create a satisfying meal with by the conclusion. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book was published on June 18, 2024.

#netgalley #arc #bookstagram #TheNatureofDisappearing #KimiCunninghamGrant #StMartinsPress

After reading “These Silent Woods” I was so excited to receive a copy of this ARC!! And it was captivating from the beginning to end!

When Emlyn’s help is enlisted to find her former best friend Janessa out in the wilderness, she has to revisit her past and confront what led her to Idaho’s endless woods. Through this journey we dive into her past and heartbreak.

An excellent t story about friendship, broken relationships, grief, and new beginnings. We all find ourself in the wilderness at times, but this redemptive story reminds us that we never have to stay there.

I want to preface this by saying I ADORED These Silent Woods so my expectations might have been too high. This was a really quick read, I finished it in less than a day and was genuinely interested in the outcome. I was expecting a rugged, wilderness story and enjoyed those aspects of the book. With that said, think my main takeaway is that I'm underwhelmed. I would have loved some more background on the characters but with the focal point being on the "thriller" aspect of the book, I just wasn't impressed with the reveal. It was just too unrealistic and just kind of made me go "oh."

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for the ARC in exchange for my review.

For my personal preferences, the love story with Vander developed a bit late and caught me off guard, but I appreciated Emlyn's character development. Through the flashbacks and present-day events, we learn more about her relationship with Janessa, Tyler, and Rev. The focus on addiction and drug use is a much-needed topic in fiction, and I am curious to see how people will react to Tyler and Bush as characters. The Nature of Disappearing is a solid read that I will recommend to patrons looking for a mystery with a more easygoing pace, with a wholesome ending.

The title of the book caught my attention. A wilderness guide in Idaho, Emlyn, teams up with an ex, Tyler, to find their missing/disappeared friend Janessa who had been on a mountain trek with her boyfriend.

Enjoyed the writing, nature setting, and the character of tracker Emlyn, The novel's suspense builds during the search for Janessa and when the true nature of Emlyn's friends gradually come to light.

I posted this review on Goodreads on 1.28.24:

After loving THESE SILENT WOODS, I was all in for another novel by Kimi Cunningham Grant. I love a wilderness survival story, especially when it's combined with a compelling mystery, so the premise of THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING appealed to me. As far as characters go, I liked Emlyn well enough, even if I didn't feel a whole lot of connection to her. Her crew of found family in Heart was a likable and interesting bunch; in fact, I probably would have liked the story better if it had been more focused on them. Neither Tyler nor Janessa appealed to me. They're both flat, stereotypical, and not complex enough to feel real. The dialogue between them and Emlyn always felt juvenile, like they were teenagers (and simple ones at that) instead of independent adults in their late 20s. Surprisingly, this book is less of a wilderness survival tale and more of a romantic suspense novel, with more emphasis on character relationships than action. Since I didn't love the story's cast, this was a disappointing focus for me. Without enough tension, suspense, and action to keep it moving along, THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING was a bit of a slog, much duller than I was expecting it to be. I also had a hard time understanding why Janessa didn't just tell Emlyn the things she needed to know. Her secret keeping was such a big part of the story and it never really made any sense to me.

There are some things I appreciate about this novel. Since it's Christian fiction, the book is faith-affirming, even if it's not exactly uplifting. It's also clean, which is always nice. Like I mentioned, I did like the Heart folks and would have liked to get to know them better.

All considered, I found this book to be only an okay read for me, which is a bummer because I was really excited to read it. Darn.

I had really high expectations after reading These Silent Woods, and this one did NOT disappoint!

Best friends that have a falling out over a guy... Adventures in nature with skilled foragers that carry heavy secrets... Life and death rescue missions... oh my!

I loved every part of this. The ending felt a bit abrupt, and I wish I could have seen more summation at the end, but it's just because I was greedy for more.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Nature of Disappearing" is atmospheric, and has well developed characters. It's central themes of love and relationships balance well with the central mystery. Recommended for readers who love atmospheric, character-driven mysteries set in the outdoors. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an ARC from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. My second book from this author. The first was a hit for me but this one was lacking. Although the story line was not bad, it missed a mark for me. I won't write the author off as I really liked the first. This one is a good read, I am sure. Just not for me.