The Vanished by Cara Putman is a fascinating look at the legal and moral issues that arise when a museum has art that was potentially stolen by the Nazis in WWll. I found it very interesting to learn all the different complexities that surround the art world especially in regards to proof of ownership. Carter is the new director of a local museum when a woman claims his museum contains two paintings that were stolen from her family by the Nazis. He seeks the legal counsel of attorney Janae who has come back home after a case gone wrong at a large firm in the big city. As Janae seeks the right legal course of action she stumbles upon an art mystery within her own family’s history. I enjoyed this story/mystery and look forward to more.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from the author. A positive review was not required. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Highly interesting and absorbing from page one. This is my kind of book.
Janae, a lawyer, and Carter, a museum director, tackle the problem when two paintings exhibited in the Elliot Museum could belong to a Jewish WWII survivor.
This was a fascinating story told from the perspective of a museum being on the defensive in a very complex situation. There was a lot of legalese, but it was efficiently and effectively explained, thanks to the expertise of the author, who is a lawyer. You could tell that a lot of research went into this book. I was looking up the paintings in question to see if they really existed.
There was an underlying faith thread that seemed to underscore the way the main characters behaved and how they made their decisions to do the correct thing. This contrasted with the convoluted thinking by the villain.
Along with the conundrum of the paintings, there is more mystery, some family issues and a budding romance. The premise kept me turning pages and and wanting to read more stories in subsequent books in this series.
A stunning offering from an accomplished author.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kregel on behalf of the author via NetGalley. I was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are mine alone.*

Wow. This is my first book by this author and I’m a fan. I didn’t find out until afterwards that there are some connected novellas and such that came out before it with some same characters.

This book focused heavily on the law and also on art and it’s provenance, especially as relates to the Nazis and World War 2 and the time following it. I found myself caught up in a tale of intrigue and mystery - many mysteries actually. I loved the legal standpoint and learning more about art. The single dad aspect was worked in really well also. This is a clean, Christian novel. The romance was a plot, but not as heavy as many I’ve read. It was a slow burn that came along in the background through the client/attorney proximity.

This was such a good read! The story centers around the art world and art theft, which admittedly isn't something that I am super familiar with. I found this topic to be very intriguing though. It was a nice blend of the historical aspects with art theft being prominent during WWII mixed with the legal aspects of that. It's a pretty complex topic and you could certainly tell the author put in the research, making the story all that much better. There were some twists I didn't see coming. While it might not have been a super fast paced story or filled with non-stop action as some suspense reads, I didn't miss that at all. It still kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to figure it all out and see how everything would play out. Of course, there was some romance too, which I loved... though I definitely felt it took a backseat to the legal aspects in this one for me.

If you're looking for a great Christian romantic suspense, this is certainly one to check out.


**I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley for consideration. All opinions are my own.

Intriguing wonderful mystery. Immerse yourself in the art world and legal world in this fantastic read. You will learn much about both while enjoying a great story. Cara Putnam does credit to both without overwhelming the reader. Definitely worth the read. This book was provided by Net Galley, the author and publisher for me to read. These are my opinioms.

I was definitely excited to see that Cara had a new book coming out. In the past, I had stumbled upon her books as I was searching for books to add to my shelf.

She did not disappoint with her newest addition, The Vanished. We meet Janae Simmons on her way to her home town with her head down. After pursuing her career in the legal field in the big city, she makes a grave mistake that cost her the job she thought she always wanted and forced her to reevaluate back home in the small town she thought she would not return to.

Once there, the job she had lined up was a great disappointment, leading her to begin her own little law firm. But without a client in sight, Janae is not sure how long it will all last. That is, until Carter Montgomery enters the picture.

The new director of the Elliott Museum of Art is a grieving brother who has just taken guardianship of his nephew, Carter hopes that small town life will enable them to both heal from the sudden loss in their lives. But the pace of his life, suddenly takes a shift when someone claims that two paintings in his exhibit actually belong to her family and were stolen during World War II.

As Janae scrambles to learn more about the art world and what may have happened during the war, circumstances begin to become challenging, especially when an attorney in town is found dead and Janae, herself, finds a painting hidden.

I loved the twists of this book and the many ways Cara took us along for the ride!

This is the very first book that I have read by this author, and won't be the last. I'm already looking at getting the prequel to this book. I will admit to knowing nothing about art galleries, except that they exist. Once I started reading this book, I didn't want to put it down. This book takes you through so many twists and turns, you don't know who to trust and who might not live to see another day. You have two people who are trying to break free from past mistakes and they accidently get thrown together into a deadly cat and mouse game. Throw in another twist in the middle of the book, and you have an amazing storyline that is hard to predict what is coming and how it all will end. I'm happy that I was able to read an early copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. I was not required to leave a review and this is my thoughts on the book. If you love suspense and trying to guess who done it, then this is the book for you.

I just finished reading The Vanished by Cara Putman. It was great! It delves into romance, art theft, museums and the law. There was mystery, intrigue with a touch of romance. Almost every chapter built on the intrigue with some new details. At points I wanted to yell at the characters to warn them. In the end, the mystery was solved but I would have liked a little more from the relationship that was left open ended. I love a good mystery and this was it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This was my first book by Cara Putman, and overall, I enjoyed the story. It was a little outside of the genre I generally read, but I enjoy mysteries and I liked the art history/crime aspect of it. Several times, there were scenes that didn’t seem to fit with the story/plot as a whole and didn’t seem necessary to the story—although maybe some of these will be resolved / continued in a sequel? There were other times it felt like the story moved too quickly, or things that seemed big reveals happened so fast it seemed like an afterthought. Overall, I thought it was a good read and would recommend.

I really enjoyed this newest thriller by Cara Putman. This one was a little different than her other thrillers. This novel was focused on the art world, but it still had the legal thriller aspects that I have always loved in Cara Putman's novels. I loved the twists and turns and especially the twist at the end. I highly recommend this novel and all of Cara Putman's books.

When I started reading this book, I didn't realize is was the second book in a series, but it didn't matter - it could easily be a stand alone novel. This book had a who-done-it feel. There was intrigue and mystery and action, but not so much that you couldn't enjoy the story. I've read books from other authors that are so full of action, you feel you can barely take a breath. Putman does a great job of developing characters and the storyline while weaving in the intrigue - without overdoing the action. Great story. Now I want to go back and read the first one!

Genre: Romantic suspense.
Series: Secrets to Keep, book one.
I received a gifted copy.
This was my first introduction to this author. I really enjoyed her writing style as well as the storyline.
This tale would appeal to those readers who enjoy learning something new … this something new involves the world of museums, works of art, and determining provenance. It was intriguing to me just how much work goes into determining the provenance of a piece of art. I guess I’ve always been a bit curious … it’s one of those behind-the-scenes things. Yes, this is a work of fiction, but there seemed to be a ring of truth in that determination through these pages.
I enjoyed the storyline between the main characters Janae, an attorney who has a story of her own, and Carter who also has his own story. I liked the back-and-forth between the two of them, their attraction but not really sure if they should act on it. Janae from the standpoint of Carter being her first big client in her new law firm, and Carter simply because he was afraid to take a chance with his heart. There is also a backstory involving Charlotte, Carter’s sister, along with her son, Andrew.
And, we can’t forget the Ashby and Ashley Law Firm, along with Janae’s parents … not to be ousted by the story of Janae’s grandparents. And the Elliott Museum itself and all that happened there.

Cara Putman’s The Vanished poses really important yet hard questions: what are the right ethical and legal ways to handle stolen items that are found years after the fact? This fascinating novel digs into the how to handle sketchy business deals, difficult employers, extreme stress, and relationship issues, but most of all, it’s about the proper way to handle items stolen from the Jews by the Nazis. When these items turn up decades later in other hands, how does one decide who the proper owner is? What is the right and legal way to handle that? Having just seen a local museum tackling this type of issue, I found this premise irresistible!

The Vanished turned out to be just as compelling as I’d hoped it would be. I couldn’t wait to find out how the stolen art would be handled, and as the issues kept mounting, it became even more intriguing. I especially appreciate the way that this story looked at this issue from multiple sides: from the perspective of the person from whom the art was taken, from the museum currently in possession, from a lawyer trying to sort it out, and from a person responsible for stealing art.

I enjoyed the action sequences, too, and as these kept happening in unexpected ways, this definitely upped the suspense factor.

There were a few threads in this story that I think should have been tugged harder, however. They were alluded to throughout the story, and it turned out that I guessed the overall situation, but it could have been fleshed out much more to add more, even if only in the resolution. I wanted to know more than what was shared; I think the author intended these threads to be either diversionary or interest-building in purpose, but I would have liked for them to have played a bigger part in the story. The resolution of the art plot didn’t finalize – or even answer nearly all of – my questions for these other threads. There was too much left unresolved and unanswered for me there.

All in all, if you like legal or art history stories, then The Vanished is definitely a book to put on your to-be-read list this spring.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. All opinions are my own.

This novel has it all. The main characters and their families easily slip into the mystery of incidents occurring at a gallery and the legal ramifications as well. Lots of research went into this novel. The story increases stakes and has a satisfying ending. Well done.

Vanished is a journey into th art world. Specifically what do you do with art that the Nazis may have stolen. It looks at two situations. In one an elderly lady makes claims against two paintings in a museum, one owned by the gallery and another on loan to them from a museum in Germany. This leads our hero Carter to our heroine, lawyer Janae, who has returned home after making a major mistake at her former firm. She is trying to establish a law firm and while doing so helping her grandma clean out a carriage house so she can live there. While they are cleaning they find two paintings that they have never seen, but appear to be originals in her grandfather’s things. He is no longer living so they can’t ask him about them.

Both Carter and Janae want to do the right thing. In the case of the museum not all agree on what that is and some have more to lose than others. The story follows their search for the provenance of the paintings. There is the added mystery of someone else having an interest in one of the paintings and being willing to do anything to get it.

Cara kept me guessing in especially in terms of the extra set of people and their reason for wanting the painting. I greatly enjoyed the way the relationship developed between Carter and Janae.

I don’t often finish books quickly, but I finished Vanished on three days.

I received a netgalley copy of the book from the author in exchange for promoting it, that said, I truly did like the book a lot.

I've just finished reading the Vanished. I enjoyed this book. The characters were very well fleshed out. Jane and Carter were both at a time in there lives when the were both sorta starting over , They both had a strong relationship with God which helped them both giving there problems over to god I love Cara Putmans books especially for the presence of God in her characters lives but also for her explaining the legal aspects in her books.I have learned a lot about museum's and how they operate.This story was very suspenseful, and had the romance I'm always looking for. I definitely recommend this book to other readers!