Winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition, Joanna Schaffhausen’s accomplished debut The Vanishing Season will grip readers from the opening page to the stunning conclusion. Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She’s an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the … makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only one who lived.
When three people disappear from her town in three years–all around her birthday–Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer all those years ago.
Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he’s washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them…with a killer who can’t let go.
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Ellie is a cop in a small town in Massachussetts who has a secret. No one knows she had been a victim of a serial killer and survived. When several people disappeared from the small town, she believes there is a serial killer at work but with no evidence no one believes her. She calls Reed who was the FBI agent who rescued her . Reed is in a downward spiral in his job and life but can’t tell Ellie no. The two of them work together to figure out what is going on and how it relates to their shared past. The story was paced well with plenty of twists to get to the end.
The Vanishing Season is a fine-tuned suspense/police procedural that will earn your attention at the beginning and hold it hostage until the very end.
Ellery Hathaway is a police officer in the sleepy town of Woodbury, Massachusetts. She’s not really named Ellery, but no one in Woodbury knows that. She renamed herself fourteen years ago in an attempt to restart her life as an unknown person after she was rescued, the sole survivor of seventeen girls, all victims of demented death row serial killer Francis Michael Coben.
She is 28 now, stronger, yet always on edge, and Coben, or someone who knows him, hasn’t forgotten her. Each of the past three years, near hear birthday (when she was kidnapped), she receives a birthday card, and someone has gone missing. Her police chief won’t listen to her theory that the people were actually kidnapped, as no evidence can be found to support that, and no connection between the missing people is apparent. Out of frustration, she contacts Reed Markham, the FBI agent who found her and brought her to safety. Together they start to re-examine the evidence. Sadly, she is right. The people do have a connection after all. Another serial killer is at work. One that knows where she lives and leaves an unforgettable “present” at her home. Can they find the person before they strike again? How many victims will there be this time?
Whew! Settle in for a very good read and prepare to be totally engrossed! This is a very impressive debut and I look forward to reading more about this character and from this author!
My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Vanishing Season is, without a doubt, on of the best thriller/suspense books I have read! The characters are extremely well developed. A page-turning roller coaster ride that I could not put down!! I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series!! Kudos Ms. Schaffhausen!! You absolutely nailed it!
Seemed pretty typical for the genre but enjoyable enough that I’ll probably read the next one in the series.
“I live for the hunt—my life.”—David Berkowitz, the ‘Son of Sam’
NOTE: Just re-read this book and I enjoyed it just as much this time around. I was refreshing my memory before reading book two in the series NO MERCY due out January 15, 2019.
Ellery Hathaway is a police officer in the small town of Woodbury, Massachusetts. But she is also the only survivor of a prolific serial killer back, rescued when she was fourteen years old.
She has never recovered completely from the terrible things done to her. She lives by herself except for Speed “Bump,” her Bassett Hound.
For the last three years people have been disappearing from Woodbury – near her birthday – and she can’t convince her boss that they’re connected, not without letting him know about her past, which she has kept hidden.
So she calls Reed Markham, the FBI agent that rescued her all those years ago, and asks for his help.
I liked this book and I liked the damaged character of Ellery. The characters were well-developed. The storyline was creepy. I DID figure out the bad guy pretty early in the book but in this case it didn’t detract too much from the storytelling because I wanted to find out WHY.
I received this book from Minotaur Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read the book and leave an unbiased review.
*I won this book off of Netgalley for my honest opinion*
I couldn’t put this book down. I thought this was a wonderfully weaved tale of a horrible tragedy. The main character, Ellery (which I love that name by the way), was a strong independent woman who could stand on her own and was able to fight for what she believed in. She endured a horrible childhood faced with being abducted and tortured to surviving that experience (the only one to survive) to come back to face her brother die of cancer.
Without giving away too much, the book was a suspense filled who done it type novel. This was my first book by Joanna Schaffhausen and it will not be my last.
*Spoiler ahead*
The only thing that made me sad was there really was no romance in this book. I kind of anticipated it and I was waiting around every corner for it and it never happened. However, even without the romance, it was a wonderful read. I’d recommend this book! (
Enjoyable easy read serial killer book. Too many times (for me) the serial killer novels are filled with too much information. I prefer subtle references to the crimes instead of blow by blow especially when it is in the past. This story kept my interest and I liked the main character, small town cop and the FBI guy.
Ellery Hathaway a police officer in a small city is consumed by the disappearances of three residents of her town. All three went missing around the time of her birthday for the last three years. When members of her police force keep telling her there is nothing there except missing residents she takes matters into her own hands. Ellery telephones Agent Reed Markham to come help her figure out the puzzle of the disappearances. Agent Markman has a tie to Ellery, he was the man who rescued her years ago from a serial killer. The two join forces and secrets are revealed as each new piece of information slowly comes to light. I enjoyed the story but it did not have the suspense element I thought it would have.
Thank you publisher for granting my wish to read this. The cover is what first drew me in. The blurb made me need to read it.
Congrats to the author on a debut book. I couldn’t put it down once I started it. It gripped me and didn’t let go.
I had my suspicion on who the serial killer was pretty early on. Then I thought no its not him but always in the back of my mind he stood out to me.
I loved the characters, the story, the thrill of trying to see if I was right with my guess. I look forward to reading many more books by this author.