Narrator: Emily Pike Stewart
Macmillan Audio
ISBN: 978-125090761
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 06/18/2024
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
In this captivating novel of suspense, a wilderness guide must team up with the man who ruined her life years ago when the friend who introduced them goes missing.
Emlyn doesn’t let herself think about the past.
How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the man she thought was the love of her life, left her freezing and half-dead on the side of the road three years ago.
Her new life is simple and safe. She works as a fishing and hunting guide, spending her days in Idaho’s endless woods and scenic rivers. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer, her closest friends a handsome and kind Forest Service ranger and the community’s makeshift reverend, who took her in at her lowest.
But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa, it turns out, has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged survivalist boyfriend. But she hasn’t posted lately, and when she does, it’s from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be. In spite of their fractured history, Emlyn knows she might be the only one with the knowledge and tracking skills to save her friend, so she reluctantly teams up with Tyler. As the two trace Janessa’s path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can’t deny there’s still chemistry crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn’t the only one in danger.
Poignant, suspenseful, and unforgettable, THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING explores what it takes to start over―and the cost of letting the past pull you back in.
My Review
Kimi Cunningham Grant, the author of These Silent Woods, is back with a thrilling new tale, THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING. This captivating mystery suspense novel follows a wilderness guide who is forced to confront her complex past when someone close to her goes missing.
About...
Emlyn lives alone in an Airstream trailer. She is a fishing and hunting guide in Idaho's wilderness, with endless forests and scenic rivers. Her life is simple, and she likes to keep it that way after her traumatic past. Her closest friends are the Forest Service ranger, Varden, and Reverend, who took her in when she was at her lowest.
But does she dare get close to anyone again? Can she ever trust again?
Emlyn and her best friend, Janessa, barely communicate anymore due to their past. Tyler left her in the woods for dead three years earlier.
Her past returns to the surface when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing. Janessa has become a social media star documenting her #vanlife adventures with her survivalist boyfriend, Bush. But she hasn't posted lately, and when she does, it's from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be.
Emlyn, realizing her unique tracking skills may be the key to finding her friend, reluctantly joins forces with Tyler. As they delve deeper into the woods, a sense of unease grows, hinting at a more sinister presence lurking in the shadows.
My Thoughts...
THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING is a masterfully crafted mystery that keeps you guessing. It features vivid descriptions of the wilderness, and the setting is atmospheric. From survival, adventure, and overcoming one's past. The slow burn builds tension, and the character-driven plot reveals the complex dynamics of past relationships. This book will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.
From past to present, there are secrets, lies, betrayal, and a web of deceit. From highly emotional topics of trauma, toxic relationships, abuse, drugs, and addiction. Also, there is love, hope, self-discovery, identity, and second chances.
I enjoyed Emlyn's character and the lovely metaphors for the beauty, spirituality, challenges, and dangers of the wilderness, much like the characters who are in a wilderness and need to be uplifted and gain confidence. As usual, the author's writing is lyrical and evocative. Compelling, moving, and thought-provoking.
I loved the author's notes: "Wilderness is not the destination. It's not the final chapter. Your story goes on."
Audiobook...
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Emily Pike Stewart, delivering an outstanding performance and making the characters come alive.
Recs...
Fans of the author and those of Laura McHugh, Heather Gudenkauf, William Kent Krueger, Nicole Baart, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Allen Eskens, and Melissa Payne.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio, #MacAudio2024 Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a gifted ARC and ALC for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 18, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Praise
One of People’s “Here's What Your Favorite Authors are Reading This Summer”
One of Goodreads’ “Readers’ Most Anticipated Summer Books”
One of Book Riot’s “Time To Sleuth: 14 New Mystery, Thriller, and True Crime Books for June 2024”
One of She Knows’ “These 17 Books Make the Perfect Beach Read for This Summer”
One of BookBub’s “Vanished: 15 Mysteries About Strange Disappearances and Reappearances”
“Grant anchors the suspense in the lives of her well-developed characters and delivers a hugely satisfying finale. In the forest of survival thrillers, this stands tall.”
―Publishers Weekly
“Grant creates a stunning sense of anxiety as Emlyn goes deep into the forest with her ex-boyfriend. This journey is painful but beautiful, showcasing the importance of trusting one’s gut and heart when faced with potential trouble.”
―Booklist
“Podcasts and other social media are having a moment in crime fiction now, and wilderness fiction is also big. Here’s a fast, suspenseful tale that combines both and even throws in some romance.”
―First Clue
“Addictive and unforgettable, Grant renders a poignant tale blistering with authenticity and emotion set against Idaho's lonely and rugged wilderness.”
―Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series
“A masterful, mesmerizing mystery. Thrilling and propulsive, rich in character and heart, The Nature of Disappearing delivers on every level.”
―Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of We Begin at the End
"With her signature lyrical prose, Grant executes the unexpected: a novel that is at once sophisticated and an exciting, wild ride. It’s both sweeping and taut, beautifully rendered and nail-bitingly tense...[a] striking, masterful novel.”
―Nicole Baart, bestselling author of Everything We Didn’t Say
“The Nature of Disappearing is like a mountain trail that turns and climbs and turns again. Kimi Cunningham Grant weaves a solid adventure about friendship and betrayal and hope amidst beautifully rendered western landscapes―all of it bracing as a mountain lake.”
―Andrew J. Graff, author of Raft of Stars
“Emotionally captivating, with gorgeous prose and an intimate depiction of the natural landscape...Absolutely not to be missed!”
―Bradeigh Godfrey, author of The Followers
“Electric and wise, The Nature of Disappearing is the most inspired thriller on my bookshelf. Grant absolutely nails the magnetic strength of a woman caught in a foreboding landscape.”
―Amy Jo Burns, author of Shiner and Mercury
"The Nature of Disappearing is, at its heart, a story about the relentless survival of the human spirit and inescapable connections. Through artful prose and dual timeline storytelling, Kimi Cunningham Grant reminds us that, sometimes, we have to get lost to find ourselves."
―Hannah Morrissey, author of When I'm Dead
About the Author
Kimi Cunningham Grant is the author of three books. Silver Like Dust is a memoir chronicling her Japanese-American grandparents and their internment during World War II. Her second book, Fallen Mountains, is a literary mystery set in a small town in Pennsylvania, where fracking has just begun. These Silent Woods, her third book, is a story of survival, sacrifice, and just how far a father will go when faced with losing it all. Kimi is a two-time winner of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Poetry and a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in Literary Mama, RATTLE, Poet Lore, and Whitefish Review. She lives, writes, and teaches in Pennsylvania.
Her new novel will hit shelves in 2024. WEBSITE
