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The Night They Vanished

With her previous two thrillers Vanessa Savage has established a reputation for creating superbly creepy novels with distinctly Gothic overtones and characters you never want to part company with. Hanna and Sasha, the protagonists of her third thriller, The Night They Vanished, are perhaps my favourite of any of her inventions so far.

Hanna and Sasha are sisters, but after a terrible incident ruptured their family fourteen years ago, they’ve barely been in contact. The novel is told in alternating perspectives. Hanna narrates the events as she sees her family home listed on a website about real murder sites and consequently discovers her entire family  (including Sasha) has disappeared. Meanwhile, Sasha confesses to us the events that have led up the family’s disappearance. We soon learn that everything is connected. Everything goes back to that terrible incident fourteen years ago.

What is so special about Vanessa’s writing is that she combines her heart-in-mouth, twisty plots with so much warmth and humour. You will root for Hanna and Sasha with every fibre of your being and you won’t be able to do anything else till you’ve discovered exactly what happened on the night they vanished.

Rosanna Forte