by Harmony Kent
A missed phone call in the night is all it takes. When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life. All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.
It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen ...
A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.
When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.
All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.
And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.
Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.
When your life turns inside out and upside down, who would you trust?
A RIVETING READ Harmony Kent delivers a powerhouse novel about a teen’s disappearance. Carole is a widow with an eighteen-year-old son. When Jayden fails to return home one evening, she discovers she missed a cryptic text he sent. Two words only: “I’m stuck.” Those words propel her into a frantic search that begins with her delving into his life online. The police insist Jayden is an adult, and there’s not much they can do—at least not until time has passed. But Carole reacts with the anguish of a mother for her only child. As she begins to piece together Jayden’s life through online activity, she learns there is a side to her son she didn’t know about. A side that has led him into a dangerous situation. The more she delves the more the tension mounts, clues unravelling a bit at a time, for a staggering revelation at the end. I had read this book in two days, flipping pages well into the night. The story is well-plotted with a thoroughly satisfying wrap. If you enjoy psychological fiction and domestic suspense, this is engrossing story with a plot highly relevant to current times.
A GREAT READ The Vanished Boy" is an exceptionally well-written story centred around the mysterious disappearance of a teenage boy. The author does an excellent job of conveying the angst felt by single mother Carole, as she attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding her missing son, Jayden. But there is more to this character-driven story than the mystery itself, as the author explores both the good and bad aspects of the Internet and Social Media, as well as the ups and downs of familial relationships. I won't say too much more, for fear of inadvertently giving something away, but I will say the story held my interest from start to finish. I would read more books by this author.
INTRIGUING AND WELL PLANNED This book is exactly how I picture a true suspense, thriller novel to be. At first, I was a little weary of the pace - it was slow for the first three or four chapters and then picked up in the middle. But once the pace increased and more of the plot was revealed, I couldn't put it down! Jayden's a normal teenager. Or so his mother thought. When his father died when he was 11, both he and his mother drifted apart. Carol soon realizes that she doesn't know her son as well as thought after he disappears one Friday night after a study session with some friends. She soon finds herself spiraling down through his life, checking social media and bank accounts she never knew he had. Eventually, she learns the truth behind Jay's disappearance. The author did a brilliant job of describing a grief stricken mother. Whether that be about the loss of her husband or her child, she perfectly captured the emotional turmoil behind losing everything and everyone near and dear. The book itself is written in more of a literary style with little dialogue between the characters. Because of this, I believe it gave the book a consistent somber tone throughout the story and increased the suspense of every clue Carol uncovered about her son. Carol meets a lot of people along the way which play more of a secondary role. We don't learn too much about them other than the information one would need to find Jayden with or move the plot along. I think this fits well with this story type of story since the chapters are spaced out over the course of 5 days. With that being said, the chapters are rather long, spanning over the course of 30+ pages. This, of course, is a personal preference for me, but I tend to enjoy shorter chapters and I think that would have helped the overall pace of the book. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I believe the author has a talent for this sort of genre!
A PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE. RIVETING I read this book in two sittings. I even listened to it on my phone while working out to Jane Fonda. I couldn’t put it down. What parent hasn’t had those moments of panic when a child doesn’t call, or shows up late, or wanders off? For Carole, that scare becomes a nightmare as her son Jayden vanishes without a trace. The first 75% of the book follows Carole as she desperately seeks clues. I was riveted to her every move, including the realistic struggle of tracking her son through social media, with all the unhelpful information and hurtful comments that come with it. The author did a great job with Carole’s navigation through the technical aspects. Her resourcefulness felt authentic as did her unraveling of the clues—even as she’s emotionally falling apart. The story is told in Carole’s tight pov until the last quarter of the book when several other characters share their experiences in their own points of view and in varying formats: flashback-style narratives, diary entries, and an interview. This is where the details of the events surrounding Jayden’s disappearance come to life. I would have liked the story to continue with Carole, but the pov of the perpetrator was worth the diversion. The pacing is desperate until the wrap up at the end. The plot holds together well, and there are some surprises that I didn’t see coming. A great read for fans of fast-paced thrillers.
EMOTIONAL POTBOILER The Vanished Boy by Harmony Kent is an engrossing emotional potboiler that keeps you on the edge of your chair to know what happened to Jayden. A nerve-shattering mystery! I must confess that I couldn’t stand the strain that Carole undergoes and clicked on the last pages to peek. Imagine a widow’s only teenager goes missing and she has no help except the investigating officer Mike. So heart-breaking! Any mother would become an emotional wreck! Carole stands up to the challenge that life throws at her; she digs up every possible social network through her son’s laptop to find out about his activities and his friends. I could visualize each moment of her online search, share her anguish and felt like patting her for her strength. Despite her desperation, she refuses to give up. Harmony understands the feelings of a mother and enters into her mind to connect with the readers. She builds up the tension that keeps mounting with each page but the ending would shock you! Brilliant. Though a gloomy shadow pervades the book, it also unveils how the minds of teenagers work, how much attention they require and how vulnerable they are to outside influences. Parental love and understanding could make or mar their personalities.
