The Vanishing Place (Zoë Rankin, Moa Press)

If you’re after a sad girl novel wrapped in a family saga and delivered as a fast-paced thriller, Zoë Rankin’s near-flawless debut, The Vanishing Place, delivers it all in spades. Effie arrives in the small town of Koraha, Aotearoa New Zealand, to help her childhood friend Lewis, now a police officer, solve a troubling mystery. A young girl named Anya has emerged from the bush with blood on her hands before collapsing inside a local store. She is withdrawn, barely speaks and curiously shares Effie’s distinctive red hair and green eyes. As Effie ventures into the dense wilderness with Lewis and Anya, she must piece together Anya’s story while confronting her own family’s buried past. The remote, rugged landscape of New Zealand’s South Island is richly rendered and gives the novel a strong sense of place. The narrative builds to a gripping, page–turning finale and, while the main story reaches a satisfying resolution, Rankin leaves just enough unanswered to suggest a possible sequel. Rankin’s prose is minimalist but vivid, enriched by carefully chosen sensorial metaphors. The Vanishing Place will appeal to fans of Jane Harper (Force of Nature, The Dry) and readers drawn to emotionally complex thrillers. The novel explores confronting themes including child abuse and domestic violence with unflinching honesty, so readers may wish to approach with care. 

Books+Publishing reviewer: Tara Lee is a creative technologies support officer at the City of PAE Libraries. When she's not running a workshop teaching the community how to create using technology, she's crafting or reading a great book. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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