In 1970, as the hippie movement is losing its innocence, Shoshanna and her six-year-old sister, Mara, escape from Sweet Earth Farm, a declining commune, run by their tyrannical and abusive father, Adam. Their mother, Ella, takes them to San Francisco, where they meet one of her old friends, Judy, and the four of them decide to head off and try to make a life together. Finding a safe haven at the farm of kind, elderly Avery Elliot, the four of them find some measure of peace and stability. Then their mother's crippling depression returns. Confused and paranoid, Ella is convinced that she and the girls must leave before Adam finds them and extracts revenge. The girls don’t wish to leave the only stable home they’ve ever had. But as Ella grows worse and worse, events conspire to leave them to face a choice they never could have imagined. Shoshanna has always watched over her sister and once again she has to watch over her ailing mother. Will she ever live a "normal" life?
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The disappearance of a beautiful, charismatic mother leaves her family to piece together her secrets in this propulsive novel for fans of Big Little Lies—from the bestselling author of All We Ever Wanted Was Everything and the upcoming Pretty Things. “Watch Me Disappear is just as riveting as Gone Girl.”—San Francisco Chronicle Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are. It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan—a Berkeley mom with an enviable life—went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cellphone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends. But then Olive starts having strange visions of her mother, still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability, until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he understood about his wife. Who was the woman he knew as Billie Flanagan? Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth—about Billie, but also about themselves, learning, in the process, about all the ways that love can distort what we choose to see. Janelle Brown’s insights into the dynamics of intimate relationships will make you question the stories you tell yourself about the people you love, while her nervy storytelling will keep you guessing until the very last page. Praise for Watch Me Disappear “Watch Me Disappear is a surprising and compelling read. Like the best novels, it takes the reader somewhere she wouldn’t otherwise allow herself to go. . . . It’s strongest in the places that matter most: in the believability of its characters and the irresistibility of its plot.”—Chicago Tribune “Janelle Brown’s third family drama delivers an incisive and emotional view of how grief and recovery from loss can seep into each aspect of a person’s life. . . . Brown imbues realism in each character, whose complicated emotions fuel the suspenseful story.”—Associated Press “When a Berkeley mother vanishes and is declared dead, her daughter is convinced she’s alive in Janelle Brown’s thriller, calling to mind Big Little Lies and Gone Girl.”—Variety
The girl’s prom dress, the color of champagne, shimmers in the dying light. A corsage of wilting pink sweetheart roses decorates her wrist. She is perfectly still, lying on the ground like a delicate china doll, trapped forever in a sleep from which she will never wake… When a call comes in about a young girl found dead at a high school prom—her life drained away from a fatal stab wound—Detective Josie Quinn drops everything to attend the scene. Taking in the girl’s neatly braided hair, Josie feels a flicker of recognition. But no one comes forward to identify this innocent child, murdered on what should have been the happiest night of her life. Trawling missing persons files, Josie realizes where she has seen the girl before. Gemma Farmer disappeared a few months ago, shattering her family. But why would her body appear now, on her sixteenth birthday? Josie’s only clue is the five neat little cuts on Gemma’s pale arm. Days later, another missing girl shows up, tucked neatly into her bed on the morning of her birthday, her favourite teddy beside her, her skin as cold as ice—and the autopsy reveals scars on her arm matching Gemma’s. Her head spinning, Josie fears the marks are a serial killer’s twisted way of counting his victims. But where are the other girls he’s killed, and how many more could follow? The case takes a terrifying turn when a local teen goes missing just days before she turns sixteen. Clock ticking, Josie turns the town upside down in search of answers. But when her own chief comes forward with a missing piece in this devastating puzzle spanning decades, will it be enough to get inside the mind of the most unexpected and elusive killer she has ever encountered, or will another precious life be taken? An absolutely heart-stopping and totally unputdownable crime thriller from an Amazon, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. You will be up all night biting your nails and turning pages! Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Rachel Caine. Everyone is talking about Watch Her Disappear: “Devoured in one sitting… Love, love, LOVE this series!!… Oh my gosh, I love these books!!…I LOVE this series!!” Tropicaldelusions, 5 stars “I literally finished this book in two days… I couldn't put it down! I absolutely love Josie and her team… You will be as addicted as I am!” NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars “My number one best read this year!… I could not put this down… stayed up all night to finish… I didn’t see the plot twists coming. I can’t rave enough about this book. Stop what you’re doing and go get this book. Prepare for a breakneck speed rollercoaster ride. Bonus star alert!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “WOW! Lisa Regan hits it out of the park again!!! Buckle up... and enjoy the ride!” Absolutereading, 5 stars “Kept me up late at night glued to the page… fabulous… a totally unputdownable read…Brilliant characters, amazing five-star plot and a superb read. What more would you want, I loved it and can’t wait for the next one in the series.” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars “I could not put this book down. Could. Not. Walk. Away… WOW… you better hold on or get whiplash.” Goodreads reviewer “BUCKLE UP… never-ending twists and turns. You think you know what to expect… and then BAM she hits you with something so out of the blue that you can’t help but gasp.” Katie Mettner Books, 5 stars “Mind-blowingly brilliant!! I read it in a day… just blew me away!!… Worth 10 stars if possible. A must-read.” NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
From the author of Between the Notes comes a story that shines a light on our love of social media and how sometimes being the person you think you want to be isn’t as great as being the person you truly are. Perfect for fans of Vivi Greene’s Sing and Susane Colasanti’s Now and Forever. Vicky Decker’s social anxiety has helped her to master the art of hiding in plain sight, appearing only to her best friend, Jenna. But when Jenna moves away, Vicky’s isolation becomes unbearable. So she decides to invent a social life by Photoshopping herself into other people’s photos and posting them on Instagram under the screen name Vicurious. Instantly, she begins to get followers, and soon, Vicky has made a whole new life for herself without ever leaving her bedroom. But the more followers she amasses online, the clearer it becomes that there are a lot of people out there who feel like her—#alone and #ignored in real life. To help them, and herself, she must stop living vicariously and start bringing the magic of Vicurious back to life.
What if all the Palestinians in Israel simply disappeared one day? What would happen next? How would Israelis react? These unsettling questions are posed in Azem’s powerfully imaginative novel. Set in contemporary Tel Aviv forty eight hours after Israelis discover all their Palestinian neighbors have vanished, the story unfolds through alternating narrators, Alaa, a young Palestinian man who converses with his dead grandmother in the journal he left behind when he disappeared, and his Jewish neighbor, Ariel, a journalist struggling to understand the traumatic event. Through these perspectives, the novel stages a confrontation between two memories. Ariel is a liberal Zionist who is critical of the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, but nevertheless believes in Israel’s project and its national myth. Alaa is haunted by his grandmother’s memories of being displaced from Jaffa and becoming a refugee in her homeland. Ariel’s search for clues to the secret of the collective disappearance and his reaction to it intimately reveal the fissures at the heart of the Palestinian question. The Book of Disappearance grapples with both the memory of loss and the loss of memory for the Palestinians. Presenting a narrative that is often marginalized, Antoon’s translation of the critically acclaimed Arabic novel invites English readers into the complex lives of Palestinians living in Israel.
After the events of September 11, 2001, four disconnected friends in Los Angeles are overcome with feelings of hopelessness and despair. They want to choose a way to literally, metaphysically, and symbolically disappear. But as they are about to discover, disappearing—like living—takes courage. In a unique guide based on an unpublished story about those friends, André Wade presents seven ways to disappear from life that include encouragement to reinvent self, withdraw into self, isolate, sleep, create invisibility, and more. While reminding others that they must live with the consequences of every decision, Wade also offers empowering suggestions on how to create a clear plan, shun a former existence, and utilize thoughts and imagination to transform into the truest versions of themselves. Seven Ways to Disappear is a concise guide that offers creative insight on how to employ multiple methods to reinvent ourselves and a path forward in life.
A man is dead and the three possible witnesses are missing as one detective watches his personal connections to the crime grow stronger and stronger while the case develops in this twisted mystery. Sarah, his personal chef Anna, his wife Serena, his maid Accountant Anthony Costello has a talent for manipulating both numbers and people, turning losses into profits, enemies into allies—and vice versa. When Costello is found murdered in his own home, three suspects had motive. All three had access to his home. And all three women are missing. Are they in the wind—or in the grave? Eyes are on Detective Sean Walsh, whose personal connection to the case is stronger than leads to solve it. Neither the powerful bankroll behind Costello nor Walsh's vengeful superior officer can budge the investigation, yet as Walsh continues to dig, he uncovers even more reasons the women have to stay hidden—from the law, and from each other.
No matter if you’re being followed or stalked or need to get away as soon as possible, being able to disappear without a trace is something that you will need to know. Whether you’re an ordinary civilian or a military operative, having this skill is imperative to ultimate survival . . . and there’s nobody better at knowing how to vanish at a moment’s notice than a former SAS expert. Barry Davies has produced a solution to all of these problems and more with the Soldier of Fortune Guide to How to Disappear and Never Be Found. No matter the reason, Davies divulges the secret ways to disappear that only a military-trained soldier could know. Formerly serving in the British Special Air Service, Davies was trained in this secret art and will inform you of the many companies to call in order to erase all records, how to give false information, how to disappear in our social media environment, and much more. In this priceless guide, readers can learn how to protect themselves, their friends, and their families, all with the secret ways that Davies reveals. By following this model, one never has to feel unsafe or afraid ever again.
School can be cutthroat. Friends can backstab. Literally. Upon arrival at the prestigious Grant Academy for the Gifted, high school senior Bexley Windsor quickly realizes boarding school is far from a liberating escape from her dark past. At her first party, she finds a student's lifeless body sprawled in blood, and she's the only one to blame. Propelled by school-wide murder accusations, Bexley-with the help of two peers-works to find the killer, who resides within the Academy's walls. But as more discoveries are made, the truth becomes tangled and dangerous. If Bexley fails, she could get expelled, or worse-the killer could strike again. Mystery lurks beneath the crawling ivy and within the cutthroat elite system. And at Grant Academy, no one can be trusted.
