The Disappearing

May 14, 2018
Lane Fielding, the protagonist of this sinuous slow burn from Edgar-winner Roy (Let Me Die in His Footsteps), never wanted to return to her hometown of Waddell, Fla., but after her divorce, the unemployed single mother had no choice. Now she and her daughters, Annalee and Talley, live with Lane’s elderly parents, Neil and Erma, in the historic Fielding Mansion. Next door is the shuttered reform school where former headmaster Neil is rumored to have savagely beaten and possibly killed numerous students long ago—an allegation he denies. When a Florida State student who volunteers at the mansion goes missing, locals fear that a serial killer is stalking the region, but then Annalee disappears, too, causing Lane to worry that someone is exacting revenge for her father’s supposed sins. Though Roy’s characters are vividly sketched, their actions and intentions don’t always ring true, which undercuts some of the plot’s most shocking twists. Still, evocative writing and a tense, kaleidoscopic narrative conspire to create a tale that thrills and chills, even if it doesn’t fully satisfy. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency.

May 15, 2018
Roy (Let Me Die in His Footsteps, 2015 etc.) proves that sometimes you can't, or shouldn't, go home again when a woman returns to Florida, and the hold of her family's troubled legacy, after a failed marriage.Former reporter Lane Fielding has returned to Waddell, Florida, after her divorce from Kyle Wallace, her husband of 20 years. Along for the ride are her daughters, 18-year-old Annalee and her younger sister, Talley. It's not an ideal arrangement: Fielding Plantation has quite a past, and Lane's mother, Erma, moves about the house like a wraith while her father, Neil, a shadow of the man he once was, has been investigated for the possible abuse of boys under his care at the reform school that he ran, which closed three years ago and happens to be adjacent to their home. The press attention hasn't waned, and it's all Lane can do to keep her sanity, and her family, together. When Florida State University student Susannah Bauer goes missing, the community's collective consciousness turns to the 1970s and a man named Ted, who whisked away a 12-year-old girl who was never seen again. When Annalee disappears, Sheriff Mark Ellenton, with whom Lane has a history, is a calming force, but Lane fears Annalee may have met a fate similar to Susannah's. Meanwhile, a troubled young man named Daryl covets Susannah and Annalee from afar, but is he responsible for their disappearances? This contemporary slow burner oozes with atmosphere, and Roy effortlessly weaves numerous plot threads together without sacrificing her characters, who are very flawed and all too human. Secrets and lies abound, and Lane's struggle to be a good mother while fighting her own considerable demons will resonate with readers, as will the chilling finale.A twisted Southern gothic winner.

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May 1, 2018
Roy, who has won Edgar Awards for Best First Novel (Bent Road, 2011) and for Best Novel (Let Me Die in His Footsteps, 2015), delivers another creepily atmospheric, cunningly plotted suspense tale. Heroine Lane Fielding is caught in a pinball life. As a teen, she moved to Manhattan from Florida to escape her father, who, we learn, was abusive to her and committed atrocities just now coming to light at the local boys' reform school. Now Lane is forced, with her two daughters, to move back to Florida, this time to escape an abusive husband. Readers may wonder why Lane didn't move somewhere else, but this is southern noir; family entanglements grow like coiling kudzu vines. She moves back to the town where Ted Bundy abducted and murdered a 12-year-old girl in 1974. Now, decades later, a Florida State University female student has gone missing, and Lane's own teenage daughter disappears. A former reporter, Lane navigates a swamp of sinister characters and submerged motives to try to find her daughter. Excruciating tension throughout.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2018

Lane Fielding is a woman with a complicated history. At age 13, she went missing from her family's historic plantation in Waddell, FL. The estate bordered a boys' reform school, where her father reigned as tyrant/director. She was found that same night but was thereafter known locally as "the girl who was taken." What unspeakable things were done to her by this juvenile delinquent, who was never named, was irresistible fodder for small-town gossip. Now years later, Lane has returned home with two daughters, a failed marriage, and an uncertain future. Her timing couldn't be worse; allegations have surfaced against her now aged father by former inmates of the school. They tell stories of cruelty, violence, and even murder. When Lane's oldest daughter disappears, just days after a college student vanishes, it seems the past is repeating itself in a most terrifying manner. VERDICT There is much to digest in this richly atmospheric tale told through the alternating perspectives of four main characters. Roy (Bent Road; Until She Comes Home) is a skilled and deft wordsmith, but the tortuous plot fails to form a cohesive story. An optional purchase. [See Prepub Alert, 1/8/18.]--Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2018

Two-time Edgar Award winner Roy takes us to northern Florida with Lane Fielding, who's abandoned a cheating husband and fled home to her parents with her two daughters. When her older daughter vanishes, Lane fears the worst; hints from her younger daughter make Lane suspect vengeance for something bad her father did as director of a local boys' reform school.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.