The Vanishing Season

Anderson, Jodi Lynn. The Vanishing Season. 2014. 256p. ISBN 9780062003270. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Maggie’s mother has lost her high earning job as a banker in Chicago, so the whole family is forced to move to Gill Creek, Wisconsin, in an old house unlived in for years. Located in Door County, a peninsula in Lake Michigan, this house is only one of three on a miles-long road called Water Street. Maggie can see the lake right at the bottom of the field.

On their first day in Gill Creek, the local paper reports that a missing teen girl was found dead. No signs of violence were discovered, and the police are ruling it a possible suicide.

Maggie quickly meets the neighbors. On one side is beautiful and rich Pauline. Her mother owns a tea company, and her father died in a fishing accident five years ago. The death of her father has frozen Pauline in time. She is unable to make plans, since death could strike at anytime. She lives only in the moment. On the other side, through the trees, is Liam. He’s quiet and introspective. He build things out of wood and he tinkers with cars and electronics. His father is an avowed atheist. And Liam is desperately in love with Pauline, who can’t commit.

Quickly a friendship evolves between the three of them, with Pauline as the glue that holds them together. But as more girls are found dead, paranoia begins to grip the county. Teens are kept inside, businesses close. Homeschooled, Maggie feels even more closed in and a prisoner in her own home.

When Pauline and Liam are late returning home one night, the police gets involved, and Pauline is sent to live with her aunt while the killer is at large. Maggie and Liam are left alone, but they decide to hang out together, and eventually Liam falls for Maggie. Pauline’s return, however, threatens Liam and Maggie’s relationship, and even the trio’s friendship. And with the killer still at large, the teens face an unnamed danger.

While there is not a lot of action, this book speaks to the power of relationships and friendships, and presents a realistic scenario of the joys and pains of falling in love for the first time. A ghost is present throughout the book, but only voices comments near the end of chapters. The ghost cannot interact with the teens in any way, and is trying to understand why it is here in the first place. The three plot lines tie in together for a powerful yet tragic ending. And they happily lived ever after this is not.

Readers who love redemption stories will relish Maggie’s experiences in this new place and will shed a few tears when they close the book for the last time. If you liked this book, consider reading Thirteen Reasons Why, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, We Were Liars, If I Stay, Zoe Letting Go, Black Box, or Kiss of Broken Glass. All of these books feature a tragedy and a voyage of self-discovery as the central element of the plot.