The Vanishing Year - Kate Moretti (Review)

The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti
Genres: Mystery, Fiction
Publication date: September 27th 2016
Publisher: Atria Books
Format: paperback, 304 pages
How I got it: My public library
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5 
 
Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan’s social elite. She is on the board of one of the city’s most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous lake house in the country. The finest wine, the most up-to-date fashion, and the most luxurious vacations are all at her fingertips.

What no one knows is that five years ago, Zoe’s life was in danger. Back then, Zoe wasn’t Zoe at all. Now her secrets are coming back to haunt her. As the past and present collide, Zoe must decide who she can trust before she—whoever she is—vanishes completely.

The Vanishing Year combines the classic sophistication of Ruth Rendell and A.S.A. Harrison with the thoroughly modern flair of Jessica Knoll. Told from the point-of-view of a heroine who is as relatable as she is enigmatic, The Vanishing Year is an unforgettable new novel by a rising star of the genre. 

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My thoughts:

This book follows Zoe who is married to a very rich man in New York.  Zoe meet Henry and got married quickly to him.  We don’t know much about Zoe in the beginning of the book, but as we get into reading we learn a lot more about Zoe.

Zoe is a complex character that the author did a great job creating.  I loved that we got bits and pieces of her past and what happened to get her to the point in her life that she is now.  Zoe has overcome a lot of diversity in her life and was able to pull herself together.  I loved how Zoe was somewhat naive, but also had street smarts mixed in.

The story itself does go off in a few directions, but it does follow a good path.  The author hits the reader with a lot of facts in the beginning and then we start to unravel the mystery.  The pace was perfect and I felt we were hit with the exact amount of information we needed at the right time.

Towards the end of the book the pace picks up significantly and it becomes harder to put the book down.  I wanted to know what was going to happen and what the end results would be.  The pace allowed me to read more during this time.

The author does an amazing job summing up the end of the book.  I felt complete when I finished this book and I didn’t have any lingering questions that I needed answers too.  I love when I know what the author was expecting for the reader to get out of the book.

My one complaint would have been I would have liked to get to know Henry a little more during the book.  If we could have gotten his perspective of what was going on I think it would have been interesting.

I would suggest this book as a nighttime read.  I could read a little bit each night and put the book down without missing a beat.  The book was easy to follow along with and it was easy to take a break from reading. 

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About the Author

Kate Moretti lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.

She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.

Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.

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