The Last to Vanish

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda is a very highly recommended excellent thriller. Miranda is one of my favorite authors and she delivers the goods again!

Abby (Abigail) Lovett arrived in Cutter's Pass, North Carolina, ten years ago and is now managing The Passage Inn. Cutter's Pass, an access point to the Appalachian trail, is known as the most dangerous town in North Carolina based on the several unsolved disappearances tied to the city. The disappearances include the Fraternity Four, a group of students in 1997; Alice Kelly in 2012; Farrah Jordan in 2019; and Landon West in 2022.

Landon West was a journalist who was investigating the disappearances before he became a statistic. Now four months later his brother, Trey, has arrived at show more the Inn and he has some questions. Abby, who often feels like an outsider, notices all the reactions Trey is getting while looking into his brother's disappearance, which causes her to start looking a bit closer into Landon's disappearance as well as that of the others.

Cutter's Pass may be a picturesque tourist destination but it is also the most dangerous town in North Carolina and that moniker helps draw some tourists. It also seems that it might be true, but Abby can't get any answers and has to search for them. Then she finds some incriminating evidence and must look closely at everyone she knows

The writing is exceptional in this suspenseful thriller and mystery. The narrative is told through five parts of the novel. Each carefully plotted part focuses on a disappearance, starting with the most recent. The tension and apprehension build slowly at first but then it begins to multiply, and accumulate, as Abby uncovers more information and begins to question everyone around her. How well does she know her neighbors and friends? The sense of menace and dread will begin to start immediately. There are several shocking twists I didn't see coming at all.

Abby is a great character who will immediately garner your trust and you will care about her. All the secondary characters are equally interesting, realistic, and bring different dimensions to the unique plot. Even the setting, the mountains, hiking trails, and town, bring something unique to the narrative.

Once you start reading, The Last to Vanish becomes un-put-downable and it exceeded all my expectations. Another winning novel by Megan Miranda!
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
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Cutter's Pass is located in a beautiful section of North Carolina. The fact that hikers sometimes vanish on the trails is probably true of any wilderness trail country, but Cutter's Gap seems to have a bit more of a history of this happening...the last one just this year. From The National Press...Labeled as “the most dangerous town in North Carolina,” Cutter’s Pass is a pretty place in which hikers have over the years had a tendency to vanish. The first recorded was in1897. More recently there were the Fraternity Four, as a group of students came to be called, who disappeared in 1997; Alice Kelly in 2012; Farrah Jordan in 2019; and Landon West in 2022. There is something a bit creepier when a story is written to be fiction has show more firmly planted roots in reality. Megan Miranda builds a haunting atmosphere as she tells the story of a pretty little inn with a very troubled past and sprinkles in some locals who are or could be, keeping deadly secrets. A sense of unease runs throughout the story whether Abby is facing the dangers of the mountains or being almost sure that the locals are monitoring her every move. The Passage Inn, where Abby works and loves her job, is a character all by itself. It comes complete with quirks, secrets, and dark creepy basement rooms. Abby now having to face all these strange happenings at what used to be her comforting, calm place of work is further spooked. The phones keep going down, and one of her co-workers quits with only a brief note explaining her departure. We are slowly given more information about Abby, which only leads to more questions. Such as where did she come from before she rather suddenly, arrived in Cutter’s Pass? Why did she decide to live and work at the inn in the first place? All these personal details are revealed but slowly and with careful precision. I liked that the author was careful to ensure that Abby is a fascinating character and not a frustrating one. It's a perfect balance between a cold-case mystery and a psychological thriller, with some surprising twists. show less

This was so hard to get into. I don't know how many times I tried. It feels like I never really did get into it, honestly. It seemed like nothing happened throughout the story. The mystery surrounding the missing people who never made it out of Cutter's Pass held my interest. It wasn't what I was expecting. The twists were really good. It is a solid story. I recommend it if you like slow burns.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC.

Warning: Don’t read The Last to Vanish when you have a lot you have to do — because you won’t do it. I finished this page-turner in two days, neglecting so many, many chores!

Abby Lovett didn’t grow up in tiny, insular Cutter’s Pass, N.C., but having worked for her Aunt Celeste Farley for nearly 10 years at the Passage Inn, she’s finally become considered an insider. But arrival of a man looking for his missing brother makes Abby realize that the residents of Cutter’s Pass aren’t what they seem.

What a wonderful, twisty thriller! I can’t wait to read my next Megan Miranda suspense-filled novel.

I have quite enjoyed all of Megan Miranda's books and was looking forward to listening to her latest - The Last to Vanish. The one thing that Miranda's books have in common is suspense. What's different about The Last to Vanish is how that suspense is played out.

The Last to Vanish is such a well paced book. Miranda builds the story with layers of atmospheric observations, happenings, interactions, suspicions and more - all seen through Abby's eyes. The sense of danger is not overt, but instead preys on the listener's imagination. I very much enjoyed the subtle hand Miranda used in building her story.

I chose to listen to The Last to Vanish and I'm so glad I did. Alex Allwine was the reader. She's a new to me narrator and I thought she show more was was really good. She has a lovely low, well modulated, gravelly undertone tone to her voice that is easy on the ears. Her pace of speaking is thoughtful and matches the tone of Miranda's book. Her enunciation is clear. Her voice matched the mental image I had constructed for Abby. Allwine interpreted and presented Miranda's book really well. Five stars for both the story and the performance! show less

A beautiful but sinister setting, a town full of secrets. What are they hiding?

Abigail Lovett has worked at The Passage Inn for the past ten years. The little resort is located in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter's Pass and right off the popular Appalachian trail. The Inn offers many activities for all the tourists who are interested in hiking, camping, and other outdoor pursuits. More recently, however, the town has become infamous for a series of mysterious disappearances of visitors to the area. Seven people have gone missing over the last decade. No trace of any has ever been found. The last to vanish was a journalist, Landon West, who was there to investigate the story. When his brother, Trey, shows up in Cutter's Pass show more and stays in the room that had been Landon's, things start happening. Will this mystery finally be solved?

This suspense thriller was full of some dubious characters, none that are forthright or talkative about the truth of who saw what when. Everyone seems to be intent on hiding something. The narrator, Abby, is very unreliable and is sort of an outsider who wants to be in. The story moves rather slowly and it builds tension as the reader tries to figure out where this is going and what happened to those people. I was so stoked up for something big that when the revelations come at the very end, I was so disappointed. I mean, that's where this is going?? After all that build up, the conclusion and explanations were a big let down. I would have to say that the setting was the biggest star of the book. I'm not an outdoorsy type myself, but the description made me want to visit the area.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this e-book ARC to read and review. show less

Abby helps manage The Passage Inn located in a small town of Cutter’s Pass. Cutter’s Pass is known for its beautiful hikes and great landscapes and a string of unsolved disappearances. But when Landon West’s brother shows up to find out exactly what happened, things start to unravel and the community closes ranks. No outsider is safe.

I adored Abby. She is just an all around good girl trying to live a quiet life. However, when she starts to really question what is going on around her, her quiet life turns into a frightful situation. She is not as safe as she thought!

You can always count on this author to take you on a wild ride! And this story is full of wild rides! I mean…how many people have to go missing?? Now, I had part of show more this figured out, but not all of it. I love how an author can throw a kink into a reader’s deductions. And Megan Miranda is always good for several twisted surprises. And the suspense…when you don’t know who to trust, it throws several tension filled moments your way!

Need a fabulous tale full of twists and turns….THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less