Vanished

Sarah Mason, who works in the District Attorney's office, stops at a convenience store for some dog food and finds herself in the middle of a robbery. The clerk is murdered, but Sarah and young Angie are able to escape the building. But when Sarah is shot, Angie runs off. She comes to in the hospital with her best friend PI Jake Hogan by her bedside.

Sarah and Jake became friends when Sarah's five-year-old daughter Lexie vanished from a park in Beaufort, South Carolina, when they were on their way to a T-ball Awards party. When the police didn't seem to be doing enough, the young mother went to Jake who had just left the FBI to take over the family's investigation bureau. Seven years later, there is still no resolution for Sarah. Lexie show more seemingly vanished without a trace.

Sarah has buried herself in her work since Lexie's disappearance. She barely eats, barely sleeps, and is hyper-focused on her grief. When she gets a phone call, purportedly from Lexie begging her for help, Jake is her first call. But Jake wants to look at who might want to cause Sarah so much pain and helps her realize that the call couldn't be from Lexie.

Sarah has lots of potential sources for those who might want to derail her and sidetrack her. She is heavily involved in the Helitzer case concerning a socially prominent man who, Sarah believes, murdered his wife. She's also involved in a case where a stripper has accused a couple of cops of rape which has much of the police force turning against Sarah. There are other cases too.

There are other bits of harassment after the first phone call. Someone enters Sarah's house and scatters Lexie's toys around. Someone writes a code word only known to Sarah and Lexie on Sarah's car window. And then young Angie vanishes which brings all the terrors of the day Sarah lost Lexie right back...

The story was intense and fast-paced. It was emotionally harrowing to watch Sarah try to deal with her loss. It was equally harrowing to watch Jake, who had fallen deeply in love with Sarah, try to help, support, and protect the woman he has come to love.

The story was narrated by Joyce Bean who did an excellent job dealing with the voices and the emotional intensity of the story. show less

I really enjoyed this mystery. The protagonist is a single mother whose 5-year-old daughter went missing years earlier. The mother, Sarah, is a District Attorney and puts all of her energy into putting bad guys in prison. She is not well-liked by her peers or the local police force, notably for one of her current cases in which she is prosecuting a police officer for rape. Any time that Sarah isn't working, she is consumed by grief and haunted by thoughts of her missing daughter. She's a shell of her former self, she barely sleeps, eats, smiles, and basically avoids anything but work. Her one major source of support is her best friend, Jake. Jake is a former FBI Agent turned private investigator and Jake pretty much has his hands full show more taking care of Sarah, who is pretty constantly an emotional wreck. Jake is the kind of best friend we all want and probably don't deserve. Jake is a bit of a knight in shining armor, even though Sarah is not exactly a damsel in distress, she's just having a really, really bad week. Obviously, her life has been bad since her daughter went missing, but Sarah's week starts with being caught up in an armed robbery at a corner store, then several threatening and disturbing things happen. Are they coincidences or connected? Could any of it be connected to her missing daughter, or is it just a mother's grief that constantly tries to connect dots that aren't there. Its a mystery that is revealed slowly and will keep you on edge until the end. show less

This story started out well enough, hooked me in, and kept me interested. However, I hated the neat and tidy, happily ever ending that was unrealistic and somewhat out of left field.

I read this in just two sittings. I was completely consumed by every page. Robards has a way of grabbing you and holding you there with her writing.

OMG is the only words that can describe this book. It was FULL of suspence and you just couldnt put this book down, well i got the audio book but still by far the best book i have read/listen to in my WHOLE LIFE!.

This is about an ADA (assistant district attorney) whos 5 year old daughter vanishes right in front of her eyes. 7 years later she is caught in a convinence store buying dog food where robbers come in and shoot the teller and she is faced to save a little girl hiding in the corner.

through out the book there are people who are trying to kill her and playing mean tricks on her about her daughter that is lost.

mean while the little girl she saved in the robbery get kidnapped and she feels its her duty to save her since she couldnt show more save her daughter.

**spoiler alert* dont read if you dont want to know the ending!

the last 20 minutes of the book by far was the best
finding out the JUDGE was the bad guy and running the kiddy porn shop and find out he was the one who kidnapped her daughter and sexually assualted her!!!!!!!!!!! and to find out she was ALIVE!

Of course the police find the daugher and bring her home where i cried my eyes out.

BEST book EVER. you will not be disappointed! show less

Good story about a prosecutor, her FBI friend, missing children and murder. Didn't have a clue who was behind all the trouble until the very end.

Was good, not as good as Beachcomber, but still a good read.