The Dry meets Silence of the Lambs in this intoxicating tale of literary suspense set in the relentless Alaskan landscape about madness and obsession, loneliness and grief, and the ferocious bonds of family …
It’s 1941 in small-town Alaska and Elisabeth Pfautz is alone. She’s living far from home, struggling through an unhappy marriage, and she spends her days tutoring her precocious young daughter. Elisabeth’s twin sister disappeared without a trace twenty years earlier, and Elisabeth’s life has never recovered. Cryptic visions of her sister haunt her dreams, and Elisabeth’s crushing loneliness grows more intense by the day. But through it all, she clings to one belief: That her sister is still alive, and that they’ll be reunited one day. And that day may be coming soon. Elisabeth’s world is upended when Alfred Seidel — an enigmatic German bush pilot — arrives in town and murders a local man in cold blood. Sitting in his cell in the wake of his crime, Alfred refuses to speak to anyone except for Elisabeth. He has something to tell her: He knows exactly what happened to her long-missing sister, but he’ll reveal this truth only if Elisabeth fulfills three requests. Increasingly isolated from her neighbors and imprisoned by the bitter cold and her own obsession, Elisabeth lets herself slip deeper into Alfred’s web. A tenuous friendship forms between them, even as Elisabeth struggles to understand Alfred’s game and what he’s after. But if it means she’ll get answers, she’s willing to play by his rules. She’s ready to sacrifice whatever it takes to be reunited with her sister, even if it means putting herself — and her family — in mortal danger. My thoughts: Let me start by saying that I absolutely adored the Alaskan setting of this debut thriller from Raymond Fleischmann. A small isolated town in the midst of wild and harsh nature... Couldn't find a better place for a dark mystery. Elizabeth Pfautz lost her twin sister Jacqueline twenty years ago, but time hasn't healed the wound. Elizabeth's predominant feeling is desperate loneliness, despite being married to a local teacher and having a smart daughter who Elizabeth homeschools. A mysterious stranger, Alfred Seidel, appears in the town and revives Elizabeth's hopes that her sister may be alive after all this time. Gradually, through the use of flashbacks we discover Elizabeth's relationship with her sister and the guilt that is consuming Elizabeth over the events. How far will she go to fulfill Alfred Seidel's requests in order to get clues that will allow her to solve the mystery? There is a lot of suspense and building of tension. No character is particularly likeable, but Raymond Fleischmann manages to let the reader glimpse the dark side of their personality and how it grows under the pressure of isolation and obsession. Eery, dark, full of mind games, How Quickly She Disappears is an atmospheric thriller that is going to be liked by readers who like to explore the nature of guilt, obsession and manipulation and enjoy complex, flawed characters. Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion. How Quickly She Disappears is out on January 14th, 2020. Comments are closed.
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