The Vanishing Season

"A gripping debut with a plot twist readers won't see coming."―HALLIE EPHRON, author of Night Night, Sleep TightA chilling tale of suspense for fans of Julia Heaberlin. Fourteen years ago, teenager Ellery Hathaway was victim number seventeen in the grisly murder spree of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. She was the only one who lived.Now Coben is safely behind bars, and Ellery has a new identity in a sleepy town where bike theft makes the newspapers. But each July for the last three years, locals have been disappearing. Then Ellery receives strange messages hinting that the culprit knows exactly what happened to her all those years ago. When she tries to raise the alarm, no one will listen, and terrified she may be next, Ellery must turn to the one person who might believe her story…


Genre: Mystery

"The Vanishing Season introduces small-town police detective Ellery Hathaway, a former child victim of an infamous sadistic psychopath. While attempting to hide the scars of past trauma, Ellery must hunt a terrifying serial killer whose methods eerily echo her former abuser's. Is she next on his list? Schaffhausen does equal justice to Ellery's inner and outer struggles as she keeps the plot twists coming in this gripping, compulsively readable debut. Be prepared to lose sleep." - Elisabeth Elo

"A gripping debut with a plot twist readers won’t see coming." - Hallie Ephron

"A twisted story with an unforgettable protagonist and a drop-book-in-lap, sneaky twist that will make you say WOW!" - Shannon Kirk

"Dark, disturbing, and relentlessly sinister--this intense thriller plumbs the darkest corners of terror, survival and psychological damage. Be warned: leave on the light! But start reading right now." - Hank Phillippi Ryan