I received an uncorrected ARC of this book for an honest review. First, the bad. I know it was uncorrected, so I hope they corrected the errors on the final copy, especially the continuity errors (just a few). Now for the good, which is everything else. I thought the author did an excellent job of portraying Ellery as a damaged but persistent cop who has an insatiable need to help people no matter the cost. She's the only survivor of a serial killer as a child, saved by FBI agent Reed Markham. The book starts about ten years later when no one credits her belief of an active serial killer in her adopted small town outside of Boston. Reed had given her his card when she was rescued and said to call if she ever needed anything. She makes the call and there begins all kinds of trouble for Reed trying to help Ellery again. Their relationship is a long, circuitous road in which they appear to trust each other. This was a great story but the characters are what made it shine. I immediately read the next book, No Mercy.

When I read the synopsis I knew this was my kind of book, but sadly it just moved too slow for me and wasn’t what I had thought it would be. It isn’t a bad book, there was just a lot of unnecessary filler and lacking in areas.

well...I did not finish "The Vanishing Season" - there were a couple of things I found a little difficult to get past...1) that a policewoman in a small town (once herself a victim of a serial killer) puts together the significance of three disappearances in three years, signaling the return of said serial killer, or a close facsimile; and 2) an FBI agent (however disgraced) would agree to help out small-town policewoman, who just happens to be the girl he rescued from said serial killer. The agent doesn't need much persuading to enter this fray? A few scary moments just in the few 100 pages I read, but not enough to keep me reading. 

P.S. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

This is not a perfect book, but I did enjoy it. I couldn't imagine what Ellie went through as a survivor of a brutal serial killer. Or why exactly she chose to become a cop. This book left me with some questions, but I think that the answer is simply that the author was trying to cast doubt on other potential suspects. I guessed who the killer was at the very beginning, but I wasn't certain about the guess until much later (halfway-ish) in the book. I liked Ellie as a character, but honestly I think that she is too messed up to be a cop, she may have made a better private investigator than cop. She did things that just wasn't cop-like. For instance, no one knows about her past. Not even the chief of police. I don't think that he should know because they are sleeping together, but because she should have had to pass some background check or something.  For 3 years she has been trying to get her chief to believe her and the only thing that she had to do was show him the cards. But, Ellie is also smart and passionate. It doesn't make up for her lack of judgement with the cards, but it kind of balances the extremes. I also like Reed as a character, I didn't like the fact that he didn't really have to face and deal with the reasons behind his stress leave, but we can't have everything.  I also appreciate that with everything going on, the reunion between Reed and Ellie didn't fall into a romantic relationship (something tells me that it just might in later books. It was nicely paced, and the tension was maintained pretty well til the end. There was a but of suspension of belief (or maybe I'm just super skeptical) at the end, but nothing that hurts the book.  I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series, soon.  4 ****

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an Advanced Reader Copy. I voluntarily read this book and the review and comments below are my honest opinion.
Ellery, a former victim and Reed the FBI agent that saved her are reunited in this The Vanishing Season.  No one knows of Ellery’s past and the killer that abducted her is on death row. But when the killings begin again, Ellery is sure that some knows who she is and is a copy cat killer. A suspenseful, disturbing book with an intense ending.

WOW! I've discovered a new series!!  I really like Ellery. She is a police officer, damaged by her past and working on a serial killer case. The big reveal was nicely done and I enjoyed not having Ellery fall for a hot cop and fall endlessly in forever love in one day like so many novels with a female officer. I will read the rest in this series.  

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur and Joanna Schaffhausen for this ARC!

Fast paced, exciting, and a fun read. Just when I think I knew what was going on, boom! It went somewhere else. Great character development, great story. Just really exciting, and I will definitely recommend it!

Ooh, this was a good one. Creepy, suspenseful, and...well, realistic, as far as this kind of book can be. I love that Ellery feels like a real person, and no, her life doesn't just go back to normal just because she's the one who gets away. I couldn't put this one down and can't wait to read the next!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ellery Hathaway survived an abduction when she was 14 years old. A serial killer had taken her on her birthday and she was rescued from the closet by FBI Agent Reed Markham who'd gone on to write a best selling book about the case. Now, years later, Ellery is working as a police officer in Woodbury, Massachusetts. No one there knows her past but then people start vanishing, exactly one year apart, right around her birthday. No one at work believes that these missing persons require much investigation nor do they agree that these are all connected and that a new killer might be working the area. Since she has no support from her Chief or fellow officers, Ellery contacts Reed Markham and asks him to come to Massachusetts to look at the files. Ellery knows that somehow this is connected to her and her past. NO SPOILERS.

This is the first in a series featuring the former kidnap victim turned policewoman Abigail Ellery Hathaway. She's an interesting protagonist with her history and her scars and I intend to get to know her better by reading the next books in the series. I liked the story and the writing style as it kept me engrossed enough to read it all in a single sitting. Even though I had it all figured out before the team, I still enjoyed the details of the police procedural.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend. I appreciate that it was still available to download even though it was published in 2017 as I like to start at the beginning of a series and read the books in order. I have #2 and #3 queued up.

This novel was thrilling and enthralling! I could not put it down. The characters are believable and relatable. The minutia of small town law enforcement is enhanced by the enormity of the crimes being committed, more so because no one is convinced they are really occurring. I like the way the author portrays a victim and the aftermath of the horror she survived in its banality since it is probably as real as it would get. I enjoyed the different characters and the plot was interesting and well developed. The twist ending was excellent!

4 stars for a well done mystery set in a small Massachusetts town. The suspense builds up continuously and has a satisfying climax.  Ellery Hathaway is a patrol officer in fictional Woodbury, Mass. She believes that there is a serial killer in town. However, although there are 3 missing persons, there are no bodies, so the police chief doesn't believe her. Ellery was abducted by a serial killer when she was 14. She now uses her middle name, instead of Abigail. No one knows about her past except her Mom and someone who sends her birthday cards. She hasn't told anyone in town her birthday. She believes the serial killer knows.
She calls Reed Markham, the FBI agent who rescued her, for help. This mystery was a enjoyable read. I finished it in 2 days. There are some gory parts. It is not a cozy mystery.
One quote:
"When at last he took the exit for Woodbury, it was if the forest rose up around the road, trees thick as a bear's fur, the sun rendered as a distant, filtered light."
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me this book through NetGalley.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This is by far one of the best thrillers I have read this year! It kept me n suspense the whole time and I did not see the ending coming!

The Vanishing Season is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters will get your mind turning as to why and how. You'll see a sick mind at work in this story.

I love that through NetGalley I am introduced to authors I have not read.  I really enjoyed this fast-paced, page turning detective novel.  Was it the best written?  No.  However, sometimes one needs a quick read.  The "who done it" part was easy to determine but the author kept my interest.  This is a good summer/by the pool book.

This book is a mystery in its best form.  

It is not a fast paced thriller type mystery, but a genuine, thought provoking mystery.  I enjoyed the style immediately, as it is the type of mystery I was raised on and loved.  I was able to come to my own conclusions long before I should have, been wrong all of those times, and this is what makes me love a good mystery.  I want to run after any clue I see, and I love it when I am wrong because it means the writer did a great job.  This writer did a great job.

I see that this is a series and that is exciting news!  The protagonist is awesome, and I will be happy to read more of her story.  I liked the pacing of the story, the honesty of the characters, and the story itself.  Good writing, great story....I hope there are many more to come in the series.  

This copy was provided to me by NetGalley.com and the publisher.  I thank them both.

Hands down, this was the best mystery suspense books I've read in a long time.  I'll definitely be looking for more from Joanna Schaffhausen!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was hooked right from the start and couldn’t wait to get to the end. I really liked the character interaction and it had me guessing until the end. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Vanishing Season is the first book in a new mystery/thriller series by Joanna Schaffhausen. Originally published in 2017, this reformat and re-release from Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint it's 274 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a well written and atmospheric thriller with a serial killer theme and a main protagonist who is an adult survivor of an abduction as a teenager. The plotting is tense and controlled and ramps up through the book to a satisfying (and admittedly somewhat surprising) denouement. The characters are clearly drawn, distinct, and believable. The dialogue is intelligent and never clunky.

I read this book alone in my house during a snow/hailstorm in the middle of the night and scared the pants off myself. It really is well written and parts are very creepy. The language is rough (R-rated), and there are potentially traumatic themes (obviously), abduction, body horror, murder, etc. I would recommend this series to fans of the gritty procedural serial killer genre. The author has a strong voice and a surprisingly sure command of plotting and tension elements in her writing for a debut novel. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Four stars.

I really liked this book. It had a very interesting plot and well developed characters. The main characters were very sympathetic, especially Ellery. She had the right amount of strength and vulnerability. The identity of the killer really took my by surprise because I was expecting it to be someone attached to the police department. Overall, this was a great read.

The Vanishing Season is a fine first novel. You can see the synopsis elsewhere, so I won’t go into that.. The plot held my attention throughout and I read right through it. The book’s weak point was character development.  The characters were sufficient to keep the thrilling plot moving along, but there weren’t many who were easy to connect with. I look forward to more by this author. She’s off to a good start.