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book cover for Circus of the Vanishing Elephant

Circus of the Vanishing Elephant

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Pub Date Sep 15 2026 | Archive Date Sep 09 2026

HTF Publishing | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles


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Description

An adventurous tale of a vanished elephant, a fractured family, and the journey that might bring them home.

When the King Minos Circus’s beloved elephant vanishes during a parade, suspicion falls on the owner’s estranged daughter and a young clown haunted by the ghost of his father.

1974 – The King Minos Circus is barely holding on as the country falters and audiences drift away. Its fortunes rise again when Christos “King” Minos unlocks a dazzling vanishing elephant illusion featuring Henrietta, the animal he loves more fiercely than he can admit.

But when animal-rights activists launch a plot of their own, the illusion becomes real. Henrietta disappears—along with Minos’s daughter, Randi, and Ainge, the circus’s newest clown. Left behind, Minos believes he has been betrayed by the two people he trusted most and vows to bring them to justice.

Held captive in a barn north of Seattle, Randi and Ainge form an uneasy alliance as they care for Henrietta and plan their escape. Their journey—stretching across the American West, through small towns and roadside shows—forces them to confront who they are, whom they belong to, and what freedom truly means.

In the end, the choice of whether Henrietta returns to the circus is not theirs—but hers. 

An adventurous tale of a vanished elephant, a fractured family, and the journey that might bring them home.

When the King Minos Circus’s beloved elephant vanishes during a parade, suspicion falls on...


A Note From the Publisher

Additional Book Formats with (ISBN-13)
Hardcover: 9781963452488
Ebook: 9781963452495

Additional Book Formats with (ISBN-13)
Hardcover: 9781963452488
Ebook: 9781963452495


Advance Praise

 “When the star elephant of the King Minos Circus vanishes mid-parade in 1974, along with the owner's runaway daughter, a larger unraveling begins. Tim Schooley draws on his own experience as a Ringling Bros. clown to craft a vivid, propulsive novel about loyalty, spectacle, and the cost of holding on too tight. Historical fiction with real sawdust under its nails.”

– City Book Review 

“When the star elephant of the King Minos Circus vanishes mid-parade in 1974, along with the owner's runaway daughter, a larger unraveling begins. Tim Schooley draws on his own experience as a...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781963452471
PRICE $19.95 (USD)
PAGES 242

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