Review ~ The Vanishing Point by Val McDermid

My thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic inc for a review copy.

The Vanishing Point

by

Val McDermid

Grove Atlantic
September 2012

From Goodreads

One of the finest crime writers we have, Val McDermid’s heart-stopping thrillers have won her international renown and a devoted following of readers worldwide. In The Vanishing Point, she kicks off a terrifying thriller with a nightmare scenario: a parent who loses her child in a bustling international airport.

My3*** Review

The story opens with child abduction at a US airport -  it’s the stuff of nightmares for every parent, one minute your child is there, and then as powerless to help, you witness your child being taken away. The Vanishing Point starts off well, the idea of looking back to see how the story unfolds is interesting, and as we are introduced to the major characters, we are given glimmers into the twisted world of celebrity status. There is Scarlett Higgins, a TV reality star with an unsavoury past, and Stephanie Harker, the ghost writer, who when drafted in to write Scarlett’s autobiography as a letter to her then unborn child, takes on rather more than she bargained. Add together a handful of American FBI agents, mix together with English detectives, and this book should satisfy readers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Overall, I thought the book was a well written thriller, with enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the book ticking along nicely. The troubled past of the main protagonist is convincing, and as there are so many nuances of recent celebrity lives intertwined in the narrative,  you find yourself wondering if something like this could ever have happened. The least convincing part of this story, for me, was the ending of the book, which I found a bit improbable, but, this is fiction after all ,and a few liberties are allowed to be taken. 

I'm not a huge fan of Val McDermid,  this is only the second book of hers that I have read, however I am sure that her legions of fans will devour this book.