If
you want a mystery that reads more like a family drama than a thriller, Janelle
Brown’s “Watch Me Disappear” is the book for you. I couldn’t put it down.
The
novel opens nearly a year after beautiful, willful, enigmatic Billie Flanagan
goes for a hike and never comes home. Her husband, Jonathan, and teenage
daughter, Olive, have started to come to terms with her presumed death - Jonathan
is even writing a memoir about their love.
But
then, Jonathan uncovers troubling inconsistencies about the Billie he thought
he knew - a locked laptop file, receipts he can’t account for, a friend who
says Billie wasn’t what she appeared to be.
When
Olive starts to have visions of her mother alive, she believes they’re signs
that her mother has been hurt or kidnapped and that she and her father have to
look for her. Johnathan thinks Olive’s condition could be a form of seizure and
is reluctant to delay Billie’s life insurance policy any longer.
Jonathan
eventually agrees to join Olive in the search for Billie. Meanwhile, the drama
of Jonathan’s and Olive’s life unfolds in real and unexpected ways. Their
relationship feels painfully honest and heartbreaking at times, tender and
sincere at others. Brown renders these characters so fully that I felt their
every bump, bruise, and misstep. They are a father and daughter trying to
figure out a Billie-less life and each other.
The
novel ends with a bit of a twist, and while I didn’t find it completely
surprising, it was satisfying.
While
“Watch Me Disappear” centers around Billie’s disappearance, the most chilling
revelation is that you might never really know a person, even the one you love
most in the world.
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