The Vanished Ones by Donato Carrisi

Author : Donato Carrisi
Title : The Vanished Ones
Published : 08/01/2015
Pages : 464
Genre : Crime Thriller
Publisher : Abacus

     At the elite Missing Persons Bureau of the Federal Police, Mila Vasquez is tasked with finding the hundreds of lost people who vanished from their former lives. The longer they are gone, the more they are forgotten by the world. Now they are returning. Appearing at random and wielding devastation, they enact a horrifying pattern of murders, leaving Mila scrabbling to discover where they have come from and what they want. Yet the deeper into the case she gets, Mila begins to realize that her colleagues are hiding something from her - something which will jeopardize everything.

     Once again I have returned to the world of book trades at my local Phone box, an idea I still think is an amazing use of an old and unused space, It is however not the first time I have read this author. In my previous visits with him, he has managed to bring Italy to life and off the pages. His books always seem to have so much to take in that you have to be on the ball to catch every subtle detail. I think what drew me to this book was the subject of missing persons. How so many people can simply slide out of the lives never to be seen or heard of again. Is it real this is to walk out and never look back, and how many have done so not of there own free will? Is it the cases that out there in a back alley or deep in the forests countless dead lie unnamed and lost in the mists of time. 

     Through this book, I got my first introduction to Mila Vasquez, And it is through her we get a mixture of storylines to follow. The Main focus is on that of who is killing these people and how are the linked to each other, But we also get to look into the difficulties of being a new mother. She lives with a great deal of guilt as to her feeling to her daughter and a sense of detachment that she sees in herself. This to me felt like it was done with a great deal of care as to not make his main heroine feel completely disjointed from the real world and seem plausible. In turn, we see how she focus this worry into her job and a driving passion to find out what happened to the people that cross her cases files. In a world so rich and well created the author need to provide a lead that could match up to this, For me, it feels like the author has done this and more. I was brought into her struggles both professionally and personally and I was left rooting for her at every given turn. 

     As I have come to expect from Carrisi this is a story of many strings and it requires the lightest of touches on each to pull them all together in a conclusion that will feel satisfying. He always manages to deliver this mindbogglingly complex plots, without the need to leave me completely confused. The subjects he tackles are always ones that fascinating to me. I find it amazing when you start looking into it just how many missing people there are in a world that is apparently so connected. It is hard to give any sort of account as to what takes place without giving the plot away. Needless to say, this is a case where not all is as it seems, and in the world of missing persons, some might just not want to be found. The deeper subjects he pulls out as to why some people disappear took me to some dark places. These all add to the tension he has created within his novel and it builds up as more trouble gets thrown in her path as to who is behind what has been taking place. When I got to the final conclusion and the motives behind it all I can say that I felt completely in horror as to why. Sometimes the motives in a book can seem understandable even if the physical outcome of such events we do not agree with.   

     Once again the author has given to me a book that I didn't want to put down. The more complex it got the better. And with his usual style of mixing great mystery with leads that I can believe in wholeheartedly what more could I ask for.