The Disappearance
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Description
A fast-paced, gritty mystery with a supernatural twist.
This novel centers on the unlikely friendship between two boys, Jacob Mueller and Mike McCallum. Jacob seems to be from a different world. After mystifying experts and doctors, who finally decide that he is an elective mute, Jacob ends up in a juvenile group home, isolated and withdrawn, the butt of teasing by the other kids. Mike exists in his own private hell. Scarred physically and emotionally after the murder of his younger brother, his one aim is to survive the system until he is legally old enough to get out. He uses his horrific appearance, imposing size, sharp intelligence, and a calculated brutality to keep everyone at bay鈥攗ntil he encounters Jacob. Almost despite himself, Mike is fascinated by Jacob, particularly the way in which he seems able to shut out the world around him. This fascination deepens and becomes tinged by a mixture of awe and horror when Jacob starts to talk, and appears to have knowledge of Mike鈥檚 past, and in particular of his dead brother. Mike takes it upon himself to solve the puzzle that is Jacob Mueller, and when he comes to what seems to him to be the impossible conclusion that Jacob is from another time, he makes it his mission to return him home. In order to do so, Mike has to make hard choices: choices which could offer the chance of redemption, but only at great cost.
Reviews
鈥淎 solid genre-blurring addition that doesn鈥檛 shy away from realistic violence and language.鈥�
- School Library Journal, 09/01/17
鈥淔or readers looking for a twisted supernatural mystery with engaging characters, The Disappearance is an excellent choice.鈥�
- CM Reviews, 12/01/17
鈥淎 fast-paced, creepy mystery with a realistic setting . . . . Reluctant highly capable readers will be enticed, as will fans of R. L. Stine, Ripley鈥檚 Believe It or Not, and ghost stories.鈥�
- VOYA, 10/17
鈥淎 fast, compelling read.鈥�
- Kirkus Reviews, 07/02/17
鈥淲ill appeal to all middle-school-aged students.鈥�
- Canadian Children鈥檚 Book News, Summer/18
鈥淸An] extraordinary plot twist . . . [which] is unexpected and unique and wholly convincing.鈥�
- CanLit for Little Canadians, 10/06/17
鈥淭he characters are excellent and drafted carefully and fleshed out completely.鈥�
- My Book Abyss, 11/19/18