cover image The Nature of Disappearing

The Nature of Disappearing

Kimi Cunningham Grant. Minotaur, $28 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-90761-5

A 28-year-old Idaho hunting guide reluctantly revisits her past in this evocative wilderness adventure from Grant (These Silent Woods). Emlyn Anthony has lived a quiet life ever since her boyfriend, Tyler, left her for dead during a hiking expedition three years earlier. She’s shocked when Tyler turns up in Idaho to ask for her help tracking down their mutual friend, Janessa, with whom Emlyn had a falling-out in college. Janessa has since become a prominent “van life” influencer, but her recent and abrupt absence from social media leads Tyler to fear the worst—especially considering that Janessa’s been traveling with a shady companion named Bush. An initially hesitant Emlyn agrees to help, embarking on a cross-country search that reopens painful old wounds and threatens to inflict new ones. Flashbacks to Emlyn’s friendship with Janessa and her romance with Tyler shed light on the current search, making it difficult for readers to discern who, exactly, Emlyn can trust. Grant anchors the suspense in the lives of her well-developed characters and delivers a hugely satisfying finale. In the forest of survival thrillers, this stands tall. (June)