Vanished

By: Joseph Finder

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Nick Heller is tough, smart, and stubborn. And in his line of work, it's essential. Trained in the Special Forces, Nick is a high-powered intelligence investigator - exposing secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden. He's a guy you don't want to mess with. He's also the man you call when you need a problem fixed.

Desperate, with nowhere else to run, Nick's nephew, Gabe makes that call one night. After being attacked in Georgetown, his mother lies in a coma, and his step-dad, Roger, Nick's brother, has vanished without a trace. Nick and Roger have been on the outs since the arrest, trial, and conviction of their father, the notorious "fugitive financier" Victor Heller. Where Nick strayed from the path, Roger followed their father's footsteps into the corporate world. Now, as Nick searches for his brother, he's on a collision course with one of the most powerful corporations in the world - and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets, in Joseph Finder's thrilling Vanished.

©2009 Joseph Finder (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

A good, safe and predicable tale.

A good run of the mill action story. It, at times, is a bit predictable. I live in the area described, so I found that fun.

Not Finder's best but kept me listening

Narration was solid. Graham is always good. The book seemed a little too far fetched. Twists were there but fell a little flat. Probably more of a 3.5 star book. Choose another Finder book first. This is not his best work. Probably will eventually listen to book 2 of this series but not anytime soon.

exciting but plot lacked something

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, if the person liked tension. i enjoyed the book.

Would you be willing to try another book from Joseph Finder? Why or why not?

i have already read three or four and have another one to read. i like his books.

What about Holter Graham’s performance did you like?

good job! yes he was great!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

not for the faint of heart.

A Solid Thriller

Vanished is a pretty solid thriller with a new serial character in Nick Heller. I like Heller, he's a solid lead. He's a former special forces guy with a penchant for sarcasm and a good set of problem solving skills that don't always involve pain.

Vanished starts off as a book where Nick investigates some missing money, and then a kidnapping of his brother. It evolves into something else entirely. Finder weaves his way through the various plot threads with some precision, but there's a few dings along the way. I think that Gabe and Lauren are fairly weak characters, and that one of the plot threads involving Lauren has no logical conclusion, unless the other party lives under a rock in the ocean.

The book does date itself a bit with the over emphasis on Blackberry's. I think a revision where you replace Blackberry with smart phone would be helpful. Otherwise, I think this is a solid debut for a new serial character in Nick Heller.


As far as the narration goes, I don't think Holter Graham is terrible. I think he does a pretty respectable job for most of the characters, but Lauren and Gabe's voices are terrible. Lauren is just boring, and Gabe with his voice cracking is like nails on a chalkboard. I get that he's going through puberty, but he just comes off as very whiny. Emo and goth and blah blah blah.. It's just not enough.

I've got Buried Secrets in my wishlist, so I do expect to get to that before too long to see where this character can go. I don't see him as the next Jack Reacher, but he's got enough depth to carry more books.

Good, but don't like the narrator

This a a pretty good book, not excellent, but I think my opinion for the book is a bit tainted by the narrator. His voices for Lauren and her son Gabe are terrible. I don't like listening to him and I think it has affected my enjoyment of this book.

Good Read!

Can't wait to read the sequel and the Good and Valuable Consideration; Jack Reaher vs Nick Heller - intriguing-(Good luck Nick!)

Enjoyable Listen

Excellent book! This would have been one book I would have enjoyed reading, but I was traveling a lot during the summer, and decided to pull it down from Audible instead. The narrater did an excellent job voicing each character differently. I even slowed down my driving so I could listen to it more.

Just ok, and the narrator needs an adenoidectomy

I have enjoyed several Joseph Finder books but i couldn’t muster any affection for the characters in this one. The narration of Holter Graham was so nasally, especially the adolescent boy and all the women, that I found myself clearing my throat and wanting to blow my nose at every listen! Oy.

Great business/espionage thriller

I love Joseph Finder's books. "Vanished" is a very good one, in my opinion it is better than the previous one "Power Play", but not as good as "Paranoia". The main character Nick Heller has been very well developed. Nick has a clear opinion about things, has humour, and is generally a likeable guy. Nick scored some bonus points with me for listening to Johnny Cash' version of "Hurt" in the car during a drive. Joseph Finder is in tune with today's business environment, and blends in some nice anecdotes in "Vanished": a conspiracy theory on Enron, the impact of the new President in the USA, a cleverly disguised story around a scandal that in real life involved a key official of the Formula One association. The reason I did not award a 5/5, but only a 4/5, is in the lack of credibility in the business rationale/structuring of the corporate scam that is uncovered, as well as the unrealistic "superpowers" that Nick has in some of the scenes. Other than that, a very enjoyable book that I liked listening to.

Really Good!

I really enjoyed this audio book. The plot twists were fun to follow. Thank you.