How to Disappear

By: Gillian McAllister

Narrated by: Nicola Walker

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE GRIPPING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NO FURTHER QUESTIONS AND THE EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU

'Bravo! How to Disappear is undoubtedly her best yet. Gripping and emotional - a cracking read' Clare Mackintosh

'A relentless drumroll of suspense . . . ranks among the best psychological-suspense thrillers of recent years' A. J. Finn

You can run, you can hide, but can you disappear for good?

Lauren's daughter Zara witnessed a terrible crime. But speaking up comes with a price, and when Zara's identity is revealed online, it puts a target on her back.

The only choice is to disappear.

To keep Zara safe, Lauren will give up everything and everyone she loves, even her husband.

There will be no goodbyes. Their pasts will be rewritten. New names, new home, new lives.

The rules are strict for a reason. They are being hunted. One mistake - a text, an Instagram like - could bring their old lives crashing into the new.

They can never assume someone isn't watching, waiting.

As Lauren will learn, disappearing is easy. Staying hidden is harder . . .
__________

'Totally addictive, with twists that repeatedly pulled the rug from under my feet' Erin Kelly

'Tense and unpredictable. I couldn't put it down' Claire Douglas

'If Jodi Picoult wrote psychological thrillers, they would look like this. A compulsive read with a jaw-dropping twist, I read it in a day' Rosamund Lupton

'An intricate and spellbinding exploration of the devastating ripples that spread from a terrible crime' Holly Seddon

'I read How to Disappear with my heart in my mouth' Lia Louis

(c) Gillian McAllister 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critic reviews

Bravo! How to Disappear is undoubtedly her best yet. Gripping and emotional - a cracking read. (Clare Mackintosh)

A clever and original thriller with a brilliant ending. Beautifully written and emotional as well as tense and unpredictable, I couldn't put it down. (Claire Douglas)

If Jodi Picoult wrote psychological thrillers, they would look like this. A compulsive read with a jaw-dropping twist, I read it in a day (Rosamund Lupton)

Tense, twisty and perfectly paced, How To Disappear is a compelling portrait of a family under unbearable pressure - where one false step invites disaster into all their lives (T. M. Logan)

Totally addictive: clever, convincing and ingeniously plotted with twists that repeatedly pulled the rug from under my feet. But more than that, How to Disappear is peopled with characters so real and relatable you feel you could reach out and touch them. Any crime writer can keep you turning the pages - but few can make you care this much. (Erin Kelly)

Some thrillers stage a few moments of high anxiety (at best); more thrillers simply sprinkle jitters here and there, like piano ditties peppered lightly with minor chords. But How to Disappear is a relentless drumroll of suspense, a knife-edge novel in which - at any moment, with any word, in the spaces between words - the characters can drop into danger as though falling through a trapdoor. They aren't safe for even an instant . . . and neither is the reader who cares about them (and who couldn't?). Gillian McAllister's rattling, deeply satisfying book ranks among the best psychological-suspense thrillers of recent years, but you'll be reminded too of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty, Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. Bloody hell, this is a good one. (A. J. Finn)

Gillian McAllister has done it again. How to Disappear is a captivating story with unforgettable characters. This is one you can't put down and you won't soon forget (Samantha Downing)

I couldn't look away from this intricate and spellbinding exploration of the devastating ripples that spread from a terrible crime. The desperate and dangerous slippery slope that one family finds themselves on is as gut punching as it is believable. Whip smart and wonderfully written. (Holly Seddon)

This intricately plotted drama is a masterclass in taut, twisty but beautiful writing

A clever, compulsive, cat-and-mouse family thriller that made my heart race. Never ever, would I want to go into a witness protection programme after this. Absolutely brilliant (Jane Corry)

What’s the “page-turner” for audio books?

This won’t be the book that changes your life, this won’t be the book that is taught at schools either, but it was just soooo enjoyable!.. hence 5 stars. A nice plot twist at the end - kind of predictable had I not been so emotionally involved (shed a few tears even - which doesn’t happen to me often (anymore)). The narrator also did a great job!

A greatly written story that kept me in suspense

This is my second McAllister book and I love her writing!
The style is captive and gives strong feelings for all characters and the story was so strong it kept up the suspense right till the end.
I suspect the book is best read if you are a parent because the feelings are so relatable - it might not work if you don’t have children, but I cannot be certain. However as a parent this was also a great read to fall in love with my children again (as you can sometimes need a reminder when life just trundles on)

How to disappear audible

Excellent. Nicola Walker is a wonderful narrator. Such a pleasure to listen to. Highly recommend

Shocking

Gripping, absolutely loved it from beginning till end. The story is so powerful and the characters so lovely and relatable.

A pleasant surprise, good character work

Coming off a streak of shallow reads in this genre, I found this book to be a nice surprise. The premise is inventive, and although it takes a little bit to get going, I really appreciated the depth the author gave to each of the main characters and their internal lives. There were a few bits that seemed so far-fetched here and there, but the author also did a decent job tying up loose threads and resolving doubtful scenarios. It was the complex psychology of each member of the family unit that really impressed me, something a lot of writers don’t bother with. Even as characters sometimes made unwise choices, I found myself a lot more empathetic because the author had laid the groundwork for seeing the characters as complex, not stupid.

The narration was decent, though as an American I can’t attest to the accuracy of the regional accents of the UK.

In short, this was one of the better books I’ve listened to this year in this genre, and based on the quality of the character development, will be looking at other titles by this author.