The Vanishing Office

The Nemo and Co. Series, Book 1

By: J.E. Clarkson

Narrated by: Elah Khorasani

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

A dystopian story of secrets, misinformation and a murderous automaton, The Vanishing Office, is the first techno thriller by indie dystopian writer J.E. Clarkson.

Stuck in a rut, a young woman accepts a cleaning job working for an elusive urban information storage company. Well paid and working few hours, the job seems too good to be true. Soon she finds herself caught up in a web of lies and deception, party to dangerous information and a conspiracy of secrets that could threaten her health, her mind, even her very life. How will she escape? Buy now and you'll see that things will never be the same after entering The Vanishing Office.

©2021 J. E. Clarkson (P)2023 J. E. Clarkson

Great storyline

I think the author really excels at plotting a good mystery. There a re legit twists and turns, and I was caught off-guard (in the best way) several times. It's a really enjoyable ride. I also think the narrator did a fantastic job with all of the characters. Really great listen!

Fabulous Thriller

The Vanishing Office is Book 1 in the Nemo and Co. Series by J E Clarkson. I thought that this story was an excellent thriller. The cleaning lady was hired to clean at Nemo and Co. and she was offered amazing money; if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is! I found myself trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The author took me on a wild ride of excitement and I never could guess what was going to happen. I thought the ending was perfect. I can't wait to see what happens in Book 2! Elah Khorasani gave an awesome performance with the narration and I thought she even brought fear into her performance. This is not to be missed thriller.

Great Series

I was given this book for free,

I enjoyed the book, and the narration was great as well.
Will have to read the rest of the series for sure.

Worth a listen for sure.

Unique

This was the first book in this series that I've listened to and I have to say that it did not disappoint. The narration was very well done for a book like this. I really loved the complexity of this books plot and how well all of the subversion was handled. I also really loved how the story was told in a chaotic and psychological style which really had me guessing all of the way through. Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a different type of mystery story that is told in a rather unique point of view.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I enjoyed it

Dystopian thriller is not my go-to genre, but I gave this book a try, and I'm glad I did. The storyline was multi-faceted and intriguing. It keeps me on my toes.

Digital paranoia at its finest

A suspenseful tale with loss of self set to the background of the dangers of AI and our digital world! A suspenseful read with perfect pacing, I highly recommend it!

A new kind of thriller

The Vanishing Office is a gripping tale of lies, deception and danger. J.E. Clarkson weaves a web of suspense that will keep readers guessing until the very end. The story follows a young woman who takes a job working for an urban information storage company. Soon she realizes that she is in over her head, and must use all her wit and intelligence to escape the web of lies she has become ensnared in. With non-stop action and plenty of twists, The Vanishing Office is a must-read for thriller fans.

The mystery is good, the world building needs work

I received a free review copy of this audio book, at my request, and am voluntarily leaving this unbiased review.

This is the type of story I really enjoy. There is a mystery that has to be solved, and it's nothing to do with a murder (well, not exactly). Our main character starts working for a company with weird requirements. Is the company evil? Are the people who are telling her the company is evil to be trusted? Who can one trust? Is the main character having a mental breakdown?

I loved the layers to the story. The misdirection and gas lighting were great. The fact that I felt as if I only had a loose grasp on what was happening, helped me identify with the main character and kept me engaged in the story. A mystery is something that must be solved.

However, the main character, herself, was not all that relatable. She is sparsely written, with almost no back story, no physical presence or description. She has no real motivation beyond her immediate situation. And is too much of a blank slate. I've seen this suggested that this is for the reader to project themselves onto the character. However, as I couldn't see myself in similar situations or having similar reactions, I was unable to project myself into the story.

Similarly, the secondary characters are all completely flat. They either tell the truth or lie, but have no depth beyond these black and white characters traits. Characters are given only informational backgrounds, and there is little in the way of emotional character depth to any of them.

The settings are all familiar type places. There is little world building, and the reader is meant to fill in the gaps with things they already know. Apartment building, city streets, office building, hospital, etc.

The POV is first person, past tense. I mention this because the main character is telling us a story of something she remembers from her PAST. This doesn't seem significant, until we get to the part of the story, where the main character is having trouble remembering people, places, if things were real, etc. Now, it could be argued, that at some point in the future she remembers everything and is telling the story of when she couldn't. However, personally, I would have preferred a third person POV, where things could be a little more clean.

There is also a lot of fill added to the story, mainly in the forms of dreams. There are at least 3 or 4 dream chapters. Something weird/bad will happen during the main character's day, then she dreams about it, in detail, for like a chapter. It doesn't give the reader more information. It doesn't help the main character decide things or get fresh insight. Something odd happens in the story, the main character dreams something worse, and then the next day goes about her business. The time would have been better spent establishing the main character in her world. Calling her parents, talking to a different friend, going on a date, watching a movie, anything to show she actually lived in the world she was in.

The narrator, Elah Khorasani, was fairly good. She had a decent range of voices and did passable (if a little cliché) male voices. Her main voice was a little too innocent, but overall she did a good job. Audio quality, was kind of off, though. For a lot of it, it sounded like it was recorded in a bathroom. That kind of hollow sound that makes the recording sound wrong. I got used to it overtime, but it was very noticeable in the beginning.

All in all, this was a good book and I enjoyed listening to it. It has a good mystery at the center of it and that always hooks me. The characters and world building need work, in my opinion, to make this a better story and to make the struggle more relatable. The voice acting is done well, but the sound quality is a bit off.

Overall, I recommend this book. However, because my main interest was the mystery at the heart of this book, and it is seemingly resolved by the end, I do not think I will continue this series.