They Disappeared

By: Rick Mofina

Narrated by: Andy Paris

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

A loving family, fracturing under pressure....

Jeff Griffin, a mechanic, and his wife, Sarah, travel from Montana to Manhattan to give their nine-year-old son, Cole, his dream vacation as they secretly face the heart-wrenching turmoil that has them teetering on divorce. In the wake of their heartbreak, a mother and son disappear....

While sightseeing near Times Square, Jeff steps into a store to buy batteries for their camera - but upon returning to the street he finds that Sarah and Cole have vanished. A frantic father searches for clues as time ticks down....

Battling his anguish and police suspicions, Jeff fights to rescue Sarah and Cole. He knows now that the love he and Sarah have is worth saving. But he could lose the chance to tell her amid growing fears that they have become entangled in an unfolding plot that could have global consequences.

©2012 Highway Nine, Inc. (P)2012 Recorded Books

Why it is called fiction

The way Mofina portrays his characters always makes one like the good guys and hate the bad guys and the story kept me interested and captivated; however, the hero dad, Jeff, should have had a tee shirt with a big S and a cape. His activities to save his wife and son and all world wide dignitaries attending events in New York were a little more unbelievable then believable but the story was good and everyone likes a happy ending.

Stand alone novel by Rick Mofina

I've previously reviewed all of the novels in the Jason Wade series and the Tom Reed/Walt Sadowski series by Rick Mofina. Of those 8 novels seven received 5 stars and one received 4 stars. This stand alone novel earns a rock solid 5 stars.

The publisher's summary should be read before purchasing any book. The summary for They Disappeared is quite good, but it should also mention the reason for Jeff and Sarah Griffin's marital issues. Their 6 month old daughter died recently of SIDS (crib death) while under Jeff's care. He is feeling very, very guilty and somewhat worthless.

Jeff's efforts to find his kidnapped wife and son are very intelligent and determined. The NYPD and FBI efforts are bureaucratic and ineffective.

Author Mofina again demonstrates his extraordinary ability to build and sustain suspense; he is one of the very best. Narration by Andy Paris is 5 star.

I look forward to listening to Mofina's 3 novel Jack Gannon series.

A speedy listen

This was by far the quickest I have ever listened to an audiobook - I put it on at every opportunity...just so that I could finish it as soon as possible. If it had been a library book I'd have given up after less than a page.



The narrator tried to put far too much emotion into his (American accented) voice - but not very well. I'm not sure if it's ever made clear on Audible if narrators have American accents, but it would help to know.



The story was so predictable. I couldn't care one jot for any of the characters. It was really very boring. It astounds me how these 'new york time best sellers' can be so badly written.



I'm sure after a chapter or two, even after over 70 of them, the reader / listener might have realised that 'Nick' referred to 'Nick Griffin'. But no, we had to have it spelt out each time. And I wish this author would find another word for 'said'. My two daughters of 11 and 9 came up with many suggestions of different verbs and use of words to avoid the phrase. I wish he would consider some of them. Even the narrator seemed to stumble on the word in some pieces of audio when every single line finished in 'so and so SAID'.



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