The Vanishing Season is a Disturbing & Suspenseful Thriller

Ellery Hathaway is a police officer with a traumatic past. Years before she was the sole surviver of a kidnapping at the hands of a sadistic serial killer. Now, girls are disappearing around her birthday and she knows these missing persons cases are connected to what happened to her in her youth. If only she could convince her superiors to take her concerns seriously without revealing the truth of who she is.

Agent Reed Markham is the profiler who found Ellery all those years ago. Now, his marriage is over and his career is barely hanging on. When Ellery calls him for help he knows he can't refuse. His success was based off her case and their's was a bond formed in tragedy.

I enjoyed Ellery's character immensely. Her strength, determination and vulnerability made me feel invested in her story. There was a definite creepy factor to the story as we work to figure out who the killer is and what their connection is to Ellery. The only drawback for me was that the details of Ellery's past were kept to a minimum. I would have appreciated more of her backstory but that might be intentional as this is the first book in an intended series. I hope Schaffhausen reveals more of Ellery's story in future books. I'll definitely be reading along with the series. Ellery and Reed's back and forth dynamic was great (dare we hope for a romance in the future?!) and Bump (the dog) was absolute perfection - what a furry little show stealer! 😉