Review: Vanished - E.E Cooper

 

Review: Vanished - Book #1 Vanished Series - E.E Cooper - May 2015

This series captured my attention as the tagline read Pretty Little Liars meets Gone Girl. Now when it comes to Pretty Little Liars, I am on board as I loved the books and enjoyed the TV show. However, whenever I read the words Gone Girl - my mind goes into skeptical mode as out of all of Gillian Flynn's books - Gone Girl was the one I couldn't get into. I just found the whole story unrealistic , slow and frustrating. I just don't understand how it managed to win over a lot of people and win thriller of the year as when it comes to mysteries and thriller novels - I love them and have read my more than fair share amount of them and there are plenty that were better than Gone Girl. So when it came to Vanished, I was in two minds but eager to read it and I have to say right through the whole book - there were parts I loved, parts I hated and parts that frustrated me but overall I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading the sequel Avenged.  Vanished surrounds a trio of best friends - Britney , Beth and Kalah. Britney and Beth were seniors and had been best friends since the 2nd grade whereas Kalah was new to the school and what I gathered a year or so younger. Britney and Beth took Kalah under their wings and allowed her to join their group and they became a trio.  Kalah felt closer to Beth and they even shared a few moments together , whereas Britney had that whole narcisstic Queen B type personality going on where she had to always be the centre of attention. On the night of Beth's birthday, the girls had plans but Beth vanishes. As the week gets on , Kalah discovers no-one is looking for her and she becomes classed as a runaway. Kalah can't help but be worried , but no-one else is voicing her concerns. Not till Britney goes missing and is presumed dead. Now both Kalah's friends have gone missing and the cops are involved as everyone but Kalah thinks that Beth killed Britney.  A week or so later, Kalah starts to recieve IM's from Beth - though things aren't adding up as Kalah believes it is in fact Britney and starts chucking in clues and questions only Beth would know the real answer too. What happens though when one of them arrives home and the other is found dead ? What happened that night and what really went down ? Can Kalah keep herself safe before she too is involved too deep into the mess ? As The Pierces would sing on Pretty Little Liars - Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead.