It would be wrong to say that the novel has nothing going for it. McDermid writes good prose and in spite of everything, I wanted to find out what happened. There are red herrings and misdirection, but there are also clues pointing to the solution. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Antonia Beamish, who did an excellent job. View all 20 comments. In one word: disappointing. I usually always like Val McDermid's books but this was a weird one.
A small boy is kidnapped right in front of her guardian while passing through security in an American airport. But then, her guardian is interviewed by the FBI and she starts talking about the kid's background. She starts way before his birth and it goes on and o In one word: disappointing.
She starts way before his birth and it goes on and on and on, for, at the very least pages! And the only things you hear about are the kid's mum's life, fame and death. No police work well, hardly any , nothing else. Then, things start happening again in the last pages. I can usually go with pretty much all kind of plots in crime books if I wanted to read real crimes, I would , but this was so far-fetched, even I found myself rolling my eyes every two sentences.
Not impressed. Oct 12, Bill Kupersmith rated it really liked it. For sheer variety of fascinating characters and settings, I believe that Val McDermid has no rivals amongst ontemporary mystery story writers. She has introduced me to Scottish miners, German rivercraft, Cambridge academics, and lots of police officers and profilers not to mention Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.
I expect most of her followers will not find The Vanishing Point a favourite and my own rating is perhaps a bit generous. But I read it non-stop it waw a quiet night at For sheer variety of fascinating characters and settings, I believe that Val McDermid has no rivals amongst ontemporary mystery story writers.
But I read it non-stop it waw a quiet night at the hospital. Our principal characters are Stephanie, a ghost writer, and Scarlett, a reality TV star, whose autobiography Stephanie has ghosted. The story revolves around Jimmy, Scarlett's young son who has been kidnapped whilst in Stephanie's care. About the first half of the book is devoted to the back story, supposedly narrated by Stephanie at O'Hare Airport to an FBI agent, although in much more detail than such a story could possibly involve, including lots of food, drink, and some drugs.
Then the scene shifts to London and finally to Roumania. As in The Woman in White and The Likeness, here the plot depends on a major character's having a double. There are no kinky serial killers inflicting hideous tortures on profilers or police officers. There are only two murders both made to look like something else. One of the victims probably needed killing and the other is no great loss. I often wonder if constant mystery story readers develop any ability to solve actual crimes, or if we simply learn more about how mystery stories have to be put together.
Nov 29, Ellen rated it it was ok. This was my first Val McDermid book and while I didn't rate it very highly, I finished the book thinking I will probably try another one of her books. She writes very well,the plot moved along, and many of the characters were well-fleshed out. The narrative unfolds both in the present day and in flash-backs, which has the potential to be confusing, but McDermid does it well and it was easy to follow what was going on.
I liked her heroine, Stephanie Harker and her beau, Nick. But there were severa This was my first Val McDermid book and while I didn't rate it very highly, I finished the book thinking I will probably try another one of her books. But there were several things I didn't like about this particular book. The plot description on McDermid's website describes a theme of the book as, "the extraordinary lengths to which a parent will go to protect their child.
After a while, though, Stephanie seems to be able to function pretty well and Jimmy's disappearance seems like a problem she needs to solve and not the emotional wrecking ball that it should. I also never really got a good picture of Scarlett, even though her story is fully half of the book. While I see that this may have been somewhat deliberate on McDermid's part, it still made it hard to get through the page and pages that were devoted to her.
And finally, the ending of the book. The ending had a huge twist that I admit I didn't see coming and was so abrupt it was a little jarring. Also, the type of medical deception used to rig the ending was really, really hard to swallow.
My bigger problem with the ending is it's moral ambiguity that I think was unintended. When Stephanie ultimately finds Jimmy, she could quite reasonably have simply walked away and left him where he was. She decides she can't because the kidnappers have murdered 2 people and are therefore morally unfit to parent the child. However, in order to rescue Jimmy, she must perform an equally immoral act, but never questions whether it makes her unfit to parent.
Oh, and on this same point, an earlier reviewer said there were two rather unsympathetic murder victims in the book. Actually, there are three. View 1 comment. I was really excited to see the new Val McDermid book come into my local library and hoped for great things, as the last two books were not as good as her previous ones.
This one disappointed me to no end. I may be just getting to a stage where this particular type of crime fiction novel does not cut it for me anymore and I can't just take it as suspending your sense of belief and rolling with it.
However, it was just a step too far into the utterly incredible and unbelievable, where the plot wa I was really excited to see the new Val McDermid book come into my local library and hoped for great things, as the last two books were not as good as her previous ones. However, it was just a step too far into the utterly incredible and unbelievable, where the plot was just crazy. The plot was promising, a lady and her 5 year old son are going on holiday to the U. Right away, it gets a bit daft.
The mother is screaming and asking for help and she is wrestled to the ground and tasered by security staff and taken away to be interrogated. Now, if I worked in security in O'Hare, I would be seriously offended that I was portrayed in such a callous way. Would this have happened in real life, would the fact a mother was claiming her child was being abducted be treated this way?
I hope not. It then transpires, Stephanie, is not the child's mother, but is his legal guardian. Anyway, she is eventually believed, C. Stephanie proceeds to tell the story of how she became the child's guardian, starting with how she met his mother and this is all a little loosely based on Jade Goody, there are alot of parallels.
So, enter the red herring in the middle of the story, and then exit the very unbelievable ending and I mean unbelievable in the sense that it was NOT believable. I was very disappointed with this offering from Ms. McDermid, she can do much better. I will not be rushing to get her next book, after now having endured, three below par books. View all 3 comments.
Dec 08, Rob Kitchin rated it liked it. The Vanishing Point tries to mash together a conventional thriller with c-list celebrity culture. The opening premise and performance of the abduction is nicely done, providing a tense entree The Vanishing Point tries to mash together a conventional thriller with c-list celebrity culture.
The opening premise and performance of the abduction is nicely done, providing a tense entree. For the next two thirds of the tale the reader is presented with a very detailed back story account of Stephanie and Scarlett. At one level, the back story is an interesting take on celebrity culture, and the characters are very well drawn with some nice observational touches.
However, the focus on the back story creates an imbalance between the context and the chase. It also does not ring true in the sense that time is of the essence in terms of tracking down Jimmy, but Stephanie is telling a very drawn out tale to the FBI. There is simply no sense of urgency beyond the initial abduction. Where the story really becomes unstuck, however, is the final quarter and the denouement.
The chase actually proves to be incredibly fast and straightforward, despite a couple of twists, and the closing scene was contrived and unbelievable. Nov 06, Jeanette rated it it was amazing. This was my first foray into the work of Val McDermid. There are a lot of McDermid fans out there who are not keen on this book, as the format is different to previous works , but for me , that wasnt a problem.
I loved this story - a gripping story, well told, kept me page turning when I needed to go to sleep , and the ending was completely unexpected!!! I have heard that some people have avoided this book due to comparisons with one of the main characters and Jade Goody, the girl who died tragi This was my first foray into the work of Val McDermid. I have heard that some people have avoided this book due to comparisons with one of the main characters and Jade Goody, the girl who died tragically young after finding fame via a reality show.
Really liked this, and am envious of people who havent yet read it , because they can read it afresh! Dig in, enjoy ValMcDermid Sep 03, Gloria Feit rated it it was amazing. In her twenty-sixth novel, a standalone, Val McDermid goes rather far afield from her previous books. While a passenger is going through an airport security check, a man in what appears to be a TSA uniform appears and guides the five-year-old boy traveling with her through the terminal and they both seem to disappear.
In order to ascertain into which category this falls, Vivian questions Stephanie at length as to the entire background and history of all concerned. What ensues is a rather lengthy tale, the story zig-zagging from those flashbacks to the present time as the investigation shifts into high gear. Stephanie puts Vivian in touch with a UK counterpart, and everything becomes more complex.
As it nears its end, the plot takes a very unexpected turn, morphing into a stunning conclusion. Stephanie is a fascinating protagonist, one who takes refuge in her profession. Highly recommended. Sep 08, Lelia Taylor rated it liked it Shelves: full-reviews. There are certain authors I always can count on to provide me with an excellent read, a brief escape into a world I can laugh at or be mesmerized by, a world that shakes me to the core for one reason or another.
I understand, though, that many of those authors whose work I admire so much might stumble now and then. I There are certain authors I always can count on to provide me with an excellent read, a brief escape into a world I can laugh at or be mesmerized by, a world that shakes me to the core for one reason or another.
Most of the disappointment I had was in regard to the credibility of the story. For a woman who shows a lot of inner strength and is clearly able to take care of herself, Stephanie seems too insecure, beyond what could be attributed to her past relationship. And, when it becomes obvious that time is critical, no FBI agent would allow Stephanie to go on and on with the backstory, nor would Stephanie want to blather on while little is being done to find Jimmy.
The last straw for me was when I realized that she was inexplicably hesitant to tell the FBI agent about the person who is very likely to be behind the kidnapping. Unfortunately, with such plot holes early on, I found it hard to engage with the story or even take it as seriously as such a topic deserves but I did finish the book, hoping Ms.
McDermid would pull it together. To a certain extent, she did, but the twist ending was too little too late. Our reactions to books are very personal, though, and many of her devoted readers will like it. Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September Right- so you read the synopsis of the book and think this sounds intriguing and what an excellent premise for a crime novel.
Desperate to raise her public profile the hapless and incredibly naive Stephanie Harker-ghostwriter- is commissioned to write a book about the now pregnant Scarlet as a missive to her unborn child and Harker finds herself drawn into the duplicitous world of the scheming Scarlet. This is where it all goes a bit silly with a frankly ludicrous story line involving a Scarlet-impersonating cousin, a Romanian orphanage, a half-baked stalker and all manner of other silliness involving the FBI, a positively Greek Adonis of a policeman and eventually a murder which comes way too late in the plot to have any impact at all.
View 2 comments. Sep 26, Erika Nerdypants rated it liked it Shelves: mystery , gay-lesbian , read-in , fiction. It was nice to meet Charlie Flint and Nick from last year's "A Trick of the Dark" again, but there were gaping holes in this story, with a very abrupt ending that I had already seen coming. Steph, the protagonist, was unconvincing for me right from the start. Stalked by her ex-boyfriend she refuses to contact the police, even when the situation escalates, preferring to involve the lone policeman on whom she just happens to have a crush.
Her bond with the missing child doesn't ring true either. What woman who has just watched her child being kidnapped asks to stop for food on the way to a possible rescue? And when her best friend dies she doesn't notice that it's not really her, but the cousin with whom they have been living for the past several months. The ending was predictable and rushed, and some of the secondary story lines were completely left hanging. The only reason why I'm still giving it 3 stars, is because as far as entertainment value it still ranks high.
Feb 25, L. Krier rated it liked it. If this had been one of those mystery book in a plain brown wrapper, I would never have guessed that it came from the pen of the mighty Val McDermid. It rather gets lost at times in its own cleverness of trying to be different.
It's certainly that. It starts out promisingly enough. Five-year-old Jimmy Higgins is abducted from a busy airport in the USA where he has gone on holiday with his legal guardian, Stephanie. A metal plate in her leg sets off the alarms and as she's hauled off to be searche If this had been one of those mystery book in a plain brown wrapper, I would never have guessed that it came from the pen of the mighty Val McDermid. A metal plate in her leg sets off the alarms and as she's hauled off to be searched, forgotten Jimmy is abducted.
Jimmy is the son of former reality TV star Scarlett, who died of cancer. Stephanie is the ghost writer to whom she became close during the writing of her story.
True, the double narrative is sometimes cumbersome and a large red herring stinks to high heaven; but these add up to a small price to pay for this entertaining and thought-provoking book. Roll on next autumn. Read more…. It turns into a nightmare when the boy is led away, and Harker finds herself on the wrong side of the barrier, powerless to intervene. Having racheted up the tension, McDermid changes down a gear for a lengthy chunk of backstory.
Nick had learned early on in his police career that nobody appreciated a copper on the doorstep late at night unless it really was a matter of life or death.
Asmita was an accountant with an international consultancy; Ambar had been on the point of qualifying as a barrister specialising in tax affairs. When he took up with that vile woman, that was the last straw. I never even told my friends we were related. A waste of space, perhaps. But not a bad man. Not by the standards Nick was familiar with.
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