The Last to Vanish: Megan Miranda

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It starts with Fraternity Four’s vanishing into the thin air 25 years ago. Then Alice Kelly has lastly seen at the town’s Tavern and she also vanished just like nature photographer Farrah Jordan did. The reporter Landon West suspected something fishy was going on at the town. Could he be the last victim of the person who has been hunting the people for unknown reason? Did he get closer to the truth?

The Last to Vanish — Megan Miranda

Highly recommended for fans of Alafair Burke, Gillian Flynn, and Lisa Lutz, and for all readers who like their female characters clever and resourceful, even when their best friends become their worst nightmares.” The best thing about this book is the atmosphere. Cutter’s Pass is portrayed as dark, isolated, moody, and cold, and the atmosphere comes through in almost every chapter. It plays a central role in the plot and the characters, as it adds a layer of deceitfulness and distrust that permeates the town. I’ve been an unabashed fan of the author since reading her first adult novel, All the Missing Girls and was looking forward to reading this, her latest release.

This is my 5th Miranda book and I am most definitely a fan! Enjoyed this book and most definitely recommend it. This novel is a stretch - different, slower, and less “twisty”, but still intriguing with an entertaining character dive into Abby Lovell, who I liked as the protagonist. I live in the Carolinas (nope, this is a fictional town) but I totally relate to the town because my bro is a major hiker and I’ve accompanied him on hikes before so I KNOW this town - built for hikers but the people who live there are insular and secretive. I found that plot angle engaging and enjoyable and accurate in portrayal. Abigail is employed at a resort in North Carolina. A bucolic, inspiring spot people come to hike and enjoy the outdoors. But this resort also is known for one other particular amenity…customers that have vanished without a trace. Abby sleuths her way into the mystery of the missing hikers. She has worked at the hotel for over 10 years, yet the townsfolk treat her as an outsider. Miranda is brilliant in bringing the reader into the woods, feeling the danger and suspense and pervasive sense of unease.. She reminds me of Jane Harper in her skill in writing a beaut of an atmospheric story.

THE LAST TO VANISH | Kirkus Reviews THE LAST TO VANISH | Kirkus Reviews

It’s become home over the past 10 years, and she feels protective of it-even if the town still treats her as an outsider much of the time… Abby sneaks into The Last Stop after hours to look at an old photo of the Fraternity Four. She thinks Landon was wondering who took the picture. In the reflection of one of the guys’ glasses she can see a shirt with the logo of the Passage Inn. Abby wonders if either Celeste or Vincent took the photo.

The Last to Vanish

I have really been loving Megan Miranda's recent books. While this one was enjoyable and there was nothing wrong with it, it won't rank as one of my 2022 faves. Abigail still feels like an outsider within the community she now calls home, and when Landon's brother shows up to look for him, she senses the town closing ranks.

The Last to Vanish: From the New York Times bestselling

The description of THE LAST TO VANISH had me absolutely hooked. A book about through-hikers on the AT disappearing, written by one of my favorite thriller authors? Absolutely sold. Her first adult thriller was All the Missing Girls (2016). I think this might be my favorite of her books; it’s told in reverse. She published The Perfect Stranger in 2017, The Last Houseguest (2019), The Girl From Widow Hills (2020), and Such a Quiet Place (2021). The person who wrote the synopsis calling it “gripping and propulsive”, “riveting”, and filled with “taut suspense” has some explaining to do! Cutter’s Pass became known as the most dangerous town in North Carolina after a series of hikers seem to vanish off the face of the earth. In 1997, four male college students, known as the Fraternity Four set out on a hike and never returned. The area was searched to no avail. Next, in 2012 a female hiker disappeared; in 2019 yet another female hiker turns up missing. A reporter, Landon West, came to the town’s hotel, the Passage Inn, to investigate the mystery of the missing hikers. He too disappeared.Explore the role that “outsiders” play in The Last to Vanish , as well as in real life. Are they, like Landon and Trey West, able to pierce through the secrets that close-knit communities hide? Consider, in your evaluation, the role that Abby (who is both an outsider and not) plays in this novel. What kinds of revelations is she privy to as someone who occupies this unique position? You couldn't keep your secrets if you wanted someone else's. You had to trade them all. It was only fair.” Cutter’s Pass, NC is a small town in the mountains, near the Appalacian trails. The residents are a close knit group (aren’t all small towns?) and have a love/hate relationship with the tourists and hikers who come to their town. They need them to keep the town going but don’t like when they ask TOO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE VANISHED!! Afterwards Trey asks Abby for Landon’s journal but she says the police have it. She intends to burn it. The characters were intriguing. We know that they are all hiding something, but we don’t know what?? How are they connected to the vanished guests?? Are all of these disappearances connected?