The Vanishing Point

By (author) Val McDermid

Stephanie Harker is travelling through security at O’Hare airport with five-year-old Jimmy. But in a moment, everything changes. In disbelief, Stephanie watches as a uniformed agent leads her boy away – and she’s stuck the other side of the gates, hysterical with worry. The authorities, unaware of Jimmy’s existence, just see a woman behaving erratically; Stephanie is wrestled to the ground and blasted with a taser gun. By the time she can tell them what has happened, Jimmy is long gone. But as Stephanie tells her story to the FBI, it becomes clear that everything is not as it seems. There are many potential suspects for this abduction. With time rapidly running out, how can Stephanie get him back? A breathtakingly rich and gripping psychological thriller, The Vanishing Point is Val McDermid’s most accomplished standalone novel to date, a work of haunting brilliance.

Reviews of The Vanishing Point

McDermid's ability to wrong-foot the reader remains second to none: highly recommended Guardian A psychological thriller, but it's also a splendidly mordant comment on our fame culture and its consequences The Times McDermid handles the various strands of the story with consummate mastery, and the reader is swept along to the story's genuinely shocking denouement Irish Independent This is a gripping psychological thriller from the beginning to the unexpected ending. A first class novel and McDermid's best to date Woman's Way Ireland Intelligent and hypnotically readable … entertaining and thought-provoking book Spectator A gripping tale Choice An efficiently crafted psychological thriller with an ending that knocks you sideways Independent on Sunday A McDermid standalone is always an event to cherish because you don't know who you'll meet or where you'll be taken Daily Mirror The strands come together and lead to an eye-blinkingly effective climax. (An) intelligent and hypnotically readable thriller…entertaining and thought provoking Spectator