Sleight of hand

The author has written three novels, all set in Dublin, the first two set in the past, this one resolutely in the present. All feature leading characters from whom the reader might justifiably recoil, demonstrating traits of jealousy, deceit, anger and sheer nastiness. Be warned, therefore, that no-one in this story is quite what they seem, or what they might like to appear to be.

There are three characters to think about in Hughes’ tale: Emma, who has disappeared and is the subject of a police manhunt, her absence inspiring demonstrations about the safety of women on Dublin’s streets; then there is her ex-boyfriend, Tom, a bit of a rascal, who has also gone missing, his absence inspiring accusations of his obvious guilt in Emma’s disappearance; then there is James Lyster, a rather creepy archivist, who becomes increasingly involved in the whole missing Emma business, who has secrets of his own, and who also knows where there is a dead body in a shallow grave.

Nothing is what it seems. No-one is privately who they would like to appear to be. The author plays on all our prejudices, on our own self belief that we are not as nasty, not as easily influenced as the person sitting next to us on the bus to work.

I absolutely love the clever and compelling Eire-based thrillers that Catherine Ryan Howard writes and was therefore delighted to come across an ARC of a novel that appeared to have all the hallmarks of a similarly enticing thriller. Whereas Ryan Howard’s debut novel “Distress Signals” figures one half of a young couple (Adam) in the search for the other (his missing girlfriend Sarah), Andrew Hughes’ thriller introduces us to a young couple who are both missing: Emma Harte, a recent university graduate, and her boyfriend Tom have both disappeared. While the police are investigating, a group of Emma’s university friends take up the search – and social media user and local man James suddenly finds himself catapulted in the spotlight in after posting about the case. As his life begins to unravel, the reader becomes more and more unsure of what is empirical fact and what is social-media- fabricated fiction …
This was a fast-paced thriller, set in contemporary Dublin, that is highly recommended to regular readers of the genre. My thanks go to the novel’s publishers to NetGalley as it was their advance copy that allowed me to read this thriller and to produce this honest, independent book review. I will now definitely seek out two historical crime novels this versatile author has also published to date, as well as his social history book documenting Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square.

Emma, Disappeared by Andrew Hughes is such a great book that I didn't want it to end!!

The main character, James Lyster works an archivist at the National Library of Ireland. His job is unique but quite mundane. After a young woman Emma has been reported missing, volunteers are requested to assist in a search for clues to her disappearance. James is happy to join in, but could not fully anticipate the consequences of his decision.

Hughes' characters are a believable, likable bunch, who come across a number of well-known Dublin landmarks during which the author skillfully keeps the reader engaged, on edge and entertained as events unfold.

Emma has mysteriously disappeared from Dublin City Centre, where she was last seen on surveillance cameras conversing with an unknown individual. She has become a prominent topic of discussion on various public forums.

James, our narrator, works as a library archivist and has gained attention on social media for his perspective on the situation. Although his motives for involvement in the case are initially unclear, it becomes evident that he has ulterior motives and that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

(Personally, I found James' character to be somewhat unlikeable and superficial, but it is possible that this was an intentional portrayal.) He cleverly sets up a meeting with a woman he encounters on a bus and initiates a relationship with her, while simultaneously remaining fixated on his previous girlfriend.

Furthermore, James appears to be concealing something. It remains to be seen whether his past will catch up to him or if he will manage to evade the consequences of his actions?

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books Ireland for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

This was a fast paced and intense read where a woman goes missing and it takes off viral on social media. I love these type of books and this one is one you won’t want to miss.

I’m not too sure what I made of Emma, disappeared. I was super excited to get an early copy of this book however I found it really slow to get going which for me I found made the whole book struggle and I just found it so difficult to get into.

I did give up with this book around half way through as sadly it just wasn’t for me however hopefully other readers will enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

This is definitely original! The story begins after the disappearance which is unusual and I focuses in this seemingly random guy whoch had me dying to know how he was linked and had Mr so curious! It is a slow burn initially but it does get a lot better once yoh get to the halfway point and you're learning about the time leading upto the disappearance. It's well written and touches on topics like the modern day trial by media and how public opinion pushes narratives. Really well written and relevant take on a thriller

I went into this with good expectations, I really wanted to like to love this book as the blurb made me think it was definitely up my street. BUT I just kept waiting for it to get going , 50% in I was still bored and didn’t really care much for what was happening. That being said I don’t like to DNF so I ploughed through.
Am I glad I did? Yes I am. As things did pick up for the second half.

The story is told from the pov of our main character James who is a library archivist. The information about his job and some of the things he gets involved in, activism, peaceful protests etc, it took away a lot from the story for me.

Told in parts, once I got to part two and actually learned of Emma as a character (the Emma who has disappeared as the book title suggest) thats when things got a bit better for me.

Not close to being one of my favourite reads but nowhere near being the worst. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The plot was very intriguing, especially as the search for Emma brings secrets and lies with it which adds to the intensity of her disappearance.

#EmmaDisappeared #NetGalley
Everyone is talking about the disappearance of Emma Harte. A high-achieving university graduate and young entrepreneur, she was last seen in the early hours of the morning on grainy CCTV footage in Dublin's city centre before vanishing into thin air. While a national debate about women's safety rages, eyes turn to Emma's boyfriend, Tom - who is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, archivist James Lyster is following the story with undue interest. When a comment he makes about Emma goes viral on social media, he finds himself drawn into the world of a group of idealistic university students involved in the search - and attracting the attention of the police detective in charge of Emma's case.
Then a body is discovered in scrubland near James' flat ..As the police get closer to finding out what happened to Emma Harte, James' life begins to unravel. Is he a victim or murderer? Feminist ally or callous liar? For it turns out that James isn't the only one with secrets .
It's a bit slow but it's good.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books Ireland for giving me an advance copy.

This was my first novel by this author and it was one which I thoroughly enjoyed. I read many crime/police procedural novels and I do enjoy novels which focus on missing persons. The downside of this is that they can often blur into one another and many have difficulty in standing out from what is undoubtedly a crowded market.

In this novel, Emma Harte has disappeared (although I presume you picked that up from the title). What makes this novel very interesting is that the book begins a number of days after the disappearance as we meet James, a library archivist who has a clear fascination with the case and begins to engage on social media about it - becoming something of a local star in promoting feminism and the safety of women in the city.

However, what becomes clear is that James is aware of more about this than we think and when the plot moves to the days leading up to Emma's disappearance, we learn exactly what he knows.

I think what made this stand out for me was the timeline. It seemed strange, initially, for the book to begin after the disappearance and move forward in time before moving back to pre-disappearance and then forward again.

However, this really worked for me and allowed the reader the chance to try to work out what happened to Emma (and her now missing boyfriend!) before revealing what happened and letting the consequences of this play out. I am not sure I have explained this well however it definitely worked!

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Books Ireland for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a budding entrepreneur and a bright graduate student, Emma Harte was definitely going places. What nobody expected was for her to suddenly fall off the face of the earth...

But that appears to be precisely what has happened. Emma has vanished from Dublin City Centre, where she was last spotted on surveillance cameras - but not from the public discussion forums, where she is one of the hottest topics at the moment.

Meanwhile, the two male characters in the story have their own role to play in the events underway. The problem is, Emma's boyfriend Tom has also disappeared from public view.

And James, an archivist who draws attention on social media for his take on the situation, has his own motives for being involved in the case, which are not altogether clear. After all, in our internet-obsessed age, cases like Emma's can bring all kinds of people out of the woodwork.

This is an engrossing read, that has much to say about the kangaroo court of public morality and mores. As the story unfolds, so the suspense builds. An entertaining tale with some interesting characters, where nobody is quite what they seem.