The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 290 pages
Expected Publication: June 8th 2021 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

About the Book:
Once a year, actors from across the globe descend on the smog and sunshine of Los Angeles for pilot season. Every cable network and studio is looking to fill the rosters of their new shows, enticing a fresh batch of young hopefuls—anxious, desperate, and willing to do whatever it takes to make it. Careers will be made, dreams will be realized, stars will be born. And some will be snuffed out. British star Mia Eliot has landed leading roles in costume dramas in her native country, but now it’s time for Hollywood to take her to the next level. Mia flies across the Atlantic to join the horde of talent scrambling for their big breaks. She’s a fish out of water in the ruthlessly competitive arena of back-to-back auditioning. Then one day she meets Emily, another actress from out of town and a kindred spirit. Emily is friendly and genuine and reassuringly doesn’t seem to be taking any of it too seriously. She stands out in a conveyor-belt world of fellow auditionees. But a simple favor takes a dark twist when Emily disappears and Mia realizes she was the last person to see her. And when a woman knocks on Mia’s door the following day claiming to be Emily and isn’t the woman Mia remembers at all, Mia is deeply troubled. All Mia has to go on is the memory of a girl she met only once . . . and the suffocating feeling that something terrible has happened. Worse still, the police don’t believe her when she claims the real Emily has gone missing. So Mia is forced to risk the role of a lifetime to try to uncover the truth about Emily, a gamble that will force her to question her own sanity as the truth goes beyond anything she could ever have imagined.

My Review:

This book is more a suspenseful mystery than a psychological thriller, but I really liked it. I felt really caught up in Mia's delema and I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to know what the heck happened the Emily. I also liked how part of the plot had a #MeToo vibe. It is a subject that we should never stop talking about and it doesn't just happen in Hollywood.

Now, this was a great book that I couldn't help but to devour. From start to finish I didn't want to put it down and with every newfound clue into Emily's disappearance, I was pulled deeper and deeper into the plot. This is truly one of those "just one more chapter" books only, you'll say that right up to the very end and even then, you'll want more. Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable novel and I would definitely read another book by this author.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Catherine Steadman and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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