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About The Book

'Intense, insightful and impossible to put down' CAZ FREAR

When you go looking for a new start, make sure you don't find a nightmare instead.


The Kane family, Lorcan, Naiyana and their young son, relocate from Perth to Kallayee, an abandoned mining town in the Great Victoria Desert to start over again, free from their chequered past.

The town seems like the perfect getaway: Peaceful. Quiet. Remote. Somewhere they won’t be found.

But life in Kallayee isn’t quite as straightforward as they hope. There are noises in the earth, mysterious shadows and tracks in the dust, as if the town is coming back to life.

But the family won’t leave. No one can talk sense into them.

And now, no one can talk to them at all.

They’ve simply vanished.

Now it's up to Detective Emmaline Taylor to find them… before it’s too late.

** Praise for Vanished **

‘Delargy manages to turn the wide-open deserted Outback into something intensely claustrophobic and chilling’ Russ Thomas

Vanished is a gripping tale of greed and betrayal, burning with tension under a harsh Australian sun’ Caz Frear

'Brilliantly atmospheric . . . with a sense of menace that pervades every page' Kate Rhodes

'Powered through this in two sittings. Vanished ratchets up the tension page after page, playing out in a perfect isolated setting with such a claustrophobic feel, and so vividly painted you could step right in' Rob Scragg

'There is menace on every page of this atmospheric thriller. An abandoned mining town in the Australian outback is the desolate - almost surreal - backdrop to a tale of a disintegrating family. Perfect for fans of The Dry' Jo Furniss, author of the Amazon Charts best-seller All The Little Children


** Praise for 55 **

‘A pulse-pounding psycho-thriller . . . splendidly-engineered plot and a masterly sense of pace allied to a haunting background make for a powerful debutCrime Time

‘A clever concept for this fast-moving debut, fleshed out with a sympathetic hero haunted by grim memories’ Sunday Times Crime Club

'Fabulously atmospheric, a splendid slice of outback noir for fans of Jane Harper. The intricately woven plot sucks you into a hostile world and keeps you sweating until the final page' Adam Southward

'
A gripping race through the bleak Australian outback to find a missing family: Vanished captivated and intrigued me from page one' Louisa De Lange

'If you liked The Dry you will like this'

About The Author

James Delargy was born and raised in Ireland and lived in South Africa, Australia and Scotland, before ending up in semi-rural England where he now lives. He incorporates this diverse knowledge of towns, cities, landscapes and cultures picked up on his travels into his writing. His first novel, 55, was published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster and has been sold to 21 territories to date, and was followed by the standalone thrillers Vanished (2021) and Into the Flames (2023). Find him on Twitter: @jdelargyauthor

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (April 15, 2021)
  • Length: 400 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471177583

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Raves and Reviews

‘Intense, insightful and impossible to put down, VANISHED is a gripping tale of greed and betrayal, burning with tension under a harsh Australian sun. James Delargy perfectly captures the claustrophobia of small-town life in this well-researched, multi-layered and hugely satisfying novel. Such a bold portrayal of the lengths desperate people will go to survive’

– Caz Frear

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