Vanished by Irene Hannon

In her newest romantic-suspense novel, critically-acclaimed author Irene Hannon asks herself what would happen if the victim of a deadly car crash on a secluded country road simply disappeared? Vanished is the gripping first novel in Hannon’s Private Justice series. It opens with a shadowy figure caught in the beam of reporter Moira Harrison’s headlights – followed by a solid thump before she loses control and crashes into a tree. But when Moira regains consciousness, the victim is nowhere to be seen.

The police say the disappearance never happened, but Moira can’t forget the look of sheer terror she saw on the person’s face in the instant it was caught in the glare of her headlights. Now her only hope of discovering the truth is a former police detective turned private eye—and her own investigate skills.

As often happens for Hannon, the genesis of this story came out of the blue, triggered by a simple incident.

Paperback; 336 pages $14.99; January 2013 978-0-8007-2123-7

“I was driving home from church one rainy night and my headlights fell on a bicyclist on the edge of the narrow road. I swerved to avoid him, thinking what a risk he was taking. Then the wheels in my brain started turning and I began what-iffing. What if a woman was driving alone on a country road and suddenly caught a desperate figure in her headlights? What if she swerved, but hit the figure? What if a stranger appeared out of the darkness to offer assistance before she lost consciousness? What if she woke up and both the stranger and the victim had disappeared? My five-second encounter on that rainy night was the impetus not only for this book, but for my whole Private Justice series, which focuses on situations that have fallen through the cracks of official law enforcement or been dismissed by the police.”

Hannon, a former communications executive for a Fortune 500 company, left the corporate world in 2003 to focus on her growing fiction brand. While continuing to write contemporary romance, she also delved into suspense. From the beginning, her romantic suspense books have garnered rave reviews. Booklist named Deadly Pursuit (Revell, 2011) one of the top ten inspirational fiction titles for 2011. The final book in her Guardians of Justice series, Lethal Legacy (Revell, 2011) received a starred review from Library Journal, which praised the book for its “compelling characters and edge-of-your-seat action.”

Irene Hannon is the author of more than 40 novels, including the bestselling Heroes of Quantico and Guardians of Justice series. Her books have been honored with two coveted RITA awards from Romance Writers of America, a Carol Award, a HOLT Medallion, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Daphne du Maurier Award, a Retailers Choice Award and two Reviewers' Choice Awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. She lives in Missouri.

For more information about her and her books, visit her web site at www.irenehannon.com and follow her on Twitter at @IreneHannon.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books for everyday life.  For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

First of all, I would like to extend a heartfelt “Thank you” to Irene Hannon and her publisher for sending me a copy of "Vanished" to review for them. I am truly grateful for this generosity. I really appreciate the time, effort and expense it takes to make a reviewer copy available to m

Irene Hannon’s “Vanished” is both a work of art and a life-changing read.  A solid suspense novel and an entertaining romance, this first novel in the brand new Private Justice Series is a fast-paced and engaging read.  Moira Harrison is not crazy!  She is an intelligent investigative journalist with a Pulitzer Prize nomination under her belt.  But there is no evidence of the young woman Moira hit with her car on that dark and rainy night.  Cal Burke is a former law enforcement officer who is partnered with two other law enforcement pals at Phoenix Inc., the private investigation firm Moira contacts to check out her story.  The plot thickens as the investigation progresses, building to a thrilling conclusion that will keep the reader up way past her bedtime.

I was also intrigued by an idea about prayer presented in the book.  Building off of a quote from Socrates, the idea of praying for blessing in general, relying on the fact that God knows what is best for us has changed my prayer time since reading these passages.  I’ve begun asking God to give me and loved ones what we need to fulfill His purposes for our lives and others’ rather than asking for what I “want”.  I really enjoy a book that entertains me AND changes how I think and act.  I can’t wait for Dev’s story in book two!