Title: The Vanishing Place
Author: Zoë Rankin
Publisher: Moa Press/Hachette, 2025; RRP: $34.99
Review by: Marian Chivers, August, 2025
THE AUTHOR
Zoë Rankin grew up in Scotland. She studied International Relations before going on to qualify as a teacher. Zoë spent many years travelling in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, eventually settling in New Zealand. Her father was in mountain rescue in Scotland, so her passion for the outdoors grew from a young age. She spends a lot of time hiking and cycling with her two young children in NZ, and the more remote locations inspired the idea for The Vanishing Place.
THE BLURB
On the remote West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, vast forests stretch out between mountain ranges and rugged beaches. In the small town of Koraha, not a lot happens – until a young girl with blood on her hands walks out of the bush and into the local store, collapsing from hunger to the floor.
She can’t – or won’t – speak to anyone. It’s the town’s sole policeman who recognises her face. She looks exactly like a local girl who disappeared seventeen years ago. She has the same red hair, the same green eyes
What horrors has she left behind in the bush? Who will come looking for her? And what secrets are about to come to light?
THE BOOK
This thriller drew me in and left me feeling unsettled as it tells how those closest to you can be even more dangerous than the deadliest wilderness. Rankin draws the reader into the rugged Isle of Skye and the unforgiving but beautiful West Coast of NZ. This, her debut novel, is an atmospheric and chilling tale about family, love, loyalty and survival.
The story jumps between three different time periods. Most of the book alternates between Effie’s childhood (the child who disappeared) and her present-day circumstances when she is called back for the child (Anya) who has appeared from the bush, the one who looks just like her. The back and forth can be a little disruptive but really makes the past and the present come together when the finale is reached and everyone is safe – or are they?
A well written, evocative and downright scary story because such things have happened, are probably happening now, and sadly will continue to occur.
• Marian Chivers has a lifelong interest in reading and writing with her work and study involving books from children’s literature to post graduate studies.
> Review copy supplied by the publisher.
