
Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan’s social elite. She is on the board of one of the city’s most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous lake house in the country. The finest wine, the most up-to-date fashion, and the most luxurious vacations are all at her fingertips.
What no one knows is that five years ago, Zoe’s life was in danger. Back then, Zoe wasn’t Zoe at all. Now her secrets are coming back to haunt her.
As the past and present collide, Zoe must decide who she can trust before she—whoever she is—vanishes completely.
Review:
Zoe Whittaker seems to have a charmed life. She is the chair of a foundation for orphaned children, CARE, an issue that has deep meaning to her since she was adopted; and is married to Henry Whittaker, a Wall Street guru. Her marriage to Henry has taken her off the streets and into a fancy high-rise, she is able to travel the world and focus on what she really cares about. However, after a successful charity benefit for CARE, Zoe’s past come racing back for her. Five years prior, Zoe wasn’t even Zoe. She was Hilary Lawlor and she was running away from a mess in California. Now, she is afraid that she has been recognized at the benefit; especially when she is almost run over by a car and her apartment is broken into. Zoe wants nothing more than to feel secure and tied down, so she tries to look into her birth mother’s whereabouts. However, Henry seems unsupportive and has been becoming controlling, questioning her actions and who she is with. Now that Zoe thinks about it, Henry has many secrets in his past too; a dead wife that Zoe has never seen pictures of, dead parents and a very dedicated maid that will not say a word to Zoe. All at once, Zoe tries to find out who is trying to kill her, uncover her own past and dig deeper into the man her husband seems to be.
Several mysteries wrapped into one, The Vanishing Year kept me up late into the night with its many twists and turns. Zoe is a very real character, with a lot of trauma in her background. She has used her newfound wealth in order to do good; however she is constantly on the lookout for anyone from her past. Some of her naivety seemed overdone, and I had some parts of her mystery figured out early on. Zoe did grow on me though, as soon as she started coming into her own and getting out of her apartment, she began to question things. While Zoe was so focused on hiding her own past, she didn’t seem to push Henry into revealing any of his. Henry seemed to be the one hiding more than Zoe, and his past is locked up tighter. The suspense rose in the second half of the book as Zoe concentrates on finding her birth mother. Slowly, inklings of something more disturbing than what Zoe can imagine are being teased out and while I had an idea of who might be behind it all, I had no idea of why or to what extent until the very end where I was speed reading along to see what would happen! Overall, a slow building psychological thriller and mystery with a whirlwind ending.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Kate Moretti is the New York Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You, Binds That Tie, and While You Were Gone. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two kids. Find out more at katemoretti.com, or follow her on Twitter (@KateMoretti1) or Facebook (KateMorettiWriter).
THE VANISHING YEAR by Kate Moretti
Atria Paperback | ISBN: 9781501118432 | On sale: September 27, 2016 | 304 pages | $16.00
eBook: Atria | ISBN: 9781501118449 | On sale: September 27, 2016 | 304 pages | $11.99
FIND KATE ONLINE:
Website: www.katemoretti.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katemorettiwriter
Twitter: @KateMoretti1
Instagram: @katemoretti1
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