How to Disappear cover art

How to Disappear

The gripping psychological thriller with an ending that will take your breath away

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

How to Disappear

By: Gillian McAllister
Narrated by: Nicola Walker
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £11.20

Buy Now for £11.20

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE GRIPPING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NO FURTHER QUESTIONS AND THE EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU

'Bravo! How to Disappear is undoubtedly her best yet. Gripping and emotional - a cracking read' Clare Mackintosh

'A relentless drumroll of suspense . . . ranks among the best psychological-suspense thrillers of recent years' A. J. Finn

You can run, you can hide, but can you disappear for good?

Lauren's daughter Zara witnessed a terrible crime. But speaking up comes with a price, and when Zara's identity is revealed online, it puts a target on her back.

The only choice is to disappear.

To keep Zara safe, Lauren will give up everything and everyone she loves, even her husband.

There will be no goodbyes. Their pasts will be rewritten. New names, new home, new lives.

The rules are strict for a reason. They are being hunted. One mistake - a text, an Instagram like - could bring their old lives crashing into the new.

They can never assume someone isn't watching, waiting.

As Lauren will learn, disappearing is easy. Staying hidden is harder . . .
__________

'Totally addictive, with twists that repeatedly pulled the rug from under my feet' Erin Kelly

'Tense and unpredictable. I couldn't put it down' Claire Douglas

'If Jodi Picoult wrote psychological thrillers, they would look like this. A compulsive read with a jaw-dropping twist, I read it in a day' Rosamund Lupton

'An intricate and spellbinding exploration of the devastating ripples that spread from a terrible crime' Holly Seddon

'I read How to Disappear with my heart in my mouth' Lia Louis

(c) Gillian McAllister 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Crime Fiction Mystery Political Psychological Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Law Exciting Scary
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

Bravo! How to Disappear is undoubtedly her best yet. Gripping and emotional - a cracking read. (Clare Mackintosh)
A clever and original thriller with a brilliant ending. Beautifully written and emotional as well as tense and unpredictable, I couldn't put it down. (Claire Douglas)
If Jodi Picoult wrote psychological thrillers, they would look like this. A compulsive read with a jaw-dropping twist, I read it in a day (Rosamund Lupton)
Tense, twisty and perfectly paced, How To Disappear is a compelling portrait of a family under unbearable pressure - where one false step invites disaster into all their lives (T. M. Logan)
Totally addictive: clever, convincing and ingeniously plotted with twists that repeatedly pulled the rug from under my feet. But more than that, How to Disappear is peopled with characters so real and relatable you feel you could reach out and touch them. Any crime writer can keep you turning the pages - but few can make you care this much. (Erin Kelly)
Some thrillers stage a few moments of high anxiety (at best); more thrillers simply sprinkle jitters here and there, like piano ditties peppered lightly with minor chords. But How to Disappear is a relentless drumroll of suspense, a knife-edge novel in which - at any moment, with any word, in the spaces between words - the characters can drop into danger as though falling through a trapdoor. They aren't safe for even an instant . . . and neither is the reader who cares about them (and who couldn't?). Gillian McAllister's rattling, deeply satisfying book ranks among the best psychological-suspense thrillers of recent years, but you'll be reminded too of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty, Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. Bloody hell, this is a good one. (A. J. Finn)
Gillian McAllister has done it again. How to Disappear is a captivating story with unforgettable characters. This is one you can't put down and you won't soon forget (Samantha Downing)
I couldn't look away from this intricate and spellbinding exploration of the devastating ripples that spread from a terrible crime. The desperate and dangerous slippery slope that one family finds themselves on is as gut punching as it is believable. Whip smart and wonderfully written. (Holly Seddon)
This intricately plotted drama is a masterclass in taut, twisty but beautiful writing
A clever, compulsive, cat-and-mouse family thriller that made my heart race. Never ever, would I want to go into a witness protection programme after this. Absolutely brilliant (Jane Corry)
All stars
Most relevant
So well written! I actually felt myself in the position of Witness Protection. The agonising choices of who to take, who to leave behind, where to draw lines. Agreeing to rules that absolutely demand the old life being left behind and forgotten without any contact whatsoever - especially difficult with today's social media.

That much I expected from the book, but additionally it turned out to be a really good thriller as well. You could call it a Domestic Thriller, but NOT just with the woman as the lead character, in this book we get the perspective from ALL family members in turn.

This is not a police investigation, it's better than that. The family are the protagonists with twists and turns as threats emerge from the footballing gang who we already know are murderers. Very real threats that we as listeners can relate to. It's a book with multiple threads, but despite this, not hard to follow.

Very good surprise ending.

There are a few editing issues in this recording, some words repeated, some completely missing (e.g. at 3:24:13 we get 12 seconds of silence). These issues did not unduly affect enjoyment of the book.

Genuine Psychological Thriller

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Omg this book really is unputdownable! It was recommended by one of the members of The Book Club on Facebook and I bought the Audible version and couldn't stop listening. Eventually, though, I had to when I noticed it was 3am, but I finished it the next day.

Crime and psychological thrillers are my favourite genre but can sometimes be a bit cliched, but this one is original, focusing on witness protection and how difficult it is for all those involved. It is wonderfully written and I became totally absorbed in the lives of the characters, all beautifully portrayed by the author, and was really rooting for them. I did guess the ending but it didn't spoil it for me. It's one of my favourite books of the year so far. My first book by Gillian McAllister, but definitely not the last!

The Audible version if narrated by the wonderfully talented Nicola Walker and she brought it all to life.

Just brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the best books I’ve listened to, gripping with fantastic narration from Nicola Walker

Outstanding

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Written with an obviously high level of research, this is a heart-thumping, breathtaking, thrilling listen right to the last chapter. The narrator Nicola Walker has a warm, clear tone, which is so easy on the ear you can become instantly, happily, immersed, Her acting of male voices sound believable, not as pantomime, teenagers too are just right.

Awkward, bookish, fiercely moral, with a highly tuned social conscience, young Zara witnesses a terrible crime, an event that has huge implications for her family and the perpetrators. Her mother Lauren is a charming but flaky lady who falls in love wholeheartedly with everything in her life, her home, her dog, her bathtime routines, her stepdaughter Poppy and her husband Aiden who she utterly adores. All this is threatened in a ghastly but realistic way.

Fascinating throughout, I am still moved and impressed by this skillfully written, surprisingly wonderful book which had me shutting myself away to listen whenever I could. I was walking the dog off his feet for one more chapter and enjoying it more than so many other books that are just ok, not memorable and thought-provoking as 'How to Disappear'. I really do recommend this!

A cracking good story, stays the mind for ages

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the story and the narration.. lots of twists and turns.. was sad when it came to an end.

Couldn’t wait to listen to more

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews