Review: The Other Side of Disappearing

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Ten years ago Jess' mother waltzed off with her boyfriend leaving twenty-one year old jess to look after her eight year old step-sister Tegan. It later transpired that her mother's boyfriend was a conman called Lynton Baltimore who made a habit of seducing women and taking their money. Lynton was made famous/infamous by one of the first true-crime podcasts and jess and Tegan have been flying beneath the radar ever since. To protect Tegan Jess rarely dates and has no social media presence, she can only imagine how they would be hounded by the press if anyone discovered their mother had run off with Lynton.

Now Tegan is only a few weeks away from going to college when she drops a bombshell, she has been in contact with the podcaster, Salem, and her assistant, former American football player Adam about finding her mother, based on five postcards which their mother sent Jess (which she had hidden).

Desperately wanting to avoid anything to do with finding her mother, Jess nevertheless can't allow Tegan to go off with Salem and Adam alone, who knows what they might get her to say. So the four of them reluctantly agree to go on a road trip, visiting each of the cities from which Jess' mother sent a postcard, trying to track down her and Lynton.

As soon as he sets eyes on Jess Adam is a gonner, but he has made a deal with Salem that he will help her, specifically get Jess to talk on the record, and in return she will produce a podcast very dear to his heart about the death of his best friend.

Jess has never had anyone to depend on. Her mother left her not once but twice, her father and stepmother looked after her the first time her mother took off, but they made it clear it was only while her mother was away. Similarly, when her mother left the second time, Jess' boyfriend only lasted a few weeks before bailing on her. Since then Jess has been big sister and quasi-mother to Tegan. However, Adam seems instinctively to offer Jess a shoulder to lean on almost from the very beginning.

I enjoyed this but ... OMG the angst and also I found it irritating that there was a lot of things alluded to which weren't explained (deliberately) until much later, its like tell me now or say nothing don't keep being cryptic because when the truth is revealed its been built up too much and ends up being an anti-climax. I felt like the book could have been a lot shorter, and the plot a lot tighter, without all of that.

So ... (three, two, one) I liked but I didn't love it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

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