When You Disappeared

Ever since I read What Lies Between us I was hooked on John Marrs work. Read several others and was not disappointed, However this one does not compare with previous books. There was no substance except that a crazy irresponsible man abandons his family to do his thing while his wife and children are floundering trying to surive I didn't like any ot these characters. Simon was a jerk who returns to his wife and children after 25 years; Catherine sits and wails "Oh woe is me" what to do. The story goes back and forth from present to 25 years ago. That's ok. But how about a clue whose chapter it is. Sorry John, not one of your best, But keep up the good work. I'm going on to the next one.UPDATE 3/18/22: OK so the last 3 chapters and epilogue are great. Too bad the whole book wasn't like these chapters. I'm still going to read all of this books

Absolute page turner from beginning to end. Didn't know anything about this book. Just popped up on recommendations for me. Wow what a great surprise. Highly recommend.

This is the third Marrs book I have read in less than a week. There are twists and turns you can’t begin to anticipate. Incredibly well written. Mesmerizing.

This book made you forget the outside world. We all need to disappear sometimes into another world where we can forget about everything else.

I have never hated a fictional character as much as I hate Simon. This was the most depressing book I’ve ever read.

It started off very slow and got easily confused.to me it was only at the end that you really understood the problem between Simon and Margaret. I guess you can see that as a possible for some extreme marriage situations. It seems if Simon had really been honest with Margaret before he left, that maybe they could have resolved some of there issues.

This book took me a long time to get through! Some of it seemed slow but other than that it was an ok story!

NOVEMBER 2020 : 4 STARS ('17 - Read '20) Previously published in Great Britain in 2014 as The Wronged Sons. When Catherine wakes up along one morning, she thinks her husband Simon has gone for a run before work. He never makes it to work. Simon knows the truth about why he left and what he's done. He knows things about his marriage that it would kill Catherine to find out. The memories she holds onto are lies.One of my favorite authors the past year. Read The Good Samaritan ('18 - Read '20 - 4 Stars), What Lies Between Us ('20 - 5 Stars), The One ('18 - Read '20 - 5 Stars and The Passengers ('19 - 5 Stars). The disappearance of Simon, the husband, told from both sides was interesting. I liked how the author led you on without revealing the reasons for his leaving; kept me guessing. At 50% I thought for sure we would find out something when, POW ! a shocker ! What a dreadful person Simon was thru the whole story. He assumed something that ended-up ruining soooo many lives. Never assume !

An unpleasant tale about unpleasant characters and one that I struggled to finish. The characters were lightly drawn and unrealistic and the story jumped backwards and forwards continually in time, between characters and between first and third person. There were hints and obscure references through out the book to events and people which were supposed to intrigue you but quite frankly I couldn't have cared less. By the time I was about a third through it I was bored and only managed to finish it by skim reading it......I was so pleased to get to the end. All is explained at the end but overall - meh!

I’ve previously read a book by this author and really enjoyed it, so I’m disappointed that this book is utter rubbish. I abandoned it at 52% on my Kindle and simply can’t stand the thought of finishing it. There’s nothing wrong with dripfeeding your reader information, to keep them hooked, but this book used the same hook time after time, never revealing any more than the previous chapter to the point it became overwhelmingly irritating and then I couldn’t care less why he left. I found the husband vile and without remorse. And how the wife stopped herself from clubbing him to death I’ll never know. But I do like this author so I can forgive for this terrible book as long as he ups his game and doesn’t write anything so abysmal again.

I bought this book because I had read a number of good reviews. However I was really disappointed. The storyline is bizarre and improbable and one of the main characters was so unpleasant that I didn't really care what happened to him.I abandoned the book before the end.

I absolutely loved this book. So much so, I became too engrossed in reading it and missed my station on the train.Twenty-five years ago Simon walked out on his family - his wife Catherine and their three small children. Initially, he intended to go into the woods to take his own life, but instead of this, he kept walking and walking and walking, leaving his entire life and identity behind him, seemingly without a trace. Catherine is left in a limbo state with no idea what happened to her childhood sweetheart. Eventually she has to presume he is dead, but with no body to bury, she cannot be absolutely sure. Fast forward twenty-five years, where the book begins and Simon turns up at Catherine's door, ready to explain why he did what he did.Throughout the book there is a simmering tension, the cause of which is not revealed until the very end, as to why Simon took the action he did. All we as readers are told is he believes his wife did something utterly unforgivable.The book charts how Catherine survived as a single parent and how Simon spent a quarter of a decade removed from his family. So much happens it continuously keeps the reader gripped, but I am wary of sting too much for fear of spoilers. Events intertwine and everything makes sense. I thoroughly invested in Simon and Catherine as characters. This is practically un-put-downable.

This is not a nice book at all. The main character is quite vile, with no redeeming features whatsoever. The main female character is poorly drawn and lacks any sympathy, though she thoroughly deserves it. The book does do time slices well, and moves easily between characters, but it was a fairly tedious read and I had to drag myself through it. The supposed shock twist was obvious from a very early stage. I found very little of any worth in the book, and the very best bit was finishing it. One to be avoided.