The Library Geek

Hardcover edition

Summary

A dinner out at trendy Georgetown for couple Roger and Lauren Heller turns into a nightmare as Lauren gets mugged and Roger disappears without a trace. Both Roger and Lauren work for Gifford Industries, the former a finance lawyer and the latter as the executive assistant to the CEO. With Lauren badly bruised and in a hospital and Roger presumed kidnapped or dead, their teenage son (stepson in Roger’s case), Gabe, turns to Roger’s brother, Nick, for help.

Nick Heller, formerly of the Special Forces, and now a crack intelligence investigator for Stoddard  Associates, at the time he  receive the call from his step-nephew, just successfully concluded locating another kind of disappearance, a whole airplane loaded with one billion dollars  in currency sitting inside an airfield.  With questions on who engineered the foiled robbery of the plane with its precious cargo hanging, Nick rush to Washington D.C. to assist in the investigation of the incident involving Lauren and Roger.

Stepping into his brother’s case takes him to a trip down memory lane as he recalls his life growing up as a Heller. Nick has been estranged from both his father and brother for many years now, precipitated by the arrest, humiliation, and financial ruin of their father, Victor Heller. Their father, before his downfall, was a financial wizard and giant in Wall Street and the brothers grew up in the lap of luxury and extreme wealth.

Nick’s investigation, in an unofficial capacity, will uncover evidence that the supposed mugging is a cover for a far more sinister and elaborate plan and whose mastermind will stop at nothing to ensure the success of his objective.

Review

Vanished is vintage Finder.

In coming up with a different industry at every outing for his corporate setting, like the airline industry in Power Play, or the computer industry in Paranoia. In coming up with clever twists and turns, misdirection, and a shocker for the big reveal. In always painting a rich back story for his protagonist. In coming up with a protagonist that is humorous, smart, loyal to their core beliefs, nuanced by their complex past, and plagued with father issues. And in coming up with a novel that exude the appearance of reality like characters that speak the jargon of the industry that they inhabit.

With Vanished, Joseph Finder has crafted another corporate thriller with fully fleshed-out characters that the reader will root for, or hate in the case of the antagonists in the story. In Vanished, Finder gives us Nick Heller, a hero who is part James Bond, part McGyver, and part Ethan Hunt of the Impossible Mission Team. In Vanished, which feels like a set up for more Nick Heller adventures to come, we get to know his back story, his priorities, and his morality. We see him in action, with the help of a team of specialists in surveillance and computer technology, as he comes up with clever solutions using gadgetry, a quick mind, and a glib tongue to extricate himself of sticky situations or to uncover the truth behind the crime.

As a first adventure for Nick Heller, Vanished sets the right tone in terms of core beliefs and values that remain true up to the end. What really worked in Vanished is Finder’s knack with coming up with characters that sounds right and believable even with the outrageous set of coincidence and crazy situations that they usually ends up in literature of an escapist fare. What did not work is the convoluted way Finder unfolded the real story behind Roger’s disappearance. The reader will find himself lost in following which corporation is after who and what. Also, the life threatening situations did not have the kind of edge-of-your seat danger that Paranoia, Power Play, or Killer Instinct had.

Overall, Vanished is a good read. It will occupy your time and leave you wanting for more Nick Heller adventures. I highly recommend it for fans of the corporate thriller genre and Joseph Finder’s writing and style.