THE DISAPPEARING ACT

 

SYNOPSIS

A woman has gone missing

But did she ever really exist?

 

Mia Eliot has travelled from London to LA for pilot season. This is her big chance to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and she is ready to do whatever it takes. At an audition she meets Emily, and what starts as a simple favour takes a dark turn when Emily goes missing and Mia is the last person to see her.

 

Then a woman turns up, claiming to be Emily, but she is nothing like Mia remembers. Why would someone pretend to be Emily? Starting to question her own sanity, she goes on a desperate and dangerous search for answers, knowing something is very, very wrong.

 

In an industry where everything is about creating illusions, how do you know what is real? And how much would you risk to find out?

Title: The disappearing act

Author: Catherine Steadman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication date: June 24, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

I’m a sucker for stories set in Hollywood with the movies and acting world as a backdrop, so The Disappearing Act was the perfect read for me. I think the premise was pretty intriguing and could not put it down until the end.

Mia is a British actress that goes to LA to do some auditions in search of her big chance. After Emily, a fellow actor, asks her for a favor in one of her auditions, she goes missing and Mia can’t let it go (she should learn from Elsa from Frozen 😅). Whe a few days later a woman turns up claiming to be Emily, Mia just knows that although they look alike she’s not the woman she previously met so things take a sinister turn pretty quickly.

Yes, Mia was a bit naive sometimes and she didn’t always take the best decisions, but I felt so much sympathy for her and just wanted for things to go her way. 

It is pretty clear that the author is also an actress, as everything related to the movie industry sounded completely believable. It was evident she knew first hand what she was writing about.

Although the story is not action packed and has more of a slow pace, I was so curious about what direction it was gonna take I listened to half of the audiobook in one sitting. I’m always a bit reluctant to listen audiobooks narrated by the author…unless the author is an actress herself! It was fantastic (I guess no one better to know how her characters talk). After finishing it I immediately went to look for more books narrated by Catherine Steadman (it’s a shame I already read her two previous books!).

The resolution ended up being much more twisted than I imagined and I loved it. The only criticism I have is that was drawn out a little bit after everything was revealed (although I loved those glimpses into Mia’s future).

Having read all 3 Ms. Steadman’s novels, I can say The Disappearing Act was definitely my favorite and I just can’t wait to read what she comes out with next.