THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING by Kimi Cunningham Grant – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Published by Minotaur Books on June 18 2024
Genres: Adult, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Wild nature is the setting for this excellent mystery/thriller where the characters’ relationships take center stage.

“The real agony, she now understands, is this. It’s good things—the book of poems, the sandwich, both kind and thoughtful—speckled with carnage. It’s seeing someone you love splinter away from you, shard by shard. Knowing there are parts of him left, but never being sure just how much, and at what point a person is so far gone that you won’t ever really get him back.”

I became a Kimi Cunningham Grant fan after loving These Silent Woods, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Nature of Disappearing, which I ended up loving just as much. This is a character/relationship-focused thriller that takes place in the wilderness, and I loved the Idaho location and the outdoor-savvy characters. Despite the emphasis on the characters, there are plenty of tense moments for thriller fans, but Grant’s story is much more than just popcorn entertainment, as she also explores emotional relationship dynamics.

The story follows Emlyn, who lives in Idaho and works as a wilderness guide, taking (mostly) rich people on private fishing and hunting trips. She ended up here by chance, after a disastrous camping trip with her ex boyfriend Tyler ended in her nearly dying of exposure. Emlyn has since made a quiet, happy life for herself and has formed a deep friendship with a ranger named Varden, the man who rescued her and saved her life.

But one day Emlyn catches a story on the local news that chills her to the bone. Her old college friend Janessa is missing, along with her partner Buck. Janessa is a social media influencer, and she and Buck were trekking deep into the wilderness to test and promote a line of camper vans. Just a week ago, Janessa called her to tell her something, but the call dropped and Emlyn never called her back. Now she feels guilty and wonders if something was wrong. The next day, Emlyn is surprised when Tyler shows up, asking her to help him look for Janessa. Emlyn will do anything for her friend, but she’s reluctant to trust Tyler after their horrible break-up.

Despite her misgivings, Emlyn agrees to help search for her friend. Being alone with Tyler is bringing back so many old memories, but other dangers await Emlyn and Tyler as well.

Grant fills in a lot of the information about the characters’ relationships in flashbacks, so you learn how Janessa and Emlyn met, how Emlyn and Tyler met, and what the relationship is between Janessa and Tyler. All of these are important to the story and what happens in the present, and I enjoyed these flashbacks immensely, perhaps even more than the mystery/missing person plot that takes place in the present. The author infuses her story with so much emotion and sometimes heartbreak. Without going into too much detail, there’s a drug addiction element that added lots of depth to the story, and Grant makes it feel completely believable.

Emlyn in the present has been shaped by everything that happened with Janessa and Tyler, and she comes across as both emotionally fragile but also a woman who has enough strength to move on. In other words, I thought her character was very believable. Adding some drama to the trio of Emlyn, Tyler and Janessa is Varden, the sweet and steady man who may be in love with Emlyn (although they haven’t really talked about their feelings yet). Emlyn is drawn to him, even though she still has complicated feelings for Tyler, and by the end of the story she’s able to figure out which man is best for her.

But if you’re here for the action, you won’t be disappointed. Grant sets up an interesting scenario where Janessa has gone off into the wilderness with Buck (who is sort of the wild card of the story), and no one has heard from them in over a week—quite a long time for Janessa, who continuously posts about her adventures on social media. I loved that Emlyn is skilled in all sorts of outdoor activities, like hunting and tracking, and she is able to follow Janessa’s trail by the boot footprints in the dirt at their last known location, and even come up with theories about what happened. Tyler is the “sad puppy” in all of this, as the reader is filled in on some of the awful things he’s done in the past, and clearly he’s trying to get Emlyn back, even though he recognizes he doesn’t really deserve her.

But back to the action. I had a couple of guesses and theories as I was reading, as to what actually happened to Janessa and Buck, and I was wrong on all accounts. Grant throws in a twist or two and some dangerous situations, with a flurry of exciting activity at the end.

And I can’t finish this review without mentioning the “nature” in the title of the book. Grant perfectly captures the wide vistas of the Idaho wilderness setting, the (at times) dangerous terrain, and the awe of nature. In one flashback we learn that Emlyn’s love of nature came from her nurturing grandfather, and I loved the scenes where he teaches her to hunt and fish. The author also uses “wilderness” as a metaphor for being lost in life, at a crossroads not knowing what you want to do next. Emlyn is trying to cope with the loss of her friendship with Janessa, as well as Tyler, but by the end of the story she is much closer to “emerging from the wilderness” and living life on her terms.

Kimi Cunningham Grant has captured so many things I love in one story: interesting characters who I came to care for, an awe inspiring setting, tense action and emotional character connections and backstories. Highly recommended!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.