We hope these questions help guide your group's discussion of this page-turning thriller. We’ve done our best to avoid spoilers, but don’t read this Guide unless you’ve finished VANISH – you don’t want to run the risk of ruining any twists!
- Have you read Shelley Burr’s WAKE and/or RIPPER? If so, how would you compare the novel/s to VANISH? How do you think the character of Lane Holland has changed or grown? If you’ve read all three, what do you think is the narrative arc looks like for Lane?
- VANISH is inspired by an actual criminal case. What elements do you think Shelley Burr took from reality and why? What themes might she have been hoping to explore with a real case as her foundation?
- There are short, italicised sections from an unnamed man’s perspective scattered throughout the novel. How did these moments affect your reading experience? Did it help to build tension? Were you surprised by the reveal of whose perspective they were from?
- Would you consider the Karpathy community a cult, a commune, or something else entirely? How does Burr’s depiction of life on the Karpathy farm compare to similar fictional communities you may have seen or read about in pop culture?
- Which narrative and textual elements do you think make VANISH feel distinctly Australian?
- What do you think stands Australian crime apart from other similar genres (like cosy crime, scandi-crime, thrillers, etc)?
- Did you find your perspective on Samuel Karpathy changed as the novel progressed? Why or why not?
- Natalie partially blames herself for what happened to Alain and Rebecca. Do you think she should be held responsible at all? Should the Karpathy family? Why or why not?
- Did you see any of the book’s dramatic twists coming? Did any revelation surprise you more than the others?
- Choose one of the main characters (examples could include Mina, Lane, Carver, Natalie or Samuel Karpathy) and discuss how you think their life will be different after the events of the novel and why.
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Some stay. Some leave. Some disappear . . . A twisty, sinister and propulsive thriller, VANISH cements award-winning Shelley Burr as one of Australia's bestselling writers.
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