The Vanished by Cara Putman Review

 

I really wanted to love The Vanished by Cara Putman, but unfortunately there were a few things that bothered me.

I loved the plot and most of the story. Janae has come back to the town where she grew up because she made a huge mistake in her previous job, so she ends up wanting to start her own law agency, but will she be able to get clients? Carter is the director of the museum in town, a museum that is displaying two paintings that an elderly lady claims are her family's and she is demanding their return. Carter hasn't been director for long, and he is quite new to the area. And to make things even trickier, he finds he isn't getting support from the board in figuring out what to do about these paintings.

This of course brings the two together (which isn't a spoiler as it is in the blurb). I enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve as Janae helped Carter, and Carter ended up helping Janae with things I won't mention. I felt the relationship grew at a believable pace, as the books takes place over the course of a few months.

I loved learning more about what happened to pieces of art during WWII. I didn't realize the complexities that were involved in museums acquiring works of art, so that was eye opening and educational. Unfortunately, I felt there was too much legal jargon that I had to focus on to fully immerse myself in the story. I had to keep rereading sections to make sure I was understanding what was going on. And this bogged me down, causing me to take a lot longer to finish the book than I thought it would.

I think this wouldn't have been as much of a hindrance if the suspense had been more intense and fast paced. When I read suspense books I do prefer it that way. I love being on the edge of my seat and NEEDING to know what was going to happen next. Though there were scenes that had suspense, they were not as present as I was expecting. However, this was the first book I had read by Cara Putman, and I think I've seen some other reviews that made it sound like she has other books that may be more fast paced and suspenseful, so I defintely want to read more of her books. And I did enjoy this book enough that I really want to read the prequel and continue with the series.

All in all, this was an enjoyable book, and I definitely fell in love with the characters and am hoping we will see more of them in the remainder of the series.

I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.