If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier

“We look because we have to. Because no one else will.”

Sera Fleece has lost a child, is divorced, struggles to make ends meet and often cannot get out of bed. She is depressed and obsessed with true crime podcasts. Her favorite podcaster, Rachel, dives into cases of missing women, but then Rachel goes missing. Days go by without a new podcast or any social media posts. Sera just knows Rachel has gone missing and decides to travel to Rachel’s family’s isolated Northern California ranch to find her.

When Sera arrives at Fountain Creek Guest Ranch, she has a spontaneous job interview with Rachel’s mother, Addy, and is hired on the spot to help at the ranch. Rachel’s family and the small nearby town of Happy Camp are filled with secrets and Sera tries to channel her inner podcaster and sleuth to track down what happened.

There were a number of elements in this story that worked together to create suspense. The isolated, small Northern California town and the remote ranch with its dilapidated, rat-filled bunk house with blackberry bushes taking over everything created the perfect atmosphere. The podcast element with each chapter starting with a part of Rachel’s podcast kept this theme running throughout. The entire book is written in second person with Sera addressing Rachel. It isn’t usually a point of view I like, but it worked well for this story.

It is hard to say much more about this book because it was so different and I do not want to spoil anything. The ending left me reeling with many questions, but in a good way for a suspense genre novel. This would definitely be a fun buddy read or book club selection because it leaves much to discuss.

Check out If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…).