The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
Reviewed by: Dawn Dickey, library volunteer
Genre: Mystery
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About?: After a successful acting role which lands her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor, Mia Eliot is caught by surprise when her longtime boyfriend breaks up with her. With her agent’s blessing, Mia heads to Los Angeles to search for new acting roles, escape from a stalker, and recover from the breakup. In L.A., Mia answers a casting call for a role where she notes that the other actors auditioning for the role “all look weirdly similar” to herself: brunette hair worn up, similar age, and similar clothing (jeans, silk blouse). Faced with the tension and unfriendliness of most of the actors waiting to audition, Mia decides to wait outside until it is her turn to audition. Outside, hearing Mia’s British accent, a friendlier fellow actor named Emily starts up a conversation about Los Angeles, the audition, etc. When it is time for Emily’s audition, Emily makes an excuse, saying she needs to top off the meter for her rental car. Emily urges Mia to audition before her. But feeling jet-lagged and off kilter, Mia declines. Instead, Mia offers to feed Emily’s meter. Emily, somewhat surprisingly, gives Mia her wallet and car keys. Mia promises to feed the meter, bring the keys and wallet back in to the casting room, and wait for Emily to finish her audition to return the keys and wallet. Mia is soon faced with a mystery, however. Emily doesn’t return to reclaim her personal items, and she seems to have disappeared! What should Mia do?
My Review: Author Catherine Steadman, who is both a writer and actor, deftly builds suspense from the prologue, which finds Mia holding a gun and wondering how the story of her life should go. The following chapters build on the suspense. Mia is temporarily living in a fabulous – but mostly empty – high rise which should have adequate security, but a script and other items disappear. People and their motives are not what Mia would think. The suspense and unsettling events go on and on, increasing until the surprise ending in the final pages of the book. The characters, and the situations they are in, are believable and sympathetic. As a reader, I found myself cheering Mia on to try to solve the disappearance and stay safe doing so. The Disappearing Act has just the right amount of suspense – a great read!!
Three Words That Describe This Book: suspense, identity, acting
Give This a Try if You Like… Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn; books by Tana French, especially The Likeness; and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
Rating: 5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
