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We Disappear: A Novel Kindle Edition
“We Disappear is a mystery concerning the identity of a teenage boy and the people he draws into his web of half-truths. . . . It’s not hyperbole to suggest that We Disappear is the eeriest Kansas-set story since Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood." — Chicago Sun-Times
A dark and compelling novel of addiction, obsession, love, and family from the acclaimed author of Mysterious Skin
The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation.
But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, Scott must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to himself.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins e-books
- Publication dateOctober 13, 2009
- File size593 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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From Booklist
Review
“We Disappear is a mystery concerning the identity of a teenage boy and the people he draws into his web of half-truths. . . . As always, the care Heim takes with language elevates his material above the tawdry and closer to the sublime. . . . It’s not hyperbole to suggest that We Disappear is the eeriest Kansas-set story since Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.” — Chicago Sun-Times
“Scott Heim has taken contemporary gay literature to new highs. His follow-up to Mysterious Skin is an equally dark and disturbing tale of innocence lost. . . One part mystery, three parts character study, We Disappear will keep you guessing until its shocking conclusion.” — Zink Magazine
“A haunting and heartbreaking read.” — V Magazine
“Strange and luminous, this fascinating thriller tackles questions of identity, illness, and trauma….Taut and beautifully clear, the writing at times recalls that of Paul Auster.” — Publishers Weekly
“Stripped of overt gay sexuality but brimming with seductive prose, We Disappear is a wonderfully strange and compelling novel that ought to appeal to straight and gay readers alike.” — CAMP Magazine
“Suspenseful . . . We Disappear is honest, and thus more troubling, for it reflects the stark knowledge that truth is only an amalgam of experience, a collection of individual shards that don’t coalesce into a pleasing whole. As Heim suggests, the search for truth invites the Hansels and Gretels of the world to follow the wrong adult home, the Alices to peer down the rabbit hole—and fantasy to cover up the nasty grime of reality.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review
“We Disappear is a more mature, subtle creation, ambitious in every thread it weaves.” — Portland Mercury
“We Disappear is really about identity and personality, about our constant struggle to know who we are, and about how easy it can be to lose our grip on reality when we try to alter our memories. ” — San Francisco Chronicle
From the Back Cover
The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation.
But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, he must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to Scott himself.
About the Author
The author of two novels and a volume of poetry, Scott Heim has written for numerous publications, including The Advocate, Village Voice, and Nerve.com. He lives in Boston.
Product details
- ASIN : B0013TX6LM
- Publisher : HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
- Publication date : October 13, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 593 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 322 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,551,425 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,826 in Psychological Literary Fiction
- #7,219 in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
- #8,251 in Mothers & Children Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
I'm the author of the novels MYSTERIOUS SKIN (1995); IN AWE (1997), and WE DISAPPEAR (2008), all from HarperCollins / HarperPerennial.
MYSTERIOUS SKIN was made into a 2005 film, directed by Gregg Araki and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Elizabeth Shue.
Since I'm a longtime music fanatic, I've recently been focusing on editing a series of e-books called THE FIRST TIME I HEARD series, where noted musicians and writers tell their first-person stories of hearing an iconic band or artist for the first time. THE FIRST TIME I HEARD JOY DIVISION / NEW ORDER was the lead book in the series, and installments that followed (or are forthcoming) include books on Cocteau Twins, David Bowie, The Smiths, Kate Bush, Abba, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk, The Pixies, Roxy Music, R.E.M., and more. http://www.facebook.com/TheFirstTimeIHeard
I was born and raised in various small towns in the center of Kansas. I went to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and moved to New York City in 1991 to get my MFA degree at Columbia University. After 11 years in New York, I moved to Boston in 2002, and that's where I'm currently living.
My personal website is www.scottheim.com, and I have a weblog at www.heim.etherweave.com/weblog.
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The storyline is a bit of a heartfelt family saga with some mystery tossed in. Scott, a meth addict living in New York, returns to hometown Kansas to care for his dying mother who has cancer. Mom is obsessed, and has been for a long time, with missing children cases, creating scrap books and plastering her walls with newspaper columns and photos. She wants Scott to help her interview people about missing children while pretending that they are collecting information for a book. However, his mother's real intent is to solve a mystery from her own past before the cancer causes her to "disappear," while also continuing her strange obsession. This may all sound a bit bizarre but Heim plays out the storyline in a very natural matter-of-fact way making it not seem as odd as it probably sounds on the back of the book or in my description here.
Another integral part that makes this such a good book is Heim's true talent for the written word. There were numerous passages and descriptions that were just haunting and beautiful. His metaphors are fresh and raw and he really digs under the skin of his characters to expose their fragility. Yes, they may sound crazy, high, drunk, stoned, or insane, and maybe they are. But the Kansas setting and the natural tone to their language makes them seem like the neighbors next door, or even nearby relatives. This is the first of Heim's books I've read, and I definitely want more.
The "mystery" aspect of the story and Scott's mom's background did keep me guessing for a while, but comes to a guessable and neat ending that may keep you questioning, but in the end, it is what it is. It at least makes you think and does give you some peace of mind. But the true genius here is how the author really breathed life into his characters, so much that I'm still thinking about them even though I finished the last page days ago. This is definitely a book I'll be suggesting to others for months to come, but my frayed copy is staying with me and not getting loaned out. I love a "good" book that stays with me long after I've finished it, both physically and emotionally, and this is one worth keeping!
Eventually picking it back up, I found that Scott Heim once again delivers and eccentric and beautiful, true to life story about human beings. The strength of this story definitely lies in the plot and rising action. My opinion is that the plot and storyline is actually extremely creative and touching, especially when you consider that Scott was inspired to write this after the death of his mother. The brief personal monologue at the end of the story really helped give me perspective on the author, and I can see why he's so well recognized. I'll definitely be picking up more Scott Heim when I get a chance.
It was a good story that helped me get through a very tough time in my life, so thanks again Scott.
The other reviews go into detail regarding the plot of the novel, so I won't go into that here. I will only say that Mr. Heim's prose is brilliantly conceived, his characters real and affecting, the dialogue crisp and sure and the overall tone and mood of the book sure to hook the reader and provide a profound emotional experience.
Mr. Heim has always written beautiful prose to his disturbing, thought-provoking novels. With WE DISAPPEAR, he has taken his writing to a new level, providing deep, rich layers of characterization and plot and placing them into a very real-world context that is impossible to shrug off. This is, without a doubt, his most accessible novel to date and I hope with the very deepest of sincerity that he will continue to write, publish and gift the world with his imagination. There is a reason why Scott Heim is one of my favorite authors. He consistently gives his readers intelligent, real characters, and is never afraid to let them be who they are, regardless of how difficult it might be to stay with them. That honesty, that fearlessness, makes Mr. Heim a truly GREAT and gifted author.
I loved this beautuful story! A story of love between a mother and son. A story of addiction and cancer. A best friends love. All of the characters are flawed and real. Hard to put down book!