The Aussie Zombie

Gabie is a quiet girl who works in the local pizza place and when her colleague Kayla asks her to swap her Friday night shift Gabie agrees. However, whilst Kayla is working the shift that was meant to be Gabie’s, Kayla goes out on a delivery and never returns. Later, her car is found abandoned in an isolated location by the river, pizza’s lying around the car, and blood found on a rock on the river’s edge. As if that isn’t creepy enough, Gabie later discovers that the person who targeted Kayla that night was actually after Gabie….

Told in alternating POV of three characters, The Night She Disappeared sounded like a good, quick read – a bit of mystery, a bit of a thriller – but is also interspersed with 911 recordings, police notes and various other crime investigation data, which adds an extra facet to the story. Rather than being told of the police procedurals, they are literally shown, which I found incredibly interesting and also gave some more authenticity to the story.

I liked Gabie – as a quiet, smart girl she was also incredibly mature and felt a great deal of horror and responsibility for what happened to Kayla. Her quest to find out exactly what happened, and her conviction that Gabie was/is still alive also added to the character-building.

For me, the ending was the only let-down in this book as it felt a little rushed and could have been the perfect opportunity to really ramp up the creepy factor, but I felt that the opportunity was passed over a little.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie