Hello all! Thanks for the great feedback on my first attempt here, this is the new (and hopefully improved) version. I welcome all feedback and comments!
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Ryan Phelps has spent months justifying a plan to himself: he is going to kill his brother. Piece by piece, his brother has taken his place—first in his daughter’s life, then in his marriage—leaving Ryan on the sidelines of his own family.
Before he can act, the world changes. In an instant, cars crash, planes fall from the sky, and 95% of the population vanishes. His wife is among the missing, leaving Ryan alone with their young daughter, Esme, and forcing him into a role he has long struggled to fill.
In the aftermath, the brothers are forced together as they head south to find their mother. Mile after mile, Ryan must choose between being the father Esme needs and killing the only person she still trusts.
At a roadside motel, a stop for shelter erupts into violence when Esme is abducted by a grief-stricken couple who believe she is their departed daughter. To save her, Ryan must rely on the brother he hates as the search leads deeper into a collapsing world, while the bullet meant for him still waits in the chamber.
THE VANISHING is a speculative novel complete at 103,000 words. It will appeal to readers of The High House (Jessie Greengrass) and These Silent Woods (Kimi Cunningham Grant), blending a mysterious global event with a high-stakes father-daughter story at its core.