The Missing [Kindle Edition]

A TOP TEN BESTSELLER

John Simmons is en route to London with his girlfriend, Jennie Michaels, whom he intends to propose to that evening. He pulls into the London Gateway Services, leaving Jennie in the car. But when he returns, she has disappeared. Frantic with worry, he turns to the police for help. The police doubt that Jennie exists: there is no trace that she ever existed.

John, convinced Jennie was not a figment of his imagination, sets out in a desperate attempt to find the woman he fell in love with. He has the help of Detective Sergeant Kate Nielsen, herself haunted by a botched undercover operation that led to her being raped four years earlier.

Everything he can remember of Jennie – where she worked, where she lived – turns out to be untrue. Nielsen, following John as he lurches from one lead to another, begins to wonder if Jennie could be the eleventh victim of a serial killer. Their investigation becomes increasingly urgent and threatens to bring back dark and murky images from Nielsen’s past.


Praise for The Missing:

“Karl Vadaszffy’s The Missing is a terrifying and perplexing debut mystery, spare and fast-paced with a terrific ending. I wouldn’t be surprised if it spawns a DS Kate Nielsen series.”
 Glenn Cooper (Library of the Dead and Book of Souls)

“A thriller to make your pulse race. Desperation and frustration stain the pages – a cracking good read.”
 James Becker (The First Apostle and The Moses Stone)

“Karl Vadaszffy delivers a real treat in The Missing, a thriller written with the passion and intensity of a master storyteller. Mystery, action, a flawed but determined protagonist, this book has it all. I’m a fan of Karl’s skill.”
 Matt Hilton (Dead Men’s Dust and Judgement and Wrath)

“A mystery that grips, provokes and most definitely causes the spine to tingle. Nothing is as it seems in this suspense-laden tale, the pith darkening on each exquisitely written page. The Missing moves at a relentless pace, taking the reader on a journey into the twisted mind of a very dark soul. A spellbinding thriller.”
 C. M. Palov (The Templar’s Quest and The Templar’s Code)

“The Missing plunges you into a nightmare scenario worthy of Harlan Coben at his best. However, this is more than a suspense novel, it is a perceptive and intriguing human drama. All the interactions ring true and the characters – even the monsters – are always believable.” Elly Griffiths (The Crossing Places and The Janus Stone)


“The Missing is a fast and compelling book, by turns tender and brutal, with a pounding sense of approaching crisis. The author’s command of the scenes is impressive.” Patrick Lennon (Corn Dolls and Steel Witches)

“The Missing is a nightmare of a book, triggering a reader’s darkest fears and keeping him in a state of tension from the first page until the last.” Thomas Perry (Strip and Silence)

“Karl Vadaszffy is just the sort of writer we should encourage – young, ambitious and creative.” Michael Dobbs (House of Cards and Winston’s War)

"Karl Vadaszffy's The Missing is a superior thriller, at once an exercise in vicarious paranoia and a horrifyingly convincing look into the mind of a killer. It's a shame Hitchcock isn't around to film it, it's exactly the kind of story he did best." Scott Phillips (The Ice Harvest and The Walkaway).

“A remarkable book that makes compulsive reading. The Missing is raw and brutal, balanced with an overlay of tense paranoia.” Quentin Bates (Frozen Out and Cold Comfort)


Learn more about Karl Vadaszffy at his website: www.karlvad.com

Follow Karl on Twitter: @KarlVad

After studying literature, linguistics and Spanish at university, Karl Vadaszffy trained as an English teacher and actor. He has edited magazines, taught English as a foreign language in Poland and taught English, Media Studies and Drama in secondary schools in England. Working in schools in Hertfordshire, UK, he became Head of Year when he was only 25 and a Head of English at 26. He is currently the Head of English, Drama and Media Studies at an Ofsted outstanding-rated Catholic school in Hertfordshire. Karl currently juggles his teaching responsibilities with work as a freelance journalist. His articles regularly appear in ten industry-leading magazines that cover the automotive, aerospace, technology and travel sectors. His articles are read by over 12,000 subscribers in print, and more online. While in a previous teaching role, Karl established The Astley Cooper School's author visits programme, which saw a number of authors, many internationally bestselling, visit the school to give talks, sign books and host workshops. These included Frederick Forsyth, Jodi Picoult, Sophie Hannah, Peter James, Darren Shan, Joanne Harris, Michael Marshall, Deborah Moggach and Elizabeth Buchan. The programme ran for three successful years until he left the school. Karl was a competitive fencer for seven years. Fencing is in his blood; his father was Hungarian Foil Champion and three-time British Epee Champion, coached the under-21s British Olympic foil team and was the personal coach of Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden, for almost thirty years. He also coached actors, including Ralph Fiennes and Robson Green, to prepare them for screen roles. Similarly, Karl's passion for drama was inherited from his father, who also trained as an actor. Zsolt Vadaszffy trained at RADA before having a successful film and television career in the 1960s, working with actors such as Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins and Alec Guinness. Karl followed in his father's footsteps by training at the London Centre for Theatre Studies. Visit Karl's website: karlvad.com.