In the Vanishing Hour

By: Sarah Beth Martin

Narrated by: Melora Kordos

Massachusetts, Summer, 1951: When a boy drowns in the Charles River, a family is devastated, and the town of Norumbega is changed forever.

Eight years later, Frances Adams lives in the shadow of her dead brother, Mac. At her window dresser job, she befriends model Gwen, who inspires Frances to reinvent herself. When Gwen vanishes into the river, Frances becomes obsessed with her memory, and transforms herself into her likeness.

An investigation begins, and the police question three young men. Frances and friend Iris follow them to the local riverside park, where one of the men—the suspicious Harris—mistakes Frances for Gwen. Frances is intrigued by the idea of haunting him, and continues to pursue him in secret. As the mystery unravels, shocking revelations about its connection to a long-past family tragedy come to the surface.

Set in the haunting atmosphere of 1950s and 1970s New England, In the Vanishing Hour weaves suspense and mystery into a story about loss, identity, and the secrets best left untold.

©2022 Sarah Beth Martin (P)2024 Sarah Beth Martin

Critic reviews

"Highly recommended for fans of literary suspense." —Independent Book Review

Tragic death with harrowing consequences

Received as an audio review copy from Story Origin, this is an honest review. Narrated beautifully by Melora Kordos, In the Vanishing Hour is haunting and poignant gem of a story as the tragic is drowning death of a young boy in the 50s echoes in the soul of a woman named Frances that lost her brother when he was young. The dogged pursuit to discover those behind the death of woman shatters everything Frances understood.


Highly recommended.

Beautifully crafted story with interesting and credible characters.

I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the lush descriptions of both the settings and of each unique character. So much thought has been put into every subtle detail. This book kept me riveted and I found myself trying to solve the mysteries. I really felt like I was “there”. I highly recommend this beautiful book.

Kept my attention

I haven’t finished this book yet but the easy to follow writing style has kept my attention as a before-bed treat. I would read or listen to more of this author’s work.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Interesting concept.

The story itself, conceptually good, but the 'telling instead of showing' writing style makes for a dull delivery. I’d be interested in a re-read if this were ever revised and re-released.

2 stars.


Audio:
Truly awful.
The overall sound quality was fine—not as perfectly clear as professionally produced books tend to be, but pretty good. However, the narrator sounds like AI. In fact, I've heard audiobooks that used ACTUAL AI narration that sounded less robotic than this narrator does. It was extremely hard to remain engaged through this noise, and it got physically painful on my ears.

Also: there were long pauses in between chapters, to the point that I kept thinking something was wrong with my device … my device was fine. For some reason this producer just recorded or inserted long pauses.

Poignant and Haunting

Already haunted by her brother’s death, Frances lives her life quietly and without fuss. Gwen, a budding model, helps Frances transform herself into a stunning woman with new confidence. Then the unthinkable happens – Gwen disappears, and the police begin to investigate. The mystery of Gwen reveals secrets best left alone.

The author, Sarah Beth Martin, weaves an intense and suspense-filled mystery. Her writing style vividly paints images that allow the listener to see the story as it unfolds. Martin’s dialogue feels authentic and propels the story forward steadily and solidly. In addition, her well-thought-out character development blends into the storyline naturally and seamlessly.

The narrator, Melora Kordos, is perfect for this audiobook! She skillfully balanced emotion and energy while maintaining a steady pace. I felt the storyline was easy to follow and her voice was clear and resonated appropriately.

I love mysteries so listening to this one, I had high hopes that this book would be entertaining and engaging. I was NOT disappointed! This was a well-written mystery with a strong narrator.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.

Secrets, Mystery, and Suspense

This was my first Sarah Beth Martin's book. The story is filled with secrets, suspense and mystery. The storyline is interesting, and intriguing. Melora Kordos did a good job bringing this story to life. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Slanted Psychological Thriller

This was my first experience with Sarah Beth Martin's work, and it was a good example of a psychological thriller. Frances Adams' brother Mac drowned. Three boys were questioned about Mac's disappearance by the local police. Years later, Frances met with Gwen, who also went missing. Once again, the same three people were questioned by the police about Gwen's disappearance. The author captured the main component of a psychological thriller in that none of the major characters were reliable in that all were biased in their perspectives, and it was impressive. My biggest issue with this story was that I didn't like the format of one chapter revealing the events of the 1950's and then the next chapter jumping to the events of the 1970's. The constant jumping from one decade to another broke the story up too much for my taste. Melora Kordos' narration was fine. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Complicated and good.

An eight hour listen. A slow burn. Told in alternating timelines. A very captivating story. I was up way too late trying to get to the end. I was so anxious to hear how these characters all fit together and what exactly happened to them. So complicated and good.
The narrator does a great job with this book. She lays out the story with such grace and compassion. She definitely added to my enjoyment.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Story Origin.

not my cup of tea

I stepped outside of my normal genre/proclivities here, and that reflects in the star rating. I never clicked with any of the characters, and in fact found myself really fed up with some of them for most of the book. Mainly, I found constantly hearing about how plain Frances was or the way looks + romance were tied together really grating and annoying. I definitely grew more interested toward the end when things started coming together, but I found the ending not very surprising. There just wasn't much plot and that's not for me. Overall, I think that the tone and content turned me off from this book, but I understand how it might be great for others! I also really hated the narration.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

How Did Early Storyline Relate to the Later One

It wasn't wild about this audiobook, as it was far too confusing to listen to for far too long in that format. This book has a dual timeline that wasn't connected for way too long. I often enjoy dual-timeline stories, but connections need to be shown relatively quickly to appreciate how each storyline enhances the other. The scenes in each timeline were short, making the story feel choppy. The book was a victim of more telling than showing, a surefire way to deaden a thriller. I felt like I was a couple of hours into the audiobook before I fully understood the two timelines and how they came together. This might have worked in an actual physical book where you could flip back and forth, trying to piece things together. Though, to be honest, as a plot device, it actually is a bad way to structure a dual-timeline story. We don't understand what precisely to care about in both storylines and what’s important to note and remember, as not every detail does. This makes the book feel like a collection of random scenes with little relation to each other.

I wasn't wild about the narrator; the performance was dull and lifeless.