Disappearance

by Niv Kaplan

An Israeli Thriller... When Mikki meets Karen, an American volunteer at the Kibbutz in 1984, it is love at first sight. But on a day trip, Karen vanishes & for some reason there is a cover-up leaving the case unsolved. Three years later a terrorist is killed by Armed Forces, who find a roll of negatives showing Karen alive... But will they find her?

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Amazon, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

496 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2013

About the author

Grew up in the Kibbutz and in NYC.
Studied Audio Engineering in NYC.
Studied Physics & Eng in CAL POLY Pomona.
BSc from CSUN (Northridge) in Marketing.
Started Writing "Disappearance" in 1992.
Published "Disappearance" in 2012.
Started Writing "Tracks" in 1997.
"Tracks" was published this year (2014).
Married with Tali + 7 kids.
Lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Reviews

[Siv30 · Rating 2 out of 5]

הספר מספר את סיפור היעלמותה של קארן גלאס, אמריקאית צעירה שמגיעה להתנדב בקיבוץ ונחטפת. שלוש שנים אחרי תמונות שלה צצות לאחר פעולת חיילים בדרום לבנון.

חייל בקבע - נדב, 2 חיילים משוחררים - מיקי שהיה חבר של החטופה ואיתן שמצא את הצילומים על גופת המחבל, כתבת עיתונות - שרה ואח של החוקר שחקר את הפרשה מתגייסים לאתר את החטופה.

למרות שהסיפור קיצבי, זה נראה כמו ספר פנטזיה הזוי. פיתולי העלילה כאלה הזויים שאני מתפלצת לי כאן בשקט.

***זהירות ***ספויילרים ***

החוקר, פקד גדות, מגלה שהמכונית ששימשה לחטיפה היא של איש מוסד לשעבר. הוא מתעמת עם ראש השבכ והמפכל של המישטרה ואז בדרמטיות רבה (כאילו שהעימות לא דרמטי מספיק) מתואר כיצד הפקד מבין כי הקריירה שלו נגמרה. תיאור הזוי גם לגופים כמו שבכ ומשטרה שפועלים במחשכים.

בפרק אחרי, משאית דורסת את הפקד האומלל שהקריירה שלו אולי הסתיימה אבל זה לא הספיק לסופר הוא היה צריך לסיים גם את חייו של המסכן בדריסה של משאית שמחצה אותו.

לאחר שמתגלות התמונות של החטופה, הקבוצה מחליטה לעקוב אחר כפר בלבנון בכדי לזהות אחד מהחוטפים. ואחד מהם, איתן אפילו מתגנב לשם בלילה ועובר בחלונות הבתים. אין ספק שלסופר יש דמיון מפותח ביותר.

הקבוצה תופסת את מוסא אחד מהחוטפים, במלכודת שטמנו לו. ונזכור שמדובר בשני חיילים משוחררים קיבוצניקים, חייל בקבע ועיתונאית פחדנית שלא חשפה את הפרשה כשהייתה לה הזדמנות כי קיבלה אזהרה.

בכדי להוציא ממנו את המידע הם יורים בו באקדח עם משתיק קול בלי רחמים ובדם קר.

הם מגלים שמי ששילם למוסא הוא גרמני עלום. לכן הם טסים לקופנהגן בדנמרק כדי למצוא אותו כשאין להם מושג איך הוא נראה. הם יודעים היכן הוא אמור לגור ולכן הם עוקבים אחרי הביניין שלו. לא די בכך הם מבריחים נשק לדנמרק.

גם החלק שקורה בארה"ב לא חף מפנטזיה הזויה:

באופן תמוהה צוות הילדונים מצליח לחבר את הקצוות ולבלבל את האוייב ע"י הסחות דעת והתפצלות לשני צוותים. שנעים ברחבי ארה"ב. את הצוותים וההוצאות מממנת ליסה אחותה של החטופה למרות שלכאורה החברה של אביה נמצאת בקשיים כלכליים עמוקים כבר 5 שנים.

***סוף ספויילרים***

הספר כולל מספר רב של דמויות שלא תמיד ברור הקשר בינהן והקשר שלהן לעלילה. בגדול הצלחתי להבין מי הטובים ומי הרעים אבל בחלק מהמקרים לא הצלחתי להבין את המניעים.

העיסקאות המוזכרות בספר כוללות חברות, חברות בת, חברות צלילים וחברות קש. כל כך הרבה תיחכום וסיבוביות שקשה לעקוב מי אחראי על מה ולמה.

ברור שהושקע בספר מאמץ כתיבתי אבל אחרי שמתגלים המניעים והאשם לא חייבים למשוך את העלילה לאורך פרקים ארוכים עד לפתרון המלא.

והפריעו לי גם שגיאות תרגומיות בעיקר נקבה במקום שצריך להיות זכר.

[Ruth Tel-tsur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a well written and gripping story about something very different to the regular Airport book. The setting is described so that you can almost be there and the characters easily recognizable. The story flows and I quite literally, could not put the book down. I suppose my long term military career made the book appealing to me as I could relate quite easily to the various plots. A great first novel from a writer I expect to see more of.

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was due to some serious circumstances that I did not put this book down as a DNF. The first few pages or chapters were nothing but cold clinical sex. And Inwas confused.
I despise sex in a book if it serves no purpose. In my opinion this type of erotic writing only ever attracts two types of readers. And since I am not one of these two types I was seriously questioning why this book ended up on my tbr list.

Then I was forced to spend some time in a car with a colleague of mine and I was not in the mood to ruin a good book passing the time, nor was I planning on having a chit chat with the said colleague so I read more about Tracks.
I ended up finishing the book and here is the good and the bad of this book.

The good. The plot, extensive as it is is consistent. No plot holes, no lapses, no mistakes. For a book this intricate, for a story this layered, that needs to be applauded. Also the character formation within this story is epic. Not only the main characters get formed and fluffed out but even the evil guys get a back story making them more disgusting. All of this forms a very good read.

The bad.
The formatting, seriously needs professional help. I have seldom come accross a book where the formatting is this flawed. Considering everything this book is...this was rather a big let down!
Also the sex. It does taper down but it served little purposes other than to appeal to a very small reading niche. I do not like this. It almost made me put the book down so in this I think the author failed his readers.

If however you can bear through the useless sex scenes and like a really good action espionage thriller then you cannot go wrong with this book.

So try it.

WaAr.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow start that turned into a very enjoyable read. The story is told from several viewpoints that converged into a suspenseful book I couldn't put down. Found myself totally rooting for the hero(s) throughout. I recommend it.

[Patricia MacCallum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disappearance: Women's Fiction & Adventure (A Mystery & Espionage Thriller)

Excellent story of love, betrayal, greed and family. Wonderful characters, descriptive scenery, and fast paced action from start to finish. Highly recommend!

[susan d schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. Sometime I was confused as to where I was! I was on edge expecting the worse at every turn!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, well written, engaging and complex story. Loved the depth and intrigue of the story. The story is slowly but constantly moving forward building the mystery. It pulls you in and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I didn't want to stop listening I took every chance I could get to get back to this book. Definitely worth your time if you like a really good mystery/conspiracy story.

Audible has this listed as romance/suspense. The romance takes a backseat in this book. Really, for me it was just a minor subplot. It was much more a mystery, thriller, conspiracy and espionage story. Full of constant suspense, some action and violence. The mystery/conspiracy spans from Israel to France to different areas all over the U.S.

He sounded as though he has some experience with the area around Omaha. This is really how we give some directions. Especially out in the country.

Really good well developed characters both the good and bad guys. There are so many different characters woven into this story you really have to pay attention to keep everyone straight. They each play a role they are not just there for filler.

Grey Hamilton did a good job with the narration. Nice voice. Easy to listen to for long periods of time. Clearly spoken with a smooth even pace. Good timing and delivery. Not really much difference in character voices except for a few. Overall though very enjoyable.

I did notice a difference in the audio quality occasionally in the last part of the book starting after chapter 42.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher.

[Ty Labar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little worried about this book when I read an Amazon reviewer complaining about grammar and syntax. I had an Israeli friend that would ask me to stub out her cigarette by saying “close it.” It’s endearing. Like that Israeli woman on NCSI, or whatever that Navy investigative show was, the woman would get Western colloquialisms a little wrong. It’s nothing to worry about. The novel itself was great and exciting. The writing style fast and compelling. The plot was as close to original as you can get in this modern day. I enjoyed the book thoroughly.

[Ty Labar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little worried about this book when I read an Amazon reviewer complaining about grammar and syntax. I had an Israeli friend that would ask me to stub out her cigarette by saying “close it.” It’s endearing. Like that Israeli woman on NCSI, or whatever that Navy investigative show was, the woman would get Western colloquialisms a little wrong. It’s nothing to worry about. The novel itself was great and exciting. The writing style fast and compelling. The plot was as close to original as you can get in this modern day. I enjoyed the book thoroughly.

[Steve Kirschner · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.5 stars for plot; 1 star for grammar, syntax and spelling. The book was written by an Israeli, whose understanding of English grammar and syntax is dismal (see my review on Amazon for details). On the positive side, the story was multi-faceted and kept me interested, despite the fact that I had to force myself to ignore all the writing mistakes.

[Gary Koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have read translated books this is a switch.

While reading some translated thrillers an English-language speaker becomes aware of a certain lose of movement in a story. Yet a translated story has a certain mystique. Well this novel has the best of both. Highly intriguing, and having that compelling drama of a writer who first languages is not English.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery & Suspense..

This is an easy to read mystery book.

There was violence but not too much violence, a bit of suspense and a conspiracy theory

Overall, the story was interesting.

Grey Hamilton did well with the narration.

Note:
"This audio book was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review."

[Anita R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by a new Israeli author. This book is about terrorists, murder and twisted plots. I couldn't wait to read how it ended. It starts with a rich American girl visiting a kibbutz in Israel and ends with several murders and a kidnapping. I enjoyed this book

[Hans Doreleyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suspenseful storyline

Suspenseful storyline

An enjoyable thriller with a good - albeit slightly unbelievable - storyline. Niv needs to get a new proofreader though. I found the numerous grammatical errors disconcerting.

[Candice Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

The story line was well written and interesting. The characters were identifiable and can relate to them. There were a lot of twist and turns the plot. Overall, a very good book.

[Valerie Rucks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mystery full of relatable characters,enjoyed all the twists and turns of this superb plot.

[Arthur Pendragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for a first book author - could have been better edited but story was great

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

fairly predictable.

[Tamela Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, this book was tough for me to get through. It felt so long to get to the action. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book but you had to read awhile to get to the good intricate parts.

[Rlmiller68 · Rating 1 out of 5]

lost interest