The Disappeared

Coroner Jenny Cooper, Book 2

By: Matthew Hall

Narrated by: Sian Thomas

Two young British students, Nazim Jamal and Rafi Hassan, vanish without a trace. The police tell their parents that the boys had been under surveillance, that it was likely they left the country to pursue their dangerous new ideals. Seven years later, Nazim’s grief-stricken mother is still unconvinced. Jenny Cooper is her last hope.

Jenny is finally beginning to settle into her role as coroner for the Severn Valley; the ghosts of her past that threatened to topple her, banished to the sidelines once more. But as the inquest into Nazim’s disappearance gets underway, the stink of corruption and conspiracy becomes clear.

©2010 M.R. Hall (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Not terribly original

The story was serviceable enough but never fully engaged the ‘must know what will happen next’ part of my brain because it seemed fairly obvious from the outset what the overall outcome would be. The set pieces that took place along the way, including those in the courtroom, were competently written but, for me, failed to surprise and felt too much like they’d been assembled from a few newspaper headlines rather than looking at any particular theme or idea in any depth. Issues like the treatment of Muslims after September 11 2001 and the reaction of western governments to the growth of extreme terrorism were given lip service which brought out nothing new or insightful and left me unfulfilled.

The Disappeared isn’t terrible but I just didn’t find it very original or thought-provoking.

Sian Thomas is a terrific narrator though. I’m normally wary of narrators who choose to do foreign accents (they can border on the offensive) but it was well done here and at times the best thing about the fairly dull courtroom scenes.