The Disappearance of Sloane Sullivan by Gia Cribbs (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Published by Harlequin on May 29, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Friendship, Romance, Thrillers & Suspense, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 304
No one wants me to tell you about the disappearance of Sloane Sullivan.
Not the lawyers or the cops. Not her friends or family. Not even the boy who loved her more than anyone. And most certainly not the United States Marshals Service. You know, the people who run the witness protection program or, as it’s officially called, the Witness Security Program? Yeah, the WITSEC folks definitely don’t want me talking to you.
But I don’t care. I have to tell someone.
If I don’t, you’ll never know how completely wrong things can go. How a single decision can change everything. How, when it really comes down to it, you can’t trust anyone. Not even yourself. You have to understand, so it won’t happen to you next. Because you never know when the person sitting next to you isn’t who they claim to be...and because there are worse things than disappearing.
I love a good thriller so when I picked up The Disappearance of Sloane Sullivan, by Gia Cribbs, from my to read stack, I was immediately excited as I read the summary and I’m glad I grabbed this one! Thrillers and mysteries are always hard to review as I never want to give anything away so don’t be angry with me if I am somewhat vague about the actual details here.
Sloane Sullivan is in another new town and another new school. As someone who has been in the Witness Security Program since she was twelve, Sloane is used to moving and changing her name, but she is ready to be done. She is hoping this is the last time because when she turns 18, which is soon, she has been promised by one of the marshals that she doesn’t have to stay in and can do what she wants. However, the one thing that can throw a major wrench in her plans happens and on her first day at her new school, she realizes she is face to face with someone from her past and she decides that she isn’t going to tell anyone.
I liked Sloane as a character in this story. She is smart, and she has been through a lot in her life already. After seeing something she should not have, she and her family are in danger and while I would like to say they all got away, they didn’t. In the end, Sloane has been living with Mark, one of the US Marshals that has been assigned to her case. Over time, Sloane and Mark have become a family. They have come to rely and depend on each other and I loved the interactions they had throughout.
Sloane is also tough, adaptable, and independent – she has had to be, and I liked how she used her brain every time when things would come up…whether it was a boy taking liberties he shouldn’t or finding someone dead on her kitchen floor. The only thing that appears to throw her is Jason, the boy from her past that is now one of her new friends. They were twelve when they last saw each other and although they both have changed, she recognizes him immediately and decides not to tell Mark about him.
I thought the development of the other characters was well done too. Of course, there is Sloane and I have mentioned Jason and Mark but Sloane is in high school so there are others. Oliver was great, Livie was definitely a piece of work, and Sawyer was interesting but I’m still not sure how I feel about him.
I loved how Cribbs set up the story.  Sloane’s background and story are told through flashbacks and this includes not only her friendship with Jason but also, what happened to cause her to go on the run. I will say that there was a twist that I never saw coming and once that reveal happens, they just keep coming and it all came together so well that I couldn’t put this book down until I turned the last page.
If you are looking for a book that has interesting characters and a story that will keep you engaged, consider checking this one out. It was fairly quick and had some great twists and turns that I never saw coming. I’ll definitely be waiting to see what Gia Cribbs writes next!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
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