Auburn Seal

Roanoke Vanishing by Auburn Seal
Book #1: The Vanishing Series
Source: Author
Rating: 5/5 stars

Avery Lane is dedicated to her research to the exclusion of all else including her long-term boyfriend. For Avery, there is no half-way, there is all or nothing and she is absolutely certain her theory on precisely what happened to the colony and colonists of Roanoke will turn her entire field upside down and secure her future. All Avery needs is the support of her mentor, Dr. Jonas Allen and given their good working relationship, that meeting should go smooth as silk. So, why in Hell did Dr. Allen kick Avery out of his office and refuse to allow her to pursue her Roanoke research?

Every the determined one, Avery decides that Dr. Allen does not see the value in her research for one simple reason; Avery just didn’t provide enough proof. With her head down, her mind made up and, her best friend Jen helping her with the research, Avery reloads and returns to Dr. Allen only to be fired as his graduate assistant and somewhat scared by his reaction to her work. Additionally, as her research has continued, Avery’s home is violated by vandalizing intruders and she is nearly run off the road. How in Hell can the questions Avery is posing about the lost colony of Roanoke be causing so much trouble? As I mentioned before, Avery is dedicated to her work and refuses to allow vandals and a prima donna professor to dissuade and/or hinder her research.

Roanoke Vanishing just wouldn’t warrant the 5 star rating I have given it if there weren’t even more drama piled on top of the crap sundae described above. Here’s the skinny:

1) Jen: Avery’s best friend is acting weird. Though she is helping Avery with the research and sounding like she is on board with Avery’s crazy theory, there are the mysterious phone calls and absences that just aren’t quite like Jen.

2) Elinor: Now isn’t she just the insightful one? Elinor seems to know things about Roanoke that the history books don’t and she encourages Avery to keep digging and keep looking because the truth is all there is and all that matters. Elinor points Avery in the right direction on more than one occasion and warns her, multiple times of the danger uncovering the truth will bring. Furthermore, Elinor has a very nasty habit of appearing and disappearing before Avery can ask all the questions she has for her mystery guest. Even more troubling? Avery seems to be the only person who can see and/or hear Elinor.

3) The Descendants: their name and wonky/creepy symbol just keeps showing up and Avery is sure they are behind all of the awful that just keeps raining down on her. Though she has questioned Elinor about the Descendants and tried every avenue of research she can come up with, Avery is at a loss as to who these people are, what they want and, why they would be hindering her researching into a century-old mystery. The only certainty is that they are bad people with ill intentions.

4) Ethan: though he is a bright spot amid all the drama, he is a boy and therefore goes into the drama list.  As an employee of the Roanoke Visitor Center, Ethan helps Avery gain access to parts and pieces of the Roanoke mystery that she would not otherwise have. He is cute and he is helpful and on more than one occasion, he saves Avery’s butt BUT (you see what I did there??) he is a distraction Avery isn’t at all sure she wants in her life.

The Bottom Line: I loved every single page of this read!! Roanoke Vanishing is one of my favorite types of reads: the past barrels into the present and the present plows into the past culminating in one crazy historical fictionesque read. Seal has masterfully blended the past and the present in alternating chapters: as Avery is researching in the present (one chapter) the “real” story is playing out in the past (alternate chapters). Seal has managed to bring the Roanoke colonists to life and as we watch their drama play out from their perspective, Avery is fighting for her research and her life in order to bring the Colonists and their story into the world. The fully-developed characters in both the past and the present just suck you in until you are out of pages and finally know what happened to them. Furthermore, though there are some sparks between Avery and Ethan, there are no naughty bits and I swear to you, you will not miss them at all. There is more than enough drama and action throughout to carry you through from start to finish. As if all of this weren’t’ enough, Seal has cooked up a terrifyingly exciting and wholly unexpected ending and that doesn’t even include the damn bombshell she drops in the last few pages!! In short, this is a great read and an excellent start to what should be a very exciting series. With a solid plot, good characters and, the exclusion of naughty bits, Roanoke Vanishing will appeal to mature YA readers and older.… (altro)

In the anticipation of eating a homemade chocolate chip cookie, but still needing to suffer through the rigors of baking, I sometimes take shortcuts. For example, I don’t bother with separating the dry goods from the liquids; I just dump them all in together. No one is the wiser until biting into the baked goodness. Make no mistake, I wolf down at least five before I pause and think, “Hmmm, this could have been a luscious masterpiece if I just would have slowed down and followed the directions. That’s how I felt after reading Roanoke Vanishing. The concept was fabulous, the story line solid, but the end results…meh.

The core drawback happens with the main character, Avery Lane. She’s unlikeable…and not in a cool, Walter White/Dexter Morgan kind of way. The opening sequence has her being dumped by her long-time boyfriend, and by the end of the story, I understood why. The author, Auburn Seal, paints Avery as a tenacious, stubborn, head-strong gal—which I like—but she is completely compartmentalized—robotic—in her emotional development. She has little to no regard for her own feelings, let alone for others’. For example, her boyfriend of five years breaks it off? No problem, she goes for a run, has a coffee with Jen, the bestie (where Avery spends most of her time talking about her college thesis), and is over it because he’s a jerk. Spoiler! Her bestie is shot? No worries, she walks out of the hospital (while said bestie is fighting for her life on the operating table), continues her research, and solves the mystery because…well, it apparently can’t wait until BFF is conscious. The lapses in transitions between time sequences, scene shifts, and character interaction have major fault lines, directly impacting all the character and their motivations.

The blend of history, suspense, and mystery are enough to push through the read and arrive at an adequate conclusion. However, following the instructions on the recipe would have made a more appetizing morsel as the end result.… (altro)