Review: THE DISAPPEARING ACT, Catherine Steadman

• 
  this edition published by Simon & Schuster UK 2021
  
• ISBN 978-1-3985-0635-7
• 312 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

A woman has gone missing
But did she ever really exist?

Mia Eliot has travelled from London to LA for pilot season. This is her big chance to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and she is ready to do whatever it takes. At an audition she meets Emily, and what starts as a simple favour takes a dark turn when Emily goes missing and Mia is the last person to see her.

Then a woman turns up, claiming to be Emily, but she is nothing like Mia remembers. Why would someone pretend to be Emily? Starting to question her own sanity, she goes on a desperate and dangerous search for answers, knowing something is very, very wrong.

In an industry where everything is about creating illusions, how do you know what is real and how much are you willing to risk to find out the truth?

My take

Mia Eliot's reputation has gone before her to LA. She has just finished a television series of Jane Eyre for which she has a BAFTA nomination for best actress. She's also left after a relationship breakdown so she is feeling a bit vulnerable. Her time in LA will be focussed on auditions for television and film parts. Her London agent has organised a number of auditions and also a local agent to help her. Her time will mainly be occupied in learning lines for the auditions.

At an audition she is struck by the similarity of each of the actresses to each other, but then realises that that is related to the fact that they are all auditioning for the same role. However this afternoon, only one of the others is friendly to her and that is Emily. Mia ends up doing Emily a favour: she agrees to top up the parking meter that Emily left her hire car on. Emily arrived at the audition before Mia and therefore should be called in to audition first. Emily gives her a credit card to put into the parking machine and her car keys in case she needs them. When Mia comes back Emily is gone. Mia assumes she is doing her audition but in fact she has disappeared, Four days later Mia still has Emily's keys and credit card and reports Emily to the police as missing. Meantime Mia thinks someone is entering her apartment when she is absent, or may be even when she is asleep.

This is the sort of book that keeps you reading because you want to know what has happened to Emily. In addition you learn a lot about the LA "pilot season". Mia learns that LA has a very nasty underside, and that some people will do anything to capture a prize part.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.2, SOMETHING IN THE WATER
4.5, MR NOBODY  

Review: MR NOBODY, Catherine Steadman

•     Publisher: Simon & Schuster
•     ISBN: 9781471192265
•     Publication Date: 20/01/2020

Synopsis (publisher)

When a man is found on a Norfolk beach, drifting in and out of consciousness, with no identification and unable to speak, interest in him is sparked immediately. From the hospital staff who find themselves inexplicably drawn to him; to international medical experts who are baffled by him; to the national press who call him Mr Nobody; everyone wants answers.

Who is this man? And what happened to him? Neuropsychiatrist Dr Emma Lewis is asked to assess the patient. This is her field of expertise, this is the chance she's been waiting for and this case could make her name known across the world.

But therein lies the danger. Emma left this same small town in Norfolk fourteen years ago and has taken great pains to cover all traces of her past since then. But now something – or someone – is calling her back. And the more time she spends with her patient, the more alarmed she becomes. Has she walked into danger?

My Take

Dr. Emma Lewis gets a phone call from a psychiatrist in USA whom she looks up to, asking her to take over a case in Norfolk, of a man found on a beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there.

By the time she meets him, the hospital where Mr Nobody is have given him the name Matthew. But while he does seem to have amnesia and possible fugue, Emma accidentally discovers that he knows a little too much about herself.

And Emma has her own reasons why she hasn't been to Norfolk for 14 years, a past that has led to her and her family changing their names.

A really good read, but there was a spot about halfway through where I thought the author must have made significant changes to the direction of the plot.

My rating: 4.5

I've already read
4.2, SOMETHING IN THE WATER

review: SOMETHING IN THE WATER, Catherine Steadman

• this edition published by Random House Large Print 2018
• ISBN 978-0-525-83292-4
• 464 pages
• source: my local library
• Reading Guide

Synopsis (publisher)

If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . .

Could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares?

Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . .

Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?

Wonder no longer. Catherine Steadman’s enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we’re tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves.

My Take

In opening pages of the novel we meet Erin digging a grave. By the end of Chapter 1 we know who the grave is for, and then in the rest of the novel we find out what led up to this.

Erin is a documentary film maker tracking the lives of 3 very different people as they finish their jail sentences and leave jail. The first one, Holli, she finds "creepy", but she gets close to the other two Alexa and Eddie for very different reasons.

Just before Erin and Mark get married Mark loses his job as an investment banker. They make changes to their wedding plans, cutting costs where they can, and cut their honeymoon on Bora Bora to 2 weeks. But both have become used to an expensive life style and this determines how they will react to what they find in the water when they are scuba diving.

Neither is entirely truthful to the other and each keeps things back, so there are some surprises towards the end of the novel. I felt both characters changed as the novel developed, and I thought there was an element of "what else can I throw at them?" in the final plot.

My rating: 4.2

About the author
Catherine Steadman (b. 1987) is an actress and writer based in North London. She is known for her roles in Downton Abbey and Tutankhamun, starring alongside Sam Neill, as well as shows including Breathless, The Inbetweeners, The Tudors, and Fresh Meat. She also has appeared on stage in the West End including Oppenheimer for the RSC, for which she was nominated for a 2016 Laurence Olivier Award.