Synopsis:
In a community in Yorkshire, a disparate group of individuals are brought together when two women go missing and a third seems to be under threat from Arab sex traffickers.

Review:
I had a really mixed reaction to The Disappeared. On the one hand, I found a certain satisfying level of suspense and intricacy in the plotting. But on the other hand, I couldn’t forgive the numerous plot contrivances that made the overall story implausible and a bit frustrating. Knowing that Scruton is a conservative philosopher, it was hard not to look for a political agenda in his depictions of the characters who hailed from the Middle East, both legal and illegal immigrants. It seemed like they were either romanticized (as in the case of the high school poet) or demonized (the sex traffickers). I am interested to hear other reactions to the book–it’s one I want to talk about but not necessarily one that I want to recommend.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury Reader for the review copy.