"fabulous thriller"

In New Hampshire, Delia Hopkins and her dog Greta work as a great team helping the police find missing people mostly children. Every time she and Greta succeed in reuniting a mother and child, Delia reflects on her own life raised by her father since her mother died in a car accident when she was three. She also always ponders how she would react if her beloved child Sophie vanished. Though engaged to her daughter's father, Delia raises her daughter mostly with the help of her sixty years old dad Andrew, who runs a senior-citizens' home.

The relationship between father and daughter that seemed perfect for over three decades collapses instantly when Arizona police arrest and have Andrew extradited to Phoenix on kidnapping charges; the victim ironically is Delia. She learns that her mother Elsie still lives and that her father abducted her when she was three because he insists she was an alcoholic dangerous to their child. Delia meets her mother, who is a sober caring healer while her dad's tale has inconsistencies; she wonders whether the truth will surface in court?

The changing perspectives as each of the key players take turns as the lead provides an intriguing look at what is truth as the audience will observe the same incident interpreted differently, which leads to reality seemingly shifting. The story line is fast-paced, but character driven and filled with angst. Though sidebars like the prison scene add excitement that seems unnecessary to a fabulous thriller that grips the audience in and out of the courtroom wondering whose point of view will ultimately be accepted as fact.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 5, 2005

Summary

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her ability to tap into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she explores what happens when a young woman's past -- a past she didn't even know she had -- catches up to her just in time to threaten her future.

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it.

In shock and confusion, Delia must sift through the truth -- even when it jeopardizes her life and the lives of those she loves. What happens when you learn you are not who you thought you were? When the people you've loved and trusted suddenly change before your eyes? When getting your deepest wish means giving up what you've always taken for granted? Vanishing Acts explores how life -- as we know it -- might not turn out the way we imagined; how doing the right thing could mean doing the wrong thing; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat. Once again, Jodi Picoult handles a difficult and timely topic with understanding, insight, and compassion.