The Year of Disappearances A Novel [Hardcover]

Susan Hubbard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2008

It was the year of disappearances. The honeybees were the first to go.

Ariella Montero is no stranger to the dark side of life. Half human, half vampire, she spent her first thirteen years in exile from both societies. When her best friend was murdered, Ari ran away to begin a new life in Florida. But, one by one, the people and things she cares most about keep disappearing. And Ari may be next.

She can hypnotize, she can read minds, and she can make herself invisible, but can she escape her stalkers? Ari's special talents are severely tested as she moves on -- from a vampire community in the Sunshine State to college in Georgia to the primeval maze of the Okefenokee Swamp. In contending with the politics of vampire and human cultures, Ari comes face-to-face with zombies that are infiltrating America, as well as demons and shadows that haunt us all.

The Year of Disappearances continues the most surprising vampire story you'll ever read.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fourteen-year-old Ariella Ari Montero, who's half human and half vampire, wants to know why bees are vanishing as well as humans in Hubbard's smooth supernatural thriller, the sequel to The Society of S (2007). Ari has moved to Homosassa Springs, Fla., hoping for happiness with her reunited parents, but after a hurricane hits and a fire almost kills Ari and her scientist dad, he leaves. Ari is further upset when a new friend, Mysty, disappears. The precocious Ari enrolls in college, dates and gets a crush on a visiting (vampire?!) politician, but is horrified when Autumn, another new friend, is murdered. After Ari's father returns and becomes ill, she and her mom wind up fighting for her dad's survival. The ending promises greater challenges ahead. Though Ari sometimes sounds more like 40 than 14, Hubbard's intriguing tale poses a tantalizing question: will humans or vampires ultimately inherit Earth? (May)
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Review

"With a delicate touch, the talented Hubbard manages to merge environmental concerns with a murder mystery, a coming of age tale with a literary vampire twist." -- Tammar Stein, St. Petersburg Times --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416552715
• ISBN-13: 978-1416552710
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,229,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Hubbard is the author of seven books, including the Ethical Vampire Series published by Simon & Schuster: THE SEASON OF RISKS (2010), THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES (2008), and THE SOCIETY OF S (2007). Hubbard's short story collection, BLUE MONEY, won the Janet Heidinger Kakfa Prize for best book of prose by an American woman published in 1999. Her first book, WALKING ON ICE, received the AWP Short Fiction Prize. With Robley Wilson, Hubbard coedited 100% PURE FLORIDA FICTION, an anthology of the best stories set in Florida. Her fiction has appeared in several literary journals and has been translated and published in more than fifteen countries.

Hubbard is a professor of English at the University of Central Florida, where she received the College of Arts & Humanities' Distinguished Researcher Award in 2008. She has won teaching awards from Syracuse University, Cornell University, the University of Central Florida, and the South Atlantic Administrators of Departments of English. She has received writers' residencies at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Djerassi Resident Artists' Project, and Cill Rialaig. In 2002-03 she served as President of Associated Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). For more information, please visit www.susanhubbard.com
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Reviews:

*NPR called the Ethical Vampire Series"elusive, complex, poetic, and sophisticated."

*The Ft. Myers News-Press
 called THE SOCIETY OF S "...the year's most intriguing fiction debut to date," and in reviewing THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES, noted, "Anyone still lingering under the misconception that academics can't compete in the majors would be well advised to pick up either of Hubbard's novels, which combine the creepiness of Stephen King with the acute social commentary of the Beats, Philip K. Dick and Don De Lillo." May 25, 2008

*The Sacramento Bee summarized THE SOCIETY OF S this way:
"...this beautifully written literary novel works as a touching coming-of-age story about a child in search of her missing mother." June 24, 2007

* New River Voice noted: "Amid the proliferation of new fiction this year, two brightly macabre novels stand out as fine summer reads: Stephen King's DUMA KEY and Susan Hubbard's THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES." -July 14, 2008

* "Hubbard tells a good story and provides some acerbic political satire." --The Rocky Mountain News, July 24, 2008

"With a delicate touch, the talented Hubbard manages to merge environmental concerns with a murder mystery, a coming of age tale with a literary vampire twist." The St. Petersburg Times, May 14, 2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sequel, May 20, 2008

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Year of Disappearances A Novel (Hardcover)

In The Society of S we met a young girl, Ariella Montero, being raised by her brilliant, but most eccentric father. She discovers she is half human, half vampire. What part of her will be the dominant? Time will tell.
These are vampires who get their sustenance from tonics, and blood like flakes they put over their food.
There are also factions of Vampires that differ on this practice.
Ari is now with her mother and she sees a 'harbinger' - a a foreteller of what is to come - one of her father's talents - right after that, a new friend Ari met disappears. Ari is somehow suspected.
And begins Ari's 'coming of age' stage as she starts to experience what it is like to be a vampire in a human world, with feelings and reflects of both species.
Darker and more complex actions are at work in this book, but I will not spoil this - I found it most innovative and a touch of brilliance by Hubbard.
If you enjoyed S you will continue to be fascinated by Disappearances.
What comes for Ari and her family next, I hope Ms. Hubbard is hard at work figuring out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific sequel to Society of S, May 6, 2008

By 

CeceliaBird (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year of Disappearances A Novel (Hardcover)

We first met Ariella in Saratoga Springs NY with her vampire father. In this fast-moving sequel Ariella travels down the east coast and gets to know her mother while living with her in Homosassa Springs FL. Always mature and precocious, Ariella gets out of town and heads off to college when she is linked to a serious crime, but trouble follows her. This is a book of disappearances and reapparances--her missing father and new friends, among others.

I especially enjoyed the outdoor scenes--the sights, sounds, smells and tactile experiences of the southern swamps and rivers. This is a beautifully written and evocative book about place, adolescent friendship, and the relationships between parents and growing-up children. Highly recommended for both adults and high school readers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Saga that will Satisfy any Vampire!, November 9, 2008

By 

BookManBookWoman TV REVIEWS "Saralee Terry Woods" (Nashville, Tn United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year of Disappearances A Novel (Hardcover)

"Love a saga all about vampires? The Year of Disappearances is the sequel to Hubbard's successful The Society of S which features Ariella Montero and the sexy vampire Raphael. This time Montero is home schooled in Florida where nothing is simple when mixing teenagers with vampires."