We Disappear: A Novel

“We Disappear is a mystery concerning the identity of a teenage boy and the people he draws into his web of half-truths. . . . It’s not hyperbole to suggest that We Disappear is the eeriest Kansas-set story since Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood." — Chicago Sun-Times

A dark and compelling
novel of addiction, obsession, love, and family from the acclaimed author of Mysterious Skin

The body of a teenage boy is
discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling
cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her
past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns
to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines
and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his
mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some
small salvation.

But what he finds is a boy named
Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem
too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly
deteriorating, Scott must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's
unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to himself.

The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation.

But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, he must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to Scott himself.

“Strange and luminous, this fascinating thriller tackles questions of identity, illness, and trauma….Taut and beautifully clear, the writing at times recalls that of Paul Auster.” - Publishers Weekly

“We Disappear is a more mature, subtle creation, ambitious in every thread it weaves.” - Portland Mercury

“We Disappear is really about identity and personality, about our constant struggle to know who we are, and about how easy it can be to lose our grip on reality when we try to alter our memories. ” - San Francisco Chronicle

“We Disappear is a mystery concerning the identity of a teenage boy and the people he draws into his web of half-truths. . . . As always, the care Heim takes with language elevates his material above the tawdry and closer to the sublime. . . . It’s not hyperbole to suggest that We Disappear is the eeriest Kansas-set story since Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.” - Chicago Sun-Times

“Scott Heim has taken contemporary gay literature to new highs. His follow-up to Mysterious Skin is an equally dark and disturbing tale of innocence lost. . . One part mystery, three parts character study, We Disappear will keep you guessing until its shocking conclusion.” - Zink Magazine

“A haunting and heartbreaking read.” - V Magazine

“Stripped of overt gay sexuality but brimming with seductive prose, We Disappear is a wonderfully strange and compelling novel that ought to appeal to straight and gay readers alike.” - CAMP Magazine

“Suspenseful . . . We Disappear is honest, and thus more troubling, for it reflects the stark knowledge that truth is only an amalgam of experience, a collection of individual shards that don’t coalesce into a pleasing whole. As Heim suggests, the search for truth invites the Hansels and Gretels of the world to follow the wrong adult home, the Alices to peer down the rabbit hole—and fantasy to cover up the nasty grime of reality.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review