The Disappearance Audiobook By J. F. Freedman cover art

The Disappearance

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Disappearance

By: J. F. Freedman
Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.04

Buy for $24.04

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

On a soft summer night, she vanishes. With her friends sleeping nearby, with her parents’ wealth and power guarding her, someone walks into her bedroom and takes 14-year-old Emma Lancaster away. That is the first crime.

Eight days later, abduction becomes murder. Police hunt for the killer; a year later, they make an arrest. With an outraged town crying out for blood, powerful media tycoon Doug Lancaster vows to see his daughter’s accused murderer convicted and put to death.

Only one man stands in his way. Once a hard-driving, take-no-prisoners DA, Luke Garrison sent a defendant to the death chamber—only to discover that he was innocent. Now a defense lawyer, Luke is faced with the toughest decision of his life. If he plays it right, it could give him back his life. If he’s wrong, he could die. And a killer could walk.

©1998 J. F. Freedman (P)1999 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Crime Legal Murder Thriller & Suspense Law Thriller Fiction Suspense

Critic reviews

“Plenty of twists and turns in this portrait of corruption and evil in a small town.” ( Chicago Tribune)
“Freedman keeps readers turning pages deep into the night.” ( Entertainment Weekly)
“Completely engrossing…. You won't want to put this book down for a second.” ( Detroit News and Free Press)
All stars
Most relevant  
loved all the surprises and the ending was not expected ! thank you ! first book I have listened to by this author, won't be last

Exciting story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I thought the story was very good but the narrator's monotone delivery put me to sleep more than once.

Where's Dick Hill when you need him?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I highly recommend this book. I felt like I was there watching a movie. Can’t wait to hear the next books

Great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Any additional comments?

I could not wait to get up the morning, throw my sneakers and hit the road to listen to this. So GOOD! I thought the narrator was going to be a problem but I got used to him...

Awesome!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Where does The Disappearance rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I don't do reviews very often. This was worth the time to review it and say how great a listen it was.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think all the characters were interesting and well developed within the course of the book

Any additional comments?

Worth the price of admission!

Twists & Turns - Couldn't stop listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book started out as a mystery, with a supposed kidnapping, but it turned out to be an excellent courtroom drama. The book and narration were both excellent, in my opinion. On one occasion, I found myself listening for about 6 hours straight while I went about my daily routine (I'm retired). Some books are long, but only just interesting enough to keep you hooked for the long run. When finished, one isn't convinced they were worth the time. Others are long, but so engrossing that one is sad to see them end. This is one of the latter!! Well done.

Couldn't put it down!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a great mystery for a legal thriller with just a few minor flaws. It features a great main character with a great storyline.

I wish more had been exposed about the defendant. His personality was never revealed and his character wasn't developed at all. And the abrupt and overdone ending was a tad disappointing as well. Still, the conflict of a returning exD.A. to defend a client against his protege and the police force he'd worked with for years is a new angle for me.

Patrick Cullen was outstanding, he is responsible for taking my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

Though Freedmans works are older, this one is 1999, they seem to be new to audible. I'm definitely gong for a third novel of his, so stay tuned...

Truly great legal thriller...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Torn! Gotta think on whether this was a 5 or 3 star story. It's a question of 'belief suspension'. That's the writer's job, to lull us over each tiny bridge of acceptance... to get as across all of them so that we're believers. As improbable but essential twists and events get layered first into a story's foundation, then it's expansion until the conclusion, these pathways have to support our trip over the sharky waters below.
**


Looking back over the 17 plus hours Freedman asked me to give him... Yep, I never wanted to stop. And even though I muttered once or twice, "OMG, there's not enough bridge here -we're jumping the shark!" well yeah, I wanted to... to keep going... to discover what these expertly created charcters were doing on the other side. So, I jumped along with Freedman, and I'm not sorry.
**


,.
It only happened a few iimes, and it'd take spoilers to share those moments. So, while this isn't a masterpiece of crime/legal writing... it is excellent. Its legal, medical, psychological, media, and cultural details felt tight enough to tug me right along the story arc. And now, as I write this - reviewing the experience of "The Disappearance" - well yeah: 5 stars. 5 even if Luke - the protagonist's - complexities and luck were snapped at by those sharks we leapt.
**


..
Uh-huh, glad I listened all the way, even if Patrick Cullen's monotonic reading, scarred by mispronunciations and poor dialects along with an inability to audibly differentiate the ensemble, was sufficiently annoying to almost pull my attention away from the drama, particularly at key moments. He should stick to narrating non-fiction.
**


..
Reviews of other Freedman books leave me leery of choosing another of his novels. Perhaps 'The Disapearance' is a one hit wonder? Dunno, may neve find out. But yep, for anyone who enjoys legal/procedural/mysteries... I did not see the ending coming... and enjoyed the ride to its conclusion. Of the many hundreds of these books I've heard - I'll remember 'The Disappearance'.

I'll Remember This book... Fondly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Patrick Cullen?

Scott Brick or anybody else

Any additional comments?

The reader ruined this audio book. Could not finish it.

This is the worst reader I have come accross.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
excellent narration, good courtroom scenes, interesting background about prepation to build cases. found myself prejudiced against the accused due to circumstances of the crime, his Unwillingness to accept the agreement stipulated by his lawyer. found some scenes compelling, for instance surfing scene. Liked how main characters unfolded their personalities throughout the course of the story. the ending a bit of improbable since no breadcrumbs led up to it, not quite deus ex machina, but close. some herrings swimming around. except for circumstances connected to the crime, good story.

Excellent narration, good story, good courtroom scenes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.