New Release: The Vanished Boy by Harmony Kent @harmony_kent #mystery #suspense

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red quill pen on a piece of old parchment paper, with an ink well with words Welcome Guest in script

It’s my pleasure to welcome friend and Story Empire colleague, Harmony Kent, today with her new release The Vanished Boy. If you enjoy mystery / suspense novels, I know this is one you’re going to want to gobble up. I already have my copy waiting on my Kindle, and it’s next on my read list. Now, here’s Harmony to chat more about her book…

Hi everyone. Harmony here. Thanks so much, Mae, for letting me visit with you today. I’m so thrilled to share the launch of my latest book with you all. 

The Vanished Boy is a mystery suspense novel based around a teenaged boy, who’s gone missing. The book follows the mother as she trawls through her missing son’s online life and realises, to her horror, how out of the loop she’s become. 

The inspiration for this novel came from watching a number of movies based on how our lives both revolve around and are influenced by the Internet and mobile devices. Although these movies covered many genres such as murder/mystery, thriller, and the supernatural, they all centred around the same theme: Apps and living life online. This led me to ponder how many of us spend our lives in digital pursuits rather than physical—both the old and the young? For many people, their actual physical lives become but a shadow compared to their online existence.

Mostly, the shift to a digital world happens slowly. It’s incremental and, too often, insidious. All of which led me to ask how well do we actually know our children? Our loved ones? Those around us? What might be going on in the shadows? From that inspiration and questioning, this story was born. Much of life and our actions originate from the same needs and wants: to be loved and accepted, the ability to differentiate between truth and lies, and the things we do to cover our mistakes and make ourselves look better than the reality instead of owning who we are. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

new release TVB animated flyer

Below is an excerpt from the book:
Her heart stalls, and she forgets to breathe. Then her chest squeezes, her heart hammers, and she sucks in a lungful of air. She’d know this fob anywhere. It’s a Cornish Pirates keyring. The chain is snapped. At some point, this fell off Jayden’s car keys. Her son did come here. Frantic, she runs back to the car and throws herself into the driver’s seat.

She fumbles her mobile from the passenger seat, where she’d tossed it before tearing away from her house, and tries to unlock the screen. Her hand is too wet. Irritable, she wipes her fingers on her trousers and tries again. She’s in. Mike’s number is the last one called, so she hits the redial on it, but the line goes straight to voicemail. Carole checks the signal bars on her phone: four, which is good enough. The problem must be on the detective’s end.

Full of thrumming, frantic energy, she begins to type in the triple-nine for emergency services, but at the last moment realises this won’t count as a life-or-death situation. She deletes the two nines she’s typed and, instead, taps in 101. After three rings, an operator responds. Thank all that exists the police line isn’t as oversubscribed as usual. Sometimes, it gets so jammed that you have to log a request online instead of over the phone.

Hurriedly, Carole garbles out that her son has been missing for three days and she’s found his key fob and it must have broken from his keys.

Calm and collected, the operator asks, ‘Do you have a case log number, ma’am?’

BLURB:

It’s so remote out here. Anything could happen …

A missed phone call in the night is all it takes.

When Carole’s 18-year-old son goes missing, she breaks into Jayden’s laptop to try to understand his life.

All too soon, Carole discovers just how little she knew her boy.

And when one lead after another dead-ends, the distraught mother has to face the unthinkable.

Sucked into a sticky web of deceit and lies, nothing is as it seems.

When your life turns 
inside out and upside down, 
who would you trust?

Author BioAuthor, Harmony Kent
After spending around thirteen years as an ordained Buddhist monk, living in a Zen Buddhist temple, and six years after a life-changing injury following a surgical error, Harmony Kent returned to the world at the tender age of forty.

Now, she is famous for her laughter, and has made quite the name for herself … she’s also, um, a writer … and fairly well known for that too. She’s even won a few awards. Harmony lives in rural Cornwall with her adorable husband, ever-present sense of humour, and quirky neighbours.

Harmony is passionate about supporting her fellow authors.

Connect with Harmony at the following haunts:
Website | Story Empire (co-authored) | Amazon Author Page | Twitter 
Goodreads | Bookbub

PURCHASE THE VANISHED BOY FROM AMAZON
(U.S. READERS)
OR
UNIVERSAL LINK FOR NON U.S READERS

It’s so true (and sad) what Harmony said in her post about people vanishing into a life online. I love the sound of this book, and can’t wait to dive in. I recommend hopping over to Amazon to one-click. Help Harmony celebrate her release by dropping her a comment then using the sharing buttons to spread the news about The Vanished Boy! Thanks for visiting with us today!

74 thoughts on “New Release: The Vanished Boy by Harmony Kent @harmony_kent #mystery #suspense”

  11. Harmony, best of luck with your launch of what sounds like a fascinating story! Mystery & thriller – count me in, my favorite genre! I enjoyed reading of your unusual background, too. Mae, thanks for hosting and letting us know about Harmony’s book.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  18. This is such a relevant and timely topic. We are all controlled by our devices, but especially young people. You can see them sitting in groups, all heads down, doing something on their phones. I love the excerpt. Congrats, Harmony, on the new release. I’ll be reading it soon. Thank you for hosting, Mae!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  23. Sorry I’m so late, Harmony and Mae, but it isn’t because I don’t care! And I figured I could still help get the word out, so here I am. Fantastic excerpt, Harmony! I have this on my Kindle VERY near the top, and can’t wait to read it. I’m already hurting for this mother!!

    Here’s to fantastic sales ahead! And thanks, Mae, for featuring Harmony and her newest release! 🤗🤗🤗

    Liked by 1 person

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