People disappear. Or are disappeared.

Hugh is searching for his son, Adam, an investigative journalist lost in the valleys of central Peru.

A mysterious phone call from Adam's girlfriend tells him that his son is on the trail of corrupt ex-military officers and renegade Shining Path terrorists fighting for control of the lucrative trade in cocaine.

As Hugh ventures deeper into the world of the disappeared, he is certain of only two things: that he will do anything to get his son back alive - and that time is running out.

THE DISAPPEARED is a meticulously researched work of fiction which draws upon first-hand testimonies from the grandmothers of the disappeared and members of the judiciary involved in combatting the drug trade.

'A stunning contemporary thriller. Like Roberto Bola�o and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the author's compassion for those eradicated from history emanates from each page' Mark Liam Piggott, journalist & author of Militant Factions

'Every line Stephens includes in The Disappeared seems to matter. There is no puffed-up bravado, no fake, writerly show. Things are there for a reason. Each paragraph warms us on the journey. Each scene unravels itself before us in a very simple, yet extraordinary way. We care about the characters because they seem real, vulnerable, tarnished. And the strand of mourning throughout the book, the deep cut off loss, is ever-present' Jeff Weston, journalist & author of Mutler