The Last to Vanish

“These people who wouldn’t remember us, just as we wouldn’t remember them. In a year, two, they’d be nothing more than the redhead who broke her wrist working the zip line; the kid from Texas who wore a cowboy hat on the river.”

Even though Abby does not consider herself a part of the insider community at the novel’s opening, she also communicates a disconnect from the outsiders passing through town. Abby feels limited in how many meaningful friendships she has while living in Cutter’s Pass. However, Abby’s unique perspective as neither an insider nor an outsider allows her to uncover new evidence and solve the missing persons cases.

“Cory shared theories that none of us really believed: a hidden network of caves with an underground cult; a man in the mountains who had supposedly lived off grid for decades, protecting the land he deemed his own. […] like this was the Bermuda Triangle and not four square miles of solid ground with a well-defined perimeter.”

Cory’s ghost stories and legends reflect supernatural myths widely celebrated on the Appalachian Trail. His stories help to hide the truth about the disappearances while simultaneously portraying Cory as a character with something to hide. The legends also contribute to the mysterious and suspenseful mood of the novel.

“It’s all in what you chose to focus your energy on, what you wanted to see. The flattering slant of the angle. The play of shadows. What you could get people to notice. What you could convince the majority of them to believe.”

Abby explores the difference between appearance and reality and how the locals in Cutter’s Pass misdirect outsiders with legends and tall tales. The Passage Inn also misdirects people to believe they are staying in a more rustic dwelling instead of a high-end hotel. Harris hides behind his appearance as a respected business owner, husband, and father, gaining his victims’ trust before killing them.

“The noises of the night felt closer up there, more predatory. I didn’t feel the awe of the mountain then. I felt only the reality of being exposed in the night, the possibilities laid stark before me.”

The setting of The Last to Vanish is essential in establishing threats and danger. The town is isolated and adjacent to a vast wilderness, and the characters constantly prepare for natural hazards (such as getting lost, animals, dehydration, etc.). Abby often envisions the many ways natural threats could harm her, only considering the threat of human danger when facing it.

“[T]hey laughed at the stories they told around the campfire, like the ghosts were long gone and not barely two decades old.”

Abby often considers the insensitive nature of insiders and outsiders who discuss the missing persons cases for entertainment. As Neil’s daughter, Abby feels more connected to the Fraternity Four, often wondering what her life would have been like had Neil not disappeared.

“Other visitors had asked about it as well, something to tie each case together. A singular danger they could understand. That the threat was not the things we warned them about (exposure; animals; dehydration and disorientation), but human.” 

Like how the characters exhibit a natural Desire for Human Connection, those who investigate the missing people want to see them connected to each other in some way. Abby points out how people need help understanding and accepting the severity of natural threats. Abby underestimates the threat of human danger.

“It was lonely down there, in a different way than I’d been lonely before, after my mother’s death, finding myself on my own, with no direction—like time had stopped.”

Abby identifies losing a part of her own identity after the passing of her mother. She feels lonely and develops a strong desire for human connection. Abby seeks closure in Cutter’s Pass for these difficult losses.

“It took the last two disappearances to make me feel like one of them, and only because I was here when they happened. To understand that the truth was something you couldn’t just explain to someone else, but had to experience for yourself, come to terms with in your own way.”

After describing the events involved in searching for Farrah and Landon, Abby details how difficult it would be for someone to fully understand how traumatizing those experiences can be without personally living through them. Abby can better empathize with the insiders of Cutter’s Pass while searching for Farrah and Landon. Abby’s loyalty to the locals and empathy for the shared traumatic experiences help Abby to find her more permanent spot in the community.

“I watched him go, seeing him as an outsider might, as Trey might, for the first time in a long time. The man who couldn’t solve the mystery of what had happened to Landon or Farrah or Alice Kelly. Who had let the investigations come to a quiet, unsatisfying conclusion. Who didn’t want to invite outside scrutiny and needed to keep me on the same page.”

Celeste develops Abby’s favorable opinion of Patrick. However, she becomes more critical of Patrick upon witnessing him dismiss new evidence in Landon’s case. Abby realizes that Patrick’s loyalty to the people of Cutter’s Pass interferes with his ability to find the people who disappeared.

“These strangers, nothing but trauma tourists who saw entertainment in our existence. Seven years in Cutter’s Pass, by that time, had dulled me to the intrigue. We were just a group of people, wrapped up in the outskirts of a mystery against our will. As if the town were a puzzle to solve, and we were the pieces. And so I said, in an echo of Cory’s own words: You won’t find any secrets here.”

Abby regrets dismissing Farrah’s inquiry, treating her like the other trauma tourists. This moment marks a change in Abby’s attitude about the outsiders who visit Cutter’s Pass. While Cory and the other insiders influence Abby to guard the town’s secrets, Abby evolves to embrace the questions and investigations without placing judgment on motivations.

“There were people you knew would stay, and people you knew would leave. And there were others who left and returned, like Celeste—as if she had found no match for this place and brought back the things she loved from the outside with her.”

Celeste loves Cutter’s Pass like a family member. Her fondness for the town is vital in her motivations to cover up multiple murders. Knowing the truth cannot bring the Fraternity Four back to life, Celeste protects the businesses and people of Cutter’s Pass by hiding the truth about their disappearances.

“The entire inside had been partially gutted, the wall once separating the kitchen removed to open up the space. It was bright and airy, and I remembered that Cory had told me, once, how he wanted to flip old homes in the area. But he said it in the same way he said he wanted to see the Serengeti and visit the Seven Wonders of the World. I never imagined he would actually do it.”

Abby’s opinions about Cory change as the events of the novel unfold. While she initially regrets her romantic relationship with him years prior, Abby recognizes Cory’s growth and maturity. Abby eventually reevaluates her more intimate relationship with Cory, admitting her love for him.

“His younger sister Jamie, on the other hand, had gotten out as soon as she could. […] still trying to find herself in a place where everyone knew exactly who she was. Don’t stay too long, whatever you do. The longer you’re here, the harder it is to get out.”

Part of what makes Cutter’s Pass an exclusive community is that it is an extremely small town. All permanent residents know each other, as well as each other’s secrets. This living situation is unappealing to many who crave more privacy and distanced human connection.

“Sometimes, I could see it coming, a shift to my existence. I heard it in the ringing of the phone before my mother picked up the apartment line with the news that would change both of us forever. I knew from that first shrill ring—something was coming.”

Abby subtly hints at clairvoyance throughout The Last to Vanish. Her ability to sense danger or see people who have long since vanished adds to the spooky, ominous mood of the novel.

“I gave real consideration to grabbing the rest of my things and going. Just going, and going, to a new place, a next place.”

Abby sees the appeal in disappearing. She feels frustrated at being excluded by the locals, and she dislikes being associated with a community that lacks concern for the people who disappear from its streets. In understanding the benefits of disappearing, Abby believes that Neil intentionally went missing to escape the responsibility of fatherhood.

“Insiders and outsiders, it was a line I’d been desperate to cross for so long, and I’d finally done it: Cory saw me as a part of their world. It only took ten years. Ten years, in which I had grown to love everything about this place, and myself within it.”

When Cory refers to Georgia as an outsider and Abby as an insider, Abby finally accepts herself as a core member of the Cutter’s Pass community. Abby needs validation from the insiders to feel entirely accepted. However, Abby also recognizes her love of the town and community and that it is her choice to remain in Cutter’s Pass.

“Then I wondered about the person she thought I was, too. When she’d arrived, she saw me as a part of this place—the inn and the town. She never saw me as an outsider here.”

Celeste influences a large portion of Abby’s opinions about Cutter’s Pass. Celeste helps Abby to see the beauty in the town and surrounding forest. Celeste also helps Abby develop her identity as a community member of Cutter’s Pass, always seeing Abby as a natural part of the town.

“She took a deep breath, eyes locking on mine. ‘You have to make your peace with it, Abigail. Even if there aren’t any answers.’”

Celeste points out how finding answers and solving mysteries does not always bring a person closure. Finding peace after grief and loss means moving forward and starting new. Having withheld the truth about the Fraternity Four for decades, Celeste feels content in never unearthing what happened to Alice, Farrah, and Landon.

“Here, they could always be twenty-four and twenty-five. Immortalized. Here, they could still be anywhere, and you could imagine their entire lives stretched out before them.”

Photographs, especially when viewed by Abby, represent the importance of perspective. Abby considers the young age of the Fraternity Four on the night of their disappearance, realizing she is older than the group. Abby considers the limiting nature of photographs and how the group of friends is forever frozen in time. Abby allows herself to actualize the total loss of life with the Fraternity Four, particularly of Neil, her father.

“‘One shot, one question,’ she said with a sly grin. ‘Keeps you honest. Keeps you from getting greedy.’”

Rochelle and the other locals in Cutter’s Pass trade truths like currency. Rochelle values honesty and feels compelled to know the truth about the people who move to Cutter’s Pass. At the same time, she protects the insider group by guarding their secrets.

“I felt as if I was always the one meant to uncover it. The only one who could. Not quite insider, not quite outsider. A trail left just for me. If only I would see it through.”

Abby learns to value her unique position and perspective in Cutter’s Pass. She is close enough to the community to unearth essential details about the people in town yet removed enough not to feel honor bound to the insiders to remain silent about the disappearances. Abby trusts in her ability to accomplish difficult tasks and follow the trail of evidence.

“You think everything goes silent after a shot. But that’s not what happens. The woods came alive, instead. The animals, the birds. Everything was moving. Running.”

Celeste’s retelling of the deaths of the Fraternity Four unites natural threats with manufactured threats. For the entire evening, Celeste feared the natural threats imposed when an inexperienced group of hikers decided to travel into the woods at night. However, Brian’s gun and his capacity to be violent presented the actual danger.

“History had a way of pulling you back, like quicksand. How to explain that I was here because before Alice Kelly, my father had been the last to vanish. And then I had found something here—it just hadn’t been the thing I was looking for.”

Abby confronts her own dishonesty regarding her motivations to come to Cutter’s Pass. Although she intends to find answers about Neil, Abby stays in Cutter’s Pass for her close relationship with Celeste, her manager job at the inn, and for the community she comes to love. However, Abby cannot fully move forward as a core Cutter’s Pass community member until she reveals her secrets.