About “Vanished” in a few words:

Vanished is a mystery thriller set across France that begins with a simple romantic getaway — and turns into something far darker. When Alice Monroe’s boyfriend suddenly disappears during a train trip, she launches her own search for answers. What follows is a maze of lies, hidden identities, and dangerous discoveries involving journalists, suspicious allies, and a police inspector who may or may not be on her side.

Meet the characters from Vanished

Alice Monroe

Alice is the kind of person who looks calm on the surface but has a hurricane of plans under that polite smile. She’s endlessly resourceful—knows how to hotwire a car and also how to make a mean lemon tea, weird combo, I know—and somehow always remembers the smallest, useless details about people. Protective and quietly stubborn, she acts first and apologizes later, though sometimes she apologizes before she even acts (which is very Alice). There’s a softness to her that sneaks up on you, and also an edge; don’t trust the cardigan, trust the eyes.

Tom Parker

Tom is the stubborn, steady spine of the group: practical, unflashy, and annoyingly right most of the time. He makes lists for everything, lives by a schedule he mostly breaks, and has the kind of patience that could calm a panicked horse—unless you touch his coffee, then all bets are off. Loyal to a fault, a bit grumpy, but he secretly keeps a playlist of 90s ballads (don’t tell anyone, or he will pretend not to care). He can be blunt and a little slow to trust, but when he cares, you know it—tenacious, like a dog with a bone.

Alex Durand

Alex is slippery in the best way—charming, fast-talking, and the person who can get you out of a tight spot and also into a new one in under five minutes. He paints, which is true, and fails disastrously at goodbyes, which is also true; romantic gestures, dramatic exits—classic Alex. Morally complicated? Absolutely. He’ll make you question your assumptions and then buy you a ridiculous pastry as if that undoes everything.

Hélène Lando

Hélène reads like a list of contrasts: precise, controlled, and impeccably dressed but with a laugh that surprises everyone because it’s huge and honest. She’s the planner—maps, contingency plans, color-coded—yet there’s a streak of reckless nostalgia where she’ll suddenly hop on a train at midnight for reasons she won’t fully explain. She seems cool and distant but carries small, silly talismans in her pocket (a tiny chipped ceramic cat, a pressed flower) that she touches when she’s nervous. Fiercely competent and oddly tender, she gives the impression she knows the score and also believes in second chances.

Inspector Drax

Inspector Drax is all trench coat and gravelly voice on the outside, and somehow a disaster cookbook collector on the inside — yes he has thirteen versions of brownie recipes and no, you cannot explain that. Methodical, relentless, and a touch world-weary, he notices the things everyone else walks past, often while muttering to himself about time and consequences. He can be brusque, impatient, and frighteningly intuitive, but also embarrassingly fond of badly made tea and cat videos (it humanizes him, kind of). Haunted by past cases and allergic to small talk, he nevertheless holds a ridiculous, stubborn faith in little moments of justice.