How to Disappear Completely

Moving with a relentless and increasing sense of foreboding, Nicholas Sheppard’s How to Disappear Completely is an extensive diagnosis of a disturbing disorder in recent American life. It is not a novel where the ends are neatly tied – instead it opens a social and psychological world to exploration.

Sheppard is an Auckland-based writer with dual American and New Zealand citizenship. His first novel, Broken Play, focused on a young sportsman struggling with his sexual identity. Sheppard is also a communications freelancer and a writer of editorial opinion for outlets in the international marketplace. How to Disappear Completely is very much a book of contemporary issues which has global aims.

The subject of serial killing has been familiar since the 19th Century when the sensational real-life murders of Jack the Ripper raised that sinister protagonist to cultural consciousness. The explosive phenomenon of a mass-killing, however, is much more recent. The sudden and unpredictable violence of multi-victim events at schools, universities, or workplaces has meant they have become the ultimate symptom of our times. They are a combination of both means and intent –automatic weapons allied with contemporary psychologies and social reactions.

There are frequent attempts to understand the impact of these incidents upon our society. Many books, documentaries and dramatised TV mini-series explore the reality: 101 Seconds: Terror at the Mall, A Killer on Floor 32, and New Zealand’s own Out of the Blue which focused on the 1990 Aramoana Massacre.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 190
Imprint: Eunoia Publishing Limited
Publication date: 01/09/2023