The Last to Vanish

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Desire for Human Connection

As a suspenseful mystery, Miranda uses the concept of disappearing to set a frightening tone. People naturally feel a desire to connect for companionship and safety. The idea of being completely isolated and disappearing into the wilderness is naturally terrifying. Miranda explores the desire for human connection through the characters and symbols within Cutter’s Pass.

Abby desperately wants to be considered an insider by the locals who have resided in Cutter’s Pass for their entire lives. Having lived and worked in the small mountain town for over a decade, Abby feels as if she has more than demonstrated her loyalty to the community. Frustrated in feeling shut out, Abby reflects, “Cutter’s Pass would only exist for you in the parts you were here for, and the rest would remain an impenetrable history. I’d learned I’d find more camaraderie and friendship in those that were like me—not from here” (125). Abby feels slighted by the guarded, closed-off attitude of the insiders. Eventually, she stops trying to fit in with the locals, finding more meaningful relationships with less secretive people. In defense of the insiders, Abby preserves her own secrets, mainly that her father, Neil, is one of the Fraternity Four. As much as Abby craves trust and a close bond with the insider community, she conceals essential parts of herself relevant to Cutter’s Pass’s history. Abby realizes, “You couldn’t keep your secrets if you wanted someone else’s. You had to trade them all. It was only fair” (302). When Abby comes clean about her motivations for moving to Cutter’s Pass, Celeste reveals what happened to the Fraternity Four. Abby can find the human connection she so profoundly desires when exchanging truths.

The disconnected phone lines at the Passage Inn symbolize Abby’s desire to connect with the Cutter’s Pass community. As the novel approaches a climax and Abby begins to suspect Celeste of being involved with the disappearance of the Fraternity Four, she thinks, “I just wanted the phones back, as quickly as possible” (261). Abby feels unnerved at the prospect of being unable to communicate with the other people in Cutter’s Pass, especially when feeling vulnerable and unsure about Celeste. Ironically, she calls Harris for help, demonstrating how human connection can be dangerous. Abby realizes Harris’s job affords him a certain amount of unearned trust: “Here to take a look at your phone lines, can I come in? Looking around the room. Can I get your help with something from the van? Pulling the gun, getting him inside, and then it was too late, it was always too late” (307). Just as Harris depends on the blind trust of the Cutter’s Pass community to hide from his crimes in plain sight, he uses the blind faith of his victims to enter their private spaces and attack them. Harris intentionally disconnects phone lines to gain entrance into the private rooms of his intended victims, just as he uses the trust of the Cutter’s Pass community to hide from his crimes in plain sight. Harris preys upon people’s desire for connection.

Closure Amid Loss and Grief

Trey, Abby, and Georgia come to Cutter’s Pass seeking closure after losing a family member. The resolution they hope to find differs, providing a diverse conversation about what it means to find closure.

Trey arrives in Cutter’s Pass hoping to find his brother or, at the very least, figure out what happened to him. His regret for not doing more to assist the search for Landon motivates his character. Celeste tasks Abby with uncovering Trey’s intentions:

I didn’t know what Trey was looking for all these months later. Whether he thought there was still something worth finding, that the police and the searchers had all missed; whether he was here to pay his respects, hoping for some sort of closure. Closure was a hard thing to come by here (13).

Trey communicates to Abby that he did not share a close relationship with Landon. With that in mind, Trey’s journey to Cutter’s Pass suggests that Trey regrets more than failing to contribute more to Landon’s search. He regrets not investing more time and energy toward repairing and growing his relationship with Landon. Recognizing that Landon’s life’s work was to uncover the truth, Trey hopes to find closure in uncovering the truth about Landon’s disappearance.

Abby recognizes and relates to Trey’s search for closure amid loss and grief. His presence in Cutter’s Pass triggers Abby’s memories of her own journey to the town shortly after losing her mother. Abby recalls of herself, “In the end, it wasn’t just my mother I had lost, but the momentum of my own life, the person I might’ve become, the others who I’d have made the journey with” (102). Although Abby’s mother reveals Neil as Abby’s father shortly before her death, Abby realizes the reason she initially decided to travel to Cutter’s Pass goes beyond a search for answers. As her mother’s longtime care provider, Abby loses a part of her identity when her mother dies. Abby seeks closure from losing her former, more innocent life as a beloved daughter. She lacks direction and desires meaningful connections with other people. Abby finds closure in the form of Celeste, the Passage Inn, and, eventually, the long-term residents of Cutter’s Pass, whom she considers family.

Georgia seeks closure following her father’s death by knowing she can accomplish complex tasks independently. After a failed attempt at hiking the Appalachian Trail, Georgia landed in Cutter’s Pass. Cory and Abby argue about Georgia’s presence in Cutter’s Pass: “‘You don’t come here for no reason when you have all that money. She’s fucking loaded, you know.’ ‘She wanted a fresh start,’ I said, but there was no conviction behind my words” (216). Unlike Abby and Trey, Georgia ran away from her grief and loss while attempting to start over. She seeks validation that she can survive and provide for herself, a challenge she never previously faced while being comfortably provided for by her family. Georgia never attempts to connect with Celeste or the people of Cutter’s Pass in the way Abby hopes to. Georgia eventually returns home to her mother, finally able to face her grief after a year of self-discovery.

How Secrets Connect and Divide Small Communities

Although the insider group of Cutter’s Pass makes light of the disappearances, the town lives through the trauma of searching for missing people. Abby witnesses firsthand the impenetrable bond that unites the Cutter’s Pass community:

Those in town who had been through it, who’d searched for them, who’d answered questions and withstood the suspicions, had come out with a stronger bond forged from it. The entirety of Cutter’s Pass had emerged from that time as something different (225).

Abby witnesses a certain amount of blind trust extended to the locals only and never to anyone not originally from Cutter’s Pass. She envies the close, secretive nature of the people in town and observes the benefits of a loyal, protective alliance. Abby desperately wants to be a part of this community connected by trust and secrets but always finds herself being held at arm’s length as someone not originally from Cutter’s Pass.

The townspeople of Cutter’s Pass are not the only ones who keep secrets. Abby hides the fact that she is Neil’s daughter from everyone in town, and as the novel’s narrator, Abby only reveals this fact toward the story’s conclusion. After Rochelle admits to investigating Abby’s background, Abby realizes, “Rochelle telling people, I don’t trust that girl. The way it had taken me so long to make a real connection with this place. For ten years, she had been warning people, She’s not one of us” (256-57). Rochelle has good reason not to trust Abby; she knows Abby is not related to Vincent. Rochelle and the other community members are deeply disturbed by each missing person case, and, consequently, anyone who arrives in town with secrets will immediately raise suspicion. Abby’s secrets divide her from the inside group she wants to be a part of.

The secretive and distrusting nature of the townspeople allows Harris to live in the town where he kills and hides anyone who comes close to uncovering his crimes. Harris depends on the locals’ blind trust in him as someone originally from Cutter’s Pass to gain access to the businesses and private homes while he completes repairs. Harris also relies on the people of Cutter’s Pass not wanting to revisit the missing persons cases in too great of detail for fear of losing business in town. The reticent nature of the community also protects Celeste and Patrick, who acted in self-defense and are genuinely remorseful for their crimes. However, the same tight-lipped community members unknowingly guarded a murderer for years with their secrecy.