Review: Absence - Andrew Dana Hugh

Genre: Sci-fi Mystery Published: Soho Press, May 2026

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Equal parts police procedural, sci-fi mystery and societal dystopia; there were plenty of colors in the palette that Andrew Dana Hugh could’ve chosen to paint the story of Absence with. Instead of choosing however, he blends these genres together in a way that worked surprisingly well for me. The mix is a little reminiscent of Jeff Vandermeer or Blake Crouch, but less bleak and alien than the former, and slower paced than the latter. Overall though, this was a unique new voice in the genre, that I’m sure many readers will enjoy.

The Story:

In a world close to our own, the population has been wrecked by an epidemic of spontaneous human vanishing. Without rhyme or reason, and from one second to the next, a person can “pop out of existence”, in a phenomenon known as “Spontaneous Human Absence”.

Agent Harvey Ellis works for the Bureau of Depopulation Affairs – an ad hoc federal department tasked with investigating claims of Absence on their legitimacy, and discern any pattern if possible. Desensitized to the unrelenting random tragedies and reeling from a loss of his own, Harvey merely goes through the routine motions at his job. That is, until something unprecedented happens: a woman long thought Absent has reappeared in her hometown of Dawnville, Kansas, claiming she’s been to the other side and back. But is her wild and irresistible account true, or is she just the latest false prophet, offering hope to a world desperate for it? Together with his partner, Shonda Erins (the Scully to his Mulder), Harvey travels to Dawnville to find out.

What I loved:

Andrew Dana Hugh does a phenomenal job of setting the stage and hooking you into the layered mystery at hand. For about the first 1/3 of the book, I was reading compulsively, desperate to scrape together more clues to satisfy my curiosity.

The characters, although a bit stereotypical and lacking depth, bounce well of each-other, and I enjoyed Shonda and Harvey’s sceptic-believer-dynamic throughout. Harvey’s personal loss of his fiancée to Absence gives him a little extra layer of motivation to get to the bottom of this mystery.

The writing was smooth and accessible and I flew through the pages. That being said, interspliced with the action of the investigation, the author did take the time to step back once in a while and ponder the societal and existential implications of an epidemic like this (and the claim that there might be a way back for those departed!).

Unfortunately, the book wasn’t able to keep up this strong a momentum until the very end. Although there was no point where I stopped enjoying myself completely, I did feel like the book began to sizzled out like a dying flame from the 60% mark on.

What I didn’t love:

With its 450-page length, this is quite a hefty tome within its genre, and I have to say that I don’t think it does the work to justify that length. This is the classic example of “middle-book-sag”, where the second act drags out far too long and repeats steps it’s already played out. One too many red herring in the investigation, one too many conflict between partners… This could’ve easily been edited down by 50-100 pages, without losing any substance, and would’ve been better for it.

I was also left a little unsatisfied with the ending. Without spoiling plot points, I can only say that the novel is more interested in posing questions than actually answering them. This works fine for me in a more metaphorical/philosophical sci-fi mystery, but less so in a police-procedural. As the novel attempts to do both, I felt a little dissonance there.

Finally, there’s a particular story-line that’s far more prominent at the start and almost seems forgotten by the end. Given the emotional charge of this storyline, I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelieve over that.

Notes on the audio:

The audiobook was excellent in both overall quality and narration. The novel is single-POV, and the voice actor embodies the essence of the character and the story well. I can absolutely recommend this format, if it’s something you’re interested in.

Many thanks to Soho Press and RB-Media for providing me with an (audio-)ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.