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    The Invisible Ones
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    The Invisible Ones
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    The Invisible Ones
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Invisible Ones

    Written by Stef Penney

    Narrated by Dan Stevens

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Small-time private investigator Ray Lovell veers between paralysis and delirium in a hospital bed. But before the accident that landed him there, he'd been hired to find Rose Janko, the wife of a charismatic son of a traveling Gypsy family, who went missing seven years earlier. Half Romany himself, Ray is well aware that he's been chosen more for his blood than his investigative skills. Still, he's surprised by the intense hostility he encounters from the Jankos, who haven't had an easy past. Touched by tragedy, they're either cursed or hiding a terrible secret-whose discovery Ray can't help suspecting is connected to Rose's disappearance. . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 5, 2012
    ISBN9781101538722
    Unavailable
    The Invisible Ones
    Author

    Stef Penney

    Stef Penney was born and raised in Edinburgh. She is the author of The Tenderness of Wolves, which was a national bestseller and the recipient of the prestigious Costa Book Award. She is also the author of The Invisible Ones and Under a Pole Star. Stef lives in London.

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    Reviews for The Invisible Ones

    4/5

    221 ratings43 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Ray Lovell, a private investigator who happens to be half Gypsy, has been hired, because of his lineage, to find a missing woman. Seven years ago, Rose Wood married Ivo Janko, and as is Romany tradition, she left to travel with his family. But news eventually drifted back to her family that she had run off and now, years later, her father wants to find her. As Ray digs deep into family history, he uncovers too many inconsistencies to ignore.The book opens with Ray in hospital, seriously ill, hallucinating, and partially paralyzed. The story moves back in time to recount what had happened to him and then forward as he recovers and continues his investigation. It takes place in England, in the mid-1980s, partially I suspect, to keep cell phones and the investigative power of computers out of the story. Chapters mostly alternate between the voice of Ray, and what he knows and discovers, and that of JJ, a teenaged Janko family member, and his inner knowledge of his Traveler family. I loved JJ’s perspective and felt his thoughts and viewpoints were perfect for a boy of his age.I liked the story and learning about the Romany culture. I’m still not sure what I think about the ending and a plot point that bothered me all the way through. It being a mystery means I won’t say anything more. So a mystery, yes, but for me, it read better as family drama (of a very damaged family) within a secretive world. Still, this was a very entertaining page-turner by a wonderful storyteller. I’m looking forward to seeing what next she has up her sleeve.
    • 2/5
      Shucks, what a disappointment. The premise of this novel was intriguing, but it did not live up to my hopes. It was way too long and repetitive. The private detective character, Ray, was dull and the story line of his attempt at a relationship was clumsily written. I found the character of JJ much more interesting and true, but the scenes of his flight to the friend's barn after his anger and injuries just didn't advance the story. Feels like maybe Penney wrote this one a long time ago and dragged it out after the (much-deserved) success of The Tenderness of Wolves. Too bad.
    • 4/5
      A good moving mystery done in Europe. I enjoyed it. A nice change of pace.
    • 3/5
      This was an unexpected read. I had picked up the book without reading the blurb.

      As it turns out, it tells the story of a private investigator who is hired to find out about the disappearance of a woman within the traveller community.

      One of the aspects that made the book quite entertaining is that the POV changes between different characters - the PI and a 14 year-old boy. Penney got the tone of voice just right for both of the narrators and this made it quite interesting to see the two different takes on the same plot. In a way it reminded me a lot of The Casual Vacancy (which I liked a lot) - just with less social criticism. The dialogues really managed to portray the characters, more than any long-winded description ever could.

      What didn't work so well was that some of the story was dragged out longer than it needed to be. Maybe some of the background could have been left out. However, it does not distract too much from the story.

      My one and only real gripe with the story is this one (without adding too much of a spoiler): Why Wales? I was a little knocked side-ways with this.

      Anyway, now I can hardly wait to read Stef Penney's first book The Tenderness of Wolves.
    • 1/5
      I was drawn to this book by the gypsies. I wanted to know more about this world and the fact that this book was a mystery story as well was a bonus. I started this book a while ago and could not find myself drawn into the story, the characters or the world. I got to chapter eight and put the book down. Yet, I would come across this book every once in a while. I did regret putting this book down and not trying to give it another chance. So I finally picked up this book again and proceeded to read it. It kind of read like a dream like state. There was no real substance to the story with just a lot of unnecessary talking. After about six more chapters and having learned nothing new about the case or finding anyone interesting that I could follow along with, I am giving up on this book this time.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the experience of reading this but would find it difficult to recommend. Technically, I thought it was very good, but a little too strange and bleak overall.
    • 5/5
      Stef Penney is a great story teller. In this book, Ray Lovell - a private detective of gyspy heritage finds himself caught up in the lives of the gypsy community when he is hired to investigate the disappearance of Rose Janko. The story is narrated by Ray and one of the Janko clan, JJ a 15-year boy. Place and character are well drawn and Penney does a good job of keeping you guessing until the end.
    • 3/5
      Joy's review: Well, I liked this book more than the rest of the book group. I enjoy Penney's writing style and I thought the mystery was a good one. Could have used more insights into the Romany culture and fewer pages on the detective's personal angst, but I enjoyed reading "The Invisible Ones".
    • 4/5
      This was a great story, but I especially love that I learned a little about Traveling Gypsy culture, as the author refers to the group in her story. Very interesting!
    • 4/5
      Penney uses the guise of a detective novel to explore some of the interesting issues and perspectives of traveling Gypsy families. She does a great job of illuminating the distinctions that people make between themselves and others, and portrays a different culture without judgment or condensation. I didn't see the twist at the end coming, but it made sense and, after it is revealed, the mysterious parts of the book fall nicely into place.
    • 5/5
      My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave a great look into the "gypsy" traveler community in England. It is not a "normal" murder mystery but has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. The only wish I had was a more detailed ending, but I guess that this means the book was so good you didn't want it to end! I will look for other books by the author.
    • 4/5
      Who better to solve a Gypsy mystery than a Gypsy detective? And so years after Rose Janko apparently walks away from her husband and newborn son, her father hires private detective Ray Lovell to find her in Stef Penney's novel “The Invisible Ones.” The father has done some detective work of his own and found that Lowell has Gypsy blood himself. So perhaps he can be trusted and, just as important, be trusted by the family he must probe for information about Rose's disappearance.That isn't easy, for Ivo Janko, her husband, and the rest of the family seem uninterested in finding her and aren't even sure why she left. Ivo says Rose just couldn't handle motherhood, especially because her son, Christo, has a crippling disease that affects most of the males in the family. Lovell is told Ivo had the disease as a boy but was cured after a trip to Lourdes. A similar trip for Christo brings no change in his condition.The detective begins to suspect Rose may have been murdered, especially when bones, possibly those of a young woman, are found buried nearby. When she is discovered alive and well, the mystery seems to be over. Instead it has only deepened, especially after Lovell is poisoned and nearly killed and Ivo himself disappears.The novel benefits from having two narrators. Lovell does the honors for a bit more than half of the book, but the rest of the story is told by JJ, an observant Gypsy boy who becomes the family's conscience, as well as the reader's best guide to the lives of these people who live in trailers and rarely put down roots.If not as beautifully written as Penney's first novel, “The Tenderness of Wolves,” her second book nevertheless entertains from first to last. It may feature a detective, but to call it a mystery would be to shortchange it.
    • 3/5
      The Invisible Ones is Stef Penney's follow up to her acclaimed debut novel The Tenderness of Wolves. It opens with private investigator Ray Lovell in the hospital recovering from a brush with death via an unidentified poisonous substance. The hospital staff suspects that it may have been self-administered, but as Ray swims through strange, frightening hallucinations and recovers his mobility from partial paralysis, he starts to think that his near death might be connected to his investigation into the disappearance and possible murder of a newly married Romany woman several years back.

      The story unfolds as a dual narrative that follows Ray as he is contacted by Leon Wood. Wood chooses him to investigate the disappearance of his daughter because of Ray’s partial Gypsy heritage. The other perspective is JJ's, a 14-year-old Romany boy who is a part of the family that Ray is investigating. The Invisible Ones carefully details the lives and views of modern day Gypsy families, but the story itself is slow moving. Set in 1980's England, Penney's Ray Lovell is an old school investigator, complete with notebooks and knocks on the door to get his man. Subplots dealing with Lovell's emotional state after the dissolution of his marriage, and how he met his partner provide additional perspective on his character. The novel picks up in the last third to reveal a surprising host of secrets whose huge implications are only vaguely hinted at and barely explored. Some of them were more easily guessed than others.

      Those interested in the Romany way of life will find Penney's work both thoughtful and fascinating since her portrayal is so crystal clear - details on marriages and retaining "pure" blood, the struggles of the older generations to hold on to the traveling lifestyles and traditions, choosing campsites, and the hierarchies established in home ownership and displays of status provided insight for me in a culture with which I am not familiar. Oftentimes JJ provided the most poignant moments in the novel as his attempts to fit in at school fall short, and as his stress about his cousin sick with the "family" disease and the possible skeletons in the family closet grows. Penney has turned out a solid literary mystery, but better pacing and follow up in the aftermath would have made this a more worthwhile and enjoyable read for me.
    • 4/5
      This isn't a book that can be rushed through, but a book to slowly savor. Told in alternate chapters by two different narrators, one is a gypsy private detective hired to look for a missing person and the other is a thirteen year old boy who lives with the traveling gypsy family the girl had married in to.As the book progresses layers are slowly peeled away and more is revealed about the girl, the gypsy culture and family and the narrators personalities and lives. The ending is a stunning reveal. Loved it! ARC from publisher.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      In 1980′s England private investigator Ray Lovell is hired by Leon Wood to find his daughter Rose, a young gypsy woman who he hasn’t seen for six years. Not since she married Ivo Janko, had a child and then, seemingly, disappeared. Leon Wood believes her dead at the hands of the Janko family and wants Ray, who he hires because he recognises that Ray Lovell also has gypsy heritage, to confirm this or locate Rose if she is still alive. At the same time as the story of Ray’s investigation unfolds there are alternating chapters told from the point of view of JJ, Jimmy Janko, the 14 year-old cousin of Ivo Janko and chronicler of the family’s trials and tribulations.

      Although Ray Lovell is ostensibly the protagonist here I thought his primary purpose was to provide the angles into the story that a teenage boy could not. Because the story is, at its heart, JJ’s. For the second time in a week I have been captivated by a story told from the perspective of a young boy and in this instance I am also quite besotted. JJ’s perspective on the experiences of his family, still living a somewhat traditional life of trailers, constant moving and deliberate isolation from gorjios (non gypsies), is absorbing. In addition to Ivo and his disabled son Christo we are slowly introduced to JJ’s mum, grandparents, crippled great uncle who live in a group of trailers on the fringes of suburbia. At the beginning of JJ’s story most of the family is on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in the hope of achieving a miracle cure for 6 year-old Christo who suffers from the Janko family disease. This affliction affects the male members of the family and kills most of them, sparing only Ivo who apparently had his own miracle during a visit to Lourdes as a teenager. JJ’s observations about his family, their uneasy relationship with gorjios and his own tentative explorations of a life outside the narrow confines of his upbringing are compelling and I found him an easy character to like as well. Ray Lovell on the other hand is a little bland with a hint of creepiness provided by his stalker-like behaviour towards any woman that takes his fancy.

      The story itself is an odd mixture of threads amongst which the mystery component, i.e. finding out what happened to Rose Janko, seems less and less important as the book goes on (which is probably just as well as the resolution is somewhat unbelievable). Really it’s the story of this fascinating family of fringe-dwellers, both physically and literally, who are struggling to maintain their traditions and culture. Penney shows us what they are trying to cling on to and makes us wonder what lengths each of them would go to for a chance at keeping hold of some aspect of their traditional life. The structure of the book is a little complicated though I enjoyed the way it almost started in the middle and then had Ray and JJ’s overlapping narrations draw slowly together.

      I must also make a special mention of the narration by Daniel Stevens which I suspect added an extra, entirely wonderful, dimension to my experience of this book. His alteration between the two storytellers seemed to encompass more than a mere voice change (it would have been easy to believe there were two actors responsible for the narration) and I’m sure he helped make JJ in particular a thoroughly three-dimensional character for me.

      Normally when I am out of step with other readers it is because they have loved something that I don’t like. This time I seem to be in the reverse situation of thoroughly enjoying a novel that no one else cares much for. Happily I waited until after I had finished the book myself to read any reviews of this newly released book because most of the ones I could find make not very flattering comparisons to her first novel. Personally I’m not so sure they’re that different. Although I liked The Tenderness of Wolves very much I found its mystery element a little underdone and its resolution a little incredible, much like I did here. What I think Penney does superbly, though differently in each book, is transport readers to a world that she creates out of nothing and make it easy to get lost in that world. The fact that 1980′s England doesn’t have much in common with 1860′s Canada is a bonus for me as I’m heartily sick of authors writing the same book over and over again.

      So for me this was a great read which I would recommend if you can cope with a slow pace and a novel that is driven more by compelling characters and atmosphere than a thrilling plot. If you are an audiobook fan I would highly recommend Daniel Stevens’ narration which is one of the very best I’ve heard since I started listening seriously (20 books a year) several years ago.
    • 2/5
      I can't give a complete review because I never finished the book. I can't exactly say why. I was about two-thirds of the way through and was mostly enjoying it, but when I was interrupted for some reason, I never picked it back up again. The background was intriguing, but I didn't feel like I had enough insight into it. The main character irritated me and his relationship with the woman who seemed to be his love interest confused me. I think my lack of interest in finishing it speaks for itself.
    • 4/5
      The lives of travelers, or gypsies, is an insular one, filled with suspicion of outsiders. Many like to keep themselves to themselves. The Janko's are a particularly small and secretive group, living in England. A family filled with tragedy and secrets and half-gypsy private detective arrives to investigate the disappearance of one of the members wives. In trying to solve the six year old disappearance, he learns that he is unraveling just one of many secrets the Janko's have been desperately hiding. Usually I'm fairly good at figuring at the end of most mystery novels by around the middle of the book. But The Invisible Ones manages to pull off a truly surprise ending. Is it a bit farfetched? Sure. But overall it is a very entertaining read and certainly well worth giving a try.
    • 5/5
       The book starts with private investigator Ray Lovell lay in a hospital bed, partly paralysed trying to remember how he got there. He had been hired by a gypsy man to track down his daughter who he hadn't seen since she married into another travelling family, who then claimed she had ran off with another man. Ray has been chosen for this job as he is part gypsy, although his father married outside and settled in a house. Ray has an awareness of gypsy culture, but is still something of an outsider to it.The other narrator is 14 year old JJ, the nephew of the missing woman's husband. He is more part of traditional gypsy culture than Ray, but his young age means he doesn't fully understand everything that is going on but is starting to questions things. The story moves between the two of them as Ray digs deeper into the history of the Janko family.To be honest I guessed the twist/explanation fairly early on in the story, but this didn't actually spoil the book for me as I liked both the main characters and was just as interested in how things worked out for them as I was about the mystery being solved.
    • 4/5
      This is interesting enough, but slow on the uptake. I read this in the audio version and I kept "getting lost" and having to rewind and listen again. This is one of the few books I suspect I'd have preferred in print.[Invisible Ones] is about gypsies, their peripatetic life style, and the myths and prejudices that have built up around this ancient group of people. It's fiction, there's a mystery (and a rather good one at that) that had me guessing until the end when I discovered I had figured it out all wrong. It is difficult to tell how much research Penney did before writing this, so one doesn't know whether to take on board any of the issues, traditions, life styles portrayed, etc as the way things really are in the community.The story is told by two voices - Ray Lovell is a private detective who is hired by a father to find his missing daughter who had married a gypsy. Lovell's mother was from 'the family' so he had an entrè into the trailer court of the family where the missing girl had lived. The other narrator is "JJ" a young teen living with all his extended family in the trailers. There are many secrets, many many characters, each with a story that is often told from both narrator's perspectives. I think the huge number of characters and the telling /re-telling was what made it difficult to follow in audio, a format I normally like. Finally, not only do we have two different voices giving us the story, we have Ray Lovell's recollections wavering between a drug-induced coma in the hospital and the pre and post events of his hospitalization. The book is clear at the beginning of each chapter about who was talking and where they were, but it required some real mental gymnastics to keep up with what was happening.I'd love to read this in print later when I have more time. The mystery in the story is really a good one, so I would recommend it, just not in audio unless you have 11 1/2 straight hours to sit and listen.
    • 4/5
      Private investigator Ray Lovell thought he’d left his Gypsy roots far behind him. His father left the travelling life long ago to “live in bricks” with Ray’s gorgie—non-Gypsy—mother and Ray himself has never lived on the road. His main connection to that life was childhood trips to visit his father’s family in their trailers. But he finds himself pulled back into the often tangled webs of Gypsy family when Leon Wood, a Gypsy man, hires him to locate his missing daughter. No one but a Gypsy would get far, Leon insists, and Ray reluctantly takes the case. Rose Wood—Rose Janko at the time of her disappearance—has been missing for seven years and Ray doesn’t think he’ll get too far. But when he interviews the seemingly cursed Janko family—not only did Rose vanish, but the males of the family are plagued by an always-fatal degenerative disease of mysterious origins—Ray soon finds that nothing is as it seems and that it’s finally time for the Janko family secrets to come to light. When Ray lands in the hospital, poisoned near-fatally and partially paralyzed, his drive to see this case through to the end intensifies.Narrated alternately by Ray Lovell, a flawed but driven man; and young JJ, a Gypsy boy trying hard to understand his place in both the Janko clan and the greater world, The Invisible Ones is both a compelling mystery and also a fascinating glimpse into an unfamiliar culture and lifestyle.
    • 4/5
      Once again, Stef Penney serves up a wonderful story which contains an intriguing plot, memorable characters and some food for thought in the form of background on the lives of modern day gypsies. The search for a missing woman leads the reader into the world of gypsies and "gorgios" (non-gypsies). We learn about their social status, their own social hierarchy, their prejudices, their oppression, and the complications which naturally arise from living in a closed society within an open one. If you have read "The Loneliness of Wolves", you will recognize the repeat of the missing person theme, which has left me intrigued to know more about the author's life. This is a very very good read!
    • 4/5
      Definitely worth reading - compelling characters and a fascinating window on Gypsy life.
    • 5/5
      This book brings together characters who are in limbo, struggling to accept and understand the past in order to move on and build a safe, happy future for themselves and those around them. For Ray Lovell, this means moving away from a painful separation from his wife, which he felt he should have foreseen and somehow prevented. For Leon Wood, the 6 year absence of his daughter Rose after her marriage into a fellow travelling family has finally begun to prick his conscience. It is the absence of Rose that drives the narrative, with Leon Wood employing Lovell, who has gypsy ancestry, to investigate the case. Both men understand that the journey may be difficult, but neither suspect the intricacies and intrigues of the Janko's, the family Rose married in to. From the opening of the novel, Penney provides us with the knowledge that at some future point in the narrative, Ray will find himself seriously ill in hospital, having apparently been poisoned. This allows the reader to form their own ideas and conclusions as to the fate of Rose, while drip feeding us relevant information. On occasion, it is also nice to feel as though we're a step ahead of the Private Investigator Lovell, although we assume that we share his knowledge.The denouement though, remains a surprise, and this is largely down to the skill of Penney in weaving the narrative around her flawed and dangerous characters. Interestingly, the advice of the only character who has overcome his personal troubles and rebuilt his life, that of Ray's business partner Hen, is primarily disregarded and disproved, as though his ability to rebuild is flawed.The main drawback for me is how reminiscent this characterisation is of the Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson. Both of the main characters are slightly disreputable, but we are invited to be so involved in them as to unquestionably trust their judgement. However, while the impression that Atkinson was always tempted to build upon Brodie's character, I remain unsure as to whether Penney is planning on doing the same. Only time may tell.
    • 4/5
      Ray Lovell, a private investigator who happens to be half Gypsy, has been hired, because of his lineage, to find a missing woman. Seven years ago, Rose Wood married Ivo Janko, and as is Romany tradition, she left to travel with his family. But news eventually drifted back to her family that she had run off and now, years later, her father wants to find her. As Ray digs deep into family history, he uncovers too many inconsistencies to ignore.The book opens with Ray in hospital, seriously ill, hallucinating, and partially paralyzed. The story moves back in time to recount what had happened to him and then forward as he recovers and continues his investigation. It takes place in England, in the mid-1980s, partially I suspect, to keep cell phones and the investigative power of computers out of the story. Chapters mostly alternate between the voice of Ray, and what he knows and discovers, and that of JJ, a teenaged Janko family member, and his inner knowledge of his Traveler family. I loved JJ?s perspective and felt his thoughts and viewpoints were perfect for a boy of his age.I liked the story and learning about the Romany culture. I?m still not sure what I think about the ending and a plot point that bothered me all the way through. It being a mystery means I won?t say anything more. So a mystery, yes, but for me, it read better as family drama (of a very damaged family) within a secretive world. Still, this was a very entertaining page-turner by a wonderful storyteller. I?m looking forward to seeing what next she has up her sleeve.
    • 4/5
      Despite the popularity and good reviews of this author's The Tenderness of Wolves, this is the first Stef Penney novel that I have read. Now, I'm going to have to go back and read The Tenderness of Wolves because I really liked this book.This mystery taught me more about the Romany people and kept me entertained throughout. An unwilling wife of one of the Romanies disappeared six years earlier, and after all this time, her father decides to hire a detective to search for her.There is minimal violence in this story; it doesn't need to depend on blood and gore and shock. There is, however, lots of implications and innuendos, and it all points to something very bad happening to Rose. The characters were wonderful, and I especially loved JJ, a young Romany boy trying to balance two worlds. His voice seemed just right for someone his age, his immaturity sometimes getting the better of his desire to do the right thing.The ending surprised me. Really caught me off guard. And I'm not sure yet that I loved it, but I am certainly still mulling it over. And isn't that what a good book is all about, to keep you thinking about it after you've turned the past page?Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free advance copy of this book.
    • 4/5
      Stef Penney’s THE INVISIBLE ONES is a wonderfully layered novel that goes beyond the traditional mystery format. It alternates the stories of Ray Lovell, a private investigator who starts the book in the hospital, seriously injured and with no memories of what happened to him, with a young Gypsy named J.J. Over the course of the story, we learn that Ray was hired by a Gypsy man to find his missing daughter, and that part of the reason Ray takes on the case is his own Gypsy heritage. As Ray searches for the daughter, who has been missing for seven years, his investigation takes the reader into the heart of the Romany society, and he begins uncovering mystery after mystery, each one creating a more complex scenario. A wonderful book that gives glimpses inside a very different world that rarely features in novels.
    • 4/5
      The Invisible Ones is an engrossing read. I knew nothing about contemporary Gypsy life before reading this and found that pretty interesting. I loved the nephew, JJ. I think one of clues to the big 'twist' was a bit obvious, and so the ending wasn't as surprising as I think was intended. But that didn't hamper my enjoyment in any way. Recommended.I LOVED Stef Penney's first book, The Tenderness of Wolves and would definitely recommend it, too.
    • 5/5
      THE INVISIBLE ONES by Stef Penney is, no exaggeration, a fantastic read. This mystery/suspense book is a keeper; get it in hard cover. And if you’ve read Penney’s other book, THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES, this book, THE INVISIBLE ONES, is better.Ray Lovell is a private investigator in England. The book begins with him in the hospital, but he doesn’t remember why he’s there. He’s mostly paralyzed, and he’s delirious. No one knows why. This is the first mystery.Chapters with this hospitalized Ray alternate throughout the rest of the book with chapters about how this situation came to be. These chapters are told from two points of view: some chapters are of the earlier, able-bodied Ray and other chapters are of JJ, a 14-year-old gypsy.A man whose daughter had been missing for almost 7 years hired Ray to find her. The man and his daughter are gypsies; Ray, himself, is half gypsy. The daughter married into a gypsy family, of course, so most of the investigation is of them. One of the members of this family is JJ.Ray finds mystery upon mystery upon mystery. You’ll be guessing throughout, first one guess, then another. You’ll think you’re sure of one solution, then guess again. All your guesses will be wrong.I loved this book. Really. I’m not easy to please, but THE INVISIBLE ONES is something special, not simply a plot-driven mystery/suspense book. If you were to force me to say something negative about this book, it would have to be Ray’s attraction to one of the members of the gypsy family. I just don’t see our hero going for that combination of dyed black hair, red lipstick, and red high-heeled shoes, I guess. And he trusts her more than I would; he keeps telling her things that I wish he would keep to himself.This review is of an advanced reader’s copy of THE INVISIBLE ONES, obtained from Putnam Books through librarything.com Early Reviewer program.
    • 5/5
      "The Invisible Ones", by Stef Penney, was such a delightful surprise for me as a reader. It doesn't really fit into one particular category, and the book itself is much, much better than the promos that lead to my interest in obtaining a copy. An intriguing and involving "Gypsy Noir" PI tale, "The Invisible Ones" will hold your interest, and then some! Ray Lovell, half Gypsy or "Romany", is an about-to-be-divorced private investigator who has yet to sign the divorce papers. He broods over his ex-wife, sometimes spying on her and following her, and sometimes he drinks too much for his own good. He is not a sleek, sophisticated "super sleuth". Even though he is not always at his best, he is immediately likeable and has a natural charm all his own. He has the tenacity, instincts, and thought processes which make for a great detective. He doesn't give up--no matter how much he is beaten up! Most of his cases involve cheating spouses, something he knows about from his own wife's infidelity. Against his better nature, he accepts a missing person case from a father trying to find his grown daughter. The family is Romany, and that is why they selected Ray to take the case. The deeper he delves into the facts of the case, the more he explores thoughts about his own heritage. He gets to know himself as he comes to know the Gypsies he must investigate. One of the women he meets, LuLu, has a unique style and appeal that has Ray thinking there may be someone else for him other than his former spouse. He becomes friends with LuLu's half-grown nephew, JJ, who recognizes the goodness in Ray even though he is bent on unearthing the family secrets. What Ray discovers is that the term "missing person" has many different nuances, and he remains determined to solve the puzzles which surround the woman he was hired to find. The most startling revelation of all comes when he discovers that people can be invisible even though they are in plain sight. The narration of the story alternates between the viewpoints of Ray and JJ, both of whom are characters who deserve a happy resolution to their trouble-prone story lines. You will stay with them until the end, and even then, you will want to read more about them. Stef Penney is a terrific storyteller, and I very much look forward to reading her first book, "The Tenderness of Wolves". Highly recommended!Review Copy Gratis Library Thing
    • 5/5
      Ray Lovell is an almost-divorced private investigator who has sworn off missing persons cases. However, when a Gypsy man approaches him to find his long-lost daughter, Ray feels the pull of his Romany past and agrees to help the man. This begins the page-turning, suspense-filled novel, The Invisible Ones, by Stef Penney.Ray has his work cut out for him. Even though his dad was Gypsy, he's an outsider to the Janko family, and he needs to build their trust to help him find the lost girl, Rose Janko. Rose had married Ivo Janko, and according to the family, she had disappeared shortly after the birth of their child, Christo. As Ray investigates, things don't add up as neatly as the Janko family would have him believe.The Invisible Ones has two narrators: Ray, who leads the reader though the investigation, and JJ, the nephew of the missing Rose. JJ is only 14 and on a journey of his own: to help his cousin, Christo, who is ill with a strange disease, and to find more about his own estranged father. Both narrators are complex, emotional and very human - adding a sense of reality to a story that could almost be written off as implausible.Penney executes The Invisible Ones like a writer with 20 years experience under her belt. After her successful debut novel, The Tenderness of Wolves, one might wonder if Penney would suffer from a sophomore slump. To that, I would say "definitely not." The Invisible Ones is a gripping story about grief and loss - one that had me up late at night to learn more about this complex family saga.Fans of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie character will find a welcome home in this novel (Jackson and Ray remind me of each other) - but even if you don't like mysteries or suspense dramas, I would encourage you to give The Invisible Ones a try. At its surface, it's a murder mystery, but when you peel away the layers, the book emerges as a fine piece of writing craft.