The half life of stars - Louise Wener

Have you ever wished you could walk away from it all? Not for a day, not for a week, but for good.

Claire's older brother Daniel has disappeared. He leaves work one Friday afternoon, shortly before Christmas, and vanishes into thin air. Married, successful, rich, there seems no reason why he would abandon his life. Has he been killed? Has he been kidnapped? Or has he just had enough?

Set between London and Miami, this is the story of a family with ghosts to bury. It opens on the day of the Challenger shuttle explosion at Cape Canaveral; a tragic moment that rips this family apart and sets Daniel's disappearance in motion some 18 years later.

In the midst of it all sits Claire, who knows Daniel best. She becomes convinced that she knows where her older brother is and sets off on a journey to find him.

Part mystery, part love story, part comic road trip, this is the story of a woman unravelling her family's secrets and healing their wounds, while finding a route to real love.