Notes for Reading Groups and Book Clubs

M R Hall welcomes any feedback and discussion topics from reading groups and individual readers for The Disappeared.

In the meantime, he has suggested some topics for discussion which preoccupied him while writing the book. 

Now available to buy in paperback.

Reading Group notes for book groups for The disappeared by M R Hall




The Disappeared by M R Hall is published in paperback by PanMacmillan in the UK

1. Do you sympathise with Mrs Jamal when she first meets Jenny at her office? If not, why not?  Do you find people from more overtly emotional cultures than your own harder to sympathise with?

2. Is it a good idea for Jenny to have Ross living with her given her mental state? Should a mother share her psychological torment with a teenage child or should she disguise it?

3. Do you understand what draws Jenny to Alex McAvoy? Do you find yourself drawn to him? Why?

4. The more Jenny learns about Alec McAvoy, the more dangerous he seems. Why do some women find dangerous fictional characters attractive (e.g. Tony Soprano)? Should they?

5. The academic, Tariq Miah, says: ‘We live in a country that doesn’t know itself ...We keep moving, but beyond the base struggle for survival we have no idea why.’ And, ‘Without a story, we are nothing.’  Does he have a point?  Is this an argument against a multicultural society?  How does this sentiment fit with him being a Muslim in a Western country?

6. Islamist organisations such as Hizb ut Tuhrir that advocate Islamic revolution by stealth rather than violence are mostly legal in Western countries, including the UK and US. Should political groups which seek the overthrow of democracy be tolerated?

7. Nazim and Rafi were searching for an identity which they found, albeit temporarily, through radical Islam.  Do they have to take any blame for this? Who was to blame for their disaffection with the prevailing culture? Is their journey proof that a multicultural society doesn’t work?

8. If Nazim and Rafi could be proven to have been on the brink of carrying out a terrorist act, would their killings have been justifiable?  Is State licensed execution ever acceptable?

9. What do you think happens to Alec McAvoy at the end of the book?

10. How should Jenny react to her father’s parting shot? How do you think she will react?

If your reading group has an opinion on these questions or would like to suggest topics for discussion for other book clubs please contact M R Hall by email.