COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | How to Disappear Completely

In his second novel, Nicholas Sheppard explores the complexity of how young men become perpetrators of mass violence, asking the question, are monsters bred or born?

During a Connecticut winter, a college dropout, his potential blighted by grievance, becomes set on lashing out at society in an all too familiar act of mass violence.

An overburdened young social worker is the only one to see the warning signs, but may not have enough influence to prevent a catastrophe.

How to Disappear Completely is a timely novel, lit with insight into how young men become perpetrators of mass violence, the complex layers that accrue, of isolation, misogyny, radical ideology and mental illness, the challenges of intervention, and the question, ultimately, of whether a monster is born or bred.

About the Author

Nicholas Sheppard is an Auckland-based author with dual New Zealand and American citizenship. He is a freelance journalist and opinion editorialist, with perspectives published abroad in The Spectator, Politico, Sky News, Huffington Post, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Medium and Flux Magazine, and at home in The Herald, Stuff, Canvas Magazine, The Listener, North & South and The Dominion. He has provided United States political commentary on RNZ. He has taught English and creative writing. He has devised and written public relations and communications content, including for charities and non-profits. He has a popular YouTube channel focused on culture and entertainment, with thousands of subscribers, and collaborates with high- profile YouTubers who have subscribers in the millions.

A Note From the Author

‘How to Disappear Completely chronicles the decline of a young man whose potential is blighted by grievance, setting him on a path to lashing out at society in all too familiar act of mass violence. I felt there hasn’t yet been a comprehensive exploration, in fiction, of the layers that accrue within such young men, of grievance, misogyny, radical ideology, mental illness, isolation and societal dislocation.

The genesis for the story came from observing how it is no longer remarkable for a person to go through an entire day without interacting with anyone: from filling up a car at the self-service screen, to the self-service area at the supermarket, to an automated book dispensing service at a public library, to meals and packages placed at their doorstep.

I researched dozens of incidents and case studies, and psychology papers and essays, felt some essential element was lacking, and began to feel that fiction, with in-depth character studies, can open up different, and useful perspectives on the hardest issues. I sought to add layers and characterization, not to the extent of humanizing or being sympathetic, or being too stylistic, but to create a narrative where, through techniques ranging from realism, to surrealism, to literary fiction, to the inclusion of online text and message board language and formats, there would be, by the end, some insights into how these irrational, tragic events occur.

I sought to write a novel that would challenge the reader, not through making them recoil at graphic content, but by prompting them to contend with, and then resist the character’s spiteful rationales, and decide for themselves the extent to which he is driven by libertarian ideology, or psychosis, and whether his descent is inevitable. The text respects the reader and seeks their involvement, to navigate their way through the text, to gauge the moment at which the character’s humanity disappears, and to draw their own conclusions.

I wanted to balance this with a portrayal of ideal masculinity, in the form of a second protagonist, a social worker who has formed strong relationships, and whose hard work is often overlooked and under-appreciated by society. This addition was intended to open up the book, and provide an extra dramatic tension and narrative drive, as the two storylines converge.’ Nicholas Sheppard

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