The 11-year-old school bully has gone missing- she has seemingly vanished into thin air. Everyone says that they know nothing about her mysterious disappearance...... but everyone is lying. Nelly Chester gave a lot of people a lot of reasons to dislike her. She had no respect for authority; was a burden on her poverty-stricken parents; routinely broke all the rules and, worst of all, was a nasty, vicious and merciless bully. So when Nelly disappears from school one Friday afternoon, at first all fingers are pointed at the mother of one of her weakest victims... until the police discover that the rebellious child had been planning to meet up with an internet boyfriend at the local park. However, nothing is as it seems as the investigation continues to take a number of dark turns, and the lies and scandals of the staff, the parents and even the other school kids are gradually uncovered.No-one can be trusted in this gripping, fast-paced suspense thriller. Electrifying twists and turns on every page will keep you permanently on the edge of your seat, leaving you second-guessing the truth behind Nelly's disappearance, right up until the final nail-biting chapter...A chilling, frantic story of secrets, deceit and every parent's worst nightmare, An Unauthorised Absence will have you hooked from the first page and won't let you go. What happened to Nelly Chester? Will she live to tell the tale? Why is everyone so keen to keep the circumstances surrounding her disappearance a secret?