The plot centers on a man whose obsession over the fate of his missing lover from years ago drives him to confront her abductor and pay the ultimate sacrifice in order to know the truth.

This section of the novella ends with him abducting Saskia, but we are still not told what happens to her, though the book does provide clues.

His obsession with discovering what happened to Saskia has grown to such an extreme that he has taken out a large loan to post advertisements in papers throughout France, hoping that someone might be able to provide him with information.

After a long discussion between the two men, Rex agrees to Lemorne's proposal, and proceeds to drink a cup of coffee laced with a sedative.

In 1993, an English translation by Claire Nicolas White was released under the title The Vanishing (Random House, ISBN 0-679-41973-X).

The novella was adapted by George Sluizer (from a script by Krabbé) into the award-winning 1988 film Spoorloos (international title: The Vanishing), which starred Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu as Raymond Lemorne, Gene Bervoets as Rex Hofman, Johanna ter Steege in a European Film Award winning performance as Saskia (whose surname was changed to Wagter), and Gwen Eckhaus as Lieneke.