Meet lawyer Conner Hayden, who is a man obsessed with his work. 50-year-old Helen Krause is desperately clinging to her fading youth and beauty; and Mitch Kent is a young mechanic who angrily left home with dreams of starting his own auto repair shop. One night, they watch an immense black storm roll towards them, containing strange flashes of light within it. Each one wakes to find they are alone in a deserted city.
Strange, inhuman creatures are watching, following, and waiting. Eventually the three strangers encounter one another. They also meet up with other travelers such as a boy who won’t speak; a couple of gang members; and an elderly farmer. Each struggle with burdens from the past that appear in the form of incredibly vivid hallucinations as they become more aggressively pursued by the mysterious and increasingly malicious beings whose touch produces a blistering rash.
“And the gray creatures emerged from behind him… White soulless eyes gazed at him. Burned through him. Mouths gaped open. Black tongues rolled forward. Thick saliva, like tar, dripped from their jaws. The stench of death and rot filled Conner’s nostrils.”
While Pawlik’s opening five chapters were weak, its suspenseful pacing found me finishing the novel in almost a sitting. The premise of Vanish captured my interest from the beginning. Author Tom Pawlik jumped right into the action and spares the reader from long chunks of back-story by weaving in the details throughout the novel.
He had my train of thought dashing down all of the expected rabbit trails given the scenario laid out. I couldn’t decide between rapture and aliens. In truth, I was surprised by the unfolded revelation as the book reached its climax.
Every scene moved the story forward. Pawlik was very intentional about what scenes and viewpoints to include and every chapter ended with a cliffhanger moment. Besides its slow start and the never truly explained empty city with rusted cars and rotting meat, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was definitely eerie and teetered on the creepy at times.
Vanish won the 2006 Operation First Novel contest held every year by the Christian Writers Guild and in 2008 the Christy award. Be sure not to miss Pawlik’s sequel titled, Valley of the Shadow.
GENRE: Suspense
