Whoa… real creepy aliens, frightening situations and slow, unsettling understanding. Tom Pawlik spins a fascinating tale that introduces three city dwellers to each other and to us through a terrifying storm and an even worse awakening. Connor, Mitch, and Helen all come to each other after a black out in a weird storm that rolls of the big lake and covers Chicago. When the storm lifts, the city is seemingly deserted. The few folks left begin to connect, and in desperation agree to look for answers to what has happened to them, and to the inhabitants of the city. The three main characters turn out to have some heavy stuff in their pasts, and very slowly and skillfully Pawlik lets you know that all is not well with their seemingly orderly lives. Soon they are being aggressively pursued by some truly horrible “beings”… are they aliens? We’re not sure, but they ramp up the threats as the story moves along, capturing and removing several peripheral characters that show up here and there. Mr. Pawlik even draws a scene straight out of one of my own personal nightmares. The trio takes refuge from the nasty “creatures” on a small boat on Lake Michigan, hoping that the bad guys can’t swim. The scene he describes of large unidentified objects bashing the boat, in the inky darkness of the enormous lake takes me back to a moment in my youth when I… well, never mind.
Vanishing has believable dialogue, delicately drawn moments of pure terror, and a marvelous thought provoking wrap up that makes this book a satisfying page turner of a read.
Reviewed by Jae Anderson
