Vanish by Tom Pawlik
Publisher's Description:
Three strangers each encounter the same mysterious
storm and awake the next day to find that everyone else has vanished. There’s Conner Hayden, a successful but unscrupulous trial lawyer who has forsaken his family for his career; Helen Krause, a middle-aged model struggling to come to grips with her fading beauty; and Mitch Kent, an enterprising young mechanic unable to escape a past that still haunts him.
Afraid and desperate for answers, their paths eventually cross and they discover they are being watched. Elusive and obscured in shadows, the "observers" are apparently forcing them to relive vivid hallucinations of events from their past. They discover a mute homeless boy in tattered clothing and believe he may hold the key to the mystery, but the "observers" soon become aggressive and the four are forced to flee. When the boy disappears, the four decide to head from Chicago to Washington, D.C., in search of answers...and more survivors. Winner of the 2006 operation first novel contest, Vanish is a nonstop suspense thriller in the vein of Ted Dekker.
My Rating:
My Review:
It already sounds a bit interesting, eh? Maybe a bit like the "rapture" in the Left Behind books?
Vanish is all that and more. In his very first novel, Tom Pawlik has written a thrilling, compelling, raw, intense and absolutely amazing story. Jerry B. Jenkins called it "riveting".
Ok, so we've established that, in my humble opinion, Vanish is pretty cool. Why? Because he combines his imagination, pen and paper, and his faith. The most important element? The faith that he barely lets shine through the story until the very end, where it bursts out and dazzles and touches you to your very heart.
Now, let me be truthful here. Everything is not all flowers and happiness and Prince Charming. I was scared out of my skin with each page that I read. In fact, I came very close to not reading the whole thing because it had me doubting that it was even a Christian (or Christian enough) book, and I was very nervous that I would have nightmares and be scared of my shadow for the rest of my life. (No kidding.) Maybe you're not as sensitive as me to that scarey, thriller stuff, and that's great! That will probably give you better chances of not being scared of your shadow after reading this book. :). But in any case, if you think you will be fine with it, tackle it! I really believe that you will not regret it (as long as you finish the book!).
LINKS!!!
Buy/Look at the new sequel to Vanish, Valley of the Shadow here (Amazon) or here (Christianbook.com). All ratings so far have been 4 or 5 stars!
Random comments I want to add:
- The plot is practically impossible to predict; I was very impressed.
- Don't be afraid to turn the page. There's no ghost behind your closet door, no matter how much you suspect one to be there.
- I was supposed to do 3 days of posts on that, however, circumstances intervened! But at least I'm able to do 1 post on it.
- http://csffblogtour.com/ I just typed up a huge thing about this link and lost it. In any case, this is the place that tells me what to review when, gets me free copies of books, etc., etc. Read up and/or join the club if you're interested! It's really really cool. :) I've already received 2 free books that are some of the best books I've ever read.
- This book revealed a lot to me about the human mind, the way we think things are real when they aren't. Don't count on the eye-opening to happen during the book, though. It all happens at the end, the glorious end...
- This book did have quite a bit of violence. And did I mention scary material? And cliffhangers. :) Major ones.
- Overall, Vanish was worth the fear and expectation and worries. I guarantee that it will blow you away. But remember...you have to read to the end to GET IT! You won't get it unless you READ TO THE END! Don't give up on it.
...VaNiSh...
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Other people who blogged about Vanish the past several days who are CSSF Bloggers: (It can help you get a more balanced view of the book than if you got your opinion of it strictly from me!)
Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Grace Bridges
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Alex Field
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Ryan Heart
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Margaret
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Donita K. Paul
Epic Rat
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
I really hope you decide to read it! It's worth it!
Questions? Leave a comment!
Love,
3 comments:
yer bringing that book over tonight, right?
yep! Just now added it to my bags. :D
Stephanie, you sound like me! I do NOT like to read scary stuff. But this one caught me, too. And the end did make it worth it.
Good post!
Becky
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