Vanish

Large dark clouds churned; lightning flashed, acrid smoke of a chemical fire drifted in the sky. Something was wrong. This didn't look right. These thoughts were those of Connor, Mitch, and Helen right before they got dizzy and fell asleep. All of them woke up to find their lives forever changed. Where did everyone go? Why were they all alone? Each left their homes in a desperate search for others - there had to be others. Connor, Mitch and Helen find one another in their search for the Vanished. All agree they hear whispers and they are being watched. All are afraid of what was out there creeping in the shadows of their city. Each were afraid to sleep. Were the "watchers" the ones responsible for the very vivid hallucinations they were having? They agreed, "together" they could fight anyone or anything even this unknown force that kept watching and following them. Connor, Mitch and Helen needed answers and they needed them now. What was their next move? Washington, D.C, that's where they would go to get answers. People there would know what happened. Their mission becomes urgent when the "watchers" get aggressive. As the survivors journey to Washington there is a surge of new hope within them. Finally many of their questions would soon be answered. This book is thought provoking. Tom Pawlik writes a scary, fascinating, suspenseful story; one you won't want to miss. I couldn't read the pages in this book fast enough. I had to find out what happened to Connor, Mitch, and Helen next. You will too. Nora St.Laurent- Book Club Servant Leader www.psalm516.blogspot.com

The less you know before you start this book, the better. Just trust me and buy it - you'll be glad you did! I'm happy I didn't even know that there was going to be a twist so that when I hit it, I had the most awesome reaction. This book just sucks you right in and doesn't let go even at the end. One thing that I really, really appreciated about this author and this story is how each of the characters acts. Their reactions to the situation are very realistic; there's no fakiness in his writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and so did my sister and my husband (both of whom read this far faster than I'd ever seen either of them devour a book).

This book was a great read! It reminded me of Dean Koontz's Phantoms a bit, but is from a new voice in fiction--Tom Pawlik. Pawlik kept me guessing until the end. I can't wait to see what he has coming next.

I love this book. Pawlik creates a world like no other this side of the Twilight Zone. Other reviews can offer you the story detail, so I won't repeat them here. I'll just give a piece of advice...read this book!

Reviewed by Wendy Cleveland for Reader Views (6/08) Let me begin by saying "Vanish" was a very scary novel. It centers around three main characters: Conner Hayden, a divorced trial lawyer is spending the weekend with his daughter Rachel; Helen Krause, a middle-aged model is having dinner with her son Kyle who is leaving for New York; and Mitch Kent, a mechanic, is about to meet up with his girlfriend to ask her to marry him. During the course of the evening, a mysterious dark clouded storm takes over Chicago. Not remembering anything about the previous evening's events, each of them wakes up and discovers that everyone else has disappeared. Afraid and wanting answers each sets out to find other survivors. During the course of the novel, we discover that each of them has an event in their past that they can't seem to forget. Conner's son, Matthew, drowned in their swimming pool while under his care. He seems to keep appearing in visions since the storm. Mitch's mother died from cancer when he was young, and his father called him before the storm to tell him that he was also dying. Both of them appear in visions to Mitch. Helen's son Kyle appears blistered and burned in her visions. Not only do they have to face their pasts, they each encounter faceless beings who whisper to them only at night. Eventually, the three cross paths, and decide to take a road trip to Indiana to seek out other storm survivors. In Indiana, they meet up with a strange farmer named Howard. This is when it starts to get really good. The ending was like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. You are just waiting for Rod Sterling to peak out from behind the curtain. "Vanish" was the Winner of the 2006 Operation First Novel Contest sponsored by the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, and it is evident why. Jerry Jenkins was the co-author of the "Left Behind" series, which this novel reminded me of. Just to think that something like this could really happen is very unsettling. It makes you not want to take anything or anyone for granted, and to make the most of every moment you have on this earth. I highly recommend "Vanish" to anyone who is a fan of the "Left Behind" series as well as books by Ted Dekker. You won't be disappointed. Watch out the next time you see a storm coming.