Having just finished & enjoyed The Academy well enough, I moved on to The Vanishing, another one of Bentley Little's works. (Having heard the earlier stuff is the best, I figured I'd save the best for last.) I enjoyed this better than the previous one, that's for sure. Reading this was like a literary version of a Full Moon picture, if you know what I mean. (In a good way.)

Brian's father has been missing ever since Brian was young. Years later during a rash of horrific murders, Brian's mother begins to receive strange messages from her husband- all written in a cryptic symbol language. Meanwhile social worker Carrie has been attempting to discover exactly how one of her charges managed to give birth to a monstrous creature- and who might be the father. Little do they know that they're on the trail of an unspeakable evil that has been around for ages...

I liked this book, but I can't say that it was the scariest book I'd ever read. Like another reviewer put it, this is more disturbing than scary. Even though you'll probably roll your eyes at one point or another, Bentley just seems to have a way with words. I just couldn't stop reading this book & ended up finishing it in about a day. It's a quick read & it makes me look forward to his older books. I did like this better than The Academy, probably because I'm not getting beat over the head with Little's viewpoints. (There is a bit of that in here, but it is blended in better.)

In the end, the main flaw of this book is that the ending is a little anti-climactic. It is a better scene than the one in The Academy, but it just felt a little rushed & a let down. I can't say more without ruining the ending, though. It wasn't anti-climactic enough to ruin the book for me, but enough that it was just a little like a balloon deflating slightly. There are other flaws, such as unanswered questions (which appear to be a normal thing with Little's books), plot holes & deux ex machinas. Those I was willing to overlook, since I mostly kept viewing this book in a "cheesy horror flick" sort of way & I think many other readers will be just as forgiving of them. It's the ending that I think will bug most people.

This book just isn't going to be for all audiences. If you are squeamish about sex, gore or are just looking for something that will actually scare you, you'll probably want to look elsewhere or maybe just check this out from the library. If you want a nice read that won't make you think too hard, then go for this book. As for me, these books will remain a guilty pleasure (like eating Pringles) for right now.