Vanished is not my cup of tea. I read fifteen chapters (not even a quarter through) and it did not perk my interest, but that is not to say that it would not perk yours. Right now, I'm still feisty when it comes to Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. Many times I find books that are fabulous and I cannot get enough of, but sometimes there is too much of reality and science for me. My reason that I read, be a good one or not - it is still mine, is to escape reality. I delve into the world of my characters and live within their lives. Sometimes things are too close to the harshness of reality that it is not an escape. That has nothing to do with the skill of an author, just more what I'm looking for in a story. If you are looking for a recommendation for Christian Sci-Fi & Fantasy/or Speculative Fiction I have plenty though. ( )

Vanished is not my cup of tea. I read fifteen chapters (not even a quarter through) and it did not perk my interest, but that is not to say that it would not perk yours. Right now, I'm still feisty when it comes to Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. Many times I find books that are fabulous and I cannot get enough of, but sometimes there is too much of reality and science for me. My reason that I read, be a good one or not - it is still mine, is to escape reality. I delve into the world of my characters and live within their lives. Sometimes things are too close to the harshness of reality that it is not an escape. That has nothing to do with the skill of an author, just more what I'm looking for in a story. If you are looking for a recommendation for Christian Sci-Fi & Fantasy/or Speculative Fiction I have plenty though. ( )

When I learned that Kathryn Mackel had a new novel out I was excited and had to snatch my copy as quick as I could get my hands on it. I love stories like this that are reminiscent of others like The Mist, I Am Legend and TV shows like Jericho and Lost. People isolated with only themselves to work their way out of whatever got them in this situation in the first place.

Several things come together to isolate the town of Barcester from the outside world. A terrorist bombing and a strange experiment that we know of by book's end. It's up to police Sargent Jason Logan to keep the town together as they unite to help the wounded and figure out exactly what's going on and who's responsible.

Kathryn Mackel develops a great story with lots of potential here, as well as some engaging characters to care about as you make your way with them through the carnage left by this attack, wherever it came from. There are a number of characters I care enough about to want to know what happens. Mackel's writing is as good as ever. Her plot has a lot of suspense and mystery to keep readers guessing.

There's only a couple of things about this novel that kept it from getting a five star rating from me. One of them, unfortunately, the author has little to no power over.

1) The packaging. As has been said in other reviews Vanished is the first in a series. That said, my copy of the novel doesn't indicate this anywhere. Not the front or back covers. Nothing between the covers. So imagine my surprise when I got to the 'end' of the story. This was poor design on the part of the publisher in my humble opinion.

2) The ending. Not knowing that this was book one in a series I got to the end and a character walks into a church. That's it. No closure of any of the story lines. I understand that the big plot point (who did this and why) should not be resolved until the final book. Having only one thread resolved would've been a good clue that it was the beginning of a series. However, every series I've personally read were written so that each book had one thread that was resolved by the last page while the rest of the threads were left dangling for book two. At which point one of those threads would get resolved by the end of book two and so on.

I love Kathryn Mackel's novels. The Hidden and The Departed are two wonderful novels. And the writing and story in Vanished are just as good, maybe better. But this abrupt ending with nothing at all resolved left me dissatisfied. I'm not sure I'll read book two. I'll have to wait and see on that one.

All this said, if you're aware that you're going to be reading a series Vanished is a great thrill ride. Hop on. Just brace yourself for the sudden stop. ( )