Hmm. I don't really know what to say other than this was disappointing, especially after reading A Head Full of Ghosts. Here are a few of the issues I had. First of all, the first person present tense was just...odd. I understand the use of it, like we are supposed to be experiencing the investigation as it happens, but it felt clinical and monotone in a sense. It really took me out of the story.

Which leads me to the story. Meh. Kind of boring for the most part. The tension didn't really exist, the "supernatural" elements felt like the author trying to be clever when it wasn't really clever it was just misleading, etc. I really liked the end of the novel and the beginning of the novel, but everything in between tasted like plain toast.

I really wished Tremblay had stuck to what made his previous novel so good--a young child's point of view of horrible things that are happening. That is what made Ghosts such a spectacular novel. This felt like a procedural. ( )

Finished, at long last! Tremblay is skilled at keeping his readers in suspense until the very end, where he reveals that true terror is found in the everyday senselessness of the world. ( )

Well done mystery with a bit of horror, both psychological, and perhaps, supernatural. The only thing I did t enjoy was some of the dialogue between the kids in the story… the constant use of words like chirps and bardo felt like a forced effort to make it seem like there was some insight into kids lives. The rest of the behavior of the kids felt natural a d true to life ( )

I have heard amazing things about Head Full of Ghosts so I bought it, and have misplaced it before reading it. In the meanwhile I bought a couple other books by this author, this being one. I have seen many reviews that state they're disappointed in this book compared to the aforementioned. Without having read the prior, I can't compare. What I can say is that this book wasn't exactly what I expected (although what I expected, I'm honestly not sure) and I was a bit disappointed in that aspect. I did like this book, enjoyed reading it, found it pretty realistic, would recommend it, and most importantly to me - I look forward to more books by Paul Tremblay. (Especially Head Full of Ghosts which, if I can't find very soon, I will buy again!) My suggestion to those who are considering Disappearance at Devil's Rock is not to listen to the negative reviews nor go into it with expectations. Give it a chance. ( )

I felt the dialogue between the boys let this book down a little....too much repetition and overuse of odd words they had made up, like "hardo". ( )

This book was heartbreaking and moody and weird, but I feel the most need to mention that I "read" this as an audio book, which is something I usually don't do, and there's a character named Janice and hearing my name spoken so much freaked me the fuck out. ( )

What an ambiguous book. There is a lot to dig into. I loved the references to urban legends, folk tales, satanic panic, and Joyce Carol Oates. The repeating themes of parenting your parents, being abandoned and loss of agency.

Tremblay is very good at writing teenagers. He did an excellent job in [b:A Head Full of Ghosts|23019294|A Head Full of Ghosts|Paul Tremblay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415678368l/23019294._SY75_.jpg|42563937] too. Teenagers annoy the heck out of me. It's the reason I pushed this book aside earlier. Reading Tommy's, Josh's and Luis's dialogs were so annoying. Honestly, I can't stand teenagers. (And yes, I look back on myself as a teen with annoyance.) I don't know how teachers do it.

So Tremblay writes them well. They are incomprehensible. They can love their family at the same time they lie, steal, sulk, yell nonsense, sneak out, drink beer - just do incredibly stupid things. Tremblay makes it clear they aren't deranged psychopaths - They're just kids growing up and working their way into their adult skins.

Elizabeth and Kate were also well written, as were the tertiary characters.

Arnold. There are a lot of ways to interpret his character. Is he supernatural? A conman? A seer as he claims? Or is he just a batshit crazy borderline pedo? I read through the other reviews and I still don't know. Certainly he is malevolent.

Some of his statements seem to move his character into a different era. Tent revivals? Hobos? Those things are completely in the past. A lot of his stories are about different times and different places. Yet he talks about them as if he were there. Is he a proxy for the devil? Is he possessed? Or is he just a pathetic conman who manipulated a bunch of insecure boy children to do what he couldn't do?

The answers are ambiguous. The end of the book was ambiguous. You'll get no answers. I'm happy about that. It's something to think over instead of having an answer neatly wrapped up in a bow. ( )

This is a page turner. A teenage boy disappears and his mother, sister, and friends deal with the aftermath. ( )

So, if you look back through my old reviews, you'll find this isn't the first book I've read by Paul Tremblay. If you stop and read that review, you'll see that I gave it three stars because I wanted my heart broken and didn't get it. Well, I got it.

This book is definitely a horror novel. But it's also very moving. As with Head Full of Ghosts, the pacing is excellent. It draws you in with quick, short chapters at the beginning, then slowly draws those chapters out toward the end. This tactic really makes sure you are emotionally devastated as you reach the end. Very effective.

I also went on and on about cleverness in my review of Head Full of Ghosts. The cleverness (and some nostalgia) is still there, but it's much more subtle, which helped keep me more in the story. (Also, one of the clever little callbacks references one of the most terrifying short stories ever. Good call Tremblay.)

Conclusion: this book deserves all the hype. Read it. ( )

Damn you, [a:Paul Tremblay|648612|Paul Tremblay|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1415058580p2/648612.jpg]. I hate you.

First, you give me [b:A Head Full of Ghosts|23019294|A Head Full of Ghosts|Paul Tremblay|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1415678368s/23019294.jpg|42563937], a simply stunning book that I'm still thinking about, months later.

Now this.

I loved this book. Every friggin' word. Tremblay's a damn storytelling Jedi.

I don't even know what else to write about this. Except, READ IT. ( )

I am an admittedly cheap date when it comes to horror fiction but I am not undiscerning. The two unforgiveable sins in this genre are (1) mistaking grue for horror (spilled guts may be horrifying but this trope requires an abundance of splatter to maintain terror) and (2) a brilliant premise gone missing because of the writer's laziness or lack of talent. That said, I read them all, pecking around for the best, and so I know the real deal when I read it: Disappearance at Devil's Rock is so good that it can't strictly be called horror fiction. Like the best in this niche, it is a Sears Xmas catalogue of the fears and apprehensions that live within us all. And it is so well written that you'll want brownie points for reading it. ( )

I listened to the audiobook edition of this "every mother's nightmare" story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tommy's disappearance, the mystery of the older friend the boys made prior to his disappearance, and the worrisome supernatural element of his being "still there" at home with his mother and sister create a nice creepy atmosphere throughout.

My main issue with the tale is the transcript style that appears in some places, particularly near the end. Reading police reports is about as engaging in fiction as it is in real life, which is to say that it isn't. In the audiobook edition, it became a bit annoying at times. Other than that, I loved this tale. ( )

For a book that is only a few hundred pages long, this was a massive drag. The first half drags on with long sections of annoying teen boys using annoying teen speak (what the fuck does "Chirps!" mean??), and unreadable diary entries. Then, in the second half when the investigation finally gets underway and things start to be revealed, it continues to drag. There is a transcript of interviews that goes on dozens of pages. Drag, drag, drag. I blew through that part so I don't even know what really happened. A Head Full of Ghosts had annoying inserts as well but at least I liked and cared about the central character and the mystery of what was really going on to make it worth bearing. I didn't care about any of this, not Tommy or his friends or his single mother or why they apparently did what they did. The only character I liked at all was Tommy's sister, although she seemed much too advanced for an eleven year-old. I guess I'm done with this author. ( )

An author who writes in his own style and created his own genre bridging the supernatural and real life paranoia. Horror? I’m not sure I would categorise his novels in that genre, but horror covers such a wide spectrum these days. Sometimes his work has a Young Adult flavour, but then as many of his characters are teens or children, this is fine. This novel sums up a mother’s terror over her missing child well, yet the true horror here comes from the way Tremblay captures the flavour of social media, and journalism, the criticism and blame aimed at victims. ( )

both more and less scary than I imagined. for the best, really. ( )

Friends keep dark secrets
shadow men skulk in the night
#FindTommy. ( )

Elizabeth sends her a list of groceries. As she types milk 1% and diet soda and 1 lb turkey and cheese and bread she wonders how it was she got here, to this particular moment; calmly texting an ordinary grocery list seconds after shutting off a national cable news show discussing the evils of her missing son.

3.5 ⭐️

This review can also be found on my blog.

This took me a bit to get into but ended up being quite thrilling. There were some very spooky bits and the "twist" (I suppose it could be called) was so disturbing it actually made me nauseous and I had to put down the book for a bit. This is an interesting combination of horror and thriller, and it's hard to figure out which the book really is, so I'd classify it as both. I didn't feel any of the characters besides Elizabeth were particularly compelling, but I did find the plot interesting and am glad I read it.

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Ko-fi ( )

I am giving this two stars in the Goodreads mousehover-and-this-is-what-they're-telling-me-two-stars-means sense -- "it was ok" (no punctuation). I think that Tremblay is a good writer, but the story didn't compel me to turn pages. The weird typeface choices were also somewhat annoying. Maybe now that I consider it, I think that Tremblay did such a fantastic job of communicating the characters of 14 year old boys that it made me want to put down the book. Guess I just don't find myself wanting to spend an extended amount of time with young boys who are drinking, riding bikes, playing video games, and obsessed with zombies. When I go to a mall and there is a cluster of junior high kids screaming, laughing, and playing around I can only stand it for a few minutes before I move on. I'm trying to decide who the _target audience would be for this novel and I'm coming up with... preteen boys.

It reminded me of the Netflix series "Stranger Things" (which I really dug!), but without further development of the adult characters. ( )

Disappearance at Devil's Rock had me twisted around its little finger right up until the last two chapters. Then I was saddened by the fact that it was over.

Elizabeth gets that dreaded middle of the night call from one of her son's friend's asking if her son was home. Of course, he wasn't and so begins the masterful telling of this taut, mystery thriller. Where was Tommy? He ran into the woods, but to where? Why are there so many reports of "shadowmen" in their small town of Ames? Are they related to Tommy's disappearance? What about Tommy's diary pages that show up in the middle of the floor during the night?

I can't say anything more about the plot, but I can say more about the writing. This book flowed easily, the smooth writing carried me along, even when I wanted to start dragging my feet to make the experience last a little longer. I only had one issue with this book that left me briefly disappointed, and that was that this is not really a "horror" story. It's more of a mystery thriller book than anything else.

Disappearance at Devil's Rock was a pleasing, quick read, with a flowing writing style that flies right along until all the secrets concealed within are revealed. Trust me, you want to be there when that happens.

Highly recommended to fans of mystery thrillers!

You can pre-order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-at-Devils-Rock-Novel/dp/0062363263/ref=sr_1... at devils rock

*Thank you to Edelweiss and to William Morrow for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.*



( )

In Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay, a teenage boy goes missing and a series of strange events indicates supernatural forces may have something to do with his disappearance.

Late one night, Elizabeth Sanderson receives the phone call that every parent dreads-her thirteen year old son Tommy has vanished from a sleepover with his friends Luis and Josh. The boys snuck out from Josh's house with a backpack full of beer and hiked to an isolated group of rocks in nearby Borderland State Park. Josh and Luis lost sight of Tommy and after searching for hours, the boys returned to Josh's house with high hopes that Tommy returned without them. A widespread search turns up no sign of the missing boy and Elizabeth quickly becomes convinced that Tommy is dead after she sees what she believes is her son's ghost. Mystifying happenings at home and eerie sightings around the neighborhood seem to corroborate her hunch, but startling entries from Tommy's diary take the investigation in an unexpected direction that is quickly confirmed by new revelations from Josh and Luis during subsequent interviews. Despite this new information, Tommy's whereabouts remain a mystery and Elizabeth holds out hope that her son might still be alive.

Living in a small town where everyone seems to know everyone, Elizabeth has no reason to distrust Tommy or his eleven year old sister Kate. Despite the shocking call in the middle of the night, she does not think anything sinister has happened to Tommy and initially, she assumes that her son is lost somewhere in the vast park. After searching for hours, Elizabeth is exhausted when she sees what she believes is Tommy's ghost and she is certain her son is dead. However, within a few days, her despair turns to hope when pages from his diary begin mysteriously appearing and reports start pouring in about strange shadows appearing in townspeople's windows late at night.

Initially, the boys' late night adventure in the state park appears to be nothing but a harmless escapade. Tommy's early diary entries are the first indication that the friends' summer activities were not quite as innocent as their parents believed. After the police re-interview Josh and Luis, alarming information begins to emerge about what the friends were doing in the Borderlands. After Elizabeth finds the remainder of Tommy's diary passages, the horrifying truth is finally revealed, but her hopes remain high that her son will be found alive.

Although a little slow-paced, Disappearance at Devil's Rock is a spellbinding mystery that is impossible to put down. The characters are multi-faceted and their reactions to the various situations are completely believable. The storyline is complex and multi-layered and Paul Tremblay masterfully keeps readers guessing whether Tommy's disappearance is the result of supernatural forces or earthly foul play. A chilling, suspense-laden mystery that I highly recommend to fans of the genre. ( )

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was much more of a slow start in my opinion than A Head Full of Ghosts, which I read right before it, but when the existence of the Arnold character was revealed, it really started to pick up for me. The illustration included in the story was genuinely creepy and, by the end of it, sad.

I really enjoyed the way that the information about Tommy was revealed to the reader slowly over time, despite some characters knowing what happened from the beginning. I also thought it was very interesting that Arnold as depicted in chapters from the boys' perspectives was such a different character from the man depicted from an adult perspective. I had a hard time even picturing him as the same person. It's possible he was much more collected with the boys and his sanity had suffered after everything that had happened, but since he had been doing creepy things before they even met, I'm more inclined to believe this is the effect of the narrators being either impressed and intimidated by his age and "coolness" or old enough to see him for what he really was. It also gives me the creeps because I knew people in high school who hung out with adults around town sometimes and this kind of thing could have easily happened to anyone.

I also thought it was a great touch that Tommy's death was only ever told from Arnold's warped perspective. The reader knows right away he is dead but it's so much creepier to deduce it from the murderer's delusions.

I have some really mixed feelings about the ending, as well. It seems like Tommy's ghost is the one who revealed the last of the pages and is still able to communicate with his mom, hence the "Don't leave; I'm still here" messages. This made me so sad that they actually were leaving, and I wanted to know if Elizabeth had been communicating with him at all before that move out day and, if so, how she came to decide she wanted to abandon that last tie to her son. I'm assuming it was the author making a more paranormal interpretation of the idea that his memory haunted the family too much in that house, driving them to leave, but I still wanted more.

My only complaint aside from what I've mentioned here is that my copy had a number of typos in it, for whatever reason. Otherwise, this was a great book. ( )

I enjoyed the Oates shout-out in this WAY more than I probably should have, but I also think that it kind of acted as a spoiler. Still a fun read though. ( )

Just couldn't finish it. I wanted to know the ending, but before I was halfway through, I couldn't stand to read the word "hardo" again. The dialog between the boys felt repetitious. I very much enjoyed the author's first book, but just couldn't get into this one. ( )

Another excellent novel by Paul Tremblay. I mostly listened to the audio edition but it has the kind of ending I wanted to reread, so I read the ending in the Kindle edition. The Kindle edition has nice extras such as My 1970s Satanic Horror Childhood (http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2016/07/14/paul-tremblay-my-1970s-satanic-horror-childhood/) and extended liner notes (has spoilers but can also be found online.) ( )

Wavered between three and four stars because of the ending—as in the last few paragraphs.
Decided to go with three because the author, in a follow-up essay included with the book, fully spoils the surprise ending to the film The Wicker Man! So yeah, do not read the footnotes to the essay if you have not seen the films he mentions. Glad I wasn’t spoiled! ( )