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The Vanishing
With his novels, “Bentley Little has created nothing less than a nightmarishly brilliant tour de force of modern life in America.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message...“ This is where it begins. ”
Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints.
And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change—and their parents, by a mounting fear.
Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling crimes. But they shouldn’t look too deeply into the lives of the victims. It’s quite dark there. And God help them, they won’t like what they find.
In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message...“ This is where it begins. ”
Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints.
And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change—and their parents, by a mounting fear.
Social worker Carrie Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling crimes. But they shouldn’t look too deeply into the lives of the victims. It’s quite dark there. And God help them, they won’t like what they find.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2007
135 people are currently reading
7908 people want to read
About the author
Bentley Little
135 books2,565 followersBentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
May 16, 2022
Seemly overnight millionaires are brutally killing their families. Children that look like animals are being murdered. Men are feeling an odd compulsion to travel to Black Mountain. Brian Howells, a reporter, father left them over 20 years ago, has come back leaving cryptic messages in dried blood. He seems to be a part of whatever strange events unfolding. As the mystery grows, it seems cursed gold during the gold rush has brought demons to the future. The first half of this was terrifying. The second was pretty good. The ending, not so much. Still a great read.
August 2, 2022
Multimillionaires to freak out. Murdering their families and people. What is transferring well to do business men into monsters? You'll get the details in a backstory set in the 19th century. Most of the regular story is a bit confusing with too many people involved. Many scenes are gross and the sex depicted is outright disgusting (inbreeding with strange demonic creatures, mostly female...). What about the children with animal heads? This is a very bizarre book, probably his most bizarre so far. It gets more intriguing when you come to know who those monsters really are. Can the characters in the novel overcome those demonic monsters? After a while having found what the author wants to tell here you ride on through the end. To stay in the book, you'll follow the Yellow Brick road to the village... not his best but some extraordinary horror in a disturbing overladen setting. Definitely worth a look when you're into Arthur Machen little white people or demon horror...
February 11, 2016
Truly one of the most bizzarest books I have ever read! I can't even put it into words. Let's just say that if you are easily offended with dirty writing then DO NOT read this. This book gets 5 stars from me because of the imagination behind writing this. I don't agree with the reviews on GR that state it looked like the author just compiled ideas and threw them into a book, or that the story is far fetched. That's a low blow for the horror genre. I mean isn't all horror an escape from reality? ....What we know is truly possible and what isn't?! If you want to read a more realistic novel then don't read horror or Bentley Little.
Back to the book, there are a lot of sexual scenes that will make some readers uncomfortable but in the end I enjoyed the overall horror element to the story. Oh, and as always another thing I loved was that it was based in my beautiful CALIFORNIA. I always love reading and recognizing cities or places :)
***SPOILER AHEAD***
& I have to admit I did feel bad at the end when ***someone*** is found....
Back to the book, there are a lot of sexual scenes that will make some readers uncomfortable but in the end I enjoyed the overall horror element to the story. Oh, and as always another thing I loved was that it was based in my beautiful CALIFORNIA. I always love reading and recognizing cities or places :)
***SPOILER AHEAD***
& I have to admit I did feel bad at the end when ***someone*** is found....
October 18, 2013
I am not entirely sure what I even read with this book. I have read other Little books and quite enjoyed them, so I figured this one would be pretty good. And I read it actually for one of my challenges. And to tell you the truth I only completed it just so I could complete the challenge, otherwise this book would have been history before I hit page 50.
I feel like it was just a mess on so many levels. I feel that Bentley just threw together as many ridiculous ideas as he could muster to make one of the most ridiculous stories ever published. It seriously did not make much sense to me. I did not even see a point to story. I could not decide if it was a story about people with abnormalities, or aliens, or maybe it was a story about a serial killers? I am utterly dumbfounded. The plot, I am not even sure what exactly it was.
The characters were in abundance as well and kinda thrown in there all over the place, which very confusing keeping them all straight. Also you had to deal with fluctuating between past and present. Which I guess he was portraying how long these beings existed. I am not even sure how all of this even came to be? All I can say now is that I am glad it is over, and I am left with this thought in mind, why was it even called The Vanishing?
I feel like it was just a mess on so many levels. I feel that Bentley just threw together as many ridiculous ideas as he could muster to make one of the most ridiculous stories ever published. It seriously did not make much sense to me. I did not even see a point to story. I could not decide if it was a story about people with abnormalities, or aliens, or maybe it was a story about a serial killers? I am utterly dumbfounded. The plot, I am not even sure what exactly it was.
The characters were in abundance as well and kinda thrown in there all over the place, which very confusing keeping them all straight. Also you had to deal with fluctuating between past and present. Which I guess he was portraying how long these beings existed. I am not even sure how all of this even came to be? All I can say now is that I am glad it is over, and I am left with this thought in mind, why was it even called The Vanishing?
October 18, 2021
It's really two stories...each of which takes place in California. One is in the nineteenth century and the other is in the present. Both had the possibility to be compelling stories that were interwoven and intertwined...but a 100 years apart. As the connection between the two become clearer...the two stories should have melded into one. Unfortunately the combining attempt made the book a bit of a mess. I've always liked this authors scary books but this one didn't quiet make it. Overall...it wasn't Bentley Little's best by any means yet it was an interesting story...hence the 3 stars.
January 22, 2025
This was a chore to finish, to be honest. I love Little of the books I have read, but this one missed the mark.
Millionaires and the powerful are going crazy, killing people and themselves. Children are found as part animal and part human. Weird letters written in symbols are being found at the scenes. What is going on? A social worker and reporter team together to try and find out...
It's definitely written well, but the sex in this was cringe, and it was just plain boring for extended periods of it. 2.5 stars. It won't put me off reading more of his work as I have loved his other books.
Millionaires and the powerful are going crazy, killing people and themselves. Children are found as part animal and part human. Weird letters written in symbols are being found at the scenes. What is going on? A social worker and reporter team together to try and find out...
It's definitely written well, but the sex in this was cringe, and it was just plain boring for extended periods of it. 2.5 stars. It won't put me off reading more of his work as I have loved his other books.
October 20, 2015
I have reached a point in my book collection, that my TBR (to be read) list is quite large and trying to decide what to read next is sometimes paralyzingly overwhelming and next to impossible. Do to this simple fact I have taken to looking at the reviews of other readers to help narrow down what I read next. I don’t mind a terrible book every now and again, but having a string of them back to back is beyond painful. And unacceptable!
So normally, I tend to steer clear of reviews or other talk about a book I’m thinking of reading. I hate spoilers that ruin a book just as much as I hate too much hype or trash talk about a book. When I read, I want to be surprised.
After narrowing my choices down to 3 or 4 books, I got on Goodreads and looked at the reviews for each. All but one of the books averaged 4 stars. The one that didn’t was this one; The Vanishing by Bentley Little. It only received 3 stars and all the reviews I saw were 1 to 3 stars. I thought that a little odd since generally Little is a great writer, in my opinion. Not Pulitzer Prize winning, but great none the less.
Upon completion of reading this book I must confess that I’m a little shocked by the reviews of other readers. Many have complained that there was little continuity between the characters or events and that it was just a thrown together mess of horror elements that made little sense. Others reported that it was nothing more than a book about male dominance due to sexually explicit material. And at least several others disliked it simply because they didn’t understand the title, they didn’t understand who vanished.
To each their own and certainly to each, their own opinion.
However, none of those complaints made any sense to me because that’s not accurate of the story at all. First the book title isn’t about people vanishing it’s about wild nature and the creatures in it that are vanishing. I will agree though that the subtitle is a bit confusing and perhaps out of place. In fact, it’s more like a tag line (still doesn’t make sense) than a sub title so probably a poor marketing move there.
Overall the story is good and moves at a fast pace. Its thought provoking in regards to nature and man’s obsession with ‘more’ and gold. And yet it’s still entertaining too. For those who don’t like sex scenes or talk of anatomy, you should avoid this book.
So normally, I tend to steer clear of reviews or other talk about a book I’m thinking of reading. I hate spoilers that ruin a book just as much as I hate too much hype or trash talk about a book. When I read, I want to be surprised.
After narrowing my choices down to 3 or 4 books, I got on Goodreads and looked at the reviews for each. All but one of the books averaged 4 stars. The one that didn’t was this one; The Vanishing by Bentley Little. It only received 3 stars and all the reviews I saw were 1 to 3 stars. I thought that a little odd since generally Little is a great writer, in my opinion. Not Pulitzer Prize winning, but great none the less.
Upon completion of reading this book I must confess that I’m a little shocked by the reviews of other readers. Many have complained that there was little continuity between the characters or events and that it was just a thrown together mess of horror elements that made little sense. Others reported that it was nothing more than a book about male dominance due to sexually explicit material. And at least several others disliked it simply because they didn’t understand the title, they didn’t understand who vanished.
To each their own and certainly to each, their own opinion.
However, none of those complaints made any sense to me because that’s not accurate of the story at all. First the book title isn’t about people vanishing it’s about wild nature and the creatures in it that are vanishing. I will agree though that the subtitle is a bit confusing and perhaps out of place. In fact, it’s more like a tag line (still doesn’t make sense) than a sub title so probably a poor marketing move there.
Overall the story is good and moves at a fast pace. Its thought provoking in regards to nature and man’s obsession with ‘more’ and gold. And yet it’s still entertaining too. For those who don’t like sex scenes or talk of anatomy, you should avoid this book.
July 9, 2024
You know that part in every classic horror story when the townsfolk capture the monster and someone cries, "Let's FUCK it!"? No? Yeah... me neither.
When I first started reading this, the cornucopia of unhinged plot points was kind of funny... like, in a so bad, it's good way. (Think Tommy Wiseau's "The Room", but with sex chimeras). Then it became so misogynistic and grotesquely sexual that wheels didn't just come off... they exploded.
The women in this book are mercilessly abused and all written poorly. I kept multiple examples in my notes while I was reading, but I'm just going to mention the one that made me roll my eyes the hardest. A woman wakes up in the middle of the night. She's anxious and afraid because her family is vacationing in a place where she was raped by monsters as a child... and then she’s comforted by the salty aftertaste of her husband’s semen! I don’t know how this author feels about women… except I do and he hates them.
One last thing before I go. The sex monsters... they love rhymes. Why? Fuck if I know! Here's a sentence that actually exists in this book. It had to pass through several sets of filters in the author's brain and an editor... and it's still an actual sentence in this book...
"Fee Fi Fo Fuck… On a cock, you like to suck."
I'm so done...
When I first started reading this, the cornucopia of unhinged plot points was kind of funny... like, in a so bad, it's good way. (Think Tommy Wiseau's "The Room", but with sex chimeras). Then it became so misogynistic and grotesquely sexual that wheels didn't just come off... they exploded.
The women in this book are mercilessly abused and all written poorly. I kept multiple examples in my notes while I was reading, but I'm just going to mention the one that made me roll my eyes the hardest. A woman wakes up in the middle of the night. She's anxious and afraid because her family is vacationing in a place where she was raped by monsters as a child... and then she’s comforted by the salty aftertaste of her husband’s semen! I don’t know how this author feels about women… except I do and he hates them.
One last thing before I go. The sex monsters... they love rhymes. Why? Fuck if I know! Here's a sentence that actually exists in this book. It had to pass through several sets of filters in the author's brain and an editor... and it's still an actual sentence in this book...
"Fee Fi Fo Fuck… On a cock, you like to suck."
I'm so done...
August 30, 2014
My God, what an utter mess this book was.
It shouldn't really surprise me, since I've tried other Bentley Little novels before, and didn't particularly enjoy them, but I think this one takes the cake, and convinces me that I won't be reading any of his other books again.
It's not that the writing itself was bad. Actually, in the horror spectrum, Little's writing skill is better than a lot of his fellow-authors. He's good with details and when the story isn't bogging down in graphic, over described, and oft repeated sex scenes, it's fairly interesting. I even liked most of his characters and while they made dumb choices sometimes, they were realistic.
But that's about it. Everything else about "The Vanishing" is flat out horrible. Aside from the fact that the title makes absolutely no sense, the overall plot fails miserably as well. No spoilers here, but what do dead animals, misshapen creatures, bizarre sexual urges, and violence have in common? Apparently nothing. All of these things are mentioned and touched on in "The Vanishing" but Little never really manages to make them come together in any coherent structure. Not to mention the numerous and frustrating plot holes...like those damned dead animals. As far as I could get out of this, Little took all the horror tropes he could muster, threw them in a blender and just slapped what came out onto a page. And what is his fascination with sex? And not the nice, sensual, erotic kind. No, Bentley Little loves to make as many mentions of gross, illicit intercourse as possible. It's not just this book either. Both "The Resort" and "The House" (the other 2 I've read of his) were basically the exact same kind of thing. I'm all for sex and nudity in books and movies, but it's totally tarnished and ruined here.
I'm done with Bentley Little now. 3 books have proved to me that he's not going to get better and he's going to keep squandering his talents. writing drivel like this, instead of trying something he could really excel at. I don't even know why Stephen King endorses this guy...unless he was paid a huge amount of cash to do it.
It shouldn't really surprise me, since I've tried other Bentley Little novels before, and didn't particularly enjoy them, but I think this one takes the cake, and convinces me that I won't be reading any of his other books again.
It's not that the writing itself was bad. Actually, in the horror spectrum, Little's writing skill is better than a lot of his fellow-authors. He's good with details and when the story isn't bogging down in graphic, over described, and oft repeated sex scenes, it's fairly interesting. I even liked most of his characters and while they made dumb choices sometimes, they were realistic.
But that's about it. Everything else about "The Vanishing" is flat out horrible. Aside from the fact that the title makes absolutely no sense, the overall plot fails miserably as well. No spoilers here, but what do dead animals, misshapen creatures, bizarre sexual urges, and violence have in common? Apparently nothing. All of these things are mentioned and touched on in "The Vanishing" but Little never really manages to make them come together in any coherent structure. Not to mention the numerous and frustrating plot holes...like those damned dead animals. As far as I could get out of this, Little took all the horror tropes he could muster, threw them in a blender and just slapped what came out onto a page. And what is his fascination with sex? And not the nice, sensual, erotic kind. No, Bentley Little loves to make as many mentions of gross, illicit intercourse as possible. It's not just this book either. Both "The Resort" and "The House" (the other 2 I've read of his) were basically the exact same kind of thing. I'm all for sex and nudity in books and movies, but it's totally tarnished and ruined here.
I'm done with Bentley Little now. 3 books have proved to me that he's not going to get better and he's going to keep squandering his talents. writing drivel like this, instead of trying something he could really excel at. I don't even know why Stephen King endorses this guy...unless he was paid a huge amount of cash to do it.
March 14, 2017
Just be ready for a crap load of wtf's;) If Bentley can out do this one, I will be surprised.
March 28, 2022
Social worker Carrie Daniels and LA Times reporter Brian Howells each find themselves involved with something…sinister. Somebody in each of their orbits displays unique physical characteristics. Bizarre abnormalities. One person might have the face of a lama while another has scales and a backbone like a dinosaur. Are these abnormalities the result of some strange latent gene in their DNA…or something worse? When news come from across the country of similar abnormalities, Carrie and Brian follow the clues to what appears to be the source, somewhere in what used to be the gold fields of California, near Sutter’s Mill in the late 1840s.
I’ve read quite a few Bentley Little horror novels over the years and enjoyed a fair number. But fewer and fewer of them as time goes by. This novel reminds me of why. While the premise is interesting, the plot unfolds too slowly, and the suspense build-up is drawn out way too much. Looking back now it seems to have been one giant mashup of weird ideas. Abnormal freaks? Serial killers? Pod people? What is the actual horror going on here? Some people leave their loved ones and “vanish” (hence the title, I suppose, although surely there were better options). The first quarter of the book is all about introducing new characters and situations in little vignettes, only to have them die by the “horror” of whatever is happening. I couldn’t figure out who would be the protagonist(s) until about one third of the way in. And by then I wasn’t sure I cared.
There is a huge “ick” factor throughout the books as well, something that is a regular feature of Bentley Little’s works. It seemed even more prevalent this time though, or perhaps I am simply growing older and less inclined to want to see this sort of stuff on the page. If you enjoy reading of grotesque overly explicit sexual violence with outrageous details of sexual organs in action, then this book may be for you. Nothing subtle here. (This is not in any way sexy or titillating…more of a gross-out contest). I will certainly give the author credit for a creative imagination when it comes to this stuff, but I wish he didn’t always descend into such debased potty horror.
Despite these negatives, the plot does get to a conclusion eventually, although, frankly, it was a bit of a let-down. There were some nice chapters mixed in throughout the second half of the book which take us back in time to the 1800s era, so we could see how this ill-defined horror began. Or so I thought. But instead of this leading to an explanation of any kind, it was simply more examples of the same “horror” that is playing out in the present.
In the end, the book left me thankful it was over, and I could move on to something more palatable.
I’ve read quite a few Bentley Little horror novels over the years and enjoyed a fair number. But fewer and fewer of them as time goes by. This novel reminds me of why. While the premise is interesting, the plot unfolds too slowly, and the suspense build-up is drawn out way too much. Looking back now it seems to have been one giant mashup of weird ideas. Abnormal freaks? Serial killers? Pod people? What is the actual horror going on here? Some people leave their loved ones and “vanish” (hence the title, I suppose, although surely there were better options). The first quarter of the book is all about introducing new characters and situations in little vignettes, only to have them die by the “horror” of whatever is happening. I couldn’t figure out who would be the protagonist(s) until about one third of the way in. And by then I wasn’t sure I cared.
There is a huge “ick” factor throughout the books as well, something that is a regular feature of Bentley Little’s works. It seemed even more prevalent this time though, or perhaps I am simply growing older and less inclined to want to see this sort of stuff on the page. If you enjoy reading of grotesque overly explicit sexual violence with outrageous details of sexual organs in action, then this book may be for you. Nothing subtle here. (This is not in any way sexy or titillating…more of a gross-out contest). I will certainly give the author credit for a creative imagination when it comes to this stuff, but I wish he didn’t always descend into such debased potty horror.
Despite these negatives, the plot does get to a conclusion eventually, although, frankly, it was a bit of a let-down. There were some nice chapters mixed in throughout the second half of the book which take us back in time to the 1800s era, so we could see how this ill-defined horror began. Or so I thought. But instead of this leading to an explanation of any kind, it was simply more examples of the same “horror” that is playing out in the present.
In the end, the book left me thankful it was over, and I could move on to something more palatable.
May 29, 2016
Bentley Little- I just don't know about you. This book is depraved AF This book is so freakin' weird! I lent it to a coworker when I was finished because I don't want it in my house I thought she might enjoy it.
May 30, 2011
An epidemic of sorts has broken out across California, the rich and wealthy men, respected in the society until now have all gone mad, committing atrocities and slaughtering their own families. No explanation is given other than their sudden change into animal like behavior followed by the use of some ancient alphabet in which messages have been crudely written in the homes of the families that perished. The men also display psychical changes, growing fur or scales, slowly transforming into something grotesque, resembling something out of a dark dream. Somehow all this is connected with deformed children that Carrie Daniels is starting to notice in her field of social work, as a middle aged lonely woman too busy to date she finds herself charmed by a man at an event that could be tied to it all as well and eventually runs into a reporter, Brian Howells, who's family is being stalked by their estranged father who has ran away twenty years ago, now back and acting like a wild creature, leaving strange letters and corpses around their home. Together they start to investigate and connect dots that form a horrible picture, one they don't really want to see but have no choice if they want to live in peace. The story had plenty of flashbacks into the 1800's about some of the first gold seekers that came into California and their encounters with strange creatures that inhabited the dark forests and lived in huts made of human bones. Somehow that is connected to the tale, modern day people who have money are tied to those first settlers and their hunger for gold, I will not say more, surprise is vital but sadly it doesn't save the tale.
I really liked Bentley's writing style, it was my first time reading his work and I have tons of his other books, but overall this was not a great tale. Mainly because the story was interesting about half way only to take a deep dive into kinky and strange without much explanation as to why. I felt that a lot of things happening were left without any conclusion, I mean lots of things, what happened to the priest and why, the way the past and present tied together was done in a spider web fashion, with lots of holes, I think the author took too big of a chunk out and didn't get to connect all the dots. I enjoyed aspects of it and can't wait to read more of his stuff, but this was not my favorite, not to mention it took me forever to figure out how the title tied into the story. I do however like the author's writing, I simply think this wasn't something I would recommend to my friends simply from the chaotic story line, so I know it's not a book I love.
I really liked Bentley's writing style, it was my first time reading his work and I have tons of his other books, but overall this was not a great tale. Mainly because the story was interesting about half way only to take a deep dive into kinky and strange without much explanation as to why. I felt that a lot of things happening were left without any conclusion, I mean lots of things, what happened to the priest and why, the way the past and present tied together was done in a spider web fashion, with lots of holes, I think the author took too big of a chunk out and didn't get to connect all the dots. I enjoyed aspects of it and can't wait to read more of his stuff, but this was not my favorite, not to mention it took me forever to figure out how the title tied into the story. I do however like the author's writing, I simply think this wasn't something I would recommend to my friends simply from the chaotic story line, so I know it's not a book I love.
March 12, 2017
This was the second Bentley Little book I have read and I again thought it was great. This one started off with some rich men going on murdering sprees. It also tied in a social worker who cared about her cases, a journalist and a family on vacation. The book was fast paced and was full of WTF moments at every turn. I was glad I was in a buddy read on this because it was so much fun to talk about the crazy stuff going on in this book. The chapters alternated perspectives with the characters as well as when back to the Gold Rush times to give background and clues as to what was going on. The ending (epilogue) was predictable, but overall I liked the book. The whole thing was very descriptive and graphic in a disturbing way, which I like, so be warned that you will be reading with your mouth hanging open!
December 5, 2012
I like Bentley Little, I really do... but his work can be hit or miss for me. This one missed big.
I trudged through it bravely, though, and feel great that I can say I finished it.
Short of putting spoilers on here, all I can say is that it was a convoluted mess that never really made sense, and left a lot of loose ends hanging.
Nothing to recommend, here at all.
I trudged through it bravely, though, and feel great that I can say I finished it.
Short of putting spoilers on here, all I can say is that it was a convoluted mess that never really made sense, and left a lot of loose ends hanging.
Nothing to recommend, here at all.
November 2, 2025
It was probably a 3.5 ⭐️ but I’ll be generous because I was entertained as hell! Admittedly I could do without the sexual stuff but that was the majority of the book 🥴.
December 1, 2018
Another masterpiece of unsettling horror from Bentley Little. He can make anything seem sinister. I'm sure he could make a sticky note seem evil. This time it's a bunch of rich Californians going crazy and slaughtering their families and, in one notable case, a horrendously painful suicide. A rookie journalist and a social worker are the only ones who are trying to get to the bottom of this, and oh boy, do they. There is a lot of depravity in this book. Lots of monster sex, and the kids who result from this are pretty creepy. It gets a bit preachy in places, but that's OK. I'm the choir, so I don't mind too much. Sometimes Little has a bit of trouble with his endings. This one of the good endings, meaning it makes sense and doesn't feel like a cheat. Reading Little is always a lot of fun.
February 16, 2014
Little at his spooky best, like all his other stories, I found this one hard to put down once started.
October 23, 2025
Horror? I don't think so. I found this book hilarious! I was thoroughly entertained by how ridiculous this was. But still only 3 stars because it was just so stupid.
June 4, 2024
What the heck did I just read? It was crazy. Monsters having sex with humans.. whattttt? This was out there. It started off slow then got weirder and weirder. If you like out there books this one is for you. Enjoy
June 1, 2020
As Bentlet Little does so well, his novel THE VANISHING, is a thinly veiled comment on a social issue. He does this well, with almost all of his tales,and this novel's no different as he discusses environmental raping of lands in the name of wealth. Mind you, he does it with monsters, murder, sex and a story which takes a great suspension of disbelief.
In a nutshell, THE VANISHING tells of a series of grizzly and mind-boggling murders by men on power - CEOs, company presidents, etc... - which are connected through bizarre messages in a language no one has seen before. Those messages, combined with the men's shared physical abormalities, are enough to prompt a reporter and a social worker to dig around, connect the puzzle pieces and uncover a bizarre race of creatures linked to California's gold rush days.
The story is intriguing, the social comment buried just enough so as not to be preachy and the characters are believeable.
The ending comes a bit too quickly, though, and it feels like little may have struggled to tie everything up in a satisfactory manner.
Regardless, THE VANISHING is a good read that is worthy of appearing on your bookshelf.
In a nutshell, THE VANISHING tells of a series of grizzly and mind-boggling murders by men on power - CEOs, company presidents, etc... - which are connected through bizarre messages in a language no one has seen before. Those messages, combined with the men's shared physical abormalities, are enough to prompt a reporter and a social worker to dig around, connect the puzzle pieces and uncover a bizarre race of creatures linked to California's gold rush days.
The story is intriguing, the social comment buried just enough so as not to be preachy and the characters are believeable.
The ending comes a bit too quickly, though, and it feels like little may have struggled to tie everything up in a satisfactory manner.
Regardless, THE VANISHING is a good read that is worthy of appearing on your bookshelf.
June 6, 2016
Okay, so, in many ways, this book was complete horsesh*t. I mean, where does one begin? It is so ridiculously over the top and excessive not only in sex and violence, but also in its reach and just the sheer amount of stuff that goes on within its covers. That said, its obvious that Little is writing what he wants to write, and if he wants to take us to the absurd places this book takes us, its actually commendable. There are some good themes and some interesting concepts herein, but I think that the completely excessive approach Little takes will turn many readers away. And thats okay, as a matter of fact, thats great. In this era of spineless, focus group dictated media, its great to pick up a ratty little paperback like this and read something just batshit insane. It came from Little's heart or his balls or some weird corner of his brain, or some combination of these. Its not good, per se, but I respect the hell out Little for putting a novel this insane out there. Salute!
February 17, 2014
The book was definitely bizarre but I loved it. The sexual moments (and bore where there a lot) could have been toned done but at the same time I believe that was the horror. Not the monstors themselves but the "hold" they had on seemingly normal people. It was terrifying. I also found the children that the social worker came across the least interesting. It never went anywhere
Overall it was a book I couldn't stop thinking about and finished it over a weekend. Felt wrong for being so drawn in. But to me good or bad subject matter, if a book draws me in, then its a good book.
Overall it was a book I couldn't stop thinking about and finished it over a weekend. Felt wrong for being so drawn in. But to me good or bad subject matter, if a book draws me in, then its a good book.
December 17, 2020
This will be the fourth Bentley Little book that I have read and every single one of them has had some kind of sick sexual element to them. I own one more book by him and if the pattern continues I’ll likely part ways with his work
January 25, 2025
LA Times reporter Brian Howells, and social worker Carrie Daniels, join forces to investigate a string of bizarre, terrifying events:
🩸Four wealthy businessmen go on deranged murder sprees, killing their families and anyone unlucky enough to cross their paths;
🩸Several single mothers seek help for their children, born with monstrous deformities after being abandoned by their fathers;
🩸Brian's own mother receives a disturbing cryptic message written in blood from her estranged husband.
As Brian and Carrie dig into the lives of the victims and perpetrators, trying to piece together these baffling incidents, they're drawn into a deep, dark, unthinkable and bloody adventure.
This was my first book by Bentley Little and it was absolutely bonkers! The book blurb doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what you're about to dive into.
Little takes the ordinary, modern world and turns it upside down by introducing creepy, and surreal elements, plenty of graphic violence, disturbing imagery and moments of depravity.
The story alternates between two timelines: the modern-day investigation and an historical narrative following James Marshall, a pioneer facing similar horrors in the past. Both timelines are intriguing, but I felt they might have worked better as two separate stories. I also thought there were too many characters and storylines, making the reading experience a bit more confusing and hard to follow sometimes.
Despite these issues, The Vanishing is anything but boring. It's raw, harsh and unsettling but also quite entertaining. I am pretty curious about the rest of his works.
🩸Four wealthy businessmen go on deranged murder sprees, killing their families and anyone unlucky enough to cross their paths;
🩸Several single mothers seek help for their children, born with monstrous deformities after being abandoned by their fathers;
🩸Brian's own mother receives a disturbing cryptic message written in blood from her estranged husband.
As Brian and Carrie dig into the lives of the victims and perpetrators, trying to piece together these baffling incidents, they're drawn into a deep, dark, unthinkable and bloody adventure.
This was my first book by Bentley Little and it was absolutely bonkers! The book blurb doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what you're about to dive into.
Little takes the ordinary, modern world and turns it upside down by introducing creepy, and surreal elements, plenty of graphic violence, disturbing imagery and moments of depravity.
The story alternates between two timelines: the modern-day investigation and an historical narrative following James Marshall, a pioneer facing similar horrors in the past. Both timelines are intriguing, but I felt they might have worked better as two separate stories. I also thought there were too many characters and storylines, making the reading experience a bit more confusing and hard to follow sometimes.
Despite these issues, The Vanishing is anything but boring. It's raw, harsh and unsettling but also quite entertaining. I am pretty curious about the rest of his works.
April 15, 2025
What the fuck did I just read. I wish I looked at the reviews before I bought it. I will try again with a different book of his, but that’ll be in a whiiile, and I’m getting that from an online library so I can return it whenever I need to. I only finished reading it this fast because I wanted it to be over. I was FIGHTING for my LIFE to get past the first chapter. At a certain point I just decided, fuck it, I’ll read it, how much worse can it get? Turns out, a lot! I’m going back to the bookstore and getting a different book in exchange.
The women in this are written so badly. I don’t know what happened here. The misogyny is… wild. The sex/assault scenes are giving, “written by a horned up 13yo boy who has only seen a woman in a hard porn film and decided that this is what sex is”. This didn’t read at all like a horror novel, more like some weird “erotica” written by someone who’s really into… monsterfucking and assault. Really weird emphasis on anal throughout. These assault and sex scenes have been in every chapter, and I’m not exaggerating. Every chapter.
My roommate is an avid horror fan. I was reading out excerpts to her periodically (every few minutes) and she has: left the room, loudly yelled “NO!” in response, said “absolutely not” and “excuse me?!”, she has put her head in her hands in disappointment, long-sighed, widened her eyes in shocked silence, etc.
Mind you, I can believe that he’s got better books than this. This was well-written, until we get to the sex and assault scenes. I’m going to need several business days to recover from this read. I just wanted a horror novel, man
The women in this are written so badly. I don’t know what happened here. The misogyny is… wild. The sex/assault scenes are giving, “written by a horned up 13yo boy who has only seen a woman in a hard porn film and decided that this is what sex is”. This didn’t read at all like a horror novel, more like some weird “erotica” written by someone who’s really into… monsterfucking and assault. Really weird emphasis on anal throughout. These assault and sex scenes have been in every chapter, and I’m not exaggerating. Every chapter.
My roommate is an avid horror fan. I was reading out excerpts to her periodically (every few minutes) and she has: left the room, loudly yelled “NO!” in response, said “absolutely not” and “excuse me?!”, she has put her head in her hands in disappointment, long-sighed, widened her eyes in shocked silence, etc.
Mind you, I can believe that he’s got better books than this. This was well-written, until we get to the sex and assault scenes. I’m going to need several business days to recover from this read. I just wanted a horror novel, man
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2025
Made it to chapter 12, but just couldn’t make much sense of it all. I don’t like not finishing books, but this one I just couldn’t do. There was so much going on, so many stories, a lot of weirdness. Not for me unfortunately.
May 28, 2025
This was my first book by this author…I think it will be my last. The book started weird, was weird in the middle and then just disappointing in the end. I finished it though…and some parts did make me really go “huh that was interesting” but mostly I was just weirded out and turning each page hoping the next one was better…*spoiler* it didn’t get better.
October 29, 2010
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.
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.
August 1, 2011
Even though I swore I wasn't going to - I did finish this book by Bentley Little. To be quite honest, I was bored to tears through it and the whole "vanishing" thing was lost on me. Who was vanishing? No one vanished in the book so I was rather confused how the title came about. If I would have had another book to read, I wouldn't have bothered finishing it but I didn't. Thank goodness I get to buy more books today.
The book is about a forest that has human-like creatures who basically want to mate with humans. Humans want to mate with these creatures as well so a lot of "hybrid" children are born with bodies of humans but heads like animals. Not all the children were hideously disfigured but several were. The rest were crazy as loons.
The monsters start killing humans and at first they can't tell why it is happening but then they realize that the ancestors of all those being killed gold thieves from the 1800's. Everyone that lived around the woods knew better than to steal the gold they would find laying on the ground because the gold was cursed. Why it took two more generations before the monsters sought their revenge wasn't the least bit clear.
One person is killed who wasn't a descendent of the monster/humans and there is no clear reason why other than he was doing some research on them but so were a lot of other people and they weren't killed. It was stupid and gratuitous. I just rolled my eyes. It was like the author hadn't killed anyone for a few chapters so threw that in.
Overall, I give this book a D because I never cared about the monsters, the characters or the cause. It was boring and hard to stay focused on. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I'm a Bentley Little fan.
The book is about a forest that has human-like creatures who basically want to mate with humans. Humans want to mate with these creatures as well so a lot of "hybrid" children are born with bodies of humans but heads like animals. Not all the children were hideously disfigured but several were. The rest were crazy as loons.
The monsters start killing humans and at first they can't tell why it is happening but then they realize that the ancestors of all those being killed gold thieves from the 1800's. Everyone that lived around the woods knew better than to steal the gold they would find laying on the ground because the gold was cursed. Why it took two more generations before the monsters sought their revenge wasn't the least bit clear.
One person is killed who wasn't a descendent of the monster/humans and there is no clear reason why other than he was doing some research on them but so were a lot of other people and they weren't killed. It was stupid and gratuitous. I just rolled my eyes. It was like the author hadn't killed anyone for a few chapters so threw that in.
Overall, I give this book a D because I never cared about the monsters, the characters or the cause. It was boring and hard to stay focused on. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I'm a Bentley Little fan.
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