The Vanishing by Bentley Little

Overview: 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 from her estranged husband an unsettling letter stained with bloody fingerprints.

And all across California, children are falling victim to a monstrous change - and their parents, to a mounting fear.

Social worker Carrier Daniels and reporter Brian Howells are determined to find the link between these baffling events. 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.

My review: Once again, for me, another winner from one of my favorite horror authors. This time it's a jaunt through the hell of everyday life with some very twisted history based around the California gold rush years thrown in. You must suspend your belief system to get through this one. This book had a different "feel" for me than some of his more current works. Whereas the situations in The Policy, Dispatch and The Resort were tad more in touch with reality, The Vanishing is way out there in left field and over the top.

A side note: this book is filled with sexual references and situations as they are part and parcel of the story line. If these types of references and situations are not appealing then you will want to by-pass this book.