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    Disappearance at Devil's Rock: A Novel
    Disappearance at Devil's Rock: A Novel
    Disappearance at Devil's Rock: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Disappearance at Devil's Rock: A Novel

    Written by Paul Tremblay

    Narrated by Erin Bennett

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A family is shaken to its core after the mysterious disappearance of a teenage boy in this eerie tale, a blend of literary fiction, psychological suspense, and supernatural horror from the author of A Head Full of Ghosts.

    “A Head Full of Ghosts scared the living hell out of me, and I’m pretty hard to scare,” raved Stephen King about Paul Tremblay’s previous novel. Now, Tremblay returns with another disturbing tale sure to unsettle readers.

    Late one summer night, Elizabeth Sanderson receives the devastating news that every mother fears: her thirteen-year-old son, Tommy, has vanished without a trace in the woods of a local park.

    The search isn’t yielding any answers, and Elizabeth and her young daughter, Kate, struggle to comprehend Tommy’s disappearance. Feeling helpless and alone, their sorrow is compounded by anger and frustration: the local and state police have uncovered no leads. Josh and Luis, the friends who were the last to see Tommy before he vanished, may not be telling the whole truth about that night in Borderland State Park, when they were supposedly hanging out a landmark the local teens have renamed Devil’s Rock.

    Living in an all-too-real nightmare, riddled with worry, pain, and guilt, Elizabeth is wholly unprepared for the strange series of events that follow. She believes a ghostly shadow of Tommy materializes in her bedroom, while Kate and other local residents claim to see a shadow peering through their windows in the dead of night. Then, random pages torn from Tommy’s journal begin to mysteriously appear—entries that reveal an introverted teenager obsessed with the phantasmagoric; the loss of his father, killed in a drunk-driving accident a decade earlier; a folktale involving the devil and the woods of Borderland; and a horrific incident that Tommy believed connects them.

    As the search grows more desperate, and the implications of what happened become more haunting and sinister, no one is prepared for the shocking truth about that night and Tommy’s disappearance at Devil’s Rock.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 21, 2016
    ISBN9780062471925
    Author

    Paul Tremblay

    Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the nationally bestselling author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family.

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    Reviews for Disappearance at Devil's Rock

    4/5

    393 ratings36 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Interesting setup with zero payoff. This is the second book by this author where the book ends before actually getting to the interesting part. Otherwise, there wasn't much mystery as the story was basic formula.
    • 4/5
      Decent horror book. Nothing special, but it's a fun read.
    • 5/5
      AMAZING’ absolutely wonderful from beginning to end. I boo boo cried at the end. Moving and believable. Definitely recommend.
    • 5/5
      I’m a fan of Tremblay’s other work and this was just as compelling a read as the rest. I loved it. Haunting, horrific, and mysterious.
    • 3/5
      Was pretty good, and I can see lots of ppl liking it, but it wasn’t my style. I don’t want to give anything away, so that’s all I will say
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the book. This author is really adept at building suspense....throwing suspicion and best of all, he is great at mixing in our natural supernatural feelings.
    • 3/5
      I think it was long in parts that didn't need to be, and sped up through parts that could have used more exploration. It also felt a little all over the place as to the possibilities of what could have happened to Tommy. Nevertheless, the ending broke my heart.
    • 4/5
      It was good reading it kept my interest the ending was left for part 2 I hope.
    • 4/5
      I never felt this book took off until the last 2 chapters.
    • 4/5
      Great listen,left me guessing till the very end. I would recommend to anyone that loves horror and true crime.
    • 2/5
      It's all talk which made me feel like not much happened. Pretty boring
    • 4/5
      This is a page turner. A teenage boy disappears and his mother, sister, and friends deal with the aftermath.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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!
    • 3/5
      I am having a hard time getting into this.....not sure why because I have read Tremblay before and think he's fantastic.....
    • 3/5
      The “zombie pocketclips”? Lol!This book has a good build up! What happened to Tommy? How are zombies, hobo coins, and doppelgangers involved? What about his friends? And his sister? Definitely a pot ready to boil! And when the style changes on page 275, it changes for the better! But, the ultimate ending to all of this build up wasn't what I was hoping for. Actually, it was a bit of a let down after all of the suspense. Still, the suspense was well done, and it makes for a good, semi-creepy, read!
    • 4/5
      This is another excellent book by Tremblay. The characters and emotions within the book are incredibly real. My heartstrings were pulled hard. There were multiple points where I had to pause to let the story and the latest events sink in. The story starts with Elizabeth Sanderson and her thirteen-year-old son Tommy. Tommy was supposed to be at a sleepover at a friend's house when he went missing in the woods of Borderland State Park. The rest of the story is around what happened to Tommy. At times the story is a police procedural. At other times a possible ghost story. Throughout the book is the mystery of what happened and the emotions that it brings forth. While it was kind of annoying that the "facts" of what happened kept changing, it was also realistic with any investigation. Each piece of evidence uncovers new info and reveals lies being told for various reasons. I will admit that I was a tad disappointed with the revelation of the final conflict; it introduced a previously undiscussed idea that was semi-pivotal to that conflict. But it also depends on what you the reader want to believe. Similar to A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS, many of the key moments could be interpreted in a couple different ways depending on what you want to believe. Did the characters see something for real? Or just imagine it? That ends up being for you to decide. As for me, I'm going to continue buying and reading Tremblay's books.
    • 3/5
      After devouring A Head Full of Ghosts, I was excited to get my hands on this new book from Paul Tremblay. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as riveting as his previous work. I enjoyed reading the story, but it was slow-going (it doesn't really start moving along until about halfway through), and the reasons behind the disappearance were ambiguous enough to leave me unsatisfied. I kept thinking that there was more to come the entire time I was reading. The slow build-up never lead anywhere and left me hanging as to what actually happened at Devil's Rock.

      Many thanks to Goodreads and Paul Tremblay for the Goodreads Giveaway.
    • 5/5
      Holy Hell. I totally didn't see the huge plot twist coming with this book... I listened to this via audiobook and I just spent the last 2 hours making up things I need to do so I could listen to the end of this book today. A very well written novel that shines a light on how the disappearance of a kid can be for a totally unexpected reason. Very well written and the audiobook has a remarkable narrator. Definitely a must read suspense and thriller.
    • 3/5
      Tommy Sanderson, a teenager, has gone missing. As his mother and sister frantically try to discover what has happened to him, mysterious things begin to happen all around them. Diary pages full of terror appear seemingly out of nowhere, neighbors report seeing a shadowy figure lurking by their windows, and Tommy's family feels his presence in ways they can't explain.Tremblay is a master at creating an almost unbearably creepy read. The suspense in this story builds slowly, but just quickly enough to get readers hooked and unable to stop reading.The use of diary pages is a great device. Readers learn important information along with Tommy's family, which contributes to the tension as well.While I really liked the idea of the diary pages, attempting to read them was more difficult than I would have liked. Because the font is set as to mimic tight, cramped handwriting, I found myself having to really work hard to decipher them (especially as I knew they contained important information).The motivations of some of the characters, as well as the ambiguity of the ending, didn't really work for me as well. They felt like plot devices as opposed to choices that really served the story.Tremblay is a talented writer, there is no question about that, and he has created another gripping story here. But whereas the ambiguity utilized in A Head Full of Ghosts (Tremblay's previous book) worked brilliantly and added to the haunting nature of the story, here it feels thrown in because it worked so well in the first book. Read A Head Full of Ghosts first. Then read Disappearance at Devil Rock. While you'll love Tremblay's first book, you'll simply like his second.
    • 4/5
      I was crazy about Tremblay's last one, A Head Full of Ghosts. His new book is not as wickedly entertaining, but as it got going it was a page-turner. The subject is somber: the disappearance of a young boy. Tommy Sanderson goes missing in Borderland Park after hanging out with his two pals in an area tagged with unsavory supernatural doings. His mother Elizabeth thinks she sees a shadow Tommy in the house, and then starts finding scraps of his diary in the middle of the floor. The diary describes an odd, possibly criminal older man who befriends Tommy and his buddies and is an obvious suspect in the disappearance. There's the ghost angle. There's a zombie angle. There's a whiff of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There is a fair amount of teasing ambiguity which is clarified in an ending that is subtle enough that a reader might miss it. Don't miss it, though, because it's the same kind of chilling little coda which made "Head Full of Ghosts" so satisfying.
    • 4/5
      This was certainly different and I had a real problem with the author's writing style from the start. The way he phrased sentences and presented the various characters as they related to each other reminded me of studying Shakespeare at school!....Josh: "You were playing on our server?"Tommy:"What's the big deal?"Arnold: "No worries. I was on some public one. Not yours."Josh: "How'd you know Tommy was playing then?"Arnold: "Huh? Nah, I didn't know."Josh: "You just said you did."This rather irritating way of placing the speakers name at the start, inserting a colon immediately after, and then stating what was said....Now having established my concerns, I must admit I was someone smitten with the suggestive and creeping horror. Elizabeth Sanderson is awoken to the news that her son Tommy is missing. What happened on the final night when he disappeared at Devil's Rock when in the company of his friends Louis, Joss and the mysterious Arnold. What is the significance of dark shadows, the crack-head penny, and mysterious notes that appear randomly at night for Elizabeth's attention. Who can she trust; daughter Kate? mum Janice? Detective Allison Murtagh? I read this story over a 24 hour period and found its content very unsettling, the character of Arnold somewhat evil, and the outcome for Tommy, Louis, and Joss sadly inevitable. The events that took place on one fateful night at Devil's Rock cannot fail but make a lasting impression on the reader and that surely must be the mark of a good book.
    • 4/5
      A mother gets a phone call in the middle of the night: while hanging out with his friends on a clandestine late-night trek to Split Rock in a nearby state park, her young son has disappeared. As she and her family deal with the shock and grief, Elizabeth frantically searches for answers--which start to appear in the form of pages from a diary she didn't know her son kept, dropped without explanation on her living room floor. From his own words, she starts to piece together what happened on the night he vanished. Meanwhile, people around town have started seeing a mysterious "shadowman" peering in their windows late at night.Since this is Paul Tremblay, there aren't going to be any clear answers to that question. I'm calling this a ghost story, although even that is not quite clear. Elizabeth, though, is clearly haunted by the specter of her missing son, and the visitations--whatever their explanation--are downright creepy. This book starts out a bit slow but gradually picks up momentum until it becomes unputdownable. Tremblay uses modern technology, such as webcams and social media, to good effect here. Although I found this book a little more confusing and a little less compelling than Tremblay's previous A Head Full of Ghosts, it was still a creepy Halloween read.
    • 5/5
      I loved "A Head Full of Ghosts" because of the games it played with possession narratives; I loved this book because it was fucking terrifying. It's 90% a pure thriller, teenage boy goes missing and his family falls apart while they look for him, but that extra ten percent is perfectly well balanced and, as mentioned, utterly, completely terrifying.
    • 4/5
      The book starts off with a bang as Mom Elizabeth is woken up during the night by a phone call. It is from Josh who is one of her son's Tommy's best friends. Josh wants to know if Tommy is there even though he is supposed to be spending the night at Josh's house. He then tells Elizabeth that Tommy, Luis, and him were out at Borderland, which is a the park that butts up to the back of their properties, and that Tommy took off into the woods and they couldn't find him. They were hoping he went home. Elizabeth frantically searches the house and Tommy is not there. In the days that follow strange things start to happen. Elizabeth sees a shadow of someone in her bedroom crouched down that she thinks it Tommy. It even smells like him before it disappears. Then other people in town say they are seeing a shadowed figured cutting through their backyards or looking into their windows. A figure that everyone is calling the Shadow Man. What's even stranger is pages of a diary that no one knew Tommy kept start turning up on the living room floor of his house. The diary adds more on what was going on in Tommy's head and the events that led up to that night. The author does a great job of keeping the tension level high as he slowly peels back layer by layer what really happened on that fateful night. As each new diary page is revealed we can't help but try to read faster to see what will happen next. I also loved how the author did such a great job bringing to life the main characters. It brought me back to when I was that age and hanging out with my friends. Think Stand By Me, but with a more dangerous edge. My favorite character though was Kate. She was the one who held the story together. This is a book you can't help but become emotionally invested in as we head towards the ending we know is coming but still don't want to see.