The Vanishing (original: 2014; edição: 2014)

This novel is incredibly well done. I enjoyed every single bit of it, especially how the story unfolded as the many happenings became more clear. Layer upon layer unfolded, making this a novel you enjoy very much, while curling up in a comfy chair with your favorite drink, and spend the afternoon immersed in.
There were many twists and turns in the plot line, only a few of which I saw coming or could guess might be happening in the novel. And it didn’t really matter that I could see one or two twists coming, as I enjoyed the ride through to the very end.
There was a moment there near the end when I couldn’t even physically DO anything at all anymore, and I’d found myself holding my breath, because the whole story line was all coming together, making me slightly tense, and I was completely engrossed because of the scene and characters involved.
The narrator for this audiobook is Xe Sands, who is a very talented narrator and she should be used a great deal in the future for more audiobooks. Her different characterizations were very well done, completely separate, and the little girl’s sing-song voice was very eerie.
The ending though..... my goodness that ending! A true WTF moment, that I truly couldn’t possibly have seen coming in a million years. I was stunned, and I keep turning this epilogue over and over in my mind, thinking about it...... which shows what a damn good novel this really is.
4.5 stars, and highly recommended to all and sundry. Seriously, go see if your local library has a copy of the audiobook, immediately! You’ll thank me later. ( )

I honestly don't remember where I first heard of The Vanishing, but I do remember being intrigued by the description. Julia Bishop's life is in shambles. Her husband Jeremy recently committed suicide and left her with the aftermath of his Ponzi-scheme. The media won't leave her alone, and friends have abandoned her after Jeremy stole their money. A stranger named Adrian Sinclair appears at her doorstep, offering her a job-care for his mother, Amaris Sinclair, a famous horror author who the world believes to be dead. Julia accepts the position, and goes to with Adrian to Havenwood, an enormous house near Lake Superior in the northern part of Minnesota. The estate and hides ghosts and a dark secret, one that will unsettle Julia's life, as well as the lives of the inhabitants Julia will come to care for.

I was on board with this book-ghosts, hauntings, large mansions near Lake Superior, some Minnesota love? Count me in! And...it was all right. I didn't like as much as [b:Heart-Shaped Box|153025|Heart-Shaped Box|Joe Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328043955s/153025.jpg|1412280], but I didn't hate it as much as [b:Asylum|13597728|Asylum (Asylum, #1)|Madeleine Roux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1371333892s/13597728.jpg|19187769]. This book did have one of the more disappointing endings that I've read in a long time, which did knock it down a star for me. It's a solid 2.5 star book.

First, let's cover what's good about the book-the house, the ghosts, and the dogs. I loved reading about all the different rooms in this house. The library sounds like it has as many books as the Beast's library from Beauty and the Beast, but it also comes off as genuinely creepy in some scenes. WHOA! It's almost as scary as the Ghostbusters library.

Just imagine the Library ghost or something equally scary in the Beast's library, and you get the jist.
The East Salon, a very mysterious room a bit like the west wing in Beauty and the Beast (man, did not see as many comparisons between the two until now!) is also pretty dang spooky. A seance described in the first chapter of this book takes place in the East Salon, and it's a pretty atmospheric, creepy scene. Makes the room more sinister.
Also, all the ghosts are pretty cool! The first scene in the book talks about a seance to reach the dead, so it's not really a spoiler that there are ghosts at Havenwood. Most of the scenes with the ghosts are suspenseful, and their design is very classical.
The best living characters in the book are three Malamutes that live on the property. These dogs become Julia's constant companions throughout the house because one of the ghosts is very violent and out for revenge against Julia and their scenes were fun to read.

Now, for what's not so good-the human characters. Julia is a bit gutless and weepy (which, given what happened to her in the past, makes sense), and she's not the best heroine to follow for a whole book. The other characters who live at the house are fairly one dimensional, and always acting shifty. Julia asks multiple times just what is going on, and people either evade the question, or something interrupts them. Many characters ask Julia to trust them, and because of how oddly they act, I'm not surprised she doesn't at first.
Also, the last third of the book was pretty ridiculous. Spoiler reveals the last third of the book, SO SPOILER ALERT.Through a painting that looks just like Julia (in an eerily similar plot point to the 2003 Haunted Mansion movie), it's revealed that Julia is a descendant of Seraphina, a psychic who visited Havenwood in the 1800's and unleashes an evil spirit that never left the house. Even more, Julia is also a psychic, who has been able to see ghosts since she was a little kid, but got literary amnesia and forgot about it. The reason she forgot is Amaris invited her to conduct the same seance her great, great grandmother did, and unleashed the evil again, causing a little girl to also get literary amnesia. Julia ends up in a mental institution afterwards, meets her husband, and bad things happen until Adrian comes to get her. Then, the events of the book happen, she says a couple of words, and the evil force (named Gideon, for some reason) leaves the house forever. OR DOES HE, SINCE THE EPILOGUE TALKS ABOUT THE HOUSE ROTTING APART AND NO ONE ALIVE LIVING THERE? Seriously, WHAT?!?!? This plot twist, while foreshadowed throughout the book, was still pretty ridiculous. It felt a bit like a bad Shyamalan ending, and totally ruined all of the creepy atmospheric moments from the first two thirds of the book.. The end of the book, without giving too much away, really did bring this book down a star for me. It's not a deal breaker for me, in regards to recommending this book to people, but it does stop me from being too enthusiastic about that recommendation. If you're interested in decent ghost stories, horror books set in a house in the woods, and want a quick glimpse of Victorian Spiritualism, I say check it out. It's a solid OK from me. ( )

A bit of everything, thrilling, gothic and romance - her best! Liked it very much! ( )

current day — scares, ghosts, memories — in upstate Minnesota
beautiful mansion on the lake

Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead.

Listened on audio. I really liked this one. Kept me guessing until the end. ( )