Review: Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay

Elizabeth Sanderson is awaken in the middle of the night by the ring of her cell phone.  Her thirteen-year-old son, Tommy, has gone missing from his friend's home, where he was staying for the night. He was last seen at Borderland, a nearby state park where Tommy and his friends hang out.

After endless searching, the local police have no leads. To make matters worse, Tommy's best friends, Josh and Luis, there with him that night, seem to be holding something back.  Elizabeth is devastated, unable to deal with the possibility that something terrible has happened to Tommy.  A series of strange events begin to occur: Elizabeth is certain she sees Tommy's shadow hovering in the corner of her bedroom; neighbors report a shadow peering in their windows in the middle of the night, the grass outside their windows trampled.

The strangest of all are the random pages of Tommy's journals found strewn about their living room floor.  These journal entries reveal a teen suddenly obsessed with the death of his father, who passed away in a drunk-driving incident a decade before, and horrific attack that Tommy feels is tied to his father's death and a supernatural existence in the Borderland woods.

The discovery of the journal pages give Elizabeth and the local police evidence to dig deeper into what happened that night in Borderland, at a landmark local teens referred to as Devil's Rock, a truth no one is quite prepared to deal with.

Let’s start by saying I absolutely LOVED Tremblay’s previous novel A Head Full of Ghosts.  That book left me questioning everything I read, a novel that leaves you questioning what actually transpired days after you’ve finished reading.   A truly emotional response, something that that book has in common with this most recent one.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the level of intensity that emotional response held. Perhaps it is because I am the mother of two boys (now almost 11 and sixteen).  Rather than embracing the supernatural feel of the story, I was completely devastated by what transpired. Yes, I was terrified, but not by the supernatural elements, but by the definitive and pervasive feelings of loss Tommy’s family felt after his disappearance. Rather than reading the book with all the lights on, terrified of what was to happen next, I was a sobbing, emotional mess of a woman. I awoke the next day, eyes swollen from crying, having slept only a few hours, and then I hugged my boys. Hugged them almost to the point of injury.  I’m happy I read this now, instead of in a week when they are gone for camp.

While I appreciate what the author was trying to achieve with this book, my strong emotional response prevented me from accepting it for what it is (and could be): a novel that leaves you questioning local supernatural lore.  Is there something dark and ominous in the woods of Borderland, or is this all the result of teen defiance?

Instead, I’m still devastated. Perhaps I’m vulnerable, but perhaps I’m not alone in my response.  For this reason, while I do truly believe Tremblay is an incredibly talented writer, I question my ability to recommend this novel. Do I recommend it, with a warning not to read if you have children?  I cannot make that decision for my readers.  Therefore, I leave it up to you.  Take my response for what it is: a purely individual and personal response.

Are there others who have read it? I’m interested in reading your response!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to review this title.