The Vanishing Game

When it comes to creepy books it seems to me there are three types of endings: 1) the open ending, as in, did something actually happen or is the narrator just some kind of crazy?; 2) the paranormal ending, a.k.a it was all a ghost/vampire/were-rabbit; and 3) the ending that you never could have seen coming. Personally, I generally go for the third type. Sure, open endings can be good and occasionally there's a paranormal reason I can get down with, but generally, those types of endings just bore me. Luckily, The Vanishing Game falls into the third category.

I suppose the ending is more of an amalgamation of all three, but it falls mostly into the third category for me. The mystery that drove me to the end of the book so quickly didn't disappoint when all was finally revealed. I don't want to talk much more about the ending, though, since it would kind of ruin the reading experience if you knew what was going down ahead of time.

I really enjoyed the creepy vibe The Vanishing Game had. It walked that thin line between realistic creepy and over-the-top creepy. There's was the real-life stuff with the shady software company and the random attacks, but there were also the unexplainable occurrences flashback memories. I think the fact that the plot was centered around a dangerous, puzzle-filled treasure hunt upped the suspense and mystery so that every little unexplained thing was all the more jarring and frightening. And it didn't hurt that the town itself as well as Seale House (especially through Jocelyn's point of view) were dark and gloomy.

The romance between Noah and Jocelyn just didn't really do it for me until the end. I mean, it kind of made sense since these were feelings carried over from her childhood, but I could've done without it. In the end, though, it was fitting. Noah's not really a guy to swoon over, but he's not really meant to be either. Much of Jocelyn's affection for him developed in childhood and we only get glimpses of that.

If I had one complaint it'd be Jocelyn's constant need to point out her foster child status. I'm not disputing her terrible childhood and that foster kids do generally have it bad. That being said, it felt like she turned almost everything into a foster kid pity party. Multiple times she talked about her car and her netbook (why couldn't they have just called it a laptop?) and Noah's place pointing out every single time how important personal possessions are to foster kids. Once or twice would have been good enough, especially coupled with the other instances I can't recall off the top of my head.

The Nutshell: The Vanishing Game was a thrilling book threaded through with a good amount of creepy. The mystery kept me flipping pages 'til the end and I never guessed the outcome despite my many crazy guesses. The romance felt a bit weird and out of place to begin with, but worked for me by the end.

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