The disappearances seemed ordinary at first, with the police thinking those gone were runaways. Then more vanished, all at night, and curfews were implemented. John Calhoun, a teacher with a fractured family, has his son vanish after going around a corner. The wave continues, and the news and government have no answers. When John’s wife is taken in broad daylight by an invisible force that drags her away screaming, it’s clear that whatever is responsible won’t stop until every person on the planet is abducted. But who is responsible, and what is their motive? John and his 13-year-old daughter hunker down in their house and begin a survivalist lifestyle to avoid being next. At the same time, the neighborhood around them becomes a scene right out of the classic Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. Janz, the pseudonym of Craig Shaeffer, uses his background and influences growing up to craft a tense and twisty thriller. The surprises come later in the story when John is forced to fight back by making sacrifices to save his family and the motivations behind the disappearances come to light. Janz takes the quintessential theme of how far you would go to protect your family to clever and horrifying heights.
