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jhulme's review
1.0
DNF - I WANTED to like this book. I enjoy nature and true crime. I’ve spent lots of time alone in the wilderness. And I was a SAR Explorer as a teen. Because of that, I really wanted to hear more about underreported disappearances.
Oof. This book was not it. It’s a disjointed mess and I’m left wondering if an editor even touched it. There were SO many things that bugged me about this book that I don’t have the energy (or the will) to list everything out.
Despite finding both the writing and structure lacking, I really wanted to finish this book. But I found myself avoiding it. And then I remembered what a very wise friend told me. “Life’s too short to waste it on crappy books.”
So at 71% of the way through the audiobook, I’m throwing in the towel and going off to read something else instead. I have 4 other solidly GOOD books from the library waiting for my attention.
Oof. This book was not it. It’s a disjointed mess and I’m left wondering if an editor even touched it. There were SO many things that bugged me about this book that I don’t have the energy (or the will) to list everything out.
Despite finding both the writing and structure lacking, I really wanted to finish this book. But I found myself avoiding it. And then I remembered what a very wise friend told me. “Life’s too short to waste it on crappy books.”
So at 71% of the way through the audiobook, I’m throwing in the towel and going off to read something else instead. I have 4 other solidly GOOD books from the library waiting for my attention.
dengelke's review against another edition
Personally I thought this book was over bloated with the central idea of Jacob Gray's disappearance being buried under similar stories and similar conclusions that ultimately resulted in a conclusion that is about as satisfying as googling the ending. If you like true crime you'll probably get a passing enjoyment out of this but I feel like this book could have been a quarter the length and lost nothing.
tessadickinson's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I liked this book a lot, but I do find that the side stories of other missing hikers was not as seamlessly weaved in. Despite that, he was able to articulate well how overwhelming and devastating the fallout is when someone goes missing in big parks.
The side plots were fascinating, haunting, and still inspiring behind an impressive backdrop.
The side plots were fascinating, haunting, and still inspiring behind an impressive backdrop.
gabbyyscott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
beautiful_articulate's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I loved Billman’s writing style. It really felt like I was tagging along in the search for Jacob Gray, and I feel like he did a great job portraying the people he met along the way. The Cold Vanish is an excellent narrative about not only the people that go missing in the American wilderness, but also the people looking for them. The entire portion on the search for Jacob was by far my favorite part of the book, as Billman talks about all the angles that were covered during the search: criminal, paranormal, natural, etc.
The thing that prevents this book from being a 5-star read was how disorganized some of the other missing persons stories were and how they were sprinkled in with the story of Jacob Gray. For some I definitely see a connection and found it interesting to see them linked with Jacob Gray’s disappearance, but for others it felt like they were included purely because they caught the author’s attention. Of course, I don’t actually have a problem with that, I just thought they might have had a better place in the book than sprinkled in-between the Jacob Gray narrative.
The thing that prevents this book from being a 5-star read was how disorganized some of the other missing persons stories were and how they were sprinkled in with the story of Jacob Gray. For some I definitely see a connection and found it interesting to see them linked with Jacob Gray’s disappearance, but for others it felt like they were included purely because they caught the author’s attention. Of course, I don’t actually have a problem with that, I just thought they might have had a better place in the book than sprinkled in-between the Jacob Gray narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Murder
lexieryan's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
bnryan95's review
I'm going to have to DNF this. It is by no means a bad book. It is concerning a very interesting and important topic, people going missing in the woods all over the country. I'm just having a tough time following the nonlinear structure, all of the different cases, and zigzagging between them. Maybe it just isn't the right time for me to read this.