Vanish

A violent storm sweeps over Chicago, and three strangers who lived through it wake the next morning to find that everyone else has disappeared. Conner Hayden is a prosperous trial lawyer who has put his career ahead of his family. Helen Krause, a middle-aged model, is coming to terms with her fading looks. Mitch Kent, a resourceful young mechanic, cannot shake off a painful past.

Frightened and in need of answers, the three eventually meet and realize they are under observation. Figures that stay hidden in shadow seem to be forcing them to relive vivid hallucinations drawn from their own histories.

The group finds a silent, homeless boy in ragged clothes and suspects he may hold the key to what is happening. When the watchers turn hostile, they must flee. After the boy vanishes, the survivors leave Chicago for Washington, D.C., hoping to find answers and other people who remain.

Winner of the 2006 Operation First Novel contest and the 2009 Christy Award, this fast-paced suspense novel by Tom Pawlik is written in the style of Ted Dekker.