The Cold Vanish

Anyone who has read or knows anything about people missing in national parks probably knows the name David Paulides he has taken the issue of missing people in the parks and put it out in the mainstream or at least he has made this issue a lot more well known. The author of this book Jon Billman takes a similar approach people mysteriously just disappear in our parks and their is no data base keeping up with these missing people and they disappear in very strange circumstances, it\’s often beyond belief how easily people just disappear. He follows one father on his quest to find his lost son and writes about many other strange disappearances, the father\’s quest to find his son is a tough thing and I\’m sure it was tough on the author and thank you for helping the family, however… The beginning of the book the author admits his favorite late night talk show Coast to Coast AM guest is David Paulides, then confusingly throughout the book he takes snarky jabs at David apparently for making money off his research and books and even shames David for not actually helping search for the missing. I don\’t have anything to do with David Paulides except I know his work and he has done a lot for bringing the issue of missing people in our national parks to more and more people\’s attention I would say he has done a lot of good so the put downs seem so out of place in this book. The author tells many stories of the missing and sometimes the story is a little confusing or end abruptly. Also the narration is good but the sound effects at the beginning of each chapter is very annoying, loud sounds of river flowing and birds chirping while I\’m trying to comprehend what just happen is the previous chapter well it\’s abrupt and takes the listener out of the story..bad production choice. I\’m sorry I could not rate this one higher but the jabs thrown at David Paulides and writing style overall it\’s just how I feel, as for helping the father and family great job. I would suggest a book titled The Adventurers Son by Roman Dial for a more focused story on a missing son and heroic journey by an father to find his son. 26 people found this helpful

I was fairly astonished to find such a week written piece of work by chance. The author has a mature style that appeals to my writers ears but also writes in a way so as to be accessible to the average reader. I would have given 5 stars if it weren\’t for the author\’s jealous jabs at Dave Paulides. It just came across as very petty and childish the way he tried to cut him down. For those of us who follow Paulides\’ work, it\’s easy to see the rants for what they are. Still, it was a great read aside from those spots. 13 people found this helpful

Overall it was a well written telling of a father on a mission to find his son with other missing stories intermingled. I really felt for their family. As a father myself I sometimes worry about the days when my sons are old enough to go out into the world and make life changing/ending mistakes…or just become lost… My only grievance was the author’s occasional soft berating of another author/investigator David Paulides. It seemed unnecessary for this book and didn’t add to the recounting of events. The author certainly appears to have some issues with Paulides. 10 people found this helpful

Overall I thought this was a great book with an excellent narrator, but I was disappointed that the author chose not to include cases from the East Coast. The Appalachian Trail has a storied history and captivating tales of missing hikers as well, and Billman would have done well to acknowledge them. 8 people found this helpful

This was interesting to listen to. The issue I have was that this seems to be a cobbled together book from someone’s massive of notes resulting from lengthy investigation. Oh wait, it was. Still the author needed to cut out a bit more unnecessary stuffing, and focus on the main aspects of the subject matter. I did appreciate the authors descriptions of personal emotional attachments to the main character, his son, new friends made along the journey and various weird encounters with conspiracy theorists. That made it more interesting. What I got out of this book was that this author was willing to travel on the hunt with a grieving parent who’s son disappeared in the wild; wherever that path took them for good or bad. This seemed to document a fathers intense grief, and seemly decent into a bit of mental instability from the pain of loss. I get it. I also get why this author spend far more time on that one tragic story because of his personal friendship to the father. I’m just not sure if two books would have been better, one about this friend, and separate book about the subject of people who disappear, the how, when, why and with a little coverage of the emotional impact on the families. I finished the book because I do care about this subject matter and it seemed respectful to do it. 4 people found this helpful

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