Gary is a second year student at UCLA, leaving behind his Ohio roots. Once he meets Joan, he falls in love, and knows he wants to make California his home. Gary and his friends, Brian, Reyn, Stacy and Joan, travel to a Burning Man festival out in the Black Rock desert. However, this fun interlude turns bad when someone drugs the group and they wake up to discover Joan is missing. They try to get assistance from the local police but are met with little interest. They head back to campus with the hope that Joan will show up, even though Gary knows in his gut that something has happened to her.

Once back at the dorms, they discover Joan's roommate is also missing and another girl in the dorm, who gives Gary Joan's parent's phone number, is run down and killed later that night. They find a strange looking scroll of paper in her room that mentions protecting someone from "the outsiders." He also discovers that Joan's Facebook and other online information, including her student file at UCLA, has been wiped out. After telling the local police what they suspect and getting more disinterest in the case, or at least not enough interest for their comfort, Gary drives to Joan's parents' home and discovers their dog is dead and there is blood on the floor. He also finds scrolls in their house that allude to protection from "the outsiders," whoever they may be.

Gary returns to campus where he discovers his room has been ransacked. Before long, he is attacked by strange-looking men dressed in rudimentary hand-sewn garments, who kidnap, drug, and cart him off to a ranch in the desert where, luckily, he escapes. But his hell is not over and after surviving a few more attacks, he returns to discover his personal information has been wiped out too.

Gary is determined to find Joan at any cost and that cost turns out to be heavy. With every action Gary takes, there is a consequence that affects those around him. That Joan has been kidnapped by a cult with a leader called Father becomes obvious, but the means and power this cult has with a presence in several states is frightening to imagine.

I was glad I had the opportunity to read a Bentley Little story that I think is sure to entertain horror and thrill seekers. THE DISAPPEARANCE moves at a clipped pace through horrific events that leave deadly consequences along the path to an intense conclusion. Well-worth the time!