Beckon by Tom Pawlik

Three visitors end up in Beckon, Wyoming and the first we read of is Jack. The last time he had seen his father was when Jack was only nine years old. An anthropologist at the University of Chicago, Jack's father had gone out west to do some field research on an old Indian legend. He had never returned nor been heard of again. Twelve years later Jack is going through his father's things, preparing for the estate sale. He finds some notes and the drawing of an artifact, dated just four months before his father had left. Jack convinces his best friend to go with him to Wyoming, to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.

Jack finds much more than he had ever anticipated. Caves in the Wyoming foothills with flesh eating monsters and eventually, Beckon, Wyoming.

But he's a prisoner. Also a prisoner is police officer Elina who trailed a van to the hidden town. It was a van that had once picked up her cousin. Promised work, the cousin had never been seen again and she was determined to find him.

The third visitor to Beckon is a wealthy business man, lured to the town by the promise of a cure for his wife's dementia.

What each of them has found in Beckon is a nightmare. Vale, the boss of the town, had discovered the nearby cave in 1878 while gold prospecting. And yes, he's still alive. But the price he pays for life is the death of others. And Jack and Elina are next.

Wow. This is an exciting book. The action is intense and continuous. The monsters and other underground beings are so creepy I didn't want to read the book to late into the evening. In addition to the high action, there are also questions of what is right and how one fights evil. This is a well written and very entertaining book. It will keep you reading to the last page.

Tom Pawlik is the author of Vanish, a Christy Award winner, and Valley of the Shadow, a Christy Award finalist. He and his wife have five children and live in Ohio. Visit his website at www.tompawlik.com. Follow his blog: http://tompawlik.blogspot.com/ Follow him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Pawlik/42692434035 or Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TomPawlik

Tyndale House Publishers, 399 pages. Go here to buy this book.

I am taking part in a Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour of this book.  You can read other reviews at the links below:

Noah Arsenault Julie Bihn Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Beckie Burnham Brenda Castro Theresa Dunlap Nikole Hahn Ryan Heart Bruce Hennigan Janeen Ippolito Becky Jesse Jason Joyner Carol Keen Leighton Rebekah Loper Katie McCurdy Shannon McDermott Karen McSpadden Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Faye Oygard Crista Richey Kathleen Smith Jessica Thomas Steve Trower Fred Warren Shane Werlinger

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.