The Cold Vanish

Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands

By: Jon Billman

Narrated by: Stephen Graybill

Perfect for readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, this "authentic and encyclopedic" book examines real-life cases of those who vanish in the wilderness without a trace (Roman Dial)—and those eccentric, determined characters who try to find them.
These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. The stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors. Through Jacob Gray's disappearance in Olympic National Park, and his father Randy Gray who left his life to search for him, we will learn about what happens when someone goes missing. Braided around the core will be the stories of the characters who fill the vacuum created by a vanished human being. We'll meet eccentric bloodhound-handler Duff and R.C., his flagship purebred, who began trailing with the family dog after his brother vanished in the San Gabriel Mountains. And there's Michael Neiger North America's foremost backcountry Search & Rescue expert and self-described "bushman" obsessed with missing persons. And top researcher of persons missing on public wildlands Ex-San Jose, California detective David Paulides who is also one of the world's foremost Bigfoot researchers. It's a tricky thing to write about missing persons because the story is the absence of someone. A void. The person at the heart of the story is thinner than a smoke ring, invisible as someone else's memory. The bones you dig up are most often metaphorical. While much of the book will embrace memory and faulty memory—history—The Cold Vanish is at its core a story of now and tomorrow. Someone will vanish in the wild tomorrow. These are the people who will go looking.

Critic reviews

"[A] compassionate and riveting non-fiction dive into wilderness disappearances."—MacLean's

"The Cold Vanish is part mystery, part glance into a world of heroes and charlatans, death, and loss that most of us, fortunately, do not know, and don't want to know, but perhaps should. The Cold Vanish is informative, and in a sad way, captivating and well worth a read."—National Parks Traveler

"Colorful side characters, like psychics and Bigfoot hunters, provide some light moments, but what makes a lasting impression is the story of Randy and his ultimately dashed hopes of finding his son alive. The author's personal involvement makes this tale all the more affecting."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A compassionate, sympathetic, and haunting book sure to make you think twice before stepping out into the wilderness alone."—Kirkus (starred review)

"Required reading for anyone concerned about the missing, Billman's authentic and encyclopedic book leads us across the landscapes of the vanished with a journalist's acumen and a searcher's sympathy. It's both true and useful, a storytelling textbook I wish I'd read before my own son went missing."—Roman Dial, author of The Adventurer's Son

"Most of us prefer to measure and celebrate nature in terms of its tendency to delight, to inspire, to instill awe. But there is another metric by which the power of wilderness can be calibrated, which lies in its capacity to take us between its teeth, tear us asunder, and swallow up whatever is left with such ruthless efficiency that no trace remains. Thanks to Jon Billman's talent for wielding words with the chilling precision of a scalpel, The Cold Vanish lays open nature's capacity to evoke terror in a way that will give you pause the next time you think about venturing into the backcountry. Haunting, spooky, and propulsive." —Kevin Fedarko, author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

"It's a rare book that makes the hair stand up on your neck and pierces your heart all at once. With The Cold Vanish, Jon Billman has created a breath-taking genre all his own: the search-and-rescue of wandering souls. I was captivated from start to finish."—Alyson Hagy, author of Scribe and Boleto

"A harrowing collection of real-life wilderness ghost stories, proving that - even in this era of GPS and Instagram - it is still quite possible to get lost out there."—Bill Gifford, New York Times bestselling author of Spring Chicken

Sad but interesting finished a little confused

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.

Great Read

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.

Redundant Redundant Redundant

Did I mention it’s redundant? Not sure if the author thinks the listener is stupid or if he needed to stretch a 6 hour book into 12 hours.

Fascinating and Haunting

This book was investigative with that eery haunting feel that this could happen to any of us and we take a lot for granted hiking in the outdoors. I appreciated how thoroughly the author invested in “living” the search effort to give us a real feel for what it’s like searching for the missing in the outdoors. Hearing Jacob Gray’s story and getting to know him and his father Randy and the lengths Randy went to try to find his son were remarkable. Billman did his and Jacob’s story true justice. I will never look at national parks the same way again. And I’m now fascinated by blood hounds and their trainers. Excellent narration.

Interesting Story

Overall i enjoyed this book. The writing and the story itself are interesting and keep you listening. Some have criticized the writer for obsessing over David Paulides and criticizing him but I didn’t get that feeling at all. Maybe 15-20 minutes of the whole book is dedicated to discussing anything related to Paulides. I found this to be appropriate as Paulides is a prominent figure in the field of missing persons. Additionally, the writing simply details his experience interacting with Paulides while working on this book and missing person case. At the end of the day, this is an enjoyable book that is written well and I would recommend it to anyone who finds missing persons cases interesting.