To care about Tom Nero’s disappearance, we must first get to know Tom Nero. TJ Price understands this because he is an excellent writer.

The Disappearance of Tom Nero is a fascinating novelette, compiled from documents in a strange case where one Tom Nero has inexplicably vanished. Attempting to piece together this mystery leads to paranoia, danger, and perhaps horror and madness.

But Price is not content to leave Tom Nero as a mysterious figure and tell the reader why they should care he’s gone. The first half of the book focuses on Tom and his struggles, the first in the trail that leads to the end of the mystery. Price allows us to experience Tom through his own eyes and words. The reader knows his disappearance is inevitable, and this makes it hit all the harder.

Price is a brilliant wordsmith, selecting his prose with care. Each document is carefully chosen and serves a point in the story being told. The horror is so precise, so creeping, the reader barely realizes the nightmarish nature of the documents before Price reveals it.

The Disappearance of Tom Nero is ultimately a brilliant effort and a reminder that seeking lost things can come with a terrible price.