Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

“Your son is missing. What can a mother do?”

This book was my first TBR jar pick of the year! It feels so good to finally tackle some of the books that have sat patiently on my shelves for years and I really hope I can keep it up! I enjoyed Gone; even though it didn’t feel as thrilling or gripping as some of the other books I’ve read this year, the plot was WILD, with a final twist you probably won’t be able to predict. Very happy to be sharing my review!

About the book

Last night my son, Shay, sneaked out of the house and didn’t come home. He promised not to go to the illegal party in the woods. But someone’s been attacked and Shay has gone missing. The police want to know if he saw what happened. I’m worried he could be involved.

After all the trouble he’s been in lately, mixing with the wrong crowd, coming home beaten up and scared, I thought we’d put it all behind us. Trouble is, Shay resents me moving my new boyfriend into the family home. I found all sorts on his laptop, including a half-written email warning me not to trust David. What does he know that I don’t?

I’m beginning to fear for his safety. What is David hiding from me? Who have I let into our lives?

I don’t know who I can trust. Will I ever see my son alive again?

The beginning

If you went to bed knowing your son was safe in his room, but wake up to find his bed hasn’t been slept in, that he isn’t anywhere to be seen, what would you do? This is the horror that Rachel is faced with one morning, a morning that would change everything. Instantly, I shared Rachel’s panic, that motherly instinct to protect. It felt so good to feel all this alongside Rachel so early on! In between all this, we begin to learn more about the events before her son Shay’s disappearance. An illegal party in the woods. Hanging with the wrong crowd. Getting beaten up. I enjoyed this author’s writing from the start and found it very easy to read. It succeeded in building that curiosity we crave in a thriller and I was fully invested in finding out exactly where Shay was. Was he in danger? Was he even alive? I loved finding out more about Rachel and her new partner, David. She’d moved him into the family home quite quickly after her separation from Mick, and I will admit, this little bit of information stuck out for me and I suspected it would be important… (I tucked it away for later!)

“She didn’t think he was the type to go behind her back. He could be keeping other secrets from her. How well does she really know the man she loves?”

I quickly found David to be a bit of an annoying character. It was obvious he was hiding something and he seemed to have minimal common sense at times which annoyed me. I wasn’t sure how Rachel was putting up with him, to be honest! I also found it strange that after the initial panic of Shay being missing, this panic significantly subsided every now and again. If it was me, I would be in a constant state of terror, not slicing up key lime pie! Little rant over, thankfully that’s all of it 😂 Shay’s disappearance isn’t the only strange thing to happen. A girl is injured and in a pretty bad way in hospital, and Shay isn’t the only boy to go missing. It seemed whatever had happened at the party had resulted in multiple disappearances and possibly even an attempted murder. It was strange and I was very invested in everything by this point. Why were there multiple disappearances? How much danger were these boys in? Did they disappear of their own accord, or was there something more sinister going on? I flew through these chapters and was very curious to see where things went from here!

The middle

In Rachel’s search for clues, she heads to Shay’s room and (ridiculously easily) manages to log onto his laptop. What she finds in his emails and search history is very disturbing indeed. The start of emails from Shay in his drafts folder that seem to be warning about David, threatening messages about owing money, a website named Suicide Club UK that would be so excruciatingly upsetting and worrying for any parent to see on their child’s computer. This was such a shock for me; were these kids planning a kind of suicide pact? Was there more to it than that? The short, sharp chapters worked really well at this point in particular and I was dying to know what on earth was happening, why Shay seemed to be warning Rachel about David. I did suspect him from the start, but was this just a clever red herring? Rachel and David meet the families of the other children who were missing, and much to Rachel’s dismay, the group vote in the majority not to contact the police about what they’ve found. Why? It seemed logical thought didn’t come naturally to these characters… or was there more to it?

“I’m so sorry. We don’t know where he is right now, but we will find him, she whispers in his ear, although the truth is she’s never been so unsure of anything in her life.”

After receiving a ransom message requesting a whopping £50,000 in return for her son, Rachel really panics. The book seemed to be going in a completely different direction to what I expected. At times, it did seem a little far-fetched, and in others, a little predictable, but the author does a great job of keeping you reading and keeping some sort of intrigue throughout the chapters. Chats with the police uncover some shocking truths, things that would completely crush any parent. If you are a parent, just prepare yourself to have your heart broken over and over with this book! I’m not sure what it was, but despite the shocking nature of this book, I didn’t feel like it was very thrilling. Whether I just expected more twists and turns, or a more gripping read, I’m not sure. I think I really needed something big to happen for me to feel wowed by it. But it’s certainly not a bad book by any means! Rachel receives another set back which makes her question David’s genuineness. There seemed to be a lot of focus on David being the culprit here, so I hoped I’d be shocked by the ending!

The end

There are mysterious parcels left on Rachel’s doorstep containing things that only increase concern. Whoever was doing this was certainly playing some sick little game, and for what? Revenge? I wanted to get my own revenge on whoever was terrorising this family! I had my eye on one of Rachel’s clients, someone who is acting strange, hanging around her house, claiming to be a friend when she most certainly isn’t. And what is David hiding? Two different attempts to get Shay back in their lives have failed, and there’s news of a British boy found dead in Morocco. Rachel has no idea where her son is, or even if he’s still in the country. Could it be? The tension and suspense certainly ramps up in these ending chapters and I felt myself much more gripped than I was during the rest of the book. The trauma Rachel was going through was tough for even me to stomach at times. The author has really got into Rachel’s mind and shared every deep, dark emotion with readers. That takes some skill! I couldn’t wait to uncover the truth – would I be surprised, or would my predictions be correct?

“Rachel cries out and cups her face with her hands. She leans forward, her stomach and chest aching. Her head fills with the horror that it could be her boy.”

There were certainly some surprises, let me tell you! The ending of this book was one of those that is pretty impossible to predict, which I really enjoyed. There were some moments of horror, of intense sadness, of relief. Your emotions really are taken on a rollercoaster ride in those final chapters! I did feel as though the ending was rushed a little bit, but I did enjoy the epilogue, showing that there was still plenty to heal from, but there was hope and growth there too. There was a lot to process, and I thought some plot points could have been explored more. The book was very enjoyable overall, but not as gripping as some of the last couple of books I’ve read. I also feel like my last two five star thrillers have spoilt me, and I feel like nothing will live up to those books for a long time 😂 If you like a thriller with a strong theme of motherhood, especially a mother-son bond, you will probably like this one. I’m very curious to read the author’s other books after this, especially Missing which I’ve had my eye on for a while. Watch this space!

Overall thoughts

Gone is the story of every parent’s worst nightmare. You wake to find your son is missing, what do you do? Rachel’s thoughts and feelings as she works tirelessly to find her son were so vivid and you can’t help but share them too. The initial sense of dread, the horror, the helplessness, the panic. This author really knows how to get under your skin emotionally! There were a couple of characters that annoyed me at times for different reasons (David, Alice…) but Rachel’s character was really well written. I could easily sympathise with her and her situation. However, her ex, Mick, was by far my favourite and I was rooting for them to get back together all the way through (don’t tell Rachel I said that…)

There are plenty of surprises and a shocking ending which might turn some stomachs, so prepare yourself! Not the most thrilling of thrillers I’ve ever read overall, but still a really enjoyable read, showing the lengths people will go to for love and the horrors that lurk online… If you have kids, you’ll want to hug them a little bit tighter after this one!

You can grab your own copy of Gone right now on Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author over on Instagram and X for more updates!

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