Rating: Good
Source: Publisher
Description: GONE WITHOUT A TRACE by Mary Torjussen is a chilling, twisty, compulsive thriller about a woman whose boyfriend has vanished. Fans of I LET YOU GO and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN will be gripped.
No one ever disappears completely...
You leave for work one morning.
Another day in your normal life.
Until you come home to discover that your boyfriend has gone.
His belongings have disappeared.
He hasn't been at work for weeks.
It's as if he never existed.
But that's not possible, is it?
And there is worse still to come.
Because just as you are searching for him
someone is also watching you.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: The premise sounded so creepy I just couldn't resist! Plus I wanted to know what happened to him.
My Impression: This book throws you into the action in chapter one when Hannah comes home to find her boyfriend not just gone but like he'd never been there. Everything in her house has been replaced - just like it was before he was even there. Every picture, every glass, everything of his is completely gone and Hannah begins to unravel.
At the beginning I was holding my breath a bit. Just where had Matt gone? Why had he left in such a fashion? And then when the creep factor ramps up and Hannah starts getting phone calls and messages I couldn't wait to find out just what was going on. For probably the first third I was intrigued and at times holding my breath as the tension mounted. And then it kind of plateaued. I mean creepy stuff was still happening and Hannah was basically falling completely but nothing changed. It didn't feel like anything new came to light or any progress was made in figuring out what was going on. Despite the continually ramped up tension the story itself dragged until the last quarter of the book. As well I got frustrated with Hannah as it seemed like she was essentially just chasing her tail and wringing her hands for quite some time. I wanted her to do something ANYTHING other than self sabotage which seemed to be mostly what she was doing.
Despite my issues with the book I did enjoy the read. The last twists and turns were definitely not something I saw coming and it's fun to be surprised. I thought Torjussen did a good job with pulling me into the story quickly even though she did lose me in the middle. She's definitely an author I'll keep a look out for in the future.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: I would if the blurb caught my interest.
Would I Recommend this Book?: If you like unreliable narrators than this is one you might want to add to your list.
I was wondering if you've ever read the book Just One Look by Harlan Coben? It's an older book. I read it when I was in college. But it's a great mystery, and this sort of reminded me of it. Although it's a lot different.
ReplyDeleteI just saw a review for this yesterday and it was the first I'd heard of it. I'm loving thrillers lately so I may give this a try. The plateauing concerns me a bit, and unreliable narrators sometimes work for me and sometimes not, so I'll go in with my expectations in check! Great review!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly sounds interesting. I'll keep an eye out for it!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had better luck with this one than I did. I was really looking forward to it but found that I was bored for much of the book. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI often really love unreliable narrators, so I might give this one a try. It's good to be forewarned about the fact that things stall a bit in the middle, though.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Pity about the middle but sounds like it still had a lot going for it.
ReplyDeleteOh man. That does have a creepy factor. Goodness!
ReplyDeleteI've seen mixed reviews of this one, but the premise definitely does have that creepy factor. I am glad you liked it, even despite it's faults.
ReplyDelete