Good as Gone

I love a good thriller. Something that keeps me guessing, keeps me on my toes, confuses and scares the hell out of me. That's a sign of a good book. Good As Gone really is as good as the popular thrillers that have come before it - Gone Girl, The Girl On The Train, Before I Go To Sleep, and so on. One night, Julie, thirteen years old, is kidnapped from the family home. Her younger sister, Jane, saw a man holding a knife against Julie's back, pushing her out of the house and out of their lives. Jane, eight years old and terrified, didn't alert her parents for an hour, until it was too late. Julie is gone.

When Julie returns, she's full of stories of rape and abuse, of being sold to drug lords in Mexico, of absolute horror. Good As Gone reminded me of Only Daughter (which I loved. See my review here), and the BBC series Thirteen, whereby a lost/kidnapped daughter returns to her family. It doesn't take long for Anna to suspect that the 21-year-old woman who's appeared on her doorstep is not really her daughter. But who is she? What has she lived through? And what does she want?

Gentry uses multiple points-of-view to tell this story. Anna, in first person, and Julie, and Jane in third-person. Also, Julie's story is told in reverse - it starts with the woman in Anna's house, and goes back through her life, her multiple identities, tragedies, and abuse. To keep this review relatively spoiler-free, I can't say much more, so you really need to read it. Good As Gone will confuse and haunt you.

I also wanted to touch upon Anna, and how she's clearly written by a modern, feminist author. There are snide remarks about her going by her "maiden name", and she corrects people several times when they refer to her as "Mrs", instead of "Dr". These small additions make Anna more relatable, and I wanted to tip my hat to the author for including these very real scenarios that women face every day.

I love suspense books and this one has it by the bucket load. Really gripping. A great thriller. One roller coaster of a journey. Hang on if you dare! 4* One to recommend. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm going to start this by saying that this is one of the best books I've read in a while. Yes, I'm a suspense junkie! If ever I find myself trying to piece things together as I go and feel like I just can't quite figure it out, I know it's something that I enjoy.

Good as Gone is the story of Julie, a girl who was kidnapped from her home as a child, and her family. As the events of Julie's disappearance unfold around them, their bonds as a family are questions, as well as their own personal identities and motives. What does it mean to be a family? What does it mean to even be yourself when being you isn't easy?

If you like suspense novels, this one is fast paced and easy to get through!!

Well worth a read.

This had a very interesting premise and I couldn’t wait to read it. This book starts with the return of Julie who was kidnapped at only 13 and returns 8 years later. This book had so many layers to it that it kept me reading until the middle of the night.

The best thing about this book is the way it explores how trauma effects our characters. Amy Gentry does the brilliantly by showing us each character Julie has had to play in her journey to return to her family. It was a really unique way to tell the story of what happened to Julie in those 8 years, it was especially inspired that she did it in reverse chronological order.

You would think that this book would centre on who kidnapped Julie, but in fact it actually looks at the way that all of this family have changed in the time since she’s been away and how hard it is to reinsert the missing ‘piece’ of their family: Julie. Amy Gentry makes sure the reader experiences all the emotions of the characters - like denial and pain - through her vivid imagery and spot on descriptions of pain, loss and suffering. She looks deep into the physiological effects of losing a child from each perspective, the parents that lost that child, and the child that was taken.

Another really, really relevant topic that this book challenges is the dangers of the Internet for children. If there is anything that we need to learn as a society it is to protect our children better from the Internet. It has never been easier for bad people to do bad things and it has never been harder to protect our loved ones from them. I hope anyone reading this book will take away that message and Amy Gentry has captured the ease with which children can be manipulated through the Internet with chilling scenes that were so realistic it was uncomfortable to read.

A brilliant thriller with many twists and turns that will keep you guessing. It also had a fantastic ending. I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author.