A jaw-dropping novel of psychological suspense that asks, If the love of your life disappeared without a trace, how far would you go to find out why?
Hannah Monroe’s boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house. Every call she ever made to him, every text she ever sent, every photo of him and any sign of him on social media have vanished. It’s as though their last four years together never happened.
As Hannah struggles to get through the next few days, with humiliation and recriminations whirring through her head, she knows that she’ll do whatever it takes to find him again and get answers. But as soon as her search starts, she realizes she is being led into a maze of madness and obsession. Step by suspenseful step, Hannah discovers her only way out is to come face to face with the shocking truth…
RELEASED APRIL 18, 2017
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AND TO READ LORNA’S REVIEW!
About the Book
Gone Without a Trace
by Mary Torjussen
Series
n/a; standalone
Genre
Adult
Mystery
Thriller / Suspense
Publisher
Berkley
Publication Date
April 18, 2017
Lorna’s Review
Psychological suspense. I’ve read my share of them over the years. Some good, some unbearably bad. Some memorable, some not so much. When a book keeps you up all night until 8 a.m., that’s when you know you found one that’s a keeper. That was this book for me. A couple of days later, and I am still thinking about it. Is this book for everyone? That’s debatable.
Hannah is on the fast track for promotion at her accounting firm and has just spent the day away from home at meetings. She comes back to her home in Liverpool to find that her live in boyfriend of four years, Matt, has disappeared, along with all his things and every picture, memento, and even any trace of him from social media. No note. Nothing. She is understandably upset. Heartbroken. Afraid. All those emotions that have to do with a breakup. But Hannah wants to know why and where he is. So she embarks on a journey to find Matt. Not a real trip anywhere, but a journey none the less. When does heartbreak cross the line into obsession? This is a fine example of that.
Experiencing Hannah become a shadow of herself, throwing her life away almost in her quest was painful to read. Saying that, I still literally turned pages nonstop. The author throws in another mystery on top of the mystery of the disappearance. Who is entering her home during the day and moving one particular thing around? Or turnng a light on, or warming a tea kettle? Little things that make a person think they are a going crazy. Is Matt trying to tell her something with the strange texts she receives or the phone calls with nothing but breathing or worse, music. Hannah’s best friend from childhood, Katie, and Katie’s boyfriend, James, are the other main characters-Katie in particular. We also meet various people at Hannah’s work.
I don’t want to share anything else about the actual story. It would be hard to do so without giving away too much. But I will say that this was almost like peeling back the layers of an onion, slowly but surely finding out what the story is, but starting with just the bare facts until the reader is finally shown the reasons behind everything. And I couldn’t stop reading. It’s the closest I have come to peeking at the last page of a book since I was very young. That’s very telling. Although I figured out part of the mystery early on, I still needed to know so much more.
If you are expecting any romance or anything feel good, then this isn’t the book for you. It’s a story about obsession, watching someone spiral down into the lowest depths of their mind. It’s got its share of suspense as well. There were a few times that I skimmed some of the pages, as Hannah’s mind got a bit out of control and that was a tiny bit tiresome. But, it really was necessary. Hannah was so well fleshed out by the author that I may have not understood everything that she did, but I knew exactly what she was feeling. Even if I wanted to shake her sometimes. Or a lot of the time actually.
If you enjoy psychological suspense, or a mystery that takes place in England, then this could be a read you will enjoy. Not everyone is going to like this book, but I did.
The review copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
About Mary Torjussen
Mary Torjussen has an MA in Creative Writing from Liverpool John Moores University. She worked for several years as a teacher and lives outside of Liverpool, where Gone Without a Trace is set.
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Mary Torjussen has an MA in Creative Writing from Liverpool John Moores University. She worked for several years as a teacher and lives outside of Liverpool, where Gone Without a Trace is set.
