For fans of B. A. Paris and Mary Kubica comes a propulsive, twisting psychological thriller that asks, How can you save someone else if you can’t save yourself?After years of learning how to manage her bipolar disorder, Emily Firestone finally has it under control. Even better, her life is coming together: she’s got a great job, her own place, and a boyfriend, Paolo, who adores her. So when Paolo … adores her. So when Paolo suggests a weekend sailing trip, Emily agrees—wine, water, and the man she loves? What could be better? But when Emily wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone.
A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. Where else could he have gone? And why? As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip.
But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy. To clear her name, Emily must find the truth—but can she hold onto her own sanity in the process?
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A gripping psychological thriller filled with suspenseful twists and turns!
A steep-dive roller coaster ride with an at-risk, sometimes unreliable heroine at the helm, one who is endangered but also dangerous. It’s hard to believe this gripping psychological thriller is by a debut author. Get on board but hang on!
Emily at last has her bipolar disorder under control. Its taken her years to get to this point in her life when everything seems to be going her way. She has a terrific boyfriend, Paolo,. a great job, and her own living space.
When Paolo suggests a weekend trip of sailing, she readily agrees. The morning after they set sail, Emily wakes up to a totally empty boat. Where is Paolo? Did he fall overboard and drown? She’s alone on the boat and terrified.
Days later with still no answers on what happened, she becomes a person of interest. Her mental health is starting to unravel. She needs to know what happened in order to keep her sanity. But who does she turn to? Where does she start?
This is a real nail-biter. Watching Emily come undone in front of my eyes had me enthralled with the story and I hated to lay it down for any reason. I liked the spunk Emily showed, as she struggled with her illness in order to find the truth. The characters are finely drawn with multilayered emotions and actions.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this twisted psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Ready for a THRILL RIDE? R. J. Jacobs’ novel is a dive into deep, fast-moving currents from chapter 1. This intelligent psychological thriller will have you turning pages long after you should have gone to bed. Just when I thought I had something figured out, the plot twisted, and I had to read more (no turning out the light just yet!).
The dynamic, multilayered characters grabbed me from the moment they walked onto the pages. The protagonist is as complicated as she is vulnerable, and even when I didn’t know what she might do next under constant duress, and even when some of her decisions had me cringing, I still rooted for her the whole time. Will she? Won’t she? What’s next? These questions kept me reading and mesmerized.
This novel is fast, satisfying, fist-pumping, and thrilling. If you’re ready for an intelligent thriller, this novel is for you!
Rich characterizations, exquisite language, and a subtle thrum of tension… In Emily Firestone, Jacobs has created not just a heroine, but a fully realized person whose bipolar disorder is sensitively and realistically handled. I was riveted from the very first page.
And Then You Were Gone captivates readers… pulling you headfirst into a terrifying disappearance that quickly derails the life of an irresistible and freshly-drawn main character. It will keep you turning page after page, with racing heart, toward the satisfying finish. Highly recommended!
Unnerving and with a building sense of dread, And Then You Were Gone is a high-stakes, disorienting thrill ride.
A thrilling ride that kept me guessing until the end… Exceptional!
R. J. Jacobs cleverly combines a tightly plotted thriller with a who-can-you-trust cast of characters in this sensational debut.
Loved it. Apparently I read too many mediocre psychological thrillers, because I was just thrilled to actually get a great book this time. Original, realistic characters, convincing plot, a protagonist who grapples with bipolar disorder. I will definitely read more by this author.
Very good book. Lots of twists. Couldn’t put it down.
You’re book was recommended by a friend, and he’s right in saying this story is awesome. Why don’t you try to publish your book in N0velStar to reach out more readers?
And Then You Were Gone was an engrossing psychological thriller! I enjoyed the shocking beginning of the novel and how the suspense built as the story went on. Emily and her boyfriend Paolo are out for a weekend trip on a boat when she wakes up to find he’s gone. He is never found. But the police feel he is dead and suspect Emily in his death. Although Emily is now a child psychologist, she has struggled with her own mood swings and losing control. Things quickly become more and more suspenseful as Emily finds herself in more trouble and in the middle of an increasingly dangerous situation. I enjoyed author RJ Jacobs style of writing throughout this story. It was easy to read and really hard to put down!
It was a struggle to finish this book. Once I realized that it involved bioterrorism, of which I have no interest, I knew that it was going to be a tough read. It really should have been hinted at in the summary of the book so that readers would know it plays a large part in the plot.
The main character’s bipolar disorder plays much too large of a part in this story, as well. It is incredible how much time and effort is taken to describe Emily’s condition and her increasingly out of control thought processes and actions. Towards the end of the story, it even morphs into superhero-like powers which literally had me snorting out loud with disgust. How any person in that state could believably be a child psychologist was beyond me and certainly beyond any suspension of belief. I suppose the author felt that the paranoia and ‘craziness’ of her unmedicated condition would add to the thriller, as everyone seemed to think her behavior amounted to guilt. But it just didn’t mesh for me and it took away any suspense in the story.
The characters were also all over the place. Emily’s best friend, Allie, acted bizarrely trusting one moment and suspicious the next, back and forth in a nonsensical way. Cal, the best friend of her boyfriend that disappeared is described as aloof and untrusting of Emily, yet one short conversation between them and he’s drawn right in to her chaos and willing to help. Sure. And the boyfriend himself is barely described enough to get any sort of sense as to why Emily was so in love with him and dedicated to finding out what happened.
I’m not sure if I would read more of this author – perhaps if it involved a completely different subject matter, and had at least one character I could empathize with. I would also be comfortable recommending the story, which I unfortunately cannot do with this one.