“A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn’t let go.”–Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will … intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”
–Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)
Women are turning up dead in the rural outskirts of Virginia, killed in grotesque ways, and when the FBI is called in, they are stumped. A serial killer is out there, his frequency increasing, and they know there is only one agent good enough to crack this case: Special Agent Riley Paige.
Riley is on paid leave herself, recovering from her encounter with her last serial killer, and, fragile as she is, the FBI is reluctant to tap her brilliant mind. Yet Riley, needing to battle her own demons, comes on board, and her hunt leads her through the disturbing subculture of doll collectors, into the homes of broken families, and into the darkest canals of the killer’s mind. As Riley peels back the layers, she realizes she is up against a killer more twisted than she could have imagined. In a frantic race against time, she finds herself pushed to her limit, her job on the line, her own family in danger, and her fragile psyche collapsing.
Yet once Riley Paige takes on a case, she will not quit. It obsesses her, leading her to the darkest corners of her own mind, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted. After a series of unexpected twists, her instincts lead her to a shocking climax that even Riley could not have imagined.
A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, ONCE GONE marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
Book #2 in the Riley Paige series is also now available!
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The style of writing is easy to read and the story line is unexpected.
I have found my new Blake Pierce book series to work my reading way through. I debated whether to read the Making of Riley Paige series before this mystery series, and it turns out, I really did not need to read the Making in order for the take off Once Gone series. Blake Pierce does an excellent job bringing the reader up-to-date, albeit probably not as detailed as the horrific experience was for Riley Paige in the Making series. In this opener, Riley is on leave, trying to recover physically and mentally from captivity and torture by a serial killer. She is talked into a new serial killer case where women are being tortured and killed and left in strange and same poses. The more she delves into this case, the more she seems to heal from the prior experience. During my reading of this, I felt Riley really should not have a daughter that seems to get neglected and left out constantly. It’s odd to me an FBI agent subjected to the world she works in every day would choose to have children. As with the prior series I read by Blake Pierce, there is always a side story going on and past demons the main character must battle. Great read!
Riley was an FBI agent on on involuntary leave. The last killer she hunted down captured her it was quite traumatic. She spent the last six weeks recovering.
Bill was her partner who worked with her six months ago on a similar case. He desperately needed his partner back to help him investigate this case. Riley was the best profiler, but being back brought back that dark tingling feeling inside her. She taps into that dark void of evilness to get inside the head of the killer.
While Riley was a phenomenal agent she did battle with her skills as a mother.
Overall:
Once Gone is book 1 in the Riley Paige Mystery. Apparently, six months ago Riley was working a case when a killer captured her. This book doesn’t delve into that case instead it begins from the point of her recovery. It seems to work for this book. There was plenty going on to keep Riley busy.
Riley’s gift and forte was getting inside the head of the killers by visiting the place where the bodies were found. Riley’s investigative tactics were quite fascinating,
The scenes were written well and well thought out. I could tell great effort was put into researching the motives and actions of a killer.
Narrator:
Elaine Wise was the solo female narrator performing for all the characters in Once Gone. She spoke with a British accent eventhough the story was not written with any British words. The story took place in the United States near Quantico so I’m not sure why Blake chose a British narration. The performance was stunning to listen to. I’m a sucker for any accent.
Chapter 25 was incomplete. I followed along with my ebook purchase and when chapter 25 began it just ended midway through the chapter.
k
Entertaining crime drama, action packed with lots of moving parts. Interesting take on the mind of both a criminal profiler an criminal.
What a great book by a great author
Once Gone is a nail-biting psychological thriller that keeps you turning pages until you come to the surprising ending. FBI Agent Riley Page is at her best trying to solve the mystery and left hanging more than once. Read it!
Great suspense story
To say i’m young and don’t like to read the book “once gone got me HOOKED like I really loved this book for the simple fact that the first page makes you want to read more and more i haven’t finished nor have i found a paper copy but i rate this book 10 out of 10 if you into things like thrills and turns.
I’ve read several books by this author and this is my second with this lead character. I really did not like the character. She became a whining self-absorbed person. I wasn’t cheering for her at all. Disappointed in this book.
It kept me guessing until the end. Great backstory on Riley Page.
Too long ago ! I know it was good ! Blake Pierce is good. 4.5 stars.
I enjoyed this story & main character, however I thought it was simply written & nothing too involved, which I missed.
This was a very good book. I really could not put it down.
A good entertaining story, easy to follow.
Great read! Well written good story, I’ll be getting the next in this series. Get this book
The story kept me wanting to continue. It is sad yet entertaining.
I expected more but was a little disappointed overall with peace and plot.
I really enjoyed and anticipated opening the phone to read the next segment! Kept me going!!
Very good. Wanted to finish to find out what happened