This is the first book that I’ve read by the author and it didn’t disappoint. The start and end of the book was good but I found the middle slightly long. The book did keep me guessing on what happened to Paolo and I loved the twist

This was an interesting book. The main character, Emily, is a child psychologist who takes an overnight boat ride with her boyfriend, Paolo. She wakes up in the morning to find that Paolo is missing. She contacts the police onshore and an investigation is initiated. They never find a body but do recover a shoe which leads them to believe that he fell in during the night. Emily has Bipolar Disorder which is exacerbated by the accident and the police who seem to suspect her of wrongdoing. There are some plot twists as she investigates what really happened to Paolo. It kept me interested in finding out all the pieces would fall into place. It was an enjoyable read.

Where to start? Emily (the heroine) goes on a romantic boat trip with her boyfriend, Paolo. She's scared of being on the water - Paolo takes to the water like a fish. Their schedules: her a psychologist - him a microbiologist - make it difficult to just go on this short vacation and just relax. They have earned it.

Now, in my mind, Emily's biggest problem (which was "kinda" addressed) is being an alcoholic. Yes, she is bipolar - but only on Ativan? Is she self-medicating? Anyway, Paolo drowns (we suspect!) during this trip and Emily becomes the most likely suspect. After all, she mentions to the reader, "...I felt his heart was not entirely mine".

The story then becomes chaotic - Emily must think that she is the Chief of Police!!! Yes, she had performed psych evaluations for a year for the police, but this does not qualify for a detective badge. Emily angered me. I relied on other characters to help me through.

Yet, overall a fast read

Many thanks to Crooked Lane books and NetGalley for the chance to read this and evaluate!!!

And Then You Were Gone.... where do I start? This book was excellent. I loved the main character Emily right from the very first page of the book. She’s the kind of character you want in a book, strong, smart, well spoken, bipolar, interesting, and extremely likable. Her reactions to her boyfriend disappearing and her subsequent spiral downward (before she got back up) were so well written and honest. She was the flawed hero, and every step she took was believable. This entire book was well researched (from the plot, to Emily’s mental condition). By the time it unfolded and ended, all I wanted was for it to keep going because I liked the characters so much.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read. Kind of a crazy story. I never felt that connected to the characters. I think it would have helped to maybe have more backstory on them. Didn’t feel totally compelled to find out what happened.

Wow... this was a tough book to put down! I just wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. I could not see how it was going to end at all... and I love that in a book. The main character was far from perfect and the story had me hooked from the very start.

Emily Firestone... her life is finally starting to come good. After years of living with bipolar she has finally learned how to live with it. She has a great job and a fantastic new boyfriend Paolo, who adores her. When Paolo suggests a Sailing weekend away she jumps at the chance. They spend the evening drinking far too much and when Emily wakes in the morning Paolo is missing without a trace. The police believe that he has drowned, but she knows that he is a strong swimmer and refuses to believe it. Before long she becomes a person of interest in the case no she needs to stay well enough to prove her innocence.

A fantastic read and an author to keep an eye out for in the future. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me a chance to read this book for my honest opinion.
I was really looking forward to reading this. It is about Emily and Paulo who are out on their boat. They plan on spending the night out in the harbor just drinking some wine and having some dinner. They enjoy one another's company and love having some quiet time. Each one has such a busy schedule that they cherish times like this.
But when Emily wakes up Paulo is gone with no sign of struggle. Then the story is predictable, then it drags on, then it becomes boring.
The ending is dumb. And comes out of nowhere. I was dumbfounded and disappointed.

I love the plot behind Paolo "murder"/"drowning"; however, I felt like the storyline was mainly focused on Emily and her ventures to find the murderer while crossing the boundaries with the police. Then, the mystery behind the drowning is explained in a expediated manner towards end of the book. I personally do not like Emily character and wanted the story to shift from Emily to solving the mystery of her boyfriend's drowning. Therefore, I give it a 3 star.

Yes! Yes! And more yes! My absolute must read thrillers are those who star a completely unreliable narrator! Are they crazy? Am I crazy? Who knows?!

Our main character has bipolar but it’s under control. On a romantic getaway with her boyfriend he disappears and it looks as if he’s been murdered... she wouldn’t kill him? Would she?

These are my favorite type of books and I always cross my fingers in hopes that they are done beautifully and brilliantly. This book was phenomenal. Can we trust our sweet narrator? Or has she done something terrible that she will regret for the rest of her life? Read this! I don’t want to spoil the surprises!

RJ Jacobs has hit my must read list!

I always wonder if the first book I finish in a new year will foretell what's to come in that year, at least where reading is concerned. I 70 percent loved this book. I identified with the main character and liked how she had what seemed almost like superhuman capabilities because of her mental illness. I know most people will not see it that way; even the other characters around her didn't see her that way, but that's how I felt. I enjoyed the voice, the writing style. It had an easy flow.

The twist wasn't hard to guess for me, and in my opinion, there were some actions and motivations that didn't seem quite right. Some things were unbelievable, and there were some inconsistencies. But overall, I liked this one.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review an ARC.

The premise of this book sounds SO good, doesn’t it?

Sometimes I love an unpredictable, unreliable narrator. She can keep you guessing until the very end. Except that for some reason I just could not connect with Emily at all. It’s not even that she made me mad, it was almost like she was a little too two dimensional for me. She didn’t jump out. I didn’t really care about her one way or the other.

I did like the story. I wanted to know how it would end. But as I’m writing this review I’m realizing that I don’t even completely remember how it ended. Like, I know who the killer was. But I can’t exactly remember what became of Emily. It’s as if I cared so little about her that literally a few days after I finished the book I just don’t care at all what happened to her.

As I said, the story itself was a good one. So maybe this book wasn’t for me because I had a hard time connecting with Emily. I won’t say don’t read this book because it just may not have been my cup of tea. So read the premise and approach it at your own risk.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This book was received as an ARC from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a huge fan of mysteries especially ones that focuses on disappearing characters such as this one and the fact it had a Jaws, under the sea vibe to the plot made it all the more interesting. throughout the book I could not help but to vision what will come next and always asking the question of whether or not Emily will ever find out what will happen to Paolo. The ending was so unexpected that it completely took a whole new turn which left me shocked with disbelief and I could not help but to feel on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

We will definitely consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. Here's my honest review.

I have friends who are bipolar and I thought Jacobs portrayed the mania of the main character. The book started ominously and just went deeper and deeper into a world of serial killing, mistrust and some extremely terrible choices.

Emily goes on a boat trip with her boyfriend and overnight he disappears. We hear about her episodes with depression and mania from her past at regular intervals and it seems everyone who knows her has had chunks of their lives taken up in caring for her. You want to dislike her for all the bad choices but her heart was always in the right place. The suspense is there from the first chapter and it is a very fast paced book with twists and upsets and a burgeoning friendship.

Very interesting storyline and can't wait for the next novel by Jacobs.

*2.5 stars*

I hate to say it, but I just did not really like this book. The book centers around Emily Firestone, a child psychologist whose boyfriend disappears while on a boating trip. She struggles to come to terms with the fact that he is actually gone, and is convinced something sinister happened even though the authorities have ruled it a drowning. We are taken on a wild journey, seen through the lens of Emily's bipolar mania, where she tries to uncover the real truth about Paolo's disappearance.

My main issue with this one was twofold. One, I did not particularly like Emily's character, and couldn't really relate to her. Two, the story got more and more outlandish as time went on, to the point where I was eye rolling by the end.

I would say to skip this one, if I'm being honest. The writing was decent, but I just couldn't get into the story.

A great page turning thriller. A man disappears & while all indications are that he drowned, Emily Firestone is having a difficult time accepting it. As she continues to investigate, things get weirder & weirder. You will want to read this to the end.

DNF about 15%

I just could not get into this one. Couldn’t find a decent reading rhythm/flow to the book and couldn’t warm to the main character - decided to stop reading when I realised that I wasn’t invested in their storyline.

Thank you to R.J. Jacobs, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was ok, definitely a pretty good mystery. But Emily is just so annoying. It was hard to buy her relationship with Paolo, and also hard to care too much what happened to her. Worth a read anyway for the mystery.

This was a quick read. The author lost me towards the end. It just seemed too much, too convenient, too predictable. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Paolo. Emily's mind is racing, she's frantic, she has to find answers and find them soon and it's easy to get caught up in the rush with her. I was rooting for her. But sadly, this book lacked that oomph I was hoping for that would make it an exciting and satisfying mystery.

One of the most intriguing novels I have read this year because it mixes a suspenseful thriller with a little hint of science. I thoroughly enjoyed this because I thought I knew where the story was going, only to be guided in a completely different direction with each chapter. Very cleverly written and characters that come across sinister with their intentions. I wasn't sure who to trust and who to believe! If you enjoy psychological thrillers that have you guessing at every corner - this is it...

I would recommend this authors' work and will post a full review on my blog in the same week the book is released March 2019.

WOW - what a story! What a plot! What amazing writing! To say I loved this book is understatement! When I read the premise - something about micro-technology and greed run amuck, my interest was peaked. What I got was a book full of surprises, full of emotional roller coasters and suspense and twists and turns and a very flawed protagonist that I adored!

Emily Firestone has worked for years to get her life on track and keep her life on track as she lives with bi-polar disorder. She is medicated, a child psychologist and has met a wonderful man who is a medical researcher actually working on a vaccine for the disease that killed her father. Everything appears to finally be flowing in the right direction for Emily. When her boyfriend asks her to go sailing with him, although terrified of water and unable to swim, Emily decides to conquer her fears and give it a go. The day goes beautifully and they cap off the evening with wine - beautiful, right? The next morning Paulo is gone without a trace and no explanation for his disappearance. All suspicions point to Emily and, of course, being bi-polar does not help her case at all, nor does it help her subsequent actions. Her life begins to spiral out of control as she searches for answers and the police search for her.

Full dis-closure: I am a medicated bi-polar person. It took years to get a diagnosis and even longer to find the proper meds to make me stable enough to function in society - some would question whether or not I do that now. ;) It is rare that I ever see someone with bi-polar disorder characterized correctly or even remotely accurately in the media - news or fiction - so as I was reading And Then You Were Gone, I was doing so with a very critical eye. I was amazingly surprised! Reading Emily's story, her thought processes, her actions, her rationalizations, her play with her medications, her paranoia - ALL of it - was so familiar that it was spooky! This alone was enough to pull me into the book and I encourage you to read it simply to understand what it it is like to be a person with bi-polar 2. More importantly, however, is the story line which is fantastic! As we, a society, need more and more vaccines to counter act an increasingly mounting number of diseases due to climate change, there are going to be those who skirt the laws and the regulations to make that happen. This book deals with some of those consequences. It also has a minor story line that addresses PTSD that is handled very well. ALL of this is wrapped up in a well written, edge of your seat suspenseful thriller! You just cannot beat that. Obviously I highly recommend And Then You Were Gone to any and everyone!

Thank you #Netgalley, #CrookedLaneBooks and especially to #RJJacobs for allowing me to read this fantastic book in advance of publication.