I was drawn to this book by both the title and cover. It was implied that this was about a mysterious disappearance and possible drowning. The story line was true to the cover and title suggestions. I enjoyed the mystery but had difficulty liking the woman who was the main character. Granted, she had mental health issues but the way she presented in this novel left me feeling indifferent toward her. In fact, because of this, I almost decided not to finish this book. I’m not sure if I would read another novel by this author.

Emily Firestone is a child psychologist dating Paolo, a microbiologist. He is searching for a vaccine to cure HI-N24.
One beautiful day Paolo and Emily are going sailing and fishing overnight. Emily wakes up the next day and Paolo is gone. Her boyfriend is an excellent swimmer. Emily is not. Trapped in a boat, feeling frightened and sick she finally makes it to shore. After the police arrive she discovers she may be the main suspect.
There is something dark and sinister happening and Emily is determined to figure out what it is. She suspects it has something to do with the vaccine being tested in Paolo's lab. The lab that is run by Dr. Silver. She just is not sure what or where to look. Unfortunately because she suffers from Bipolar issues, no one believes her. Not even her best friend who works at the police station.
Titillating adventure! Psychological thriller! A real rollercoaster of a read! Excellent!

Emily Firestone is a successful child psychologist who has finally learned how to control her bipolar disorder. She is engaged, her career is flourishing and everything is going well until a weekend trip with her fiance, Paolo, changes the direction of her entire life. Now, Paolo is missing, two more people have been murdered and Emily is a suspect. Things are spiraling out of control quickly, and Emily does not have much time to figure out what happened to Paolo and the others before she is arrested, or murdered herself.

Jacobs does a great job portraying Emily's mania throughout the book. There is a major difference between controlled Emily in the beginning and unmedicated Emily towards the middle and end. It was a very suspenseful book, especially at the end which ultimately made me give this book four stars instead of three. Emily and Cal's characters were really well-developed, however some of the other characters like Paolo and Dr. Silver could have used some more detail. It was a little predictable, but overall a really good read.

And Then You Were Gone
by R.J. Jacobs
due March 13, 2019
Crooked Lane Books

Emily Firestone, a child psychologist in the Nashville area is feeling much better these days. Her struggles with bipolar and mania are under control, she enjoys her work and has a supportive boyfriend, Paolo. Things are looking up.
Paolo is a successful scientist from Argentina working on developing a vaccine for the deadly H1-N24 virus. He suggests they spend a day together on his boat when they both have the same day free.
A little wine. A little cuddling. A little fun. A little while later Emily awakes to find the boat adrift and Paolo gone.
They immediately suspect Emily is responsible for the murder.....but Emily insists its someone else.
Then another body is found, under suspicious circumstances that point to Emily as well.
But is Emily responsible??
Is her mind playing tricks on her??
Could Paolo's murder be related to his scientific studies??
Emily has to figure this out. Her freedom depends on it.

R.J. Jacobs successfully weaves a psychological thriller that takes the reader inside the emotions and feelings, the obsessions and mania of a bipolar mind. The frustration and struggle are true and accurate and done with a warm, touching and respectful understanding.

I loved this book! The mystery and intrigue are spellbinding and it's hard not to relate to Emily. The depiction of a positive role model for bipolar and mania and the murder mystery make this a book I will not forget. Look for this in May 2019!
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and #netgalley for this ARC.
#AndThenYouWereGone

This thriller grabbed me from the first page (too bad I don't have more time for reading) and there’s no way I could have guessed how it ended. I did not like much the main characters, but the plot was interesting.

Relatively easy to read. Was a fairly good storyline but was almost as if you could foretell what was going to happen next. The characters were interesting but lacked background. A good beach read .

This one was so so suspenseful and I found myself glued to the pages to find out what happened. The lead character was so well developed and you rooted for her even when she made choices that I might not have made if in the same situation. So well done!!

Wow! What a book! This is no doubt one of the best books that I have ever read! A gripping psychological thriller that takes you on a roller-coaster ride!

There's Emily dealing with her bipolar issues. She's also a suspect in her boyfriend Paolo's mysterious disappearance. Although Paolo's family is convinced that he's no more, Emily does not lose hope; she knows that he's somewhere out there.

The police suspect Emily. And when she finds Sandy's dead body, the police are now sure that she is somehow involved in the murder. Cal, Paolo's softball teammate and friend, initially blames Emily for Paolo's issues in life. But he decides to help her when he realizes that Emily is telling the truth about her non-involvement in the tragedy.

And in the middle of all this drama involving Sandy and Paolo, a mysterious murder in a remote town in Tennessee comes into the picture. This is followed by another incident, where the victim was allegedly set on fire by the perp but the victim survived. The victim names Matt, Paolo's colleague at the lab, as the perp. Sandy was also killed because she mentioned Matt's involvement in Paolo's disappearance. So what is Matt's involvement in these murders and Paolo's disappearance?

After a couple of twists and shocking incidents, Emily's life is like a roller-coaster ride! I absolutely loved R.J.Jacob's writing style. The author definitely knows how to keep his readers hooked on to the book till the end. The language is clear and concise. The story development is absolutely fantastic. The ending is superb and thrilling! There was a short twist in the end which made the story even more exciting.

And Then You Were Gone is a gripping and engaging page-turner and I highly recommend it to all those who love to read thrillers.

This book was a page turner for me! I loved The flawed main character, Emily. It kept me guessing until the end. This book left me wishing it didn’t it, but not wanting to put it down to get to the end. I would definitely recommend it!

And Then You Were Gone was excellent reading. I love it when an author weaves reality into a novel. Having a condition like bipolar does not stop the main character from having a normal, happy life. It has an effect on her life and how she lives it, but it is not the main focus.

Emily's wonderful, handsome, successful medical-researcher boyfriend disappears while on a sailing trip with her. She can't believe she has become a suspect. Knowing she did nothing to Paolo, Emily must find the truth herself (without getting killed)!

Thanks for the early review copy!

I picked this because of the interesting plot. It was a solid thriller. I recommend this book to fans of adult mysteries and thrillers.

Emily and her boyfriend plan a romantic sailing trip (this is the best setting, so I was immediately excited), but then things go terribly wrong (as they so often do in these books) and her boyfriend Paolo goes missing. It felt a bit like books I had already read, but it painted a really enjoyable scene in my imagination so I kept reading. It was slow and there could have been more character development, but I couldn't put it down at the same time so obviously it accomplished its goal!

This is a story whose main character struggles with bipolar disorder and is the "unreliable narrator" of the book, which can sometimes frustrate me. If you're not a fan of these narratives, steer clear of this one. She is a flawed character, and although I don't have bipolar disorder, I did find her shortcomings relatable.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was a very well written twisty psychological thriller that kept my interest from page 1.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I thought the description sounded interesting but I thought the book was just ok. I just didn’t care for the main characters. I think the last third of the book was the best part

Best thriller full of twists and turns! I love the portrayal of mental illness, very spot on, and realistic. Exciting and not so crazy you were lost. Couldn't believe this was a first novel, look forward to more.

This book read more like a cozy mystery, to me, than it did a psychological thriller. I happen to be a fan of cozies in addition to thrillers, so it did not bother this reader.
The amateur sleuth, Emily, struggles with bipolar disease and this is front and center to the narration. While I have little personal experience with this condition, I thoroughly appreciated the unreliability of the narrator due to her own questioning of her sanity and interpretation of events. During a romantic overnight trip on a boat, Emily's boyfriend mysteriously disappears. She becomes suspect number one, and sets off on a self-destructive quest to clear her name. Due to some poor personal choices, she loses her job and ends up living at her mom's house, so she has plenty of time to conduct her own investigation. She finds a willing sidekick in a friend of her missing boyfriend.
The majority of the violence happens off-screen. A boyfriend disappears, a body is discovered, and Emily hears secondhand about a potential serial killer in her area complete with some of the violence that has transpired.
For a plot-driven novel, there was a lot of inner monologue presented. These thoughts provide a lot of the background to the story. I did not find these to be very distracting, but neither did I find them showing growth in Emily.
I liked the solution to this mystery. I felt like it was a little rushed at the end, the final solution being sprung on the reader with fewer hints/clues than I would have liked. There was a lovely red herring though!
Overall, I thought this was a well-done debut novel. I read somewhere that this may be the beginning of a series, I hope that means we will get to see more of Emily in future installments. I will absolutely read the next book this author publishes.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Great mystery with wonderfully like able characters.
Quite a few twists and turns. The author has a great style of writing
and I was guessing quite a lot throughout this book .

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I had hard time reading this book. It was slow and monotonous. The flow of the story was painfully slow. Emily’s inner thoughts were drawn out and boring. For a psychologist she was making very stupid mistakes. I was not invested in the story the slightest. It just wasn’t interesting to me.

A very exciting psychological thriller. Emily copes with her biopola very well. Loves her boyfriend and is living a good life. Then her boyfriend disappears. Emily now has to cope with her illness and find out what has happened to her boyfriend. This book takes you on a very rocky ride with Emily.

Ok book lots of suspense, twists and turns. Not a good representation of bipolar but more highlighting its stigma and the way people do not believe it. Sad.
The plot itself was good and the way they find the truth.