I was completely hooked after 'reading the very first page. A quality first novel and mystery thriller from a new author with hopefully the start of an interesting new crime fighting partnership to come.

I was disappointed with this book, as I had high hopes of it being a gripping thriller. The story is good, and clever, if a little silly, but the characters are a bit wooden, especially Marcus, and it was very easy to spot the "twist" from early on in the book, which made it rather dull. I probably wouldn't bother reading any more books by this author.

This was a gripping psychological thriller. Dr Augusta Bloom and her partner, Marcus Jameson, become involved in what starts as a missing person case. Then they discover more people have disappeared, on their birthday after receiving a card inviting them to participate in a 'game'.

From here the pace hots up, as they realise the 'game' has drawn in more people who have left their lives and not been seen since, and they try to determine what characteristics they share and why they won't come home, as well as tracing the missing woman linked to Jameson's family.

By half way through I was suspecting everyone of being psychopaths! Every new character is viewed with suspicion, as we are shown that psychopaths are not all serial killers, but are able to integrate into society and manipulate people and situations for their own gain.

Pacy, entertaining and keeps the reader guessing until the end, and even though I guessed the ringleader early on it did not spoil the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Black Swan for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been an avid thriller reader and have loved all the psychological thrillers that have become so popular but this book was the fist in a while that I was glued to at every available spare minute.
A game that nobody wants to play apart from a certain group of people who are selected because they all possess certain qualities, dangerous and powerful and impossible to track down.
I love a book that instantly gets your attention but isn’t shallow and predictable. This novel is modern and delves into a dark world but one that is not too far from our own, you could be living next door woe working with one of those people.
A great read I hope we see more of the main characters.

I really enjoyed this book. A clever, scary and all too possible idea for crime is happening without anyone being aware of it until a family friend raises the alarm.
The story tackles psychopaths and the possibilities of a person without emotional empathy, planning this crime. I found it interesting from a clinical point of view and adding the personality disorder to todays technical possibilities is scary indeed.
I did identify the protagonist after the timeline became clearer and I found the first few chapters rather confusing as there are several different target people. it wasn't clear that two timelines were running along together at first but as all this detail unravelled I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Recommended!

I loved this book, i was gripped right from the beginning! There are so many twists and turns that really do keep you guessing. Definitely worth a read!

My thanks to Leona Deakin, Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of GONE.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This kind of story is right up my street. Love Augusta Bloom, and her sidekick, Marcus Jameson. This story kept me guessing. How long must it have taken the author to work out the twists and turns. Scary, psychological stuff. Hope there's more to come. Really loved it. 5 super stars.

Deakin’s debut thriller is an intriguing one: what happens when you bring a group of psychopaths together?
It sees psychologist Augusta Bloom and detective Marcus Jameson investigating the disappearance of a group of people who have one thing in common. But how will the detectives react when things start to get personal?
The novel is pacy and full of twists and this sometimes gets a bit confusing and plot develops at the expense of characterisation.
But on the whole it’s a refreshing take on the thriller, and an easy read and keeps you guessing til the end.
I’d recommend it if you like a twisty thriller. I suspect this will become a series based around the detectives as they’re strong characters who could easily be more developed.

This one hooked me in very quickly , I really enjoyed it and I loved the build up of events and the suspense. I really liked the pacing, it kept me guessing all the way till the end and it had a satisfying end too. I liked the style of writing , it was easy to get into and follow all the way through , I found it very engaging and exciting too. I really liked the main characters , Seraphine is brilliant, the wit and coldness made for such fun reading , someone I loved to hate and hated to love. Her connection and interactions with Dr Bloom I really loved.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Right up my street for a thriller! I couldn’t see what was coming at all, and that’s what I love. Such a great concept and plot; I didn’t want it to end.

What a riveting psychological thriller! I loved both the plot and characters and enjoyed this book immensely.

Psychologist Augusta Bloom and her investigative partner Marcus Jameson (who is ex MI6) usually work for the police or courts, assessing cases and appearing as expert witnesses. As a personal favour to Marcus's sister they investigate the disappearance of Lana, a neighbour and mother of a 16 year old girl. The case soon turns sinister when they discover that Lana's disappearance is one of many, and they find odd similarities between the personalities of the missing people. Great use is made of social media, especially those little quizzes that so many people take for fun (I'll never do one again!) and the tension builds as the case becomes very personal for Augusta.

I did guess a couple of the big plot twists, but this enhanced the reading experience as I desperately wanted to find out if I was right! A brilliant read and I am hoping for a sequel.

I have just finished this book, but on my Kindle it was called Mind Games. However, disregarding that and the time it has taken me to find it again, I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. It was a different story and one that had a rather fantastic plot, but nevertheless it really held my attention. I did feel that it rather broke down at the end and I felt that it was rather messy then.
A very good book.

Just when I thought I had had enough of psychological thrillers along comes Gone, the debut novel by Leona Deakin. And what's more it's a psychological thriller with real psychology in it.

When Lana, a single mother with PTSD disappears, private investigators Augusta Bloom and Marcus Jameson become involved in looking for her. It soon becomes apparent that she is not the only person to have disappeared after having received a birthday card with an invitation to play a game. But what is this game? As Bloom and Jameson investigate it becomes apparent that there is something very sinister behind all these disappearances.

The characters are well drawn in this novel. Bloom, a psychologist with a special interest in psychopathy comes across very well as does her partner Jameson, an ex MI6 operative. They were convincing characters, both realistic and likeable. I'm hoping this will be the first in a series as it was so good. I did spot the twist but this didn't in any way detract from ,my enjoyment of the book and I raced through it desperate to get to the end while not wanting it to end. A great read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This was a solid 4 star book for me, although during the first few chapters I wasn't convinced I would actually finish the book.

I found the first third of the book a little confusing, with the pace seeming a little rushed. However from there onwards I felt a lot more at ease with the story. The plot became a lot more gripping once the game became personal for Bloom and Jameson.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't guess the major character plot twist towards the end, but for me that doesn't really ever detract from my enjoyment of a book. In fact it usually makes me want to keep on reading to see if I had in fact seen all of the clues and hints along the way.

And the final line definitely leaves me wondering (and hoping) as to whether there is a sequel planned.......?

To begin with I couldn't find this book on my Kindle as it has a different title to that shown here. However that is not a review......
I really enjoyed this read. It is a true thriller with twists until the end which I had not bargained for and not thought out so all the better for it. I am not one to spell out the plot as I believe the 'blurb' writers do it better. However a few points to note..... The characters of Bloom and Jameson were strong and developed well through the writing....... the idea of using invitations with access to a web/internet/text input as a tool for evil is both up to date and interesting .... the pace was fast and at times confusing, so take your time when reading...... it left me wanting more so will there be a sequel?.

The novel has an interesting concept and is well structured but it is let down by its narrative voice. There is clear potential here but to move beyond the average there needs to be more showing that telling in the prose. We are given far too many- often superficial- details and background info at times that does not drive the plot or the characters. As a result of this overload, guessing the ending was quite easy. I was quite disappointed in this as the opening hook with the child, Seraphine, was intriguing.
I would read another book by the author as often good writers don’t start to really flourish until they have written a few novels.

I really enjoy a psychological thriller and, happily, this one did not disappoint. Intelligently written with engaging fully rounded characters, I was hooked. The story moves along at a satisfactory pace; the two central characters Bloom, the psychologist and Jameson, the ex-intelligence agent turned private investigator are great - lots of potential for development with both their characters and their relationship.

A missing person mystery that soon becomes a lot more sinister - great twists, intelligent dialogue, suspenseful with tense action and plotting.

Definitely a recommended read!

The book is well written and the characters are well built and they have their personal touches.
There are many twist in the story what is makes the story more interesting and misterious, on the other hand sometimes it is not well executed so it is not that suprising that it wants to be.

when Augusta treating the phychopath girl Seraphine, their story about the consultations doesnt have proper end. It is only stops have narrative in the story. Later on Seraphine comes up again in the book from the middle of nowhere and became the main person behind the phsycho game. I did like the idea of Seraphine and Augustas past become the problem of the present, but the two timelines are not goes really along smoothly. could be better.

For me who reads plenty mystery and crime books there were some point, which I was expecting and the end is not that misterious as it wanted to be.

If you want a book that will guarantee you won’t sleep at night (and will make you extremely paranoid to boot) then today is your lucky day.
That is to say, I loved it. Gone is as twisted and dark as the villains it writes about, and will keep you on tenterhooks from start to finish. It’s also a deep dive into a world where the line between good and bad looks increasingly murky…
From the start, the book is fascinating. It follows the exploits of Dr Augusta Bloom, who is in a race against time to figure out the mastermind behind the game that is making people vanish all around the country. Spoiler alert: they are all psychopaths. And that revelation was roughly the point where I became gripped.
From there, we’re swept along on a breakneck investigation. Gone certainly doesn’t take any prisoners; we hop from revelation to revelation with lightning speed, which makes it a struggle to keep up. We also get to see inside the minds of the psychopaths playing the game. As somebody who knows next to nothing about the condition, this was almost as interesting as the mystery: who knew it was so fascinating to read about people who lack empathy so completely, or so chilling to think about what they can really do when they put their minds to it?
We also get to find out more about the main characters themselves, Dr Bloom and Marcus Jameson. They’re likeable people, but they’re both closed books (so much so, in fact, that I kept wondering whether I was reading an installment in a series rather than a debut. Everybody seemed to know more about the characters than I did).
However, the contrast between the two of them- Bloom is cool, calm and analytical, where Jameson is more impulsive and passionate- is great, although I would argue that Jameson probably doesn’t have the temperament to be the successful ex-secret service agent he’s described here as. Watching them rub uneasily alongside each other is fun to watch, and Jameson, especially, endeared himself to me through his fumbling and awkward attempts to ask out Sarah, a local doctor, at the coffee shop.
Grippingly told, and with plenty of shocking twists and turns, Gone kept me reading well into the night (and then not sleeping for the rest of it). If you’re looking for an edge-of-your-seat beach read, this is it.

A dark look into the mind of psychopaths helped by Dr Augusta Bloom.

Dr Bloom, a criminal psychologist, and Marcus Jameson, previously Secret Service Agent, have been in practice five years in a consultancy investigation service.

Jameson’s sister, Claire, is looking after Jane. Jane’s mother, Lana, is in the Army and has gone missing.

This story gives clarity and insight into the thoughts of the obsessed and psychologically distorted minds of the people in this story.

Well recommended thriller of this genre.