would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

psychopaths
a secret service man
a renowned psychiatrist

as bloom and jamieson work together to figure out what is going on with a game that makes people disappear after they have received a birthday card saying you are one...

its a race against time, can they figure it out in time before its to late or is there something else going on something much worse that bloom is only just suspecting...

i loved how bloom and marcus worked well together and i hope they continue as they are a brilliant team

Dr Augusta Bloom and her associate, Marcus Jameson, have been asked to help when a family friend of his goes missing after receiving a birthday card inviting her to join a game. Soon other people have gone missing and the events and their consequences seems to be closing in on Augusta and Marcus.

Wow what a fast paced thriller this was. Had me gripped from the first few pages. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Gone by Leona Deakin is a brilliant debut novel highlighting the number and level of functional psychopaths in our society. It’s a thrilling read and will certainly keep you guessing until the finale!

The plot is unique and the character development is superb! There are numerous characters that are pivotal to the story, and each one of them has been created with deep insight, empathy and love.

I also loved how Ms. Deakin educated the reader about functioning psychopaths by weaving the information into the dialogues of the characters. The insights and surmises are so interesting and I have added some of her references to my TBR list for further insight – this is how interesting she made it!

I really enjoyed this novel and Ms. Deakin is now added to my list of authors to follow – I look forward to reading more of her work and hope that this is the start of a series covering a fascinating topic.

#netgalley #gone #leonadeakin #randomhouse

I would like to thank Random House publishers, Netgallery and Leona Deakin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of Gone.

Wow! I read this book in 24 hours and as a debut novel it had me gripped from the first page.

There are two main characters - Dr Augusta Bloom and Marcus Jameson, both who have careers in psychology, Dr Bloom in children and teenagers, Marcus an ex MI6 secret service officer and both working together in their spare time as detectives.

The story starts with Dr Bloom talking to Seraphine, a teenager who has just stabbed the school caretaker in the neck with a HB pencil, and in her words “because he is a creep” Dr Bloom knows that Seraphine is telling lies and is psychotic, but tries to get her to feel that she is special and wants her to keep a diary of her thoughts and feelings. The trouble is Seraphine can also read Dr Bloom and knows how to play Dr Bloom by saying what she thinks Dr Bloom wants to hear.

The story then moves onto Lana getting a mystery card that reads “Happy 1st Birthday” “YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME, DARE TO PLAY” and attached is a code that you type into your computer and then the fun begins, but is it fun?

When Lanas daughter Jane reports her as missing, Augusta and Marcus are called in to try to help find her. From here you then find out that there are others who have been reported missing and not seen for years, months, weeks, but what is the connection? They are all random people and nothing seems to connect them to each other, or does it?

The book is fast paced, gripping and gets your mind wondering about whether there are psychopaths amongst us who could change the world.

It is not predictable as it has so many twists and turns and I hope that this is just the beginning for Dr Bloom and Marcus Jameson and that we get to see them in further novels by Leona Deakin

It’s not often I give out 5 stars for a book but this was definitely one I felt deserving of it!
With the tag line ‘The missing people aren’t in danger. They’re the dangerous ones’ I knew that this was going to be a thriller with a difference. The book centres around a unique plot; men and women are being recruited to play a game. Not your usual bog standard game and not your usual men or women as we find out as the book progresses.
For a debut novel, the author creates very real and deep characters, with Augusta and Seraphine being two of those. She does a very good job of making you suspect and doubt new characters as they appear throughout the book.

A twisty and chilling read, it was fast paced and kept me wanting to read more. Although I predicted a few of the surprises, it really didn’t stop me from enjoying it and hope that we see more novels with Augusta Bloom as the main character!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Disclaimer: Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Loved it. A great book, well written and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The characters held my attention all the way through.

I thought this book was very well written and easy to jump straight into, I read this very quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

The start of the book grabs your attention straight away and makes you want to keep ready, then half way through there is a little twist which caught me off guard and changed the whole way the story was going.

The very lass twist I had guessed but I read a lot of books like this. I thought the whole story was well told and interesting.

Very good.

A great book, I have a thing about short chapters - they help keep my interest, so that was a bonus for me. I have a degree in psychology & criminology and am fascinated by psychopaths and narcissists, so this storyline had me hooked. It was well written throughout, the author had obviously done thorough research on the subject matter. I'm hoping that there is a follow-up to the book - I'm sure there will be due to the ending! ;)

I think for this book all belief in common sense should be suspended. Just go with the fact its well written, the storyline is engrossing and enjoy the book.

Gone starts out with a cracking prologue that swiftly leads on to a chapter that stirs up intrigue. The following chapters of the book were background information about the psychiatrist and patient which was fascinating to read . I loved the professional relationship between the two characters and the little subtle hints of where the story was heading. As the book progressed I was gripped and kept reading to find out about this mysterious game. This book continues a fast paced storyline throughout, with great character profiles and a puzzling theme that you keep trying to work out. I liked the spaced out intermittent chapters that offered a little information about ‘The Game’ not too much but just enough to keep you guessing.

Lastly, I loved the main characters Augusta Bloom and Marcus Jameson and really hope Deakin continues to write their characters as a series.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for an ARC of this book. Dr. Augusta Bloom is a psychologist and private investigator and along with her friend and business partner Marcus Jameson, ex MI6 operative, they investigate the disappearance of a family friend of Marcus. This leads to the investigation into other missing people, strangers who have also received a mysterious birthday card. The pair work very well together and honestly seem to care a lot for each other. The book starts slowly but soon moves along at a cracking pace. It's a bang up to date, at times slightly scary, suspense story that kept my attention right to the end. Gone was a great, well written first novel from Leona Deakin which I would recommend to anyone who likes a good intriguing story and I'll certainly be looking forward to the next one.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the story was really clever and well thought out. I liked the writing style, enough information for you to follow what’s happening, but not too much detail that you want to skip pages. The story follows Dr Augusta Bloom who is a psychologist and private detective. She has been asked by her colleague to help find a family friend who has gone missing on her birthday. Bloom soon discovers there is much more to the case than they originally thought. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you #netgalley for the ARC.

Kindle Edition,
372 pages
Published August 9th 2019 by Transworld Digital

Blurb:

Four strangers are missing. Left at their last-known locations are birthday cards that read:

YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME.
DARE TO PLAY?

The police aren’t worried – it’s just a game. But the families are frantic. As psychologist and private detective Dr Augusta Bloom delves into the lives of the missing people, she finds something that binds them all.

And that something makes them very dangerous indeed.

As more disappearances are reported and new birthday cards uncovered, Dr Bloom races to unravel the mystery and find the missing people.

But what if, this time, they are the ones she should fear?

Thank you to Net Gallery for a copy in return for an honest review. 

My Review:

The novel gripped me from the very beginning when we meet Seraphine a student who has just stabbed the school caretaker in the neck, which she claims is self defense and she is such an interesting character you never quite know which part of her story is real. Psychologist Dr Bloom is brought in to examine Seraphine's behavior. 

Four people across the country are then sent cards inviting them to play a game and then they disappear, well surely they are innocent aren't they?....well that is what Dr Bloom and her business partner Marcus Jameson believe.  What also causes some confusion is the cards are also wishing the person a Happy 1st Birthday, bit strange when they are all adults.

At first no-one sees a connection, however whilst looking into the cases Bloom and Jameson start to see a pattern and whilst looking into each of those who have gone missing, and whist looking into their past realise that there is more to each of the people who has gone missing than meets the eye. 

I enjoyed the character development of Dr Bloom, as it showed her caring demeanor and how she is determined to get to the bottom of the missing people whatever the cost. I also liked how her relationship with Jameson was portrayed, although he is her business partner the novel showed their level of friendship and that he will also be there. 

Overall this was a gripping debut which gets you thinking whether you really know anyone at all and whether all is what it seems. 

I cannot wait to see what is next from Leona Deakin and hopefully this won't be the last time we meet up with Bloom and Jameson.

Utterly gripping! This debut thriller is very cleverly written - the characters are well drawn, the plot intriguing and unpredictable with several twists and turns. Really hope this is the start of a series!

This was a really unusual story, which I enjoyed as it's rare to have a completely unique plot. However it was a bit unbelievable so you just have to go with it! I liked the idea of the game and it was interesting reading about psychopaths and their traits. For me I found that the plot was a bit slow at times, and some if it felt quite clichèd. I guessed the main twist early on, and just think the main characters needed a little more development. If you can get passed that and focus on the plot it's a good read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and author for my advanced copy of this novel.

You recieve an card on your birthday from a stranger inviting you to join a game that will make your wildest dreams come true. Would you join?

Four missing strangers with one connection, the same birthday card left at their last known locations daring them to join the game.

When the police refuse to help 15 year old Jane find her mothe, ex Secret Service member Marcus Jameson and psychologist Augusta Bloom team up to investigate who is sending these cards and what the game is.

They quickly learn that someone is targeting and collecting psychopaths, but
As devastating accidents and events begin to happen in Marcus's and Augusta's lives it is evident that they too are a target.
Can Augusta and Marcus find they find the mastermind of this game before they come for them?

The storyline of this novel was great, albeit a little over the top/ unbelievable at times. It takes a little while to get into the story as the author introduces a lot of characters and background at once, but once the ball is rolling the plot becomes crazier and the reader is trapped

What I loved about the storyline was that it was not predictable at all, I was so surprised at many of the twists and while my ability to believe the situations and plot twists was strained at times I still enjoyed the novel thoroughly.

The pace I had a few major problems with. I felt that within the majority of the novel the pace was quite slow moving and developments in the case were long and drawn out. Whereas at the conclusion of the novel everything was rushed and I felt like i was left with a lot of answers.
Some people love being left questioning at the end of novels but I like resolution and this book has a lot of loose ends. Maybe they will be answered in future novels in the series?

Overall this was a well written and fascinatingly scary book with such an intriguing premise. What a great debut thriller for the author. With more books to come in the series I am sure the authour can only improve and I am excited to read her future works.

I literally couldn't put this book down. It has a very unusual plot that the characters blend into very well. It's a very easy read for what could have been a complicated story. My only fault with it was that I guessed the bad guy very early on, it really wasn't that hard.

This book is a lot of fun. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit, because the plot is kind of mad, but it's fast-paced and engaging and very readable nonetheless.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.
I enjoyed this book, it held my attention the whole way through, some good twists and turns

Do you believe psychopaths attract other psycopaths?
Well in this amazing debut novel this question is put to the test. A well renowned psychologist Augusta Bloom and her secret service partner are brought into a strange situation when Marcus her work mates best friend goes missing after receiving a birthday card. The card wished her happy 1st birthday and inside was simply a question "do you want to play a game?"
They then discover other people who have received these cards and subsequently simply disappeared from their everyday lives
So they with the help of some police officers start to investigate what this game is but the only thing Augusta thinks they have in common is they show traits of psycopaths
Is someone trying to attract psycopaths? To get them to break the law? Or for what purpose?
Augusta and Marcus will follow a very dark,destructive path to the centre of this game.