When She Is Gone had moments of tension and emotional depth, but it didn’t fully resonate with me. While the premise was intriguing, the pacing felt uneven, and some twists were predictable. I struggled to connect with the characters, especially the protagonist, whose decisions sometimes felt inconsistent.

That said, Rea Frey’s writing kept me engaged, and the themes of identity and resilience added a thoughtful layer to the story. It’s a decent domestic thriller, but it lacked the spark to make it unforgettable. A solid 3-star read for me.


Thank you to the publisher for the Arc. This Arc was provided in exchange for my honest review.

As a teenager, gymnast Cora Valentine was kidnapped on Halloween night, right before the Olympic trials. Although she was found safe, her captor was never caught. Now, Cora is a mother and her little daughter gets abducted while trick or treating. Obviously someone out there still has it in for Cora – even though it’s been years, there’s no way it can be coincidence that both girls were kidnapped on Halloween.

Rea Frey has done a masterful job of crafting a twisty thriller set in the cutthroat world of competitive gymnastics. Frey’s own gymnastic chops are on full display as she writes Cora into the 1996 US Summer Olympics women’s gymnastics team, making the blockbuster real-life Magnificent Seven into the Magnificent Eight. On top of that, the prose is beautifully crafted, injecting a lot of atmosphere, emotion, and trauma into this fast-paced, dual-timeline suspense novel. No wonder all of my friends at Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse have been loving this one!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Jan. 14, 2025
As a young teenager, Cora Valentine was training to be an Olympic gymnast and was well on her way to becoming part of the U.S team. One Halloween, Cora is out with her teammates at a haunted house where she is abducted and held against her will for days until finally being discovered by police. Now, decades later, Cora has returned to her hometown with her young daughter, Lulu, after putting her Olympic dreams behind her. Then the worst happens and Lulu is taken during the Halloween parade. Cora knows that it can’t be a coincidence but can she figure out who has taken her daughter (and why) before it’s too late.
Rea Frey is one of those authors that I am perpetually scanning shelves for and I have done my best to keep up with her, reading most of the books she has released (I’m only missing a few, which I will rectify one day). So, it was no question that I would read her new novel, “When She’s Gone”.
“Gone” is a dual timeline novel, narrated by Cora “then” (when she was abducted) and “now” (when her daughter is). Written this way, readers can slowly grip the connecting strings of both abductions as they try to solve the mystery.
I have never been an athlete, but the viciously competitive world of Olympic-level gymnastics rings true (Frey also speaks to her athleticism and training in the “author’s note”, for extra realism), pitting young girls against each other in order to achieve a lifelong dream. This has to leave a mark, whether successful or not, and the jealousy and bitterness can easily trickle into adulthood. Whether it’s Frey’s writing or her experience, the plot does not seem far-fetched, and the novel flows with believability and honesty.
There are inevitable twists and turns, of course, with the final twist being the biggest of all. Although I was able to figure out the “who”, due to my excessive exposure to this genre, the “why” and the “how” were just as interesting and I loved hearing all the gripping details.
“Gone” is a tense and suspenseful story about what happens after your childhood dreams come true, and what happens when they don’t. Frey delivers another one of her twisty-turny, high-octane thrillers and, as usual, she did not disappoint.

This was a great book. I couldn't put it down. I loved all the gymnastics references, especially to the Olympics.

Oh my what a book! My heart was racing from the first page and continued until the last word!!!

Told in a “then and now” timeline both stories flowed perfectly and kept me guessing until the end. This is my first thriller by Rea Frey and definitely won’t be my last!!!

Cora Valentine, a gymnastic Olympic hopeful, escaped a Halloween kidnapping. Three decades later, her daughter disappears on Halloween. Cora must confront her buried trauma head-on. Is it a mere coincidence, a copycat, or could her daughter's disappearance be linked to her own past?

I rapidly swiped through the pages on my Kindle - such a fast-paced read! The story unfolds through dual timelines, exploring Cora’s past kidnapping and Lulu’s current disappearance. This intertwining of timelines enhances the overall pacing and tension of the plot. I empathized deeply with Cora, as Lulu's disappearance compels her to confront her own traumatic experiences, forcing her into making decisions that no parent should ever have to face.

The list of suspects is extensive. But I had an inkling about the kidnapper's identity from the very beginning, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason. That "why" turned out to be more shocking than I ever imagined!

Frey dives into themes that draw you in, such as the complex dynamics of mother-daughter relationships, the intense world of competitive sports, and the extraordinary lengths a mother will go to safeguard her daughter. When She’s Gone is a gripping page-turner that you won’t be able to put down—prepare to binge it in a single day!

When She’s Gone is a thriller involving a retired Olympic gymnast a generation after the Olympics. Cora is grown up with a little girl and at the beginning of the book we know she’s not a fan of Halloween and is very concerned that her daughter does not run off. In the first chapter her fears become true as her daughter is missing. Cora quickly finds out that to get her back she will have to follow instructions and question how far she will go to keep her daughter safe.

Told in the Now and the Then the author skillfully tells Cora’s story in a way that had me guessing what would I do in the same situation. I read this book in 1 day because I could not put it down. I’m a mom if a gymnast (although recreational vs Olympic track) so I fully related to Cora’s dilemmas. Any parent of a competitive athlete will relate to this book. The writing style is vivid and I was right next to Cora the whole time as if I were in the story. Highly recommend this thrilling read!!!

🫣 T R A U M A T H U R S D A Y review 🫣 featuring “When She’s Gone” by Rea Frey!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

At 14 years old, Cora Valentine is a talented gymnast with a bright future ahead of her … until one night changes her life forever. On Halloween night, Cora and her gymnastics team are literally TERRORIZED inside a haunted house by a bad group of people. The team captain gets her knee shattered and Cora gets kidnapped and held prisoner inside an abandoned house.

“Panic riots in my chest like a swarm of bees, and with my hands tied behind me, I start to hyperventilate and buck my legs. It feels like drowning. Or suffocating. I literally cannot breathe”.

Thirty years later, having survived her kidnapping, Cora has moved on from being in the spotlight as a survivor. Now she has a daughter of her own and will do anything to protect her. On Halloween night Lulu goes mysteriously missing and Cora’s past has come back full throttle to haunt her. Cora receives a threat that in order to save her daughter she must take someone else’s child. Are Cora’s captors back for revenge after all these years??

OMG this is the perfect Halloween thriller and I literally could not put this down! A similar idea to “The Chain” by Adrian McKinty (which I also loved), that is jam packed with nonstop action, shocking plot twists and ricocheting tension! The characters are sketchy, the time crunch is nerve wracking and the whirlwind of events will put your brain in a tizzy!

Thank you kindly to @reafreyauthor @amazonpublishing @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book releases on January 14, 2025!

This thriller read is set in the world of elite young female gymnasts in the 1990s and I found that setting interesting. The author is a former gymnast and that authenticity comes through clearly.

The mystery part of the story started off with a bang, focussed on every parent’s fear - the kidnapping of a child. The pacing was generally even and the story wrapped up neatly at the end.

Readers of sport-themed thrillers should check this one out.

Thanks to the publisher for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Title: When She’s Gone
Author: Rea Frey
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: January 14, 2025
My Rating: 4 + Stars
Pages: 253

This story is told Now and Then by Cora Valentine and spans three decades,

Now ~Present day Halloween -Cora’s four year old daughter Lulu is super excited about dressing as a witch for Halloween. They live in Boone’s Creek which is an area that is spread out with home on large plots so the town has a Halloween parade and the children go Trick or Treating at the local shops. Cora meets up with boyfriend Joe and the next thing Lulu is messing.

Then ~ Cora Valentine is fourteen and a member of the Magnificent Eight gymnastic team who were on their way to the Olympics.
At Halloween the team gets together to go to a haunted house. Cora knew she is going to be scared and not looking forward to it but wants to be part of the team activities. However, her fear happens when she gets kidnapped. She is able to escape.

Now ~ When Lulu goes missing Cora is sure she is kidnapped and fears the person behind this kidnapping is aware of her past history.
What happened to Cora has not been forgotten and people enjoy rehashing around Halloween.

Story is story unputdownable!!!!
I read a lot of thrillers so my arm chair investigative skills were on high alert. I had my suspicions but certainly didn’t have the details!

This was my fourth novel by [author: Rea Frey|4235710] I especially liked [book: Don’t Forget me and Until I Find You].
About the Author~Rea Frey is the #1 bestselling author of several suspense, thriller, and contemporary fiction novels. She is also known as “The Book Doula” Ms. Frey helps other writers birth their books into the world. To learn more, visit reafrey.com
I always love reading the author’s notes. In this case ~ “A Note to Readers”. She tells us that her inspiration for this story was personal.
She dreamt of being an Olympian and did competitive gymnastic for twelve years. She admits it was not only difficult for her but meant her family needed to move, She then did competitive boxing but ended up with brain surgery at nineteen.
She followed the 1996 Olympics but tells us although she followed what happened with the sport, this story is fiction and she took some liberties with changing the timing of Olympic trials to Halloween.

She tells us – she loves three things
Gymnastic,
The 90s, and
Halloween.


Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 14, 2025.

Thank you @reafreyauthor @netgalley and @thomasnelson for the #gifted ebook. There is a lot of buzz by everyone at @thrillerbookloversthepulse for Rea's new thriller. I have read four of Rea's books and she has become an auto read author for me.

WHEN SHE'S GONE grabbed me in the first chapter and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last Chapter. The story is told in alternate chapters Now and Then and I loved how everything came together. We learn about what happened to Cora's when she was a gymnast and kidnapped on Halloween. Her kidnappers were never found. Now her daughter LuLu has been kidnapped on Halloween. Is the past coming back to haunt her? This is a fast paced thriller full of suspense. It kept me guessing with a satisfying ending.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK TOUR BOOK REVIEW 📚

When She's Gone By Rea Frey
Publication Date: January 14, 2025
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded Up To 5⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

When She's Gone is a fast-paced and thrilling read that had me captivated with its non-stop storyline from the very beginning.

This book featured dual timelines of then and now, as told by the female main character, Cora. As a teenager, Cora was kidnapped one Halloween and held captive for days. Years have passed and Cora has returned to her hometown with her young daughter, Lulu, who is suddenly kidnapped and held for random on Halloween. Are the two kidnappings connected? Who has Lulu? And will Cora get her back before it's too late?!

I'd heard this was a fast read, and I couldn't believe how quickly I devoured this one! The storyline was riveting, the stakes just kept rising, and the layers of this mystery grew and grew until the shocking and twisting conclusion. In all transparency, I did guess the twist really early in the book, but I definitely didn't guess all the twisty ways it was going to be revealed. And that correct guess sure didn't take away from my enjoyment of this suspenseful nightmare of a tale.

If you're a fan of dual timelines, kidnapping/locked room thrillers, and whodunnits, you're in for a treat with this book! I really enjoyed the thrill ride Frey took us on in this story, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her backlist! My fellow thriller lovers at Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse have been talking about this book for a while now, and I'm pretty happy to join in on the conversation! I highly recommend this book and would encourage you to pick it up when it's published in January. [It's also currently available on NetGalley as a Read Now book -- you're welcome]. A big thank you to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse, NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and the author herself for the invitation to be a part of this book tour and the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

#WhenShesGone #ReaFrey #Thomas&Mercer #thrillerbookloversthepulse #booktour #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

Once again, Frey did it! This was a gripping, nail biting thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt like I knew each character on a personal basis! Very well written and described. I will be purchasing this book for my favorites shelf!

For most people Halloween is a night of fun. For Cora, it brings back memories of the night she was kidnapped. Despite being found safe, no one was ever held responsible for what happened to Cora. Years later, Cora is now a mom to a four year old and she's determined that her daughter shouldn't have to live the same fears she did. Except it's Halloween night and now her daughter is missing. In order to get her daughter back, the kidnapper is demanding Cora take another child. It's obvious to Cora her kidnapper is back to mess with her, but this time Cora isn't going to go down without a fight.

When She's Gone is an action packed, nail biting, adrenaline fueled, on the edge of your seat thrill ride. This novel hits hard from the very beginning and doesn't let up until the very last page. It explores a mother's love for her child and the lengths she will go to protect her. I loved the alternating between the "now" and "then" timelines as it kept me in suspense while I was also trying to piece together how/if the two events were related. All the characters in this book were incredibly written, but I loved what a badass MC Cora was. She didn't let anything stand in her way of finding her child. This book was creepy, fast-paced, spooky, and very atmospheric. It was my first book by Rea Frey, but I will be reading more by her very soon.

I was excited to pick up this book. Told in timelines of Then and Now, we follow what happened to Cora when she was younger and kidnapped on Halloween as well as Cora's daughter being taken on the same day. The two circumstances are so similar, they must be related but who has it out for Cora?

This was a fast paced thriller that had me flipping through the pages at top speed. I managed to pick one of the twists but there were others that had me dropping my jaw in shock. This gymnastics centred thriller was fantastic. I'm glad I got to read it and I have no doubt other thriller lovers will be eating it up too.

A good thriller set in novel surroundings!

While I didn`t see every twist coming, the book didn`t have me on edge the whole time. However, I loved that it was set in professional sports and highlighted the lives of competitive atheletes!

I would highly recommend this book for a thrilling winter read!

"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒆. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆."

Special thanks to @thrillerbookloversthepulse @reafreyauthor @amazonpublishing & @netgalley for the #gifted eARC

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

𝙈𝙔 𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [4.5]

Everyone over at The Pulse is so stoked for another Rea Frey novel.

This one started out strong with the domestic suspense 💪🏼. Your hooked on not only the kidnapping, but Cora's dread for Halloween.🎃 Joe seems like the sweetest "uncle", but who would leave that note?
The twists were so good, I thought i had the kidnapper nailed down and I was 1/2 right.
This was such a great dual timeline. I loved the addition of the gymnastics theme along with halloween and the 90s flash.

This is my 2nd Rea Fry and she did not disappoint.

𝙋𝙐𝘽 𝘿𝘼𝙔:
January 14, 2025

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#mysteryandthrills #thrillersandsuspense #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #thrillerjunkie #thrillergirlie #bookbuzz #upcomingthriller #whenshesgone #reafrey #thrillerbooklovers #thepulse #pulsepoint
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I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this book, as Halloween is a senitive holiday for me too. But this had plenty of twists and turns and sinister plots to keep you hooked from chapter one.
I highly recommend this book for those who love olympic nostalgia, gymnastics, and a good suspense read.

I love this Author's ability to weave together a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I really liked this one. It was twisted, fast and dark. I did find it to be slightly far fetched towards the end of the book. The last 1/3 of it dragged and while I finished the book it did feel like a chore. 3.75 stars from me.

I started this book in the afternoon and finished that night because I could NOT put this down!
When She’s Gone is a fast paced thriller that is super bingeable.
Halloween is a hard time for Cora as she was kidnapped as a teenager right before gymnastic Olympic trials. Years later on the same night, her daughter is kidnapped.
Told in Then and Now chapters we find out what happened to Cora 30 years ago and how it might be related to her daughter’s kidnapping.
This is my second book by Rea Frey and both have been five stars! Can’t wait to read more!