Hannah Monroe is riding high. She has just been to a very successful conference at which her supervisors have made it clear to her that she is on the road to promotions and further success at her company. She can't wait to get home and share the news with her boyfriend, Matt. She is so excited she stops to get some champagne to celebrate but when she pulls into her driveway, the house is dark. Disappointed that she has beaten Matt home, she opens the door and all normalcy goes out as she goes in.

Inside, something is wrong. The first thing she notices is that the big pictures that hung in the entryway are missing. As she goes further in, she sees that the big-screen tv which was Matt's pride and joy is missing as well, although oddly, the old tv it replaced is back there. As she looks around, she sees other things missing and she starts to realise that only Matt's things are gone. Unable to understand at first, she looks further and further and finally the truth sinks in. Matt is gone. He has left her without a word of explanation. Frantically, she looks through her phone only to see that all her pictures of Matt and her messages to him are gone. The same is true on her computer. No pictures, no emails. He has wiped himself from her life.

Hannah's world falls apart. She tells her best friend, Katie, but Katie is absorbed in her own life with her own boyfriend and career. Hannah doesn't tell her family at first as her parents have a troubled marriage and she tries to avoid saying anything personal around them. She tries to find Matt. As she does so, the realization that this was a fully planned operation becomes apparent. He has quit his job. Even his mother has moved away with no forwarding address.

Soon Hannah's days become chaotic as she determines to find Matt, no matter what. She is sure that if she can only talk to him, she can figure out how to get him back. Her work begins to suffer as she spends her days worried less about her accounts and more about chasing down any clue she has. Her health and appearance suffer as she skips most meals and drinks herself to sleep on the nights she even does sleep. Soon her whole life is in jeopardy. Will she give up the search or find a way to rescue Matt from wherever he has disappeared to?

Mary Torjussen has written a suspense novel that will ring true to Type A personalities and to those who have gone through the heartbreak of someone loved who decides unexpectedly to break things off. There is the realization, the slow acceptance that nothing will ever be the same again. For most people that is followed by a rebuilding of one's life, but for Hannah and those like her, it becomes an obsession that they can't let go. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Hannah Monroe has just attended some training for work and learns that she is up for a huge promotion. She can’t wait to get back home and share the news with her boyfriend of four years, Matt. But when she gets home, Matt is going and not just gone but all of his stuff is gone and Hannah’s is moved back in from storage. And I mean everything even the stuff in the refrigerator. But that is not all, his phone is disconnected, his social media is gone, and even the pictures in Hannah’s phone are gone. Hannah is upset and plans on hunting Matt down for an explanation. But strange things start happening and it seems that someone is watching her.

When I first read this description I was intrigued. How can someone completely disappear like this? Is Matt only in Hannah’s mind? What if Hannah is a complete psycho and Matt had to take extreme measures to get away from her? I had a hard time dealing with Hannah, she is so selfish and immature. And it’s a little worrisome how obsessed she becomes with finding Matt. She takes a great career and dumps it down the drain along with her personal well being.

I hate to say it but I started losing interest in the story when it was about 3 months later and Hannah is a complete wreck and she still has no information on Matt. Then there was the twist that I really was not that impressed with. From there the book should be wrapping up but things were still all over the place for me.

Overall, I have to say that I was not as impressed with the story. But I do see that this book has received several raving reviews. I think this is going to be one of those books that you will either love or hate. I strongly recommend checking it out for yourself, you may like this more than I did.

I received Gone Without a Trace from Penguin Random House for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

My thoughts: As soon as I read the premise of this book, I knew I had to read it...it just seemed like my type of read - and it so was! I devoured this book and haven't stopped thinking of it since!!!

I loved the premise of this book - so unique! Can you imagine living with your significant other and then one day coming home and not only are they not there, but there is no trace of them ever being there? Nothing! And, as if that's not enough, they go as far as to erase all pictures, texts, and emails from your phone, computer, Facebook, etc. It's as if he didn't exist! Well, consider me hooked!

This book had me completely engaged, wondering what was going on, questioning every character that was introduced, everyone's motives. And then's there's our narrator, Hannah - she's a deeply flawed character who now becomes completely obsessed with finding Matt, to the detriment of everything else in her life. Did I love her? Did I connect with her? Not really, but there was something about her that kept me reading - I had to find out just how far she was going to go to find him, because it seemed like she wasn't going to stop until she did. And let me tell you - things definitely weren't as they appeared to be!

This book takes you on quite a ride and will have you coming up with all sorts of possible guesses as to what is really going on. I definitely did not see the ending coming at all - that was brilliantly done! I will say the book starts off a bit slow, but then it rachets up and doesn't let go. This is one of those reads that you will either love it or not, and I for one loved it! I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author - she is one to keep an eye on, for sure!

Enjoyable and quickly paced, Gone without a Trace by Mary Torjussen contains a few twists you might expect and a few you might not. I found the writing a bit basic and not at all challenging. It's a quick read with a medium level of suspense.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Mystery
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

Matthew is just gone when Hannah arrived home from work. The disappearing act was not what she expected because she thought they had been in love; that they were going to get married. The story follows her attempts to find Matt – to track him down. Along the way, there are hints that someone is watching her – making attempts to get her to seem crazy. Hannah leans on her friends, James and Katie. They try to offer as much support as they can, but with all of the new clues, with the wild accusations that Hannah lobs towards Matt, Hannah appears to be losing her mind. Even to her own self, she seems crazy. Things appear, phone calls stalk, she sees Matt, but can’t seem to figure out if it really was him.

Katie is a contradiction as a character. She is nice, supportive, vindictive, and mean. The different emotions that were evoked by Katie helped, hindered, and confused. I think that Torjussen did a great job at creating a character with conflicting stories. Katie, while appearing to be the devoted friend, had her own agenda and you don’t really figure it out until it’s too late.

Then you have Matt. He was the least developed character, but packed the most punch. I think that his realistic portrayal helped to solidify the story that Torjussen strives to tell. He was both slightly pathetic and incredibly brave.

Finally, you have to have some empathy for the main character, but in the end, everyone has to own their own actions. This book discussed the taboo subject of physical abuse among couples, the taboo of mental health issues, and the important topic of stalking.


Sarah – ☆☆
This book felt incredibly long. I disliked the narrator, Hannah, from her first smug comments about her designer handbag and expensive suit. From that point on, her life unravels. The disappearance of Hannah’s boyfriend is the catalyst for a tedious descent into a miserable world of self-pity and paranoia.

The first three quarters of the book developed Hannah into my worst nightmare of a female protagonist. She can’t cope without a boyfriend. Her few friendships are incredibly shallow and bitchy. The competitive consumerism with her best friend was nauseating. By the half way point, I felt like I was spiraling into Chick Lit hell.

This is a difficult book to review without spoilers. The plot twist near the end of the book adds interest and some excitement, but it came too late to hold my attention. Far too much time is spent exploring the minutiae of Hannah’s vapid existence before the big reveal. By the time I understood all the suspense elements of the story, I was numb to each and every one of the vile people in Hannah’s life.

I think the main problem with this book is the attempt to combine contemporary women’s fiction/chick lit with a thriller/suspense story using pretentious literary fiction devices. As a result, I have no idea who the ultimate target audience is for this book.

Hannah Moore is having a great day at work after finding out she is being considered for a promotion. She cannot wait to get home and share the news with her live-in boyfriend of four years, Matt. When she arrives home, she finds that Matt, along with all of his possessions is missing.

Matt has left no trace of his whereabouts and has completely erased Hannah from his life. His cell phone has been disconnected and all his social media accounts are gone. Files and photos on her computer have also been wiped clean along with her emails. Hannah is in complete shock about his departure and missed all signs that he was unhappy. Hannah can’t accept her situation and starts to search for her missing boyfriend. She becomes obsessed with locating him which begins to affect her job and her emotional well-being.

This novel is a thriller with unforseen twists and turns. To say more would spoil the mystery. This is a captivating debut novel by Mary Torjussen which kept me on edge until its' conclusion.

A psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes trying to figure out what's happening! An unimaginable plot with a surprise ending. Highly recommended.

Hannah Monroe is returning home from a one day business trip, and she's on top of the world! Her hard work has been noticed by her bosses, and she's been told she's being considered for a director's position, the youngest person ever to achieve that milestone. Hannah can't wait to break the news to Matt, her live-in love, but when she arrives home, something is dreadfully wrong. The house is dark, there's no Matt, and as Hannah looks around, she sees that every single possession of Matt's has been removed. All his clothing, personal items, art, everything he brought to their home is gone. As Hannah frantically tries to call him, she finds that his contact information and all his texts, as well as the call log pertaining to him has been deleted. She goes to her computer, only to find that all their emails are deleted also. It's as if Matt was never there.

As Hannah contacts their friends, trying to find information, it seems that everyone agrees that Matt wanted out of the relationship, and chose to leave on a day he knew she'd be away. Hannah doesn't accept that, and begins an investigation of her own that consumes her life. Soon her work and her health are suffering greatly, but she refuses to believe that Matt could just walk away from their four year relationship. Then, very strange things begin to happen - cryptic notes in the mail, phone calls from Matt's old phone number with no one speaking, and someone has been in Hannah's home.

GONE WITHOUT A TRACE is a skillfully written suspense novel that had me on the edge of my chair from the beginning. Soon, I was suspecting all of Hannah's friends - Katie, her lifelong best friend; James, Katie's lover (and Hannah's former lover); Sam, her work associate; and Lucy, her assistant at the office. The story is told from Hannah's point of view, so the reader experiences everything at the same time she does, but also is seeing the situation from Hannah's perspective. I literally could not put this book down as I raced to see what the resolution was. I admit to being very wrong in many of my assumptions, and very surprised at the outcome. Readers who favor twisty suspense will definitely enjoy GONE WITHOUT A TRACE, which I highly recommend.

I am not even sure what to say or where to start this review. This book was just everywhere and all over the place, especially at the end.

My first issue is the writing style - I had a hard time staying connected to this story due to how it is written. It almost reads like a playbook and the writer is setting the scene in which I need to act in. The writer was telling the story instead of allowing the story to be shown. I don't need a play by play, let the imagination take over.

Next my issue was how the writer kept adding in memories to this story. I am assuming she was attempting to set the precedence or the background on some of these characters and who they are, but that just took away from the story line. The way the memories were added in, just killed the flow and had me going "who cares." I couldn't connect to any of these characters because of that.

My third issue is how the whole mystery and suspense unfolds in the end. Ummmm....the ending doesn't add up to the beginning. They are almost two completely different plot lines. I was scratching my head and thinking "how does this even work into why he disappeared?" Some may find the whole "twist" to be shocking but I found it totally disjointed and totally killing an already ill-written book.

And my final issue, the main character - dear lord she was annoying as hell. She's way too dramatic with everything. I get wanting to find answers but damn, at some point when all signs point to him just up and leaving on his own, take a hint and walk away. And aside from that, the mundane and humdrum every day tasks she goes through, not just at work, but tracking down her where boyfriend went, I wanted to slap myself. OMG!!! And again, a lot of it had to with telling me and not allowing me to experience it.

I am not trying to belittle this author's work. I applaud her for getting published. However, this book was not my cup of tea and felt like it wasted my time. I will admit after reading about 30% in after roughly 3hrs (in 3 days), I did skim the remainder of the book because I just couldn't take it anymore. It took around another 2hrs to skim through the rest and nothing changed for me. If anything, I questioned myself for wanting to continue this book. And really it just came down to the fact that I was given an arc and felt that I at least should read it all the way through.

As with all my reviews, this is just my opinion. If the blurb attracts you, give it a shot. There are plenty of other reviewers who enjoyed this story. I am just not one of them.



Thank you Berkley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars. 5 stars for the setup and 0 stars for the denouement. There is so little I can say before getting into the territory of spoilers, but here is an attempt at a few non-spoilery thoughts. First person narrator Hannah comes home from a brilliant day at work to find that her live in partner Matthew of four years has disappeared without a trace. All his things are gone. All photos of him are gone. All phone and email messages from him are gone. Hannah is devastated and becomes obsessed with finding him. For most of the book, the chase is on. Torjussen does a brilliant job of infusing the story with a lot of creepiness and growing uncertainty, without any explicit violence. And then the story takes a sharp turn that just didn’t work for me. The premise didn’t work and the delivery felt wrong in so many ways. I love mysteries and suspense novels where things are not what they seem, but when the big reveal comes it has to be plausible and linked to what came before. It didn’t work out that way for me in Gone Without a Trace. I see that I’m not alone in my reaction to this one, but some readers really seemed to love the big twist so I wouldn’t want to discourage other readers from giving it a try. And to be honest, given Torjussen’s skills in setting up the story, I might be willing to give her another try. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

This book and me did not get along. I was so excited to read this novel because the story sounded exactly like the kind of book that I enjoy. I thought it started out okay but then I found myself wanting to put it down. I would set this book aside and read another book and go back to it and quickly find that I was bored again. I actually ended up reading a couple of other books in the middle of this one which is something that I rarely do. I considered not finishing this book but I pushed myself to finish it instead. After finishing the book, I do wish that I had just stopped as soon as I realized that it wasn't working for me.

Hannah comes home from work to find her boyfriend, Matt, gone from their home. Matt has taken absolutely everything that he had in their home. It is like Matt never lived there. Photos are gone. He even erased all of the phone records, texts, and emails. Hannah is stunned and has no idea where Matt has gone or why he left. She can't get his loss out of her mind and starts working to figure out where he has gone.

After the initial shock of Matt's leaving, there didn't seem to be a whole lot going on in this book. Hannah does not deal with his leaving well at all and her spiral downward is detailed in the story but it seemed to me that the story needed something to keep things moving forward. I found that I spent most of the book rather bored.

The story does have a big twist and the last quarter of the book does pick up the pace. I would imagine that most people will really appreciate this giant twist but by the time it was revealed, I had really lost any investment in the story that I had ever had. I did find that the last section of the book did seem to move faster and was more entertaining.

I think that this is a book that some readers will love but it will not work well for others. Unfortunately, I was in the later group. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it that really thinks that they would enjoy it based on the description but I won't be encouraging readers to pick it up either.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.

The Short Of It:
Another run-of-the-mill, predictable psychological thriller. Blah.

The Long Of It:
I've finally come to terms with the fact that, with the exception of a few standouts like "Gone Girl," thrillers are just not for me (so if you typically adore them, you might want to disregard my review). They're so often formulaic: someone goes missing or is killed, there's some build-up, and then comes the inevitable plot twist -- often in the form of an unreliable narrator. After I cottoned on to the formula, it's been hard for me to enjoy these books because they're so darn predictable -- plus, good writing is pretty important to me, and in this genre it typically takes a backseat in favor of fast-paced action.

"Gone Without a Trace" fell short in quite a few ways for me, right down to to the repetitive, uninspired writing. There was so little actually going on that I skimmed nearly the entire thing and read it in a day. I felt zero connection to our protagonist, thirty-something Hannah, who comes home from work one day to find her boyfriend has vanished and erased every part of himself from her life, even going as far as deleting pictures of himself from her phone and taking every single one of his possessions. Hannah becomes obsessed with tracking him down and discovering why he left her -- and alternately wanting to give him an earful and hoping he'll grovel to come home. After the "twist," I liked her even less.

I do have to give props to Torjussen for one thing: the vanished person is a man! So many of the thrillers I've read involve a kidnapped child or a missing woman. Unfortunately, though slightly fresher than normal (and I do admit, the initial premise was intriguing), the story was kinda weird and just didn't work for me.

Another random issue: the cover. The artwork looks to me like a woman walking down a path to the sea... but I don't remember the ocean ever once being mentioned.

So, yeah, if you've got thriller-fatigue like I do, definitely skip this one. But if the genre is your thing -- and it is for a lot of readers -- you may like it much better than I did.

Hi, since I did not finish this book I don't think it fair to the author for me to review it on websites. It just wasn't for me. I really didn't like the main character and the pace was too slow. Perhaps it has a great ending but I just couldn't make it that far.

thank you for the opportunity to try this novel.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for a fair review.


Whew where to start... my mind is blown!!!


Hannah is a successful business woman who returns home one night with some exciting news. When she arrives home to find her boyfriend of four years Matt is gone. Everything he owned is gone, all of her old stuff is put back in its original place. Where has he gone? What happened?


She is so humiliated that the only person she tells at first is her best friend Katie. As time goes on Hannah continues to fall apart. She finds that his number is disconnected and even his mother has moved. She finds out she is pregnant and gets in trouble at work. But weird things are going on in her house. Stuff has been moved, new flowers put in, a cd in her car...


Is Matt messing with her? Is she losing her mind?


Gah I have like a ton of things I want to say about this book, but spoilers for real I can't comment on what I really want to because it will spoil the whole damn book. I will make this vague reference the ending made me feel slightly uncomfortable and it really took a minute to wrap my head around everything.


That was how it is supposed to be I think, I think that was the author attempt and it was masterful, because I really felt a certain way towards Matt the whole book, and I will say my opinion of Katie was not improved by any circumstances. The clues are slowly revealed and you just don't put them together until the end when you look back and suddenly it is so clear.


If you are looking for thriller that deals with a subject I don't I have ever read about in a fiction book then look no further!

Hannah has spent weeks preparing for a big meeting in Oxford, and it's well worth it. By the end of the day, it seems she's on the fast track for promotion and she's ready to share the news with her boyfriend, Matt. But when Hannah arrives home, Matt is gone. As is every trace that he's ever been there. What's more, her phone and tablet have been wiped clean of him as well: no calls in the log, no number or email address, no texts, no photos... everything is gone.

Hannah doesn't know what to do or where to turn. As she tries desperately to find out what happened to Matt, her life begins to spiral out of control. She's slipping at work, she's hardly able to pull herself together, and she believes someone has been coming into her home when she's not there. Is she going mad or is Matt playing with her?

Gone Without a Trace was almost painfully tense. I knew there had to be a twist coming but I could not for the life of me figure out what it was going to be. It was fun, but almost agonizing as well!

Hannah is, at times, infuriating. When she discovers Matt's gone and claims she has no way of getting in touch with him because she no longer has his phone number... I really wanted to scream at her! But I sympathized with her as well - I know plenty of people who would be in this boat, sadly. And she's genuinely confused and devastated over the whole thing.

It's understandable considering Matt has literally wiped away all trace of himself and their history together. That takes time and planning, all of which Hannah was apparently oblivious to. It makes the reader really begin to wonder what's going on here. Was it Matt at all? The texts and the fact that Hannah believes someone has been in her house really ratchet up that suspense too.

I was afraid that with all of that build up, the end would potentially fall flat. I have to say, though, that I really appreciated the twist when it did arrive. It was unexpected, that's for sure, and turned the story on its head. More surprisingly, even with the crumbs I now see were left as hints, I never saw it coming! It's a twist that I think is going to stick with me for a while.

When Hannah comes from a business trip to find her boyfriend Matt gone, along with all of his things, she simply doesn’t know what to think. He’s returned her flat to the state it was in before he’d moved in. He’s left no note. Matt has, in every sense, erased himself from her life. And she has no idea why.

Hannah becomes obsessed with finding Matt so she can get answers, so that she can do to mend things. This obsession starts effecting her work, her friendships, her sleep. Her whole life becomes about figuring it all out.

It doesn’t help that she starts getting strange text messages on her phone, that she gets the sense that someone has been in her flat while she was out, leaving things disturbed in small ways that make her question her sanity. She’s convinced it is Matt trying to reach out to her, that maybe he can’t live without her after all. But is it Matt? And if so, why did he leave at all? Why doesn’t he just come back? Why has he hidden himself away? If it isn’t Matt, what does this person want with her?

First off, I didn’t like Hannah. Truth be told, I didn’t like most of the characters. And while that made it somewhat hard to continue with the story, it was also essential to the plot. When most of the characters are unlikeable, there are so many likely culprits, with a plethora of possible motives.

As for the plot, it took a little while before I figured out why Matt left the way he did. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that I suspect that gender-based stereotypes played heavily into my ability to see what would have otherwise been quite obvious. The subplot with the possible stalking…I didn’t figure out the who until close to the end, but I definitely knew who it wasn’t from early on.

The pace was a little slow for me. There were bits where it really felt like it was dragging, like why can’t we just move along now. I get it. She’s an unreliable narrator. We need to understand her past and her motivations. But, honestly. Being inside Hannah’s head was a bit much sometimes. Perhaps because I have my own anxiety demons, I don’t really have a lot of tolerance for living inside someone else’s anxious mind. My beasties are quite enough, thank you very much.

Writing this review out, it would seem that I didn’t enjoy it that much, but at the end of it all, I actually did. I think the approach was novel, as I suspect many readers still have the same gender bias that I do (blasted!), so the pieces won’t come together as quickly as they should. And beyond the why of Matt’s departure, the rest of it was beyond me. So, while the characters themselves actually ratcheted my anxiety up well beyond comfortable levels, it was ultimately all a mystery to me.

Hannah Monroe comes home from work expecting her boyfriend Matt to be waiting for her but instead, she finds all trace of his presence in their home to be erased. His artwork is missing from the walls, his clothes, his furniture, and even his TV has been replaced by her old TV as if he was never there at all. She tries to call him only to find that his number has been erased from her phone, all of their text messages, e-mails, as well as every single picture from their four-year relationship. They were happy, they never fought, and life was good. Hannah doesn’t understand why he would up and leave like that without even trying to talk to her about it and all she wants is for him to give her a reason why.

‘I knew that if I were to just see him again, just talk to him, he’d remember how much he loved me. And then he’d come back.’

Desperate to find answers, Hannah begins to search for Matt any way that she knows how and she starts by contacting him at his office only to find that he had quit the week prior. She tries to get in touch with his mother only to find she moved months before Matt had left and nothing was ever mentioned to Hannah. Social media is also a dead-end and she quickly becomes even more determined to find him. She contacts his barber, any and all hotels in a reasonably distanced area, she stands outside the pub he used to frequent, and she only gets worse as time progresses. She starts keeping a notebook and post it notes to keep track of places she’s contacted hoping to uncover some connection to Matt during her research.

‘For a moment I didn’t know what to do; I knew that if I didn’t write (the) details down somewhere noticeable, I’d forget them, so I picked up a red marker pen and made a note on one of my glossy cabinets.’

Months pass and her obsessiveness over finding him only increases. She spends so much time looking for him that the job she used to pride herself on begins to suffer and she can’t seem to keep up with the workload anymore. She has trouble sleeping, she drinks far more than normal, and her appearance, physical (and mental) health quickly begins to deteriorate. And to make matters worse she’s started receiving unsettling text messages from unknown numbers, letters in her postbox, and she thinks someone is coming into her house when she’s gone.

‘I wore the same clothes as I’d worn the day before. They were my lucky clothes now. And I’d lain awake all night in them, too, so that the luck didn’t wear off. I couldn’t risk that.’

Hannah was quite the unlikeable character because of how exasperating her obsessive tendencies became. She became absolutely delusional but you couldn’t help wanting more for her, for her to be stronger, especially when you begin to realize just how much time has elapsed where she’s let this obsession take over her life. What I found most alarming yet fascinating about watching everything unfold was trying to uncover what motivated her, what possessed her to take things to such extremes. One can expect heartbreak from being left alone, but Hannah’s supposed heartbreak transformed into something terrifyingly destructive. In addition to all this, other facets of Hannah’s life are slowly revealed and we’re given glimpses into a troubling childhood and a best friend whom she shares a toxic relationship with. As the story unveils itself, you begin to question everything because there’s clearly something missing from this elaborate mystery. Admittedly, these scenes where she describes the feeling of being watched were so thoroughly unsettling that I began to feel one with Hannah and her paranoia.

Gone Without A Trace is a psychological thriller brimming with anticipation and tension that will make this an impossible read to put down.

4.25-4.5 STARS

Returning from a successful business trip and bursting with good news, Hannah comes home to discover that her boyfriend Matt has vanished from her life. Completely stripping their home from every last trace of his existence, Matt was careful not to leave a single thing behind—not even one single photo remains. Hannah is distraught, embarrassed and utterly confused. After all, she and Matt were happy together… weren’t they? So why would he leave? And why would he take all of her memories with him?

Trusting her secret shame and devastation to only her closest confidants, Hannah embarks on a desperate mission to track Matt down. Distracted by her obsessive search, Hannah’s work begins to suffer. But it’s a series of strange occurrences that suddenly throws Hannah’s world completely off kilter. Someone has been in her house; she’s receiving strange calls and text messages; a bizarre message comes in the mail. Is someone trying to make Hannah go crazy, or has Hannah been crazy all along?

As the story drew me in and enveloped me completely, few people escaped my suspicious eye--I literally trusted no one. Friends, co-workers, and ex-lovers, all had motive and opportunity to screw with Hannah’s head. But the motivation behind Matt’s calculated departure continued to be elusive, remaining frustratingly out of reach.

Naturally, I had my theories. And, in part, some of them were true. But the biggest and most shocking revelation of them all was far outside my scope of thought. Truth be told, I found myself a little disappointed that said revelation wasn’t quite as insidious as I once had thought. Still, the journey towards the truth held me captive all along the way. Without a doubt, “Gone Without A Trace” is a twisted psychological thriller that will keep you spellbound right up until the very end.

Hannah arrives home after a business trip to find her life in upheaval. Her boyfriend, Matt, is gone. At first, Hannah is shocked, but as the shock turns to anger and she begins searching she realizes that it is not just his belongings that have gone, but every trace of him. All the photos, e-mails, even the call log in her phone have been erased and it is like Matt has vanished. Did he actually leave her or something much bigger at play? Hannah will stop at nothing to find out. As Hannah searches, she finds herself wrapped up in something else. Someone is looking for her, as well…and it is looks like they will also stop at nothing.

Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen was one of my most highly anticipated reads for this year. A novel that compares itself to the “Girl” novels always has me intrigued. However, this one gave me mixed feelings.

I actually loved the first portion of the novel; when we are first introduced to Hannah as she is humming up her steps to her front porch, all I felt was dread. I knew things were about to take a turn and as soon as she discovered Matt was missing, I felt awful for her. Torjusseen does a good job at making her relatable. Without giving away any spoilers, as her character developed, I applauded. I love when I can read a story and constantly be guessing if my narrator is reliable.

However, as the book progressed and I reached the ending I felt like I had picked up a completely different book. It felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story and was such a shift in gears. Toujussen partially redeemed the end with the final lines of the narrative, those did make me smile and felt more genuine to the rest of the plot, but overall, I was left completely dissatisfied.

Overall, although I enjoyed the majority of the novel for the entertainment value, I struggled so much with the ending it lowered my overall rating to a 3.5/5.

GONE WITHOUT A TRACE by Mary Torjussen is a twisty suspense of domestic suspense. When things are not always as they seem. Dark secrets are revealed, a learned behavior with a role reversal in play.

Hannah, age thirty-two is all about appearances. Material possessions, status, and seeking her dad’s approval. Underneath, she is insecure. She is a grown woman and has managed to gain a position as a senior manager for a large accounting firm. She knows her dad would be proud.

She has been away at a training conference in Liverpool and on her 200-mile drive home to her live-in boyfriend, Matt to celebrate. However, when she arrives at home with the champagne, Matt is not home, nor any of his belongings. He has stripped everything in their house of his. Her things are still there in the same place.

At first, she thinks it is a burglar; however, the more she investigates, she realizes some of the more expensive stuff is still there. Things she brought into the relationship.

Everything has been removed erasing all existence of Matt. Including emails, phone numbers, social media, photos, etc. She cannot understand why he left without even a note and she is not able to get in touch with him. Hannah unravels with a capital U.

We learn early on Hannah is an unreliable narrator. You know there is something else going on. Is she blocking out something or events leading up to the time she left for her trip? Delusional?

She recruits her childhood friend Katie and boyfriend James and we soon learn these two have a past. Katie and Hannah are always trying out do one another. Plus then she begins receiving texts and strange things occurring. Is someone playing with her, or is she just plain nuts? Move on. He clearly wants away from you.

Hannah, was maddening! No likable characters here unless it was possibly the mom, which did not a strong voice in the novel. An overbearing controlling dad. She soon loses her career-obsessed with her personal life. She is disturbing.

Even though I had high hopes, here is my take: The first 10% was a great set up. It pulled me in. The next 70% was an obsessive Hannah and crazy friend Katie (could have done without all of this). This could have been covered in one simple chapter. It just went on and on. . .

She actually drove me nuts. I was ready to push her out my 15th-floor apartment window. This girl with a so-called career is now a total mess and narcissistic (she possesses all the signs). Ready to give up on the book numerous times and finally just skipped over all this drama, otherwise would have been a DNF. I knew then I did not like this gal. Very self-absorbed. Do not blame the poor guy for leaving.

Nothing changed until we get to the 80% point (I actually looked down) to see where the action actually started. At this point, hooked again. Of course, the very end, not crazy about though. Basically, if you retain the 30% which was good, then remove all the middle drama, and possibly replace those parts with a dual timeline (Hannah’s childhood) POV.

What I would love to have seen: A POV from Hannah’s mom, would have been interesting. Possibly Hannah’s dad, even Hannah’s POV as a child; then switch to Matt POV or James. Possibly some from Hannah in the present (not all Hannah).

I think the different perspectives and dual timeline would have enhanced the overall book and still deliver a nice domestic suspense thriller. As well, as bringing in some good research and facts about domestic abuse and violence in the home, and how this affects children through adulthood, as well as the male/female role reversal.

Mild spoilers here: Especially the learned behavior and the woman being the abuser versus the man. It is not serving our society well to downplay the fact female violence can also be lethal, towards men and towards children: women account for more than half of all murders of children. Most family violence is two-way aggression as well. Given the shame and stigma associated with being a male victim of family violence, it is not surprising that men downplay these experiences in victim surveys. Sure, there are more than we are aware of.

Children witnessing any form of family violence, including couple violence, suffer high rates of mental health problems and the children are more likely to be violent themselves.

As we have discovered through the hit series Big Little Lies, how domestic violence trickles down through our children with bullying and other fatal events in our schools. This would have been a great opportunity to play in the male versus female reversal role, and show both sides. Of course, I did not care for the book, Big Little Lies, either, however, loved the TV series!

Not to take anything away from the author, she is very talented; however, I would have loved this one to take a different route. GONE WITHOUT A TRACE is one which will receive a wide range of reviews due to the way the story plays out, as indicated.

A special thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an early reading copy.

JDCMustReadBooks