Title: And Then You Were Gone by R.J. Jacobs
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 282 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
For fans of B. A. Paris and Mary Kubica comes a propulsive, twisting psychological thriller that asks, How can you save someone else if you can’t save yourself?
After years of learning how to manage her bipolar disorder, Emily Firestone finally has it under control. Even better, her life is coming together: she’s got a great job, her own place, and a boyfriend, Paolo, who adores her. So when Paolo suggests a weekend sailing trip, Emily agrees—wine, water, and the man she loves? What could be better? But when Emily wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone.
A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. Where else could he have gone? And why? As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip.
But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy. To clear her name, Emily must find the truth—but can she hold onto her own sanity in the process?
Review:
And Then You Were Gone by R.J. Jacobs is a suspenseful mystery about a psychologist whose boyfriend goes missing during a weekend getaway.
Dr. Emily Firestone overcomes her fear of water in order to enjoy a sailing weekend with her boyfriend, Paolo Fererra. After a fun day on the lake, Emily awakens to next morning to find that Paolo has vanished. Her bipolar disorder immediately begins to spiral out of control due to her lack of sleep and extreme stress. Already convinced Paolo’s death is from foul play, Emily’s suspicions are confirmed when his lab coworker, Sandy Harrison, reaches out to her to investigate some irregularities she has uncovered. Before long, the police are taking a second look at Emily when people connected to her begin to die. Will Emily find out the truth about what happened to Paolo before it is too late?
Emily is a well-respected child psychologist whose bipolar II disorder has been well-controlled for quite some time. She relies on a strict medication regime to keep her bipolar disorder in check but her erratic behavior soon plunges her into a manic state. Soon after Paolo’s disappearance, she makes a series of ill-advised decisions that jeopardize her mental health and her career. Emily is not able to distinguish between fact and fantasy as she begins experiencing paranoia as she skips her medicine and gives up sleep in order to find out what happened to Paolo.
Emily is already on the edge when Sandy brings her puzzling information she has unearthed at the lab where she and Paolo are working on a vaccine for a deadly virus. Emily’s anxiety levels begin to spike as she impatiently waits for Sandy to retrieve proof they can take to the authorities. Fully immersed in a hypo-manic state, Emily races headlong into danger as she frantically attempts to understand what happened to Paolo and why. Even more troubling is the warning she receives from her best friend that Emily is becoming more than just a person of interest in the events swirling around Paolo’s disappearance.
And Then You Were Gone is a fast-paced and compelling mystery starring an increasingly unreliable narrator. Emily’s need for answers is understandable but her refusal to take her medication becomes a bit tedious. With plenty of tension, a few red herrings and some shocking twists, R.J. Jacobs brings this perplexing mystery to an action-packed conclusion. An excellent mystery that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend to fans of the genre.
