Title: Good As Gone by Douglas Corleone
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Imprint: Minotaur Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Thriller
Length: 305 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk works as a private contractor, tracking down and recovering children who were kidnapped by their own estranged parents. He only has one rule: he won’t touch stranger abduction cases. He’s still haunted by the disappearance of his own daughter when she was just a child, still unsolved, and stranger kidnappings hit too close to home.
Until, that is, six-year-old Lindsay Sorkin disappears from her parents’ hotel room in Paris, and the French police deliver Simon an ultimatum: he can spend years in a French jail, or he can take the case and recover the missing girl. Simon sets out in pursuit of Lindsay and the truth behind her disappearance. But Lindsay’s captors did not leave an easy trail, and following it will take Simon across the continent, through the ritziest nightclubs and the seediest back alleys, into a terrifying world of international intrigue and dark corners of his past he’d rather leave well alone.
The Review:
A parents’ worst nightmare hits too close to home and pits ex U.S. Marshall Simon Fisk against some very formidable foes in this intense and fast-paced thriller by Douglas Corleone. Good As Gone is a riveting novel that will take Simon through multiple countries as he relentlessly searches for a kidnapped young girl.
Simon knows all too well the anguish that Vincent and Lori Sorkin are experiencing after their six year old daughter Lindsay vanishes from their hotel room. Simon’s daughter Hailey was abducted and ten years later, she is still missing. Now working as a freelancer who specializes in retrieving kidnapped children for their custodial parents, Simon is unwillingly drawn into the Sorkin case. His investigation will take him from Paris to Germany, Poland, the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia as he races against time to rescue Lindsay before it is too late.
Simon is an engaging and multi-layered protagonist. His pain and grief over his daughter’s loss and his wife’s subsequent suicide are palpable and while it adds dimension to his character it never overpowers the story. Simon has a strong moral compass about right and wrong that keeps gratuitous violence and deaths to a minimum during the course of the investigation. Since he is a little out his depth, Simon remains a step behind the kidnappers but his quick thinking keeps the investigation rapidly and continuously moving forward.
A novel that touches on police and political corruption, child pornography, exploitation of women and the lingering effects of the Chernobyl disaster, Good As Gone is an action-packed and suspense laden mystery. Simon’s search for Lindsay is thoroughly engrossing and while some of his luck is a little too good to believe, it is easy for the reader to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the unfolding drama. It is virtually impossible to discern the reason for Lindsay’s kidnapping and Douglas Corleone brings the story to a stunning and completely unexpected conclusion.
Definitely a recommended read for anyone who likes a pulse-pounding adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
