Riley Paige is an FBI agent that has also been the victim of a serial killer. She's trying to take care of her teenage daughter and get back to work. There's a killer posing his victims and Riley has the ability to get inside of his head. Her partner Bill is happy to have her back on the job even if his wife isn't.
Riley wasn't and unbelievable character. She was still scared poopless about being tortured but she wanted to help other people in the situation she has nightmares about. Her home life is FAR from perfect but her daughter is more worried than hateful. I sometimes wished Riley wasn't so impulsive but after awhile you realize that's who she is. You'll either love her or hate her but if I like her.

Well written, well twisted, and well planned out. There was an easy plot to follow with several surprises and more than enough frustration that you really wanted her to get a break in the case. I loved the ending, it fit well and wasn't rushed into like many similar books. I think the best part was that while the killer was still "a stranger" the implication that their minds were so well connected that she could understand at the end because her mind itself was equally broken seemed quite brilliant.

10 stars please- So amazing. I sat down and started this book on a Sunday afternoon and did not move until I finished it. I found the character to be so easy to cheer for and the many twists and turns throughout the book made it so fast to read and entertaining. Thank you for the chance to write about this book and read it.

I enjoyed this book. Fast paced read. Any serious reader would question character development, as I did, and the believability factor. Riley was a likeable character, however, her continuous “act first think later” was a bit unrealistic. Nonetheless, it held my attention throughout.

Short Take: Hello, Clarice. These are the Days of Your Life.

(*Note: I received a free copy of this book for review.*)


Once Gone is the first book in a series of thirteen (so far) starring FBI Agent Riley Paige, and as far as serial killer thrillers go, it’s pretty straightforward. Women are being killed, then mutilated and arranged to look like dolls. The investigation begins with Riley’s former partner, Bill, flying solo, and wishing that he had her brilliant mind to help on the case.

And why, you may be asking, is Riley, our ostensible heroine, not at the crime scene putting her extraordinarily intuitive mind to use? It’s because she is at home, not-recovering from a serious case of PTSD and major depression brought on by her previous case, in which she was held captive and tortured by a different serial killer.

Bill manages to get Riley back in the saddle, but she is definitely not OK. She is prone to horrific flashbacks, too much alcohol, and a need to prove herself that generally results in situations that cause more harm to her career. Meanwhile, more bodies are turning up, and Riley’s personal life is spiraling further out of control.

There is a lot to love about Once Gone. Mr. Pierce did a bang-up job in creating real characters in Riley and Bill, mainly by showing us what the people surrounding them are dealing with. Bill’s wife Maggie is fed up with his “marriage to the job” and is about to divorce him and take their two young sons with her. Riley’s fourteen-year-old daughter April is angry all the time and experimenting with drugs, torn up over her inability to help her mother heal. And of course, Riley herself is obsessed with bringing down a killer regardless of what it might cost her.

The pacing and structure are exceptional, with the story of Riley’s ordeal being dribbled out over time. Essentially, the first story (Riley’s previous case) is told last, which makes for quite the page-turner, and although Riley’s profiling abilities border on ESP levels, her conclusions read as logical, not ridiculous or over-the-top.

The problem is that for all the devotion to the main characters’ lives, the story that should be front and center (the doll-killer-dude) is shoved in around the edges, a paint-by-numbers police procedural. There are a few obvious red herrings, and the obligatory higher-ups who are pursuing their own career-driven agendas and inadvertently sabotaging the investigation.

What I’m saying, in my usual long-winded way, is that when you strip away the soap opera elements of Once Gone, you’re left with an episode of Law & Order SVU. Clues are gathered, leads are followed, bad guy is caught. It’s an OK story (I like SVU, personally), but I feel like the author could have done more with the actual investigation, or told us more about the killer. We get a couple of chapters from his perspective when he’s doing his serial-killing thing, but we’re never really inside his head in a way that makes him frightening. His motivations are rather clumsily spelled out in the final confrontation, but for most of the book, he’s just generic serial killer #15,487.

And of course, because Once Gone is the first in a series, it ends on a cliffhanger, which is where the personal-life-drama hit the “too much” mark for me. With easily three books’ worth of over the top situations heaped onto Riley in just the first book, the thought of a dozen more is plain exhausting.

The Nerd’s Rating: THREE HAPPY NEURONS (and a cozy supply closet, cause man, I could use a nap.)

Once Gone by Blake Pierce is the 1st in the FBI Agent Riley Paige Detective Series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Kobo Writing Life, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
Riley Paige is on paid leave. In her last case, she had located and followed a serial killer, released his captive, only to be caught and tortured herself. Although she finally escaped after blowing up the house with the killer in it, her mind will not let her believe he is truly dead. The woman she saved is also haunted by this thought.

But the FBI needs her. Riley has a gift that allows her to really get into the mind of a killer. And there is another serial killer out there, stalking, torturing and killing women. He is leaving them posed like dolls, with a rose between their legs, and their eyes sewed open. Riley is the only one who can truly get into his mind.

Riley’s daughter needs her too. 14-year old April is starting to act out, and her mother is so caught up in her past, and her cases, that she has been neglecting her own flesh and blood.

Things have to change….and a killer must be caught. Riley has a lot of work to do.

My Opinions:
For the first novel of a series, this definitely held my attention. It is a really fast read, mostly because I didn’t want to put it down! The pace is good. The characters are fairly developed, although I am sure more will be told in future books. On a personal level, Riley, although flawed, was likeable - eventually. She knows she has issues, and in the end, took measures to correct them, well some of them.

Overall, I am looking forward to continuing this series.

This book was incredibly well written that I could not put it down. I wanted to see what happened next and read way past the time that I put aside for reading. Definitely make sure you have enough time to completely read this, as it is that good!