One of the most intriguing novels I have read this year because it mixes a suspenseful thriller with a little hint of science. I thoroughly enjoyed this because I thought I knew where the story was going, only to be guided in a completely different direction with each chapter. Very cleverly written and characters that come across sinister with their intentions. I wasn't sure who to trust and who to believe! If you enjoy psychological thrillers that have you guessing at every corner - this is it...

I would recommend this authors' work and will post a full review on my blog in the same week the book is released March 2019.

WOW - what a story! What a plot! What amazing writing! To say I loved this book is understatement! When I read the premise - something about micro-technology and greed run amuck, my interest was peaked. What I got was a book full of surprises, full of emotional roller coasters and suspense and twists and turns and a very flawed protagonist that I adored!

Emily Firestone has worked for years to get her life on track and keep her life on track as she lives with bi-polar disorder. She is medicated, a child psychologist and has met a wonderful man who is a medical researcher actually working on a vaccine for the disease that killed her father. Everything appears to finally be flowing in the right direction for Emily. When her boyfriend asks her to go sailing with him, although terrified of water and unable to swim, Emily decides to conquer her fears and give it a go. The day goes beautifully and they cap off the evening with wine - beautiful, right? The next morning Paulo is gone without a trace and no explanation for his disappearance. All suspicions point to Emily and, of course, being bi-polar does not help her case at all, nor does it help her subsequent actions. Her life begins to spiral out of control as she searches for answers and the police search for her.

Full dis-closure: I am a medicated bi-polar person. It took years to get a diagnosis and even longer to find the proper meds to make me stable enough to function in society - some would question whether or not I do that now. ;) It is rare that I ever see someone with bi-polar disorder characterized correctly or even remotely accurately in the media - news or fiction - so as I was reading And Then You Were Gone, I was doing so with a very critical eye. I was amazingly surprised! Reading Emily's story, her thought processes, her actions, her rationalizations, her play with her medications, her paranoia - ALL of it - was so familiar that it was spooky! This alone was enough to pull me into the book and I encourage you to read it simply to understand what it it is like to be a person with bi-polar 2. More importantly, however, is the story line which is fantastic! As we, a society, need more and more vaccines to counter act an increasingly mounting number of diseases due to climate change, there are going to be those who skirt the laws and the regulations to make that happen. This book deals with some of those consequences. It also has a minor story line that addresses PTSD that is handled very well. ALL of this is wrapped up in a well written, edge of your seat suspenseful thriller! You just cannot beat that. Obviously I highly recommend And Then You Were Gone to any and everyone!

Thank you #Netgalley, #CrookedLaneBooks and especially to #RJJacobs for allowing me to read this fantastic book in advance of publication.

This is a very well written debut novel but the plot didn’t engage me. Psychological thrillers are my favourite genre of books but I couldn’t get into this one and found myself turning off about a third of the way through. I stuck with it and enjoyed the ending, however when I look at the book overall, it just wasn’t for me.

Highly readable psychological debut thriller:
An idyllic weekend sailing break, which promises to be a much welcome escape from work, for both Emily Firestone, a psychologist, and her scientific research boyfriend, Paolo, all goes badly wrong: Paolo disappears from the boat on their first evening and then Emily is accused of complicity in his disappearance. It seems a cruel twist of fate, that just when Emily was getting her life back on track and seemed to have met her perfect match in Paolo, she becomes "a person of interest" to the police because she was last to see Paolo alive. The presumption being he drowned after an argument between the couple on the boat. Her protestations of innocence seem to fall on deaf ears as the police search for Paolo's body.
As the novel progresses Emily uncovers evidence that Paolo may have been murdered as a consequence of his research work but why? Emily also suspects that other mysterious deaths may be linked to Paolo's disappearance. Often in life the adage: that what appears to be too good to be true probably is, as Emily is about to discover. Paolo was involved in a highly lucrative research project to produce a vaccine against a pandemic virus. The research group were on the brink of a major breakthrough against a virus, which had ironically killed Emily's father. The pace and tension pick up as the novel progresses. Complete with twists and turns which unfortunately didn't prevent me from guessing the ending. That said, the novel is a sound debut novel and highly readable (I finished it after all), themed with the catastrophe western society would face if a pandemic should strike. And the prizes (and temptations) open to scientists to prevent it from happening.

This book was just not my fav. I tried it on a couple different occasions, but it just wouldn’t grab my attention, like I was hoping I would get. Will update, if I can ever get into it and enjoy it.
Will also use in a challenge and let chapter chatter pub know about it’s release.

I love this genre of books and this one did not disappoint. I have to say I loved the character of Cal. All the way to the end I was not sure what to think of Emily and her frantic behavior. I was surprised that Cal trusted her, but in the end I am glad he did. The book is full of surprises all the way to the end.

When you were gone is a hell of a rollercoaster and a fantastic depiction of bipolar disorder. Not in a sad way but an accurate representation of how the body works against you but also how it can work for you.

When our protagonist goes for a romantic weekend with her partner out boating she doesn't expect her boyfriend to mysteriously disappear. Nor does she expect the bone chilling chain of events that occur after his dissapearance.

When you were gone is a psychological thriller in every sense of the word and will keep you on the edge of your seat desperately flipping pages to read what happens next.

The deep webs of mental health issues, mourning, hope, conspiracies and even rebirth are woven together beautifully.

This is a must read book and an incredibly well thought out book! To say I loved it is an understatement.

I found the blurb interesting and thought I’d enjoy the book. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

The story is told from Emily’s POV, and a bit too much time is spent in her head (vs. dialogue to drive the story line). There’s a lot of repetition, and many plot points were somewhat predictable. The pace was slow at the beginning, but I expected it to pick up. However, it didn’t. It was way too easy for me to put this book aside, which isn’t what I look for in a book. Due to the author’s background, I did find that Emily portrayed a realistic depiction of bipolar disorder. Overall, I didn’t find anything memorable about this story.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

Emily has struggled with bipolar disorder for a long time - but now it seems to be under control in big part to her happy life - great job, great home, great boyfriend, Paolo. He plans a weekend sailing trip which sounds perfect to Emily - until she wakes up to the boat wandering aimlessly and Paolo gone. As the investigation grows and police look at Emily as a suspect, Emily's grip on her disorder slips dangerously.
This book was face paced and full of twists and turns - I loved it! Emily was a flawed, relatable character that I was rooting for from the start. This book kept me interested until the very end!
Thanks to R.J. Jacobs, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this great book!

I love love love psychological thrillers and this book did not disappoint! page Turner, edge of your seat! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

I tried to like this book I really did. Something bothered me from the start but I couldn’t figure it out. The story was good, I just didn’t like the main character. She seemed immature and bizarre. Thank you NetGalley for the free download and thanks to the author and publisher as well.

~ARC (ebook) from Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley

This is the debut novel from R. J. Jacobs, a Mystery Thriller and after the first chapter you are left with a very puzzling mystery. With a feel of The Girl on the Train, this novel is not quite what it seems. I read the first two chapters expecting a certain type of novel, I wasn't even sure I wanted to continue. But I'm certainly glad I did because on more than one occasion I found myself smirking at the details of this well crafted novel.

The antagonists were portrayed in a convincing way, they felt real. I understood who Jacobs was trying to portray and he hit that right on the nose. In terms of mental illness, which the book does not shy away from, Jacobs accurately depicts PTSD, Bipolar Mania and Depression (he is a psychologist after all).

I didn't like that we didn't find out much about Paolo other than he was Argentinian and that Emily was hopelessly in love with him. Because of that I didn't really care that Paolo went missing because I didn't know who he was. It's for the same reason that I didn't care much about Emily. Although Jacobs attempts to cover her backstory and in other circumstances I would have felt empathetic, for some reason I can't quite place, I didn't care too much for Emily. Her bipolar disorder was authentic, but it's as if that's all her character had. There was no truth to her other than she was a walking mental disorder. Although she was a complete and utter mess, I needed something more from her thoughts that would allow me to connect with her in some way.

The book mentions that ' "I’m trying to stop him from hurting anyone else." It sounded very Scooby-Doo when I put it that way, but it was basically what I was trying to do.' and it is kind of accurate, the main plot feels common. I've read stories about "mad scientists" about people who do terrible things in order for the furthering of the human race. It all felt a bit Scooby-Doo. This novel feels no different as a whole.

What makes this novel interesting is the added thriller and mystery. I found myself not expecting a lot of the twists and turns that the novel took which is always a delight when reading. I find predictability to be the killer of mystery and this book was not as predictable as it seemed. I can't discredit the book too much, what Jacobs does get right is done brilliantly.

I definitely knew it was a debut novel, but having that in the back of my mind, I enjoyed this novel. Although a bit rough around the edges, I read thriller and mystery to feel surprised and this novel delivered.

3.5/5

This was a really interesting book and what a beautiful cover (which was what drew me to the book in the first place)!
And Then You Were Gone by R. J. Jacobs is a twisting thriller centering around Emily Firestone, who has Bipolar Disorder and has managed to get in under control after years of living with the manic-depressive illness. While on a sailing trip with her boyfriend Paolo, Emily wakes up one morning with Paolo gone. Her quest to solve Paolo's disappearance leads to shocking discoveries leaving Emily to discover if she really knew her boyfriend after all.
I really enjoyed the start and end of this one, though the middle wasn't quite what I was hoping for. Having a central character suffer from a mental health condition, is what gives this book so much juice. I really loved the twists that kept coming. I could not predict what the end would be like for this one, so that's a major win! All-in-all, I'd recommend this one if you love psychological thrillers. 4.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reading copy.

<b>My thoughts</b>
Not your typical psychological thriller and not at all what I expected. It was a quick read...but there is so much more to the story than the description leads us to believe. A well-written and fast-paced debut, that I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley / Crooked Lane Books / R. J. Jacobs for this digital ARC / in exchange for my honest review.
#AndThenYouWereGone #NetGalley

<b>Book Description</b>
For fans of B. A. Paris and Alice Feeney 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?

Very well written but plot just wasn’t for me. I got 39% through and just lost interest. I wish the author much success.

This psychological thriller kept me interested throughout. Some of the parts were predictable to me but it kept me reading until the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the book for my honest review.

Oh this was fantastic! Really tense. Kept you guessing. Made me read well into the night and I’d be stunned if you didn’t enjoy it. This is well written and a good thriller. 5/5 on good reads.

Exiting and Thrilling debut with plenty of Suspence to go around!

Emily
'Eighteen months before the lake, I met Cal the same night I met Paolo, at a fund-raiser for medical research. I’d dragged Allie along as my date.
“Remind me why we’re going to a fund-raiser?” she asked as I sped toward the frozen-in- time University Club, with its imposing curtains and sturdy silverware.
There was enough incredulity in Allie’s voice that I smiled to not feel offended.
“It’s for H1-N24 research . It’s been almost twenty years since…”
The air between us changed as she understood. The mention of a deceased parent does that. Allie’s eyes conveyed warmth, even pity, as her lips pressed together.
“It’s not going to be bad,” I said, knowing this only because I’d asked specifically about the content of the presentations before RSVPing yes. No way was I making either of us sit through a slideshow about the disease itself— the symptoms, or various forms of partially effective treatments. I knew plenty about H1-N24 already. First signs showing within three days of infection— mild fever, headache, muscle pains, followed by vomiting. Later, bleeding from the mouth, nose, and gums. Low blood pressure eventually causing organ failure and death.'

When Paolo and Emily go on a romantic, weekend getaway on a sailboat, Emily, who can't swim, is already anxious. But Paolo, who is an expert swimmer, assures her it's perfectly safe. When she wakes up alone the following morning she finds Paolo inexplicably gone. The police search but come up empty and Emily finds herself as suspect number one for his murder. But Emily is certain she had nothing to do with Paolo's death. Or is she?

********

Debut novel, And Then You Were Gone by R. J. Jacobs is a suspenful thriller with twists in unsuspected places. The characters are believable and the story is solid for the most part.

To bring more authenticity to the storyline, I would have liked to have more detailed information and/or explanation of what H1-N24 is.  I think it's a vaccine but a vaccine to prevent what, exactly, was unclear to me. The book seems to hint that there is a deadly virus in the world capable of becoming an epidemic or pandemic in nature if it falls into the wrong hands but with no specific details about what the virus is. The overall lack of details makes the story murky, which for me, took a bit away from the flow of the story. Having said that, it is fiction and it didn't take away much of the excitement and suspence and I had no trouble reading it to the very end. And I'm glad I did!

With thanks to NetGalley, R. J. Jacobs, and Crooked Lane Books for my digital advanced reading copy for me to read and review.

When Emily agrees to go on a boating trip with her boyfriend Paolo she could never have expect the nightmare that would unfold. Her biopolar disease already leaving her uneasy, she medicates and has a bit too much wine to help her enjoy the night. But when Emily awakes, floating on the water alone, the horror begins to unfold. Where is Paolo? She is immediately a person of interest in Paolo disappearance. Emily soon finds his memories can be deceiving. What happened on the water that night? Can Emily clear her name? Is she sane enough to find out the truth before her life falls apart?

A different book to review. An unlikable, unreliable main character made my job so difficult. Did I like her or did I hate her? Or did I love to hate her? These questions swirled in my mind as I read the book.

The story started simply with Emily and Paolo taking a day off to spend the night on a rented boat in the middle of the lake and Paolo disappeared. Emily sailed the boat to the pier, contacted the cops, and Paolo was presumed to be dead due to drowning with a tinge of suspicion on Emily. The story rolled on with a doubting co-worker, weird co-worker, burnt corpses, drowned corpse, all the while the cops marking Emily for murder.

Writing all this made me feel that everything was so exaggerated in this book, without any real evidence. Author R. J. Jacobs added more uncertainty to the mix when he made the main character Emily suffer from a bipolar disorder grade II wherein she remained in the hypo-maniac state... Oh how was I supposed to believe her or depend on her to lead me to the truth?!

The entire book was written from Emily's POV, and I could see her brain neurons zipping and zapping as she flitted from one thought to the other. The story worked in a fast pace with Emily trying to find her peace of mind. With such an atmosphere, I cast my doubts on everyone in the book including Emily. And yes, I could guess the ending...

Then came my niggles, continuity was not maintained in many scenes.
A good concept and a swift pace in latter half, but a confused hypo-maniac main character