I have read all of Charlie Donlea’s books, and they are all very good! This one is just as great! I was originally excited when the book begins with the topic of forensic genealogy. It is a fascinating subject. The book did tilt into a whole new direction, but it was equally exciting! Charlie has a knack for reeling you in with no hope of rest until the book is finished. He researches the topics very well and is a great writer! I’ll admit to hoping there was a little more romance, but it didn’t deter from the book at all. The mystery is complex and he does a great job of informing us at the right times so we don’t get lost. The complexities is what makes his books so good! I’m thrilled to have received this ARC front NetGalley. I’d been waiting on anticipation for this book to come out! The wait was worth it!

In Charlie Donlea’s newest novel, “Long Time Gone” follows his newest character Sloan , a first year fellow embarking on her journey to become a forensic pathologist, as she unravels secrets from her past that she encountered by accident. Taking place between present and past with varying point of views, we learn the truth of what really happened to “Baby Charlotte” and her parents during that fateful Fourth of July night. the story picks up quite fast making it a quick enjoyable read that has you on the edge of your seat.

I loved this book! do rate this about a 4.75⭐️ based on the big plot twist. This book was a great read that left me guessing what happened for about 50% of the book! Really enjoy Donlea’s reading universe with his Easter eggs from past novels; I loved noticing all the past characters as they appeared. The short chapters in the book made it such an easy read that it never felt like the story was dragging out. Overall, a solid story that can almost be expected when it comes to Donlea.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of Charlie Donlea and this installment does not disappoint! This continues along with the medical examiner series but this time its a different student, Dr Sloan Hastings. Sloan has been accepted into the 2 year training program for forensic pathology under Dr Liv Cutty. Sloan is given the project of forensic genealogy as her project. Sloan proceeds to take a DNA test as the starting point of her project and the results reveal she is the long lost Baby Charlotte who was kidnapped 29 years ago.

This is such a well written story with likeable and believable characters. The story alternates between now and 29 years in the past which helps fully develop the characters and the story. The author expertly reveals twists and turns keeping the story consistently intense, urging me to read on late into the night! The final reveal stunned me!

Looking forward to publication day!! Highly recommend!!!

This was exciting, and fast-paced, and with alternating POVs and timelines, it was a really engaging thriller!
*
Quick synopsis: After submitting her DNA to an online genealogy site, she discovers she's actually Baby Charlotte, who disappeared with her parents thirty years earlier. She goes to meet her new-found family, and hopefully unravel the mystery of what happened to her birth parents, who are still missing.
*
The set-up is slightly clunky, but after that, this was completely engaging and compelling. I really liked Sloan as a character, and I couldn't read this fast enough. I thought I knew where it was going, and I was close, but still didn't have it completely right.
*
Just a couple things kept me from 5 stars... I don't quite understand why there was such a media flurry about a family that looked like they just cut ties and moved away. And the way they discovered what actually happened is pretty unrealistic. But those are minor points, overall this was a really fun read!

Ohhhh WOW! This was SO addicting and perfectly done. I flew through this one in a day.

Long Time Gone follows Dr. Sloan Hastings who submits her DNA to find her ancestry for a research project and finds way more than she bargained for.

The way the story flipped from past to present and from character to character made the book fly by. The short chapters truly had me unable to put the book down. The plot was so unique and was executed perfectly. This is my first book by Charlie Donlea and I cannot wait to read his entire back list.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Charlie Donlea has done it again. Donlea is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I love the mix between thrill & science.

We follow Sloan Hastings who is starting her fellowship as a medical examiner. Part of her fellowship requires her to stay a specific part of a research assignment and ends up submitting her DNA to an online genealogy site and discovers some pretty interesting information about herself and her adoptive family, that she is actually a missing person from 1995.

This book goes through multiple timelines and POV's between Sloan and a Detective back in 1995 trying to figure out everything that is going on.

I loved the nod to Donlea's other books and character including Dr. Livia Cutty & Avery Mason.

This is a must read if you love mystery, suspense, and the beauty of DNA!

To hold another's secrets brought people together more powerfully than even unconditional love.

I love Charlie Donlea gift of writing. He always start with a powerful punch, builds a plot thru strong characters and twists. Sloan Hastings is one such character. She is studying to be a forensic scientist and is under a well known doctor/teacher. Her main study is genealogy and how genealogy is used to solve cold cases. To see how it works, she decides to set up her own "page". She is anxious about this endeavor because she is adopted. After discussing her next step with her parents, she goes for it and discovers that she is the baby that disappeared with her parents 30 years ago. No one knows what happened to the baby or her parents. They had disappeared from Nevada without a trace. When her story hits the FBI and the sheriff's office in Cedar Creek Nevada, she is visited by the son of the sheriff that was handling a case that involved her parents. Sloan becomes more intrigued by her past and feels a connection to her parents to know what happened.

The narration is done two fold. Current events as Sloan undercovers what happened to her parents while meeting the rest of her family in Cedar Creek. A powerful political family that has held power for over 30 years. The past is also narrated in respect to the current events. This helps you know the characters and their thought process in real time.

Donlea also writes leaving clues for the reader to be engaged and solve the crime as well. Let's just say, I was on the right track but had a little bit of shock at the end. A great read!

A special thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Years ago, I read The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea, and was intrigued by the character Dr. Livia Cutty, who was at that time a fellow in forensic pathology. I was excited to learn she makes a cameo appearance in Long Time Gone.

The MC in Long Time Gone is Sloan Hastings, a fellow in forensic pathology under Dr. Livia Cutty, who is now Chief Medical Examiner. Sloan's research assignment is the field of forensic genealogy, and her first step is to contact a genealogist, who advises her to submit her own DNA to a site to better understand the process.
A little hesitant because she was adopted and had never been interested in finding out about her birth parents, Sloan submits a sample of her DNA. The results are shocking. Her profile indicates that Sloan is actually Charlotte Margolis, a two-month-old infant who went missing in 1995, along with both of her biological parents. The case made national news, but no trace of Preston, Annabelle, or baby Charlotte was ever found.

Sloan and her adoptive parents are confused, to say the least. They contact the police and the FBI gets involved. Then Sloan gets a message from the genealogy website from Nora Margolis, who has seen the Sloan's DNA profile and wonders if Sloan could possibly be Charlotte Margolis, missing for nearly 30 years.

The story alternates between 1995 and the present, and eager to know more about what happened to her biological parents, Sloan, encouraged by Sheriff Eric Stamos, goes to Cedar Creek, Nevada, to try to figure out the events that led to the disappearance of her biological parents and her adoption.

The little town of Cedar Creek, Nevada holds secrets that someone does not want revealed. Sloan meets the Margolis family--her grandparents Reid and Tilly, her uncle Ellis and his wife Norah, and other assorted family members. She also meets with Eric Stamos who has his own concerns about what happened in 1995, as his father was investigating an incident involving a hit and run and Annabelle's car before he died. The two of them attempt to figure out the chain of events that led to the disappearance of Preston, Annabelle, and little Charlotte.

I was thoroughly invested throughout, although the conclusion felt rushed and was a bit over the top. Nevertheless, Long Time Gone is an entertaining mystery, and I wouldn't mind hearing more from Sloan or Dr. Livia Cutty. So many possible plots involving forensic pathology!

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley

Publication date: May 21, 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for this. e-ARC

Sloan Hastings, given a research assignment on forensic genealogy as part of her two-year fellowship, submits her own DNA to a genealogy website to better understand the information on these kinds of sites. Her results link her to a family who disappeared almost 30 years ago -- in fact, she appears to be the child who supposedly vanished. We follow Sloan to Nevada as she digs into the past, trying desperately to uncover the truth of what happened to her birth parents so many years ago.

I loved the alternating timelines, being able to read about what happened back in 1995 while also following Sloan's journey. The author clearly researched for this novel, and I loved the detail he provided about forensics and darkroom photography. The characters made you want to root for them (or for their downfall) and Sloan's minor obsession with CrossFit played out nicely in the story.

I would have loved to see a little more of how Sloan's life and relationships played out after everything happened, but I can also appreciate the nonstop edge-of-your-seat story Donlea has crafted.

Pick this one up if you're a fan of true crime and mysteries, and definitely if you read & enjoyed "Twenty Years Later."

Sloan has always know she was adopted, but she doesn't know her history until she submits her DNA to an online genealogy site as part of a research assignment for her job. She then discovers that she is actually missing Baby Charlotte who disappeared along with her parents almost thirty years ago. Sloan reaches out to her biological extended family only to find them not very welcoming. A fast paced thriller with plenty of twists.

I tried so hard to get into this book and get invested but it just couldn’t hold my attention enough for me to care.

I liked the premise but there was a lot of jumping between past and present and I found myself slowly losing interest.

It was also kind of predictable and I’m definitely not a big fan of the ending.

Not my best read of the year but I’m definitely in the minority here.

Charlie Donlea has quickly become one of my go to authors, after Twenty Years Later captivated me. I never heard of him prior to that book and it opened a world of incredible reading for me.

Sloan is studying to be a medical examiner and in her course of studies, she needs to focus on a project - DNA testing and genetics. Since she’s adopted, she hesitates sending off her DNA, but her grades trump everything and she moves forward with the process. She quickly discovers she is the baby from a prominent family that all went missing decades ago.

This book alternates between the past (1995) and the present (2024). Sloan Hastings has known since she was very young that she was adopted, and is very happy with her adoptive family. She is working on becoming a forensic pathologist and her two year assignment involves genealogy. Sloan submits her own DNA and discovers who her birth parents were and some unexpected news: she and her birth parents all disappeared when she was only a couple of months old, leaving behind a car with blood on the seats and a mystery.

The ending of this book was one of the most suspenseful I've ever read and I recommend it to any mystery lover. I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

Today genealogy and DNA testing leads many to develop their family histories to discover what they didn’t know or connect with relatives far and near. Add adoptions to a family history and you never know what you may find. Charlie Donlea hit on great subjects for his latest novel, forensic pathology, criminology and cold cases. Sloan Hastings has earned a fellowship in forensic pathology and her first assignment is forensic genealogy. Fascinated to learn all she can about the topic, she submits her own DNA to learn more. Though she is adopted she loves her parents and never was really interested in learning about her biological ones. Well surprise, she and her parents, from the Nevada Margolis family, disappeared when she was just 2 months old. How did the adoption come about? Where are her parents? Then the story starts flying, grabbing your attention weaving between 1995 events in her early life and the 2024 events of her current life. An important part of the search involves the grandson of the sheriff of Cedar Creek Nevada who sought answers to her disappearance but died under strange circumstances. She’ll meet family, put to use her medical background, and gain support from many. BUT what really happened? With drama, suspense, great mix of past and present and interesting characters it is a hard novel to put down. Only recently discovering Charlie Donlea I’ll be reading many more of his work and highly recommend Long Time Gone. Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC.

Charlie Donlea is a literary genius!! This is another one that grips you immediately and doesn’t let you go. The plot is so intricately written and plays out flawlessly until the end.

This book had me addicted from the start! It was so intense that I could not wait to see the twist. Authot knows how to deliver the breath taking, draw dropping twist that we all know and love and never expect the ending. I believe this book is her best one yet but I say that everytime I read one of her books. Thank you for allowing me to read your book in advance.

Imagine you are a forensic scientist and as a part of your research assignment you have to submit your DNA to an ancestry website that reveals you are Baby Charlotte - the 2 month old baby who disappeared with her parents 29 years ago and shattered the entire nation.

This psychological crime thriller had just the right amount of everything I look for in a thriller - fast pace, short chapters, strong FMC, interesting premise and revelations throughout not just the final 10% of the book.

I was hooked quite early on and finished the book in a few sittings.
Several things I liked:
- dual timeline - the story alternates between the events from July 1995 and 2024
- Short chapters
- Introduction of new characters is smooth and they all play a role in the plot
- Strong FMC who also is quite likeable
- The writing is easy and without extensive descriptions (which I dislike in thrillers)
- Action packed! Especially the last 15% of the book were like a mix between an action and horror movie.
- Fans of Twenty years later will also recognize a character from the book who has a cameo in here too :)


Although I guessed part of the final reveal I still found the ending to be extremely satisfying. There is one thing I found to be a bit farfetched but it kind of brings poetic justice within the plot hence the half mark down.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

In this book we dive into the story of Sloan Hastings, a woman who is part of an elite two-year fellowship under the renowned Chief Medical Officer Dr. Livia Cutty, there Sloan Hastings receives a research assignment in the emerging field of forensic genealogy and discovers through DNA testing that she is Charlotte Margolis, a baby who mysteriously vanished with her parents 30 years ago. Now Sloan embarks on a journey to find answers about her past and the disappearance of her biological parents. As she investigates, she uncovers a web of secrets that were meant to be kept buried. The more she learns, the more dangerous it becomes, as someone is determined to keep the truth hidden.

If you want to read this book prepare to be kept on the edge of your seat from literally page one.

READ IF YOU LIKE:
-Page turner books
-Immersive writing
-Thrilling plot
-Past and present timelines

I'm a sucker for Charlie Donlea's stories, he always gets away with describing the thrill of solving a puzzling mystery alongside the characters. I got hooked from page one. What a ride. From beginning to end. I loved the whole forensic side of the story which reminded me a lot of "The Girl Who Was Taken", another of his books and my personal favorite til now.

This book presents us with a very compelling mystery that is quite realistic. I like thriller novels that impress me with stories similar to real-life crimes because sometimes thriller novels can be way too unrealistic to get invested in. But with this book in particular you can almost feel like you're reading a true crime story.

I loved that at all times we get "updates" of the mystery. I hate when in thriller books we get half of the book with the main character wondering what the heck happened and then towards the end they get this huge hint of the whole mystery and BOOM mystery is revealed. But in this book, little by little Sloan builds the whole timeline of what happened to her and her biological parents, and we get to follow her as she stumbles upon the truth of her past.

Usually, I am not as invested in storylines that take place both in the "past" and the "present" because it can be a little confusing, but both storylines had me interested at all times. And I think that this dual POV made the whole book more addicting.

The one thing that I didn't like and was the real reason I didn't give this book a five-star rating (I'll not tell because I don't want to spoil the ending for anybody), but let's say that something a little bit unrealistic happened and that kinda ruined the end for me.

In conclusion, "Long Time Gone" is a thrilling and captivating novel that expertly weaves together the past and present to unravel a complex web of secrets and lies. This book is a must-read for fans of mystery and suspense. Donlea has truly outdone himself with this masterful tale of truth and the enduring power of family secrets.

Title- Long Time Gone @charliedonlea
Rating-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another 5 star read for @charliedonlea 👏🏽

I loved this book as I kind of related to certain aspects of this book when it comes to doing DNA test on Ancestry and building a tree off your matches to find family members. I went through my own DNA journey when I was 27 to find my bio dad. I did an ancestry test and built a family tree off those matches and found my dad! When I started I didn’t have a name, age, or even a state where he was born/lived. So it was fun reading this book and actually understanding the process within the book from personal experience.

Synopsis -

Thirty years ago, Baby Charlotte vanished. Today, she’s still in danger.

When Dr. Sloan Hastings submits her DNA to an online genealogy site for a research assignment, her goal is to better understand the treasure-trove of genetic information contained on ancestry websites. Brilliant and driven, Sloan is embarking on a fellowship in forensic pathology, training under the renowned Dr. Livia Cutty.

Sloan has one reservation about involving herself in the she’s adopted. Grateful for a loving home, she’s never considered tracking down her biological parents. The results of her search are shocking. Sloan’s DNA profile suggests her true identity is that of Charlotte Margolis, aka “Baby Charlotte”, who captured the nation’s attention when she mysteriously disappeared, along with her parents, in July 1995. Despite an exhaustive search, the family was never seen again, and no suspects were named in the case.

I can’t talk enough about @charliedonlea and this is only my second read by him. I read this one in one sitting like his other book those empty eyes. The pace of this book was perfect and I had zero complaints. It held my attention from the beginning all the way till the end.

Add this one to your tbr besties as it comes out May 21st 2024✨

Thank you @netgalley @charliedonlea for this advanced copy.

In this engrossing narrative, a forensic scientist finds herself entangled in a perilous quest for truth when her DNA links her to the notorious disappearance of Baby Charlotte. Dr. Sloan Hastings, driven by intellectual curiosity and under the mentorship of Dr. Livia Cutty, embarks on a forensic pathology fellowship. Unbeknownst to her, her journey will unravel a web of long-buried secrets. As Sloan delves into her own past, she uncovers startling revelations that lead her to Cedar Creek, Nevada, the epicenter of the Margolis family's enigma. Alongside Sheriff Eric Stamos, Sloan navigates the shadowy corridors of power and deceit that shroud the Margolis dynasty. As tensions rise and danger looms, Sloan's quest for truth becomes intertwined with Eric's quest for justice, both haunted by the specter of unresolved mysteries and the ominous legacy of the Margolis family. With each revelation, Sloan and Eric inch closer to the heart of darkness, where some will stop at nothing to safeguard their secrets, even if it means sacrificing lives in the process.

In conclusion, I was completely captivated from start to finish! I wholeheartedly recommend this unputdownable, impressive masterpiece and it deserves all the stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️