Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea due to be published May 21, 2024.
Dr. Sloan Hastings submits her DNA for a research assignment knowing she is adopted and has never considered looking for her biological parents. She is shocked when she finds out she, along with her parents, mysteriously disappeared a long time ago. Sloan has to go back to where it started – Cedar Creek, Nevada – to see what she can discover about her past.
I have previously read five books by Charlie Donlea and loved all of them so I couldn’t wait to read this one. In addition, my son is adopted and did a search and found his biological mother (luckily, nothing as sinister as in this book) so I was extremely interested in the premise.
I read Long Time Gone in one sitting – it was that good. It was full of twists, murder, extortion and lots of bad family dynamics – everything that makes a thriller good.
I highly recommend this one and any others by Charlie Donlea!
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Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea. Fast paced thriller with a focus on forensic genealogy and DNA. Parallel timelines with complicated multi-layered plot make this a compelling and enjoyable read. Sloan is a strong female protagonist. However, the narrative is disrupted by Sloan's repeated account of her cross-fit addiction.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

When Sloan Hastings, an ME resident focusing on forensic genealogy, submits her DNA for a project, she has no idea the repercussions soon to follow.

After receiving the results of her DNA, Sloan, who has always known she was adopted, learns she is actually Baby Charlotte, a baby who went missing thirty years earlier. Now Sloan finds herself embroiled in a search to find out what happened to her missing birth parents. The more she delves into her past, the more she puts herself at risk. Can she solve the mystery before it’s too late?

Charlie Donlea can always be counted on for a fast paced thriller. The time jumps help take the reader on a number of twists and turns as the secrets of the past unravel in present day.

Sloan as a protagonist is a bit too perfect (her biggest flaws are her cross fit addiction and love of diet soda.) and, as a result, she reads a bit boring, but the plot is solid enough to make up for it.

Some of the characters from Donlea’s other books make cameo appearances, which is pretty common for the author, but his books all read as standalone so this is more of a wink to his fans. It seems more than highly likely readers will be seeing more of Sloan in future books.

Overall this is another good read from Donlea and is sure to please his fans.

I really enjoyed the DNA approach to the mystery part of the storyline. I very much liked this book.

Charlie Donlea's LONG TIME GONE possesses exactly the roller coaster speed, twists, and upending revelations that i hope to discover in a psychological thriller. He definitely kept me guessing, pondering, and sometimes shouting, as I raced through this wildly engrossing page turner, from the champion reader's hook right on to the final revelation. I couldn't turn away.

Sloan Hastings has always known she’s adopted. But her origins have always been a mystery to her. While doing a DNA test for her Forensic Pathology fellowship, she discovers that she is Charlotte Margolis, who went missing along with her parents in 1995. This sets off a chain of events to uncover what happened to her family on Fourth of July 1995. This book was really entertaining, and definitely kept my interest. I think I just wanted a little more between Eric and Sloan. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.