4.5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! I had no clue what was going to happen but was here for it. I enjoyed the MC and my heart went out to her as they tried to solve this mystery. It had a little everything, family, podcast, mystery and unlikeable characters. My heart started pumping towards the end as things were coming to light. Charlie has definitely become an auto buy for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for my advanced e copy in exchange for my honest review.

Punish date: Maya 21, 2024

Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea
Publication date: May 21, 2024

This was a rollercoaster of information to take in, but it all smoothed out into a great thriller story! This was my first Charlie Donlea book to read, heavily suggested by a friend, and I am glad to be a fan of this author now.

Fans of missing children stories will enjoy this. I think something is wrong in my brain that I enjoy books that discuss morgues and the medical examiner processes, but this book definitely had that content.

Don't miss out on this book that will be published at the end of this month!

Thank you to Netgalley, Charlie Donlea, and Kensington Publishers for this early read!

A famous missing baby. A hit and run accident. A wealthy family with secrets to hide.

LONG TIME GONE is a page-turning story that I raced through. Dr. Sloan Hastings submits her DNA to an ancestry website for a research project in her forensic pathology fellowship. Her world is upended when the results indicate a connection to a 1995 cold case from across the country and long-buried secrets come to life.

Charlie Donlea expertly wove three intertwining mysteries from two different timelines together to create a true thrill ride. I was so enmeshed in this family drama that the pages practically turned themselves. Add LONG TIME GONE to your summer TBR for perfect poolside entertainment.


READ THIS IF YOU:
are intrigued by genealogy websites
were fascinated by how the Golden State Killer cold case was finally cracked
love a thriller that keeps you guessing until the end

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars)
PUB DATE: May 21, 2024

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book! It was a great twisty read that leads you finding “Easter eggs” and jumping to different conclusions throughout the last half of the book. Also appreciate the appearance or mention of well loved characters from this author’s other novels. Would definitely recommend reading this one!!

This book has everything I love...a mystery, multiple pov, multiple timelines. There are lovable characters and not so lovable characters. Twists and turns. I thought I had it figured out and I didn't. I can barely form complete sentences because my mind is blown. I was hooked beginning, middle, and end. The type of book you sacrifice sleep for to know what happens next. This is my first book by Charlie Donlea and it won't be my last. This will be a book I will remember and talk about frequently. It's about a girl named Sloan Hastings who is in school for forensic pathology and submits her DNA to a genealogy site. Then she finds out she was a missing baby who disappeared in 95. Her birth parents are still declared missing and the case is still unsolved. Sloan attempts to find out what happened back in 95. If any of this sounds good to you, buy this book. You won't be disappointed. I've rated it 5 stars.

Sloan Hastings is starting her fellowship in forensic pathology under the tutelage of the well known Dr. Livia Cutty. After meeting with Dr. Cutty and given her assignment looking into forensic genealogy, Sloan dives into her research having no idea where this search will take her. An orphan herself, she is hesitant about giving her own DNA sample to facilitate her research. But once she does, she is suddenly thrown into a completely different search when she finds she is actually the missing baby Charlotte Margolis from a cold case from 30 years ago. Soon the FBI is involved and Sloan’s whole world is turned upside down. She finds herself returning to Cedar Creek, Nevada and reinserting herself into the powerful Margolis family she was once a part of while also covertly helping joining with the sheriff to find out what happened to her and her parents 30years ago. This was quite a wild and very fast paced ride! A great story that I highly recommend!

Why oh why is this author not better known in the UK... I have read and loved all his previous books, every one a five star read. Apart from the Moor/Phillips books, they are all standalone. They do occasionally crossover and mention characters or situations from previous books, but those have just been more of an IYKYK rather than anything you need to know and, I for one love those little nods to faithful readers...
Anyway... This book is probably my new favourite of his. We meet Dr Sloan Hastings as she is starting a forensic pathology fellowship placement under Dr Livia Cutty. As part of this, she is given a research assignment to complete and hers is centred on the use of DNA and genealogy. To this end, her supervisor recommends that to get a better insight, she should submit her own DNA to an online genealogy site. Which she does. Now... she has always known she was adopted. So, as well as doing this, she also talks to her parents to explain the situation. They are OK with it all, being medical professionals themselves, they fully understand that this might throw up some interesting results for her with regard her birth family.
What no one was expecting. What no one was ready for, was a match. Apparently, she, Sloan, is actually Charlotte Margolis. A baby who disappeared with her parents back in 1995... none of whom were ever seen again...
And so begins a voyage of discovery for Sloan. Not only has she got to come to terms with who she is, she has a whole new family to meet. And a mystery to solve. What happened to her parents?
And that's only the tip of the iceberg as you will soon find out...
Oh My Days. This book had it ALL. Secrets, Lies, dysfunctional behaviour, a dynasty family with power, murders dressed up as suicides/accidents and overlooked by bought and paid for people in authority. And Sloan right there in the thick of it all. It's a good job she is a formidable character. One I took to immediately and, our bond only strengthened as the book progressed.
Pacing was perfect, matching the narrative all the way through. Ramping up nicely as we got to the final showdown. The ending of which left me wholly satisfied. The book is split into two timelines, the present (2024) and the past (1995) both of which meander around - complementing each other - the past adding colour and background to the shenanigans of the present, moving this timeline along nicely. And with no added waffle or padding, it all gets on with itself very nicely indeed.
All in all, another winner from another of my favourite go-to authors. Roll on next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved how Donlea incorporated genealogy and how it's been used to uncover secrets of the past. I thought the storyline was unique and original, but yet something I could see happening. I was on my toes right until the very end of the book. My only small complaint is that some of the explanations and background on the case was a bit repetitive. I was like okay, I read this part, tell me what is going to happen next! I need to know!

4.5

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for my ARC in exchange for feedback!

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlie Donlea and Kensington Books for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Once again Donlea grabs me right from the first chapter and holds onto me until the very ending. This was so unique and the storyline was masterfully written. Loved how twisted and action picked the ending was!

crime novel set in two different time periods, Long Time Gone (2024) by Charlie Donlea is a riveting mystery. First set in the present day, Sloan Hastings begins her forensic pathologist qualification traineeship, tasked with producing a genealogy investigation thesis. Little does she realise that her own past and two historic crimes in 1995, a hit-and-run accident and the disappearance of a young family, will turn her world upside down. The narrative is in two alternating sections, like different stories but seamlessly woven together in a delightfully engaging crime mystery. A fine standalone must-read classic detective tale that has a five stars rating. With thanks to Kensington Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

Dr. Sloan Hastings is pursuing a forensic pathology career, and her fellowship research project requires her to submit her DNA to an online genealogy site. She does so a little apprehensively because she is adopted and has never tried to find her biological parents. Her DNA results reveal a disturbing connection to a decades old cold case, the mysterious disappearance of a baby and her parents.

I really enjoyed Long Time Gone! I loved how it kicked off with a crime fiction type storyline involving forensic pathology and genetic genealogy. I was immediately hooked by the plot, sucked into mystery of Baby Charlotte, and intrigued by Margolis family's hold on the small town of Cedar Lake. The dual timelines and short chapters propelled the story forward at a perfect simmering medium pace. Donlea writes characters that really stick with you, I was rooting for Sloan and Eric to find the truth and heal from their traumatic pasts. You do have to suspend disbelief a tiny bit at the end, but overall I thought it was an incredible story!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Wow! Can this author write a bad book?? So far absolutely not. This is my third book of this new to me author and I am completely addicted! His books are highly captivating .

This one revolves around a 30 year old cold case and how genealogy helped cracked the case wide open. But the plot goes much deeper than that and before you know it, there’s so many questions needing answers ,making it hard to put this book down. I love this author’s story telling and have added the rest of his stuff to my reading list! Obviously highly recommend to all mystery and thriller readers!

What a thrill ride! I found myself racing through the book but having to put it down for a bit while my heart calmed down. And then I could not stay away from the pull of the novel for very long. The characters were fully formed and believable. The dual timeline of past and present day provided enough back story to propel the story forward. I did not see the twist that was coming. Knowing who-done-it did not in any way take away from the suspense of rest of the novel. This was my first Charlie Donlea book, and now I have to read the others. Highly recommended.

I always look forward to a new Charlie Donlea book. Long Time Gone is the newest book and it does not disappoint! I really really enjoy how the author has created his own book world and there are recurring characters in his novels. This book deals with genetic genealogy and its role in solving cold cases. This is a very popular topic nowadays and I thoroughly devoured this book. It was fast paced and the author explains everything so well on top of having interesting characters. Make sure you read this book and if you haven’t read his previous books, I highly recommend all of them. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I was instantly drawn in, and wanted to know what happened to baby Charolette! I love that we got to see past characters again in this book. I did not see the many twists at the end coming! Highly recommend

First let me say when I saw the name Livia Cutty I thought I was reading a book I read before. I had to go back and look to see where I saw that name. It clicked! The book was The Girl Who Was Taken
I love books where people work out their family history through DNA. I have done this myself looking for a family member and learning about other family members and their journeys.
Sloan Hastings, she had a normal life, she knew she was adopted. She had loving parents. Instead of going into the dental field Sloan went into the medical field to be a forensic pathology. This is where Dr. Livia Cutty comes in. She is renowned in that field and Sloan is under her training.
Once Sloan submitted her DNA to help with her understand how DNA helps with cold cases and in the forensic field. When the results came back, alarms kind of went off. Sloan matched DNA to a missing baby from 30 yrs prior. There is the mystery! She wasn't sure what she should do and how to go about taking the right steps in trying to contact this "NEW" family.
Little did Sloan know that her NEW family had a dark secret, that had many questions still needing answers. The biggest one is "Where are her parents?" "What happened?"
Sloan meets up with Sheriff Eric Stamos, who is the son of the Sherriff who was investigating the disappearance of her parents and a few other things that were kept on the down low.
So not only was Baby Charlotte a mystery in it's own, the ordeal with Sheriff Stamos and other small incidents that now clicked together.
I like the fact that Charlie has brought other characters from his books together, and working together to help solve things. I mean Ryder Hillier she could have gone about her approach to Sloan differently. That didn't work out how she wanted, yet she didn't leave empty handed. She did get a story out of it all just not Sloan's.
I devoured this book, took me 2 days only because of real life getting in the way. If you are a fan of Charlie already, you will like this book as well.

I was obsessed with reading this book. It was compelling, realistic, suspenseful, thrilling, and overall, a great read! Sloane Hastings is starting a fellowship in forensic pathology and when Dr. Cutty assigns her research project around genealogy, Sloane submits her DNA and gets way more than she bargained for. She's always known she was adopted but finds out her biological parents mysteriously disappeared almost 30 years ago. Her discovery leads her to the influential and prestigious Margolis family in Cedar Creek, Nevada with some dark secrets of their own.

I loved how the timeline went from Present as Sloane investigates what happened to her and her parents, and the Past, as Sheriff Sandy Stamos investigates crimes that occurred shortly before the disappearance. Charlie Donlea weaves together the past and present seamlessly, pulling the reader in as things are slowly revealed. It was a unique plot with some great twists. A fabulous new thriller!

I read this in one sitting on a train ride. Beyond the small things that had me saying “yeah right” I think this book was so incredible, couldn’t put it down. I was so invested the entire time and I didn’t guess anything about it. This was my 3rd Donlea book and definitely will not be my last. He’s becoming an auto-buy author for me.

Many thanks to @kensingtonbooks and @netgalley for my #gifted (free) copy. Pub date 5/21/24.

WOW, let me catch my breath after reading this one! This gripped me from the first page all the way to the last, the action never let up! The alternating timelines by different POVs were done brilliantly, and I had a hard time putting this book down. This is actually my first book by this author, and I'm already a huge fan!

Dr. Sloan Hastings was adopted by her loving parents when she was just a baby. Sloan is embarking on a fellowship in forensic pathology, and for a research assignment, she has to submit her DNA to an online genealogy site. What she learns about her results is shocking. She is actually Charlotte Margolis. Charlotte and her parents disappeared thiry years ago, never to be seen or heard from, and the news swept the nation. Sloan's life is about to change drastically!

This is a wonderful thriller that shows how DNA can be used to solve crimes. Sloan is assigned a forensic genealogy project and uncovers quite a surprise in her DNA! This leads to a search for answers in a 30 year old crime. The trail leads to danger for Sloan and several others! Reading this book was truly a thrilling ride!