I don’t even know where to start with this one . . .
It should probably be with a warning to continue reading this review at your own risk. It’s not pretty and things might even get a little spoiler-ish, if you read between the lines.

I’m surprised to see such high praise for this book when I find myself sitting on the opposite side of the table, wishing I would’ve had the strength to set it down, early on, and run the other way. This book barely squeaked by with one measly little star from me.

At first, I tried to give the author the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe the stellar read I finished prior to picking this up was still clouding my headspace. That had to be the reason my perceived flaws with this story - the flat characters and overly detailed writing - seemed so prominent and glaringly obvious, right? I was only able to pacify myself with that excuse for so long though. As I got deeper into the story, things only continued to get worse . . . and worse . . . and dare I say . . . even worse?

From my perspective, this was two entirely different stories linked together by a horribly executed twist. Maybe some readers will experience gasp-worthy shock and awe when faced with the truth, but not this chick. I happen to dig the current trend in this genre, flipping the script with a shocking revelation or turning an entire story on its head (Ahem . . . striving for Gone Girl or I Let You Go greatness, maybe?), but there has to be some development and cohesiveness. The ‘after’ not only has to connect with the ‘before’, but it has to enhance or skew the readers overall perspective of everything and still make sense. In this instance, things didn't add up for me. The character's previous thoughts and actions were null and void. Non-sensical.

Hannah, our main character, is entirely too dramatic throughout the entire story. When her over-the-top antics aren’t being thrown in our face, the author is running us through every boring and monotonous task she faces while trying to track down the boyfriend that ditched her. Every. single. one. In the beginning, I could understand Hannah wanting answers . . . who wouldn’t? But at what point do you give up searching for the guy when all signs point to the fact that he left willingly?

And if I haven’t complained enough already, the majority of the story is telling and remembering, as opposed to actually living or experiencing as a reader, which irks me more than anything. It was almost like some things were an afterthought, thrown in as memories, rather than actual storyline.

Despite what you may think - I’m ripping this author’s masterpiece apart or I’m just plain mean - I do appreciate the hard work it must take to piece your ideas together and create an entire book. Lord knows, I haven’t been able to do it. And kudos to Mary Torjussen for getting published. That’s a feat all on it’s own. With that said, at the end of the day, I sacrificed my limited reading time and energy on this book, so I’m not going to feel bad about being honest and sharing my feelings. Plain and simple, this didn’t work in any capacity for me. If this book sounds entertaining to you, there are plenty of reviews to support why you should give this a chance and I urge you to read those.

For me, this was an entirely dreadful read, one that left me wondering what the heck is wrong with me for even continuing on with it.

Oy vey - what a collection of unpleasant and downright disturbed (and disturbing) characters! But I guess that's the point; getting into their heads is what makes this a "novel of psychological suspense," as the official description rightly says.

It begins with central character and narrator Hannah Monroe, whose live-in lover, Matt, suddenly goes missing - totally. He's taken away every single item he brought to her house when he moved in plus anything even remotely associated with him. He's even deleted all references to him on Hannah's computer and cell phone; it's as if he never even existed. Hannah, an extremely successful (but clearly neurotic) accountant, starts going even more mentally bonkers as she tries to figure out what happened, why he left and whether he will return to her and when. The only way those questions can be answered, she reasons, is by confronting him personally. So, forsaking everything and everyone else in her life, she turns her own into a full-on awake nightmare as she tries to track him down.

Let me amend that; with Hannah, there is no reasoning. Absolutely everyone, including her childhood friend Katie, Katie's boyfriend James (at one time Hannah's boyfriend), her mother, father and even next-door neighbors is out to get her and cannot be trusted. Her thoughts as she works her way through the why did he/they, why didn't he/they, why should he/they, why shouldn't he/they, etc., are outlined in almost excruciating detail in every chapter. About halfway through, in fact, I almost gave up - thinking I couldn't bear another 150 pages or so of her constant (and I do mean constant) second-guessing of everyone's motives for disrupting her very existence.

That's not to say, however, that she isn't at least partly right (bringing to mind that well-known joke, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you"). She's always, for instance, had issues with Katie, who appears to have developed a serious case of Hannah-envy back when they were kids. And Hannah's parents' relationship can't be called ideal (and certainly not conducive to their daughter's stress-free childhood).

And make no mistake: it is Hannah's ad nauseam ruminating that is central to the psychological "pull" of the story. Little by little, layers of Hannah's mind and those of her friends and family are peeled away, giving up insights as to what they think is going on and prompting me to keep reading even though I was happy that all these misfits are confined to a single book with no chance to ruin others I may want to read.

So whose "reality" is real? Now that I've finished, I'm not sure I know the answer to that question - especially since the trip through the pages in many ways blew my own mind. If you want to chance messing with yours, give this one a try. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing an advance copy to read and review. Whew!

Topsy turvy, twists and turns

Hannah Monroe, a manager for an accounting firm in Liverpool, England, is at a conference that goes very well. She's told she's on a fast track for a promotion at the firm and is in an excellent mood as she heads home. Once she gets there she finds that all traces of her live-in boyfriend of four years are gone. Personal items, even texts, photos, and emails are missing from all her electronic equipment. She has no explanation and becomes obsessed with finding him or finding out why he left with absolutely no warning.

This was a fast-paced tension filled tale that kept me reading pretty much straight through.

Some of the twists I had figured out but not all of them. Do yourself a favor and, if you decide to read this book, go into it cold - with no spoilers.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

GONE WITHOUT A TRACE was a very unexpected read for me. It wasn't at all what I was thinking it would be. It didn't take me long to figure out that Hannah - the narrator - was an unreliable narrator but I was completely wrong about the area of her unreliability.

The story begins with Hannah's live-in boyfriend Matt disappearing along with all his stuff while she was at a day long training. She come home excited to tell him about the glowing comments her boss made about her to find him and all of this things gone. She can't understand why as all of her memories are of things going well and the two of them being happy.

She determines to find him and her obsessive search causes her to pay less attention at her job and to neglect her personal appearance. She has a best friend Katie who is possibly the most toxic best friend in the history of fiction. Katie's live-in boyfriend is a former boyfriend of Hannah's who she had lost track of for a number of years. Hannah's parents are dysfunctional. Her father has anger issues and abuses his wife who refuses to leave him. Hannah seldom sees them and when she does hear from her father it is mostly when he is angry at her.

I don't think that there was an admirable character in the whole book. Hannah's friend at work is having an affair with her assistant who is busy sabotaging Hannah's career - not that Hannah isn't doing a good job of that herself.

Without spoilers, I will say that the ending was both expected and unexpected. Fans of psychological thrillers will enjoy this one.

**I received an ARC of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**


I have never read a book quite like this one before. I really enjoyed reading this narrator's point of view as it showed how the leaving of someone dear to you can cause even the most successful person to spiral out of control. However, I feel like the author too way too much time in the book to show the progression of the main character's loss of control. After the first twenty chapters of it I was completely over it and wished the story would just continue on with the mystery aspect already. I also didn't feel like the way the character acted made sense with how the author continuously described her throughout the book. For someone so levelheaded and successful as she was, I believed she would eventually snap out of it and get back to her big promotion, as others have done, but she seemed to just keep going until finally it was like a completely different person than how she started out. But the climax of the story was an interesting one, and I give the author props for how she went about it. I do recommend this book, but I must warn you, you are in for A LOT of slow moving, loss of control before getting to the good part.

The plot was fantastic, I kept trying to figure out what happened, constant new twists, suspenseful. As Hannah, becomes more and more confused the story gets stagnant, boring. When it finally explodes with the the truth of what's happening the story moves quickly and is very exciting.

Loved it! I couldn't put it down! I read this book in one day. It's full of twists and turns and you never know what to expect. This is a book that will keep you guessing til the very end.

I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I will leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that... my opinions.

The female unreliable narrator is becoming quite the trope. Hannah's boyfriend, Matt Stone, has disappeared, taking every piece of evidence that he and Hannah were together for years. Every photo, every text, every call has been wiped from her phone as well as his social media presence. As Hannah struggles to figure out what went wrong, she relies heavily on her best friend Katie, and Katie's boyfriend, James, who are willing to stand by her and support her. Hannah goes full-on stalker, trying to track down Matt and then the mysterious texts begin and Hannah knows someone has been in the house, too. Is it Matt? Is he trying to drive her mad? What is going on? The denouement will leave you with your mouth hanging open.

Wickedly fun read!

****If you haven't read book this yet and plan to, I highly recommend going in completely blind so as not to spoil any of the twists and turns to this plot.***

Hannah returns home from a highly successful business trip, eagerly looking forward to spending time with her boyfriend Matt. But when she opens the door, she finds that all of Matt's things are gone, down to food in the refrigerator that he ate. Not only have his things vanished, but Hannah's old things have been put back in exactly that same place as they were before he moved in. As she goes to call him, she discovers his number isn't there. So no calls, texts, emails, or even social media accounts exist for him or of their relationship....Gone, wiped out, vanished!

What would you do??

This is where the fun starts! ----Mild spoilers ahead!!----

I felt like something was off with Hannah right from the start; a bit self absorbed and spoiled, but nothing that would indicate just how obsessive she would become with finding the elusive Matt.

Did he even exist? Is Hannah going mad? She starts receiving strange messages, things in her house seem to be disappearing or moved around. Her obsession to find Matt is affecting her job, her friendships, even her personal hygiene!

With a small cast of characters, I was really surprised how many times the author fooled me into thinking different scenarios and finger pointing at one, then another of her friends. You KNOW something isn't right, but what you don't know is whom should you feel sorry for-Hannah or Matt?

All told from Hannah's POV, I flipped back and forth on that last question. Hannah isn't the type of person that would be in my circle of friends, but I did start to develop a fondness for her ability to easily forgive herself of her narcissistic ways. She is forever the victim and even as I shook my head I was impressed with how well the author portrayed her character flaws.

While there are quite a few twists and turns, there is one that finally gave me the 'AHA' moment and things started to make sense. The final confrontation-brilliant! And the ending was spot on- I would have been disappointed with anything less.

Do yourself a favor and get a hold of this one. It won't be one that you will soon forget!!

ARC provided by NetGalley

Man when the twist came into play all I could say was OMG I so didn't see that coming at all.

I don't know how to write this review without giving anything away because it is such a crazy twist but it doesn't come out until almost the end.

So we follow Hannah as she has it all a wonderful job, a house and a boyfriend who loves her or does he?
When she comes home and finds him gone she loses it. She will stop at nothing to find him but what she will uncover will not be pretty. The topic this book touches is one that a lot of people don't think happens, but let me tell you it does. Everything has been deleted from Hannah's life that has to do with her boyfriend Matt which has her literally going crazy.

The way the author developed Hannah and the way she acted was pretty darn good. The plot was amazing and I loved how it was a page turner for me.
This was one of those books that I couldn't put down, even to get things done.

Matt is missing. Hannah, in her 30's is in duress that the love of her life has vanished. The problem, he isn't just vanished, he's wiped away. No texts, no clothes, nothing at all. That part reminded me of the move The Net. How does someone you love, who has been in your life for four years vanish, sans traces of anything? Is Hannah crazy? Was Matt into something too deep? Can Hannah find Matt, and who is texting her?

The mystery goes on for a good bit. Hannah can be really annoying, as she is telling her tale, but it keeps you interested enough to read the entire book, despite the un-likeable characters.

My copy came from Net Galley. I decided to leave a review because I can. My thoughts and opinions of this book are my own.

She goes away to a business conference for a day and when she returns her boyfriend isn't there. Neither are any of his belongings. After four years together, he disappears in a day without even saying goodbye? All of her things are back where they used to be before he brought his stuff in. Even the quilt that was on the bed when she left has been exchanged for an old one of hers. It was his, you see...

Berkley and Net Galley gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you). It is being published April 11th.

Hannah can't believe Matt would do that so she decides to call him. His number isn't on her phone anymore. The photos she had have been deleted. Any emails or texts to him have been deleted. The same thing on her computer. Then she finds out he's shut down all his social media. When she calls his work, she finds out he wasn't there for the past week. He quit. She devastated, what's going on?

Her work suffers, her friendships suffer, and she becomes obsessed with finding him. But when she does, things quickly spiral out of control.

This author takes you into the mind of Hannah and her desire to find Matt again. He's the bad boy, the mean one, the one that left her. It's a shock when you find out why. Her other boyfriend left her for the same reason. She has a temper she can't control and she conveniently forgets the damage she does as soon as she calms down. Only this time she didn't calm down soon enough...

The most chilling part of the whole story is the ending. The story isn't over. It's just beginning again...

You think you know what crazy looks like? Sounds like? Acts like? Wait until you meet Hannah Monroe…your definition of crazy will change. Add the word…stalker. Hannah is a crazy stalker. That is obvious from very early in the story, so it’s not a spoiler unless you’re a rare reader who never catches a clue.

I didn’t like Hannah very much, even though I understood her early life and some of her friendships were toxic. The story bogged down in crazy, stalker behavior in a few places. It became a bit unbelievable here and there, but not to the point that I wanted to skip pages. It’s strangely compelling in a weird way.

This author is talented. She kept me in the story when I had already started disliking her main character. That’s a pretty good trick. Maybe I’m just getting tired of the whole “crazy woman” storyline. There have been a lot of them recently, and all have been compared to Gone Girl or Girl On The Train. I would love to read a story from Ms.Torjussen with more sympathetic characters.

If you haven’t tired of crazy, manipulative women just yet, pick up a copy and…

Enjoy!

2shay

I applaud the author for relating a story of a female abuser of a male partner. I think it more prevalent than is related through media and stories. Perhaps we just don't want to look at women as abusers or men don't want to seem weak in a relationship. Although Hannah had grown up in abusive relationship I feel her basic personality must have lent itself to fulfill her role as abuser. Abandoning her mother and justifying her actions speak to some mental confusion needing treatment much before the tragedy occurred. It was also concerning that close friends avoided direct confrontation of the problem until it was too late.

I thought the ending appropriate. This behavior is not something that is easily fixed and manipulation by the abuser is frightening. This could almost be promoted as: "Can you see yourself as one of these characters?" A self help read as what to look for and what not to do dealing with an abusive person! Rather frightening story.

The concept & description of the book was great - a boyfriend goes missing without a trace & his girlfriend sets out to find him. But it took forever to get to where the story finally took off - the last 50 pages!

Gone Without a Trace messed with my head so bad! Mary Torjussen starts off with a protagonist who comes across as being a shallow, one-note daddy's girl in the initial pages, to being an emotional basketcase after her boyfriend leaves her in the cruelest, most heartless way possible, to being...something else entirely. Such a complex character. The reader is quickly obsessed with the central question. Why would he do such a thing? Was he kidnapped? Then you make assumptions, because you are in Hannah's corner. What a horrible person! It's a good thing she has such a good girlfriend (name escapes me)! And a supportive father!

Oh, wait. Wait. A. Minute.

This novel turns on a dime so many times and it is absolutely awesome to experience. I try to reserve five-star ratings for books that hit me on an emotional level as well as entertaining me but this one gets it for pulling the rug out from under me so completely.

I will definitely buy this for the library and display it at the front desk.

I can't want for more Mary Torjussen novels. I really had no idea what could be happening all throughout the novel and when we finally find out it is SHOCKING. Wow! Such an original story and so much more than I expected.

Hannah's on the fast track to success. She's about to be named director of the accounting firm where she works, and she can't wait to tell her best friend and romantic partner, Matt. But when she gets home Matt isn't there, and does not come home that night at all. In fact, he seems to have vanished into thin air. Not only is he gone, but all traces of their life together have disappeared as well. No pictures, no texts, no old phone messages, and even all his social media accounts have been deleted. With her own hopes and dreams on the verger of disappearing as well, Hannah fights to make sense of her new reality even as the awful truth begins to unravel.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This book is billed as a chilling, twisty, compulsive thriller. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. It is chilling at times, but the twists don’t come until you have read at least three-quarters of the book, and the story is dragged out so far that there is no compulsion to keep reading. The story is good, and there is a twist at the end, but it would have been much better as a novella. I kept turning the pages, but quickly as I skimmed through the story, as I couldn’t take another five or six pages of the main character, Hannah, in her drunken state moaning about her fate.

Hannah and her boyfriend, Matt, live together for four years and one day she comes home to find him gone. Not just gone, but erased. All his things are gone, and her belongings are back in their place, as it was when he moved in. In addition, he is erased from Facebook, Instagram and every other social media. His phone number, call history and e-mails are erased. She begins searching for him in the likely places, but he has quit his job and his mother has moved. Then strange things begin happening. Someone is watching Hannah, entering her home when she is at work, sending message she thinks are from Matt.

It’s a great plot line, and there is a twist at the end. However, the repetition of Hannah’s inability to cope, turning to drink, being hungover, attempting to work, coming home to an empty house, etc. is tedious and boring. I couldn’t quite work up any sympathy for her either (that sounds so terrible), as Hannah wasn’t a nice person to begin with. While Matt’s disappearance is certainly intriguing, you just know it has something to do with Hannah.

I would have given it 1 star if it weren’t for the ending. Still, I don’t think I’d recommend anyone read it just for that.

This is such a hard one for me to review. There are some great thrilling parts in this book. Hannah coming home after a conference to find that her live-in boyfriend has moved out. He's taken his flat screen TV and replaced with your huge tube TV (including the stand his was on). His jazz pictures are gone, leaving empty walls. All his albums including the player, which was his, is gone. Everything. He's gone through your phone, deleted his number, his photos, all the texts he's ever sent, the one's you've sent. He's deleted his Facebook account. He quit his job weeks ago. His mother moved a year ago. It's like he was never there.

Now that is creepy.

Next thing Hannah knows, she gets a text. It says "I'm home now", while she is at her best friend's house. Of course, she goes running home and no one is there. This is when things start happening in her house. Things are moved, the kettle is warm, flowers are replaced, etc. She knows its her boyfriend, Matt. She is obsessed with finding him. So much so, it's all she thinks of. I can't tell you any specifics without spoiling it for you.

This is where I start to lose focus. She is driving me crazy. This girl is 32 and is acting like some love obsessed teenager who has lost her first boyfriend. This girl is running everywhere to find Matt. I'm pretty sure that you could cut about half of her hysteria out and it would be a whole lot better book. And at the very, very end (no spoiler) I just threw my hand up. I want a thriller to be a thriller, not drama. The thriller is there. There were lots of things I did not see coming. I was even blown away by some of them. Tone back Hannah and you've got a great read.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.