Review: Gone by Leona Deakin

Hey everyone!
I received a copy of Gone by Leona Deakin through NetGalley a while back, and I’m finally catching up on my reading! Today, I will be sharing my review of the book with you all.

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Summary:

Four strangers are missing. Left at their last-known locations are birthday cards that read:

YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME.
DARE TO PLAY?

The police aren’t worried – it’s just a game. But the families are frantic. As psychologist and private detective Dr Augusta Bloom delves into the lives of the missing people, she finds something that binds them all.
And that something makes them very dangerous indeed.

As more disappearances are reported and new birthday cards uncovered, Dr Bloom races to unravel the mystery and find the missing people.
But what if, this time, they are the ones she should fear?

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My Review:

I have to say that at the beginning of Gone I was a little confused, and wasn’t entire sure whether I was going to enjoy this as much as I had expected, but once the story picks up, it really sucks you in. Although this wasn’t a fast paced thriller, it didn’t really need to be, as the plot was well developed and engaging, and I rather enjoyed Leona Deakin‘s writing style. However, I did figure out a few of the outcomes, as it got a little predictable towards the end of the story.

The characters were all extremely interesting, and although there wasn’t a great deal of information about them revealed, I feel like that added to the mystery of the story. Dr Bloom and her ex-MI6 colleague, Marcus, were a great combination, and their relationship brought some humour into an otherwise serious storyline. They were entertaining to read, and complemented each other perfectly.

Deakin is something of an expert in the field of Psychology, which made Gone a lot easier to understand, as she managed to explain the medical side of it in a way that was easy for ALL readers to understand, rather than being confused by a load of medical terms. She also managed to pull this off without it sounding patronising towards the readers too.

The social media aspect of the story was very thought-provoking, and has actually made me think a lot more about the way I use social media, and what I share online. I like to think that I am conscious of this already, and that I don’t share more than I should, or more than is safe, but after reading how even something as small as Facebook quizzes can be used, I am definitely going to think a lot more about what I do online. So for that, Leona Deakin, I would like to thank you!

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, despite predicting some aspects of the ending. The storyline was interesting, different, and full of suspense. I would definitely recommend this, especially if you are interested in Psychology.

I give Gone a 4/5 rating.

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Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Black Swan for my copy, in exchange for an honest review.