Good as gone

Title:

Good as gone

Author:

Summary:

"Thirteen-year-old Julie Whitaker was kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night, witnessed only by her younger sister. Her family was shattered, but managed to stick together, hoping against hope that Julie is still alive. And then one night: the doorbell rings. A young woman who appears to be Julie is finally, miraculously, home safe. The family is ecstatic--but Anna, Julie's mother, has whispers of doubts. She hates to face them. She cannot avoid them. When she is contacted by a former detective turned private eye, she begins a torturous search for the truth about the woman she desperately hopes is her daughter. Propulsive and suspenseful, Good as Gone will appeal to fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, and keep readers guessing until the final pages"-- Provided by publisher.

Physical Description:

273 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Psychological fiction.

Detective and mystery fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Subject Term:

Teenage girls -- Fiction.

Kidnapping -- Fiction.

Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Houston (Tex.) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

Publication Date:

2016

ISBN:

9780544920958

Publication Information:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.

Call Number:

GENTRY

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003177485	Adult Fiction	GENTRY	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Thirteen-year-old Julie Whitaker was kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night, witnessed only by her younger sister. Her family was shattered, but managed to stick together, hoping against hope that Julie is still alive. And then one night: the doorbell rings. A young woman who appears to be Julie is finally, miraculously, home safe. The family is ecstatic--but Anna, Julie's mother, has whispers of doubts. She hates to face them. She cannot avoid them. When sheis contacted by a former detective turned private eye, she begins a torturous search for the truth about the woman she desperately hopes is her daughter.

Propulsive and suspenseful, Good as Gone will appeal to fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train , and keep readers guessing until the final pages.

Author Notes

AMY GENTRY is the author of Good as Gone, a New York Times Notable Book, and Last Woman Standing . She is also a book reviewer and essayist whose work has appeared in numerous outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Salon, the Paris Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Austin Chronicle. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago and lives in Austin, Texas.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The life of Anna Davalos, the narrator of Gentry's suspenseful if flawed first novel, has been defined by a single night-when her 13-year-old daughter, Julie, was abducted at knifepoint by an intruder into their Houston home, a crime witnessed by her terrified 10-year-old daughter, Jane. Eight years later, Anna's relationship with Jane is strained, and no one is looking for Julie any more. Anna's life is upended again when Julie shows up on her doorstep, traumatized physically and mentally. Julie's account of her captivity is harrowing, but Anna soon suspects that Julie isn't being completely honest about what happened. Those doubts extend to the basic question of whether the young woman is really Julie or a manipulative, cynical imposter. As the family adjusts to the new reality, Anna's relationships with her husband and Jane suffer. Gentry does a good job of making the characters, especially Anna, psychologically plausible, but the final revelation is a letdown. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Eight years ago, 13-year-old Julie was kidnapped from her room while little sister Janie watched with horror from the closet. Her parents spent countless hours and funds searching for her to no avail. Fast-forward to the present, when an adult Julie rings the doorbell at the family home and literally falls back into their lives. The family's joy is tempered with awkwardness, regret, and suspicion. Then a private investigator emerges and suggests that Julie is not who she claims to be. Debut novelist Gentry presents a familiar plot-a missing relative returning to an unsure family. But Gentry's treatment is effective, with a swift-moving narrative, an interesting backstory for Julie, and engrossing insight into mother Anna's ambivalence and grief. The story alludes to but ultimately misses the opportunity to discuss serious issues (e.g., child trafficking), but for the beach read that this book ultimately is, that's an acceptable omission. The audio production is of good quality, and narrator Karen Peakes does a nice job giving voice to multiple characters, all of whom exhibit a wide range of emotions and angst. VERDICT Fans of Sarah Steiner and Megan Abbott should enjoy this title. ["A good pick for fans of mysteries, thrillers, and family drama": LJ Xpress Reviews 8/5/16 review of the Houghton Harcourt hc.]-Nicole A. Cooke, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.