Gone

An Alex Delaware Novel

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: John Rubinstein

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

It's a story tailor-made for the nightly news: Dylan Meserve and Michaela Brand, young lovers and fellow acting students, vanish on the way home from a rehearsal. Three days later, the two of them are found in the remote mountains of Malibu, battered and terrified after a harrowing ordeal at the hands of a sadistic abductor.

The details of the nightmarish event are shocking and brutal: The couple was carjacked at gunpoint by a masked assailant and subjected to a horrific regimen of confinement, starvation, and assault.

But before long, doubts arise about the couple's story, and as forensic details unfold, the abduction is exposed as a hoax. Charged as criminals themselves, the aspiring actors claim emotional problems, and the court orders psychological evaluation for both.

Michaela is examined by Alex Delaware, who finds that her claims of depression and stress ring true enough. But they don't explain her lies, and Alex is certain that there are hidden layers in this sordid psychodrama that even he hasn't been able to penetrate.

Nevertheless, the case is closed, only to be violently reopened when Michaela is savagely murdered. When the police look for Dylan, they find that he's gone. Is he the killer or a victim himself? Casting their dragnet into the murkiest corners of L.A., Delaware and Sturgis unearth more questions than answers, including a host of eerily identical killings. What really happened to the couple who cried wolf? And what bizarre and brutal epidemic is infecting the city with terror, madness, and sudden, twisted death?

©2006 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The author's ability to convey the unrelenting sadness of his characters' lives and his deep psychological insights will satisfy those looking for more than mere thrills." (Publishers Weekly)

Where has Kellerman Gone?

I am a big fan of Jonathon Kellerman's books. They are usually tightly constructed psychological thrillers that examine the minds of criminals in the context of the ordinary individual's reaction to the crime. Gone is not one of those books. The plot is tired and the writing weak. Instead of Kellerman's usual thoughtful and deep analysis of the human condition, one is treated to a skim across the surface of what might have been an engaging story. The only thing that is "Gone" is Kellerman's usual style and finese. All that being said, it is still a good "read" once the listener sets aside expectations about hearing a classic Kellerman story.

No Edge

This story lacked an edge. It was more like the Hardy Boys. Police liutenants sit behind desks not chasing leads. The psychiatrist is more involved than the cops. No surprise at the ending. I was tired of the head to toe description of every character crunched into a single paragraph. I was glad I listened to the abridged version.