This is an action packed and all too believable thriller. The novel is focused on a game to which participants receive an invitation (challenge) in a birthday card. The race against time then begins to save the victims of the participants and the participants from their own competitive nature.

This was superb!

Yes, it's an unbelievable plot, but suspend disbelief and you'll enjoy a thrilling, fast paced race against the clock to uncover the culprit behind a game which causes players to abandon their live in search of... something.

With more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing, Gone is an excellent thriller which has you questioning who can you trust when psychopaths walk among us?

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

I thought this was a great premise for a thriller. It's gripping and makes for compulsive reading. Augusta Bloom feels like a character with a lot going on beneath the surface. I found the book interesting and informative about the psychology of what makes us human. The storyline hooked me from the beginning. I really enjoyed it and would recommend. "Gone" could generate some great book club discussion.

'Gone' is a brilliant investigative thriller. I've read many psychological thrillers over the past few years, but this one stands head and shoulders above them. The characters are complicated and twisty and are fascinating to read about. The psychology elements are well described. The plot has a great mystery hook and runs along at a fast pace, making for a gripping story. The ending is beautifully set up ready for book two, and I am just as ready for it.

In recent years there have been a plethora of psychological thrillers, so to come up with something original and fresh is quite a feat. In Gone, Leona Deakin has risen to this challenge. Gone is complex and full of twists that are not predictable which I love.

Dr Bloom, a psychologist, and her partner Marcus Jameson are called in to help investigate a missing person, Lana. It soon becomes apparent that there is something very dark going on. As they delve deeper they learn that at least 109 people have been contacted by an anonymous source who sends them all a birthday card with a link to a game of dare. At first glance, these people do not appear to have anything in common. However, as they learn more about some of the missing, they soon realise they all have one commonality - they all display psychopathic traits. Who is behind this sick game, and why, are the questions they are trying to find the answers to, before it's too late.

Running alongside this storyline, we watch Dr Bloom at work with a young person, Seraphine, who has savagely attacked a member of staff at her school. Only 14, Dr Bloom identifies Seraphine as someone who doesn't feel emotions in the same way others do. She believes that even those who display psychopathic symptoms, have a choice and she wants Seraphine to believe this, before it's too late. The clever part of this story is that it is only later that we learn that her work with Seraphine was conducted fifteen years previously, and this is crucial to the plot. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I did not see the twist coming, and towards the end there are plenty more to come.

The author is an occupational psychologist and this made the voice of Dr Bloom authentic and gives a fascinating insight into the nature of psychopathy. A smart and intricate cat and mouse tale that will keep the reader guessing right up to the last word, I highly recommend this title to anyone who has an interest in psychology.

A really odd book. Really difficult to work out whats going on and trying to out think the ending - not going to happen. Well written - worth a read.

Well I have to say this book took me by surprise and I was hooked right from the start.

Dr Augusta Bloom is a psychologist that works along side Marcus Jameson, who used to work for MI6. A young girl that Marcus knows gets in contact as her Mum, Lana, has disappeared and the police aren’t taking it seriously. The day Lana disappeared was her birthday and she left behind a card wishing her a Happy 1st Birthday and asked if she Dare to Play ? When Bloom and Jameson investigate they discover others have received the same card on their birthday and have not been seen since. Who could be behind the cards ? And are the missing still alive ?

This is a great book that is different to anything I have read before but also being a great addictive thriller. It will also keep you guessing even if you have a few theories along the way. A great first novel and looking forward to seeing what the next one will be.

Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

One of my favourite books this year!

With a stabbing within the first page you know you have been thrown right in, I like!

Dr Augusta Bloom and Marcus Jameson (a detective duo) begin to investigate 4 missing person cases which are linked by one element. They all recieved a card on their birthday asking them to play a game.... So where have they gone? Why and how?

The story centres around the 4 missing people storyline and then flits to that of Seraphine a teenager who stabbed her school caretaker and we hear of her sessions with her psychologist Dr Bloom. However this child is not sweet and innocent, she is calculated in her actions. Every moment, her tone, what she says she has thought about in advance....

If you think that's a good hook already then wait till you delve further. A great read full of suspense. I only just worked out who was behind 'the birthday card game' but only just before it was revealed but even then the tension was increased and carried it through right to the end.

If you liked the TV series 'Killing Eve' then I feel you will love this book as it has strains of psychopathic elements and fast paced events.

It took me a little while to get into this one, but once I did I was hooked! A very cleverly plotted thriller/mystery, quite different to any of the others I have read.

This book looked really good and sounded really good. I found I got through the first part of the book really quickly but didn't feel I was connecting with any of the characters and wasn't really getting the story. However I got to just over 50% and then it hit and it was gripping. I enjoyed this book and would read more from this author.

Loved it. Get me enthralled from beginning to the end! Characters captured amazingly well. Thank you netgalley.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

psychopaths
a secret service man
a renowned psychiatrist

as bloom and jamieson work together to figure out what is going on with a game that makes people disappear after they have received a birthday card saying you are one...

its a race against time, can they figure it out in time before its to late or is there something else going on something much worse that bloom is only just suspecting...

i loved how bloom and marcus worked well together and i hope they continue as they are a brilliant team

Dr Augusta Bloom and her associate, Marcus Jameson, have been asked to help when a family friend of his goes missing after receiving a birthday card inviting her to join a game. Soon other people have gone missing and the events and their consequences seems to be closing in on Augusta and Marcus.

Wow what a fast paced thriller this was. Had me gripped from the first few pages. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Gone by Leona Deakin is a brilliant debut novel highlighting the number and level of functional psychopaths in our society. It’s a thrilling read and will certainly keep you guessing until the finale!

The plot is unique and the character development is superb! There are numerous characters that are pivotal to the story, and each one of them has been created with deep insight, empathy and love.

I also loved how Ms. Deakin educated the reader about functioning psychopaths by weaving the information into the dialogues of the characters. The insights and surmises are so interesting and I have added some of her references to my TBR list for further insight – this is how interesting she made it!

I really enjoyed this novel and Ms. Deakin is now added to my list of authors to follow – I look forward to reading more of her work and hope that this is the start of a series covering a fascinating topic.

#netgalley #gone #leonadeakin #randomhouse

It’s not often I give out 5 stars for a book but this was definitely one I felt deserving of it!
With the tag line ‘The missing people aren’t in danger. They’re the dangerous ones’ I knew that this was going to be a thriller with a difference. The book centres around a unique plot; men and women are being recruited to play a game. Not your usual bog standard game and not your usual men or women as we find out as the book progresses.
For a debut novel, the author creates very real and deep characters, with Augusta and Seraphine being two of those. She does a very good job of making you suspect and doubt new characters as they appear throughout the book.

A twisty and chilling read, it was fast paced and kept me wanting to read more. Although I predicted a few of the surprises, it really didn’t stop me from enjoying it and hope that we see more novels with Augusta Bloom as the main character!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Disclaimer: Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Loved it. A great book, well written and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The characters held my attention all the way through.

I thought this book was very well written and easy to jump straight into, I read this very quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

The start of the book grabs your attention straight away and makes you want to keep ready, then half way through there is a little twist which caught me off guard and changed the whole way the story was going.

The very lass twist I had guessed but I read a lot of books like this. I thought the whole story was well told and interesting.

Very good.

A great book, I have a thing about short chapters - they help keep my interest, so that was a bonus for me. I have a degree in psychology & criminology and am fascinated by psychopaths and narcissists, so this storyline had me hooked. It was well written throughout, the author had obviously done thorough research on the subject matter. I'm hoping that there is a follow-up to the book - I'm sure there will be due to the ending! ;)

I think for this book all belief in common sense should be suspended. Just go with the fact its well written, the storyline is engrossing and enjoy the book.

Gone starts out with a cracking prologue that swiftly leads on to a chapter that stirs up intrigue. The following chapters of the book were background information about the psychiatrist and patient which was fascinating to read . I loved the professional relationship between the two characters and the little subtle hints of where the story was heading. As the book progressed I was gripped and kept reading to find out about this mysterious game. This book continues a fast paced storyline throughout, with great character profiles and a puzzling theme that you keep trying to work out. I liked the spaced out intermittent chapters that offered a little information about ‘The Game’ not too much but just enough to keep you guessing.

Lastly, I loved the main characters Augusta Bloom and Marcus Jameson and really hope Deakin continues to write their characters as a series.