Here and Gone by Haylen Beck

Here and Gone by Haylen Beck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Traveling Sisters NetGalley Sister Review by Brenda with Norma, Lindsay, and Kaceey’s thoughts.

Here and Gone was a surprise and last minute read that we were able to come together and read as a Traveling Sister NetGalley Read. Even though this was a NetGalley read for just Brenda and Norma we have added Lindsay and Kaceey’s thoughts after Norma’s review to this Traveling Sister NetGalley review. What a great reading experience with our sisters Lindsay and Kaceey this was.

Here and Gone is a haunting, unsettling and chilling story that drew us in shortly after meeting nervous and desperate Audra who is fleeing on a country isolated road. We were drawn into her life and her fears and then into her nightmare of losing her children in a heart stopping moment as they were here and then they were gone.

Haylen Beck does a great job bringing on a parent’s worst nightmare not just with the missing children but with the dangers lurking in a place where things can be bought and sold and where some of the “worst expressions of humanity” can be found. He cleverly leaves it lurking in the background of the story and leaves out any disturbing descriptions. We all were very happy for that.

In some ways Here and Gone read like a crime and action movie for us with the villain and the kick ass hero and in a way that was entertaining. After reading the book we found out the rights have been acquired for a movie. We found that interesting.

We found the FBI agent, and the sheriff were somewhat unbelievable and not so convincing for us, making them hard for us to connect with. We did find Audra a well-developed character and loved her strength and liked how she fought for her children and not take on the role of a victim. We all really liked how strong and protective Sean was for his sister Louise and seeing into Sean’s perspective added some suspense and tension to the story and left us cheering them on.

Not too many surprises or twists to this one however the tension did build for us as we read the ending together. We all absolutely love reading the ending together. We all held our breath except Kaceey who was yelling again, right to the end, leaving us all satisfied with the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Haylen Beck for a copy to read and review.

Norma’s Thoughts

4 stars for another enjoyable and entertaining novel read with my Traveling Sisters Brenda, Lindsay and Kaceey!

HERE AND GONE by HAYLEN BECK is a gripping, intense, terrifying, and fast-paced suspenseful thriller that had me racing through those pages as fast as I could with my heart palpitating quickly all the way to that killer ending.

HAYLEN BECK delivers an extremely angst driven read here with an unsettling storyline that had me totally panic stricken for Audra and the safety of her children, Sean and Louise. Although, I really enjoyed this story I thought some of the scenes from the FBI was a little unbelievable in the way that the case was handled. I wanted to jump into the book and say listen to her already! Please….lol

To sum it all up it was a compelling, enjoyable, suspenseful, fast-paced, quick and easy read with an intense, heart pounding, and a killer ending! Would recommend!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Haylen Beck, and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Lindsay’s Thoughts

3.5 stars

This was a quick, gripping and fast-paced novel that I read along with my fantastic “sisters” Norma, Brenda and Kaceey. This story had an intensity to it that had me turning the pages as quickly as possible, curious to find out how it would all wrap up.
The storyline is frightening and highly disturbing! It is a terrifying, creepy, unsettling and nauseating plot that would be one of my worst nightmares as a mother. While reading thriller-type books together, my “sisters” and I often question why we read scary stories like this – I was happy I had them along with me on this crazy reading journey!

 

I enjoyed this novel, however, it isn’t one that stands out for me. The start of the book was excellent and drew me right in, however, the novel slowly lost its edge for me as I continued on. The scenes including the FBI and local sheriff lacked believability for me. I didn’t fully connect with any characters other than the two young children, Sean and Louise, who stole a piece of my heart along their journey. Even though the story lost its spark for me, I still found myself flying through the pages to find out how it would all end so the author did a good job keeping my curiosity piqued.

 

This was another wonderfully enjoyable Traveling Sister reading experience! They are so much fun – we have so many great chats and laughs along the way! Overall, I enjoyed the novel and reading experience, but it wasn’t a stand out book for me.

Kaceey’s Thoughts

We’re on a roll with yet another fantastic, heart- pounding thriller.

Audra is escaping a violent husband with her two young children in tow. Driving across the blistering, Arizona desert in seemingly the middle of nowhere, she’s pulled over by the local sheriff. With no explanation, she’s handcuffed and tossed in the back of his cruiser. Her children are whisked away by yet another officer. As Audra makes a desperate plea for her children, the sheriff just gives her a cold, blank stare …”What children?”

And so Audra’s nightmare begins!

Tension-filled. So hard to put down! The characters were strong. Audra was your typical mama bear when someone attempts to mess with her cubs! The 2 kids were portrayed as good, strong and loving to each other and of course to their mother.
The only shortcoming was the portrayal of the all the coordinating authorities (FBI, State Department and of course the local sheriff). It just didn’t ring true.

Overall a great thriller that was filled with edge of your seat excitement

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