Gone

Author: Mo Hayder
Genre: Crime Fiction
416 pages
Publisher: Bantam Press, first published 2010, Republished 2026

Synopsis
Evening is closing in as murder detective Jack Caffery arrives to interviewthe victim of a car-jacking.

He’s dealt with routine car-thefts before, but this one is different. This car was taken by force. And on the back seat was a passenger. An eleven-year-old girl. Who is still missing.

Before long the jacker starts to communicate with the police: ‘It’s started,’ he tells them. ‘And it ain’t going to stop just sudden, is it?‘

And Caffery knows that he’s going to do it again. Soon the jacker will choose another car with another child on the back seat.

Caffery’s a good and instinctive cop; the best in the business, some say. But this time he knows something’s badly wrong. Because the jacker seems to be ahead of the police – every step of the way…

My review
Gone is an excellent crime fiction novel from Mo Hayder. Originally published in 2010, it’s the fifth installment in the popular Jack Caffery series, but it works very well as a standalone. Hayder has been on my list of authors to read for a long time, so I was excited to see the rerelease of Gone on NetGalley. After finally reading her work, I can definitely see why she has such a devoted following.

Hayder is a fantastic storyteller, and her writing has exactly the gritty, police procedural feel I love in crime fiction. There’s a strong sense of realism to the investigation, along with a steadily building tension that kept me turning the pages. I also appreciated the thoughtful introduction by Karin Slaughter, written in memory of Hayder, who passed away several years ago. After reading Gone, I completely agree with Slaughter that Hayder was an extraordinary talent, and it’s bittersweet knowing there won’t be more books from her to discover.

The story starts with a bang. A mother is out shopping with her young daughter when she puts her daughter in the car and begins loading her purchases into the trunk. Suddenly, a man wearing a Santa Claus mask attacks her, jumps into the car, and drives away with her daughter still inside. What follows is a series of similar crimes that quickly turns the case into a terrifying investigation.

This is a very plot-driven story, which is one of the reasons I think it works so well as a standalone. Hayder creates a gritty, believable world of police investigations without taking the story too far into darkness or relying on gratuitous violence. There’s plenty of tension and some unsettling moments, but the focus remains firmly on the investigation and the characters.

Gone is a gripping, well-written police procedural that is paced just right. Despite its length, the pages absolutely fly by, and I found myself racing through it over a day or two. It’s suspenseful, atmospheric, and a thrilling read to the end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Press for an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

My recommendation: definitely worth the read!