Gone by Leona Deakin
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 9th February 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 12th December 2019)
★★★★ 4 stars
If I had received a birthday card in the post with the greeting YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME. DARE TO PLAY? I would have tossed it out without a second thought. And if I did think about it, I might be a little paranoid at exactly who was playing with me. I am not a risk-taker; I don't go in for dares; and I certainly don't like to live life on the edge. And the fact that I have a conscience and consider the feelings of those around me proves that I would never fit into this category of very special people.
Psychopaths.
But not your serial killer type of psychopath. These people are what are known as functioning psychopaths. They have psychopathic personalities but are not necessarily bad people. They just don't think or feel the way a normal person does. Because they see themselves as far superior to others. To them, everything in this world revolves around them. They are selfish people who manipulate everything to their advantage with no conscience or the ability to understand what it is to have a conscience. Functioning psychopaths are all around us. They can be surgeons, politicians, lawyers - generally those in high paid positions where they reap the accolades they crave and don't care who they step on to get there.
So what does that have to do with this book? Everything. Because GONE is one big game in the battle for superiority. And everyone in the book is a pawn in the master puppeteer's game.
The story begins with Dr Augusta Bloom, a forensic psychologist who has an interest in psychopathic personalities, counselling 14 year old Seraphine Walker. Accused of stabbing the caretaker of the school she attends, Seraphine is claiming self defence. She alleges that Mr Shaw, the caretaker, tried to touch her inappropriately after consistently raping another girl in her class over the period of several weeks. Problem was, Claudia (the other girl) didn't back up her story and said Seraphine attacked him unprovoked. Up until then, Seraphine thought she had been clever. Obviously not clever enough. A mistake she would not make again.
A fascinating character, Seraphine added an unpredictable edge to the story. Even as you read her narrative, you are never really sure if she is telling the truth or not. But even so, her sessions are rather telling, despite trying to hide her true self. Even from early on, I could tell that Seraphine was a psychopath. But just how did she fit into the rest of the story?
The sessions with Seraphine alternated with the main storyline of people going missing on their birthdays after receiving a strange card with the message:
HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY.
YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME.
DARE TO PLAY?
Four people - Lana Reid, Faye Graham, Stuart Rose-Butler and Grayson Taylor - are missing. None of them have anything in common...other than the fact that they all disappeared on their birthdays and all received a somewhat unusual birthday card prior to their disappearance. But as it turns out...that's not all they have in common.
Dr Augusta Bloom is on her way to the office when she receives a call from her business partner, Marcus Jameson (ex-MI6), about a woman known to his sister Claire going missing. Her daughter Jane returned home to find her mother gone with no message, no warning, and emptying their bank accounts...leaving Jane with no money for food or rent. Lana, a returned veteran of Afghanistan suffering PTSD, would never leave her daughter, aside from her tours, and Jane and Claire are both fraught with worry.
As Bloom and Jameson investigate, many untruths about Lana come to light. She is not nor ever has been in the armed forces and she certainly has never been to Afghanistan. So where was she going all those times she left Jane with Claire, if not on tour? And where did their money come from, if not from her work in the forces? And where was she now? Does her disappearance have something to do with her lies?
As they dig deeper, Bloom and Jameson uncover even more people who disappeared in similar circumstances after receiving a similar message. What did it all mean? And where were all these people now?
One thing became clear; each of these people displayed psychopathic personalities and each of them had played some kind of trivia quiz on social media that is subtly designed to identify specific personality traits. In this case, psychopathy. And someone is masterminding the entire thing in a game of challenges where participants, should they choose to accept the dare, are given a choice. And each choice leads them to the next challenge and so forth.
The investigation takes them from London to Bristol to Manchester and to Yorkshire. But things take a sinister turn when it appears that this game that is being played before their very eyes has become personal. And soon Bloom and Jameson are forced to make a choice of their own...
GONE is a unique concept with a very original and intriguing plot which had me turning pages at the speed of light. The story was addictive, dark and compelling throughout. I devoured it. The pace was steady and the short snappy chapters kept it moving quickly.
The twist, when it came, I was not surprised by. I admit to working out the mastermind and their role in the story early on as Augusta sat ruminating in her mother's attic. That was when the pieces fell into place for me.
The one thing that really let this book down, apart from the title, was the ending. It fell a bit flat for me. All that hype and lead up...to what, exactly? It left me a little disturbed even. All throughout GONE, it was full throttle ahead with non-stop action...and then suddenly STOP!! And I'm thrown head first through a windscreen of nothingness wondering what the hell happened to end like that!
And then there was the title. I'm not really sure why it was called GONE when it had originally been titled as MIND GAMES, which in my opinion is a far more apt title for this book. Why the change? MIND GAMES was far more appropriate considering the entire book was a mind f***!
However, despite the flat ending, I did thoroughly enjoy GONE. And I look forward to more featuring Dr Bloom and hopefully Marcus Jameson in the future.
I would like to thank #LeonaDeakin, #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK for an ARC of #Gone aka #MindGames in exchange for an honest review.
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