The Staffymum's Book Nook: REVIEW: Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

REVIEW: Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

Gone Before Goodbye by Harlan Coben and Reese Witherspoon

Genre: Thriller

Read: 26th November 2025

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 14th October 2025

★ 1 star

DESCRIPTION:

Maggie McCabe is on the brink. A highly skilled and renowned army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge.

But now, after a devastating series of personal tragedies, Maggie is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy - as well as absolute discretion.

Halfway across the globe, one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfils her end of the agreement.

But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself – or she will be the next one who is . . . Gone Before Goodbye.

MY THOUGHTS:

I love Harlan Coben and all his witty dry humour so I was disappointed with this one, in collaboration with Reese Witherspoon (whom I don't think much of as an actress and even less as an author). I wanted to like it but I could see no Harlan in the pages I read and I read a good portion of it before I ditched it as anything army or combat related, my eyes just glaze over and I am so not interested.

BUT...I do eagerly await the next Harlan thriller as he is such a wonderful writer and I love his books and TV adaptions.

I would like to thank #HarlanCoben, #ReeseWitherspoon, #PenguinBooks, #CenturyBooks and #Netgalley for an ARC of #GoneBeforeGoodbye in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-five languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries with seventy-five million books in print worldwide.

His books have earned the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, and many have been developed into Netflix Original Drama series, including his adaptations of The Stranger, The Innocent, Gone for Good and The Woods. His most recent adaptation for Netflix, Stay Close, premiered on December 31, 2021 and stars Cush Jumbo, James Nesbitt, and Richard Armitage.

Harlan is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including FOOL ME ONCE, STAY CLOSE, THE STRANGER, SAFE, THE FIVE, THE INNOCENT and THE WOODS. He is also the creator and executive producer of the Prime Video series Harlan Coben’s SHELTER, based on his young adult books featuring Mickey Bolitar. Harlan was the showrunner and executive producer for two French TV mini-series, UNE CHANCE DE TROP (NO SECOND CHANCE) and JUST UN REGARD (JUST ONE LOOK). KEINE ZWEIT CHANCE, also based on Harlan’s novel, aired in Germany on Sat1. Harlan also appears in each of his adaptions to screen in a cameo - a concierge, a police detective, a passerby.

Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He still lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a pediatrician, and their four children.

Social Media links:

Reese Witherspoon is an award-winning actress, producer, founder and New York Times bestselling author. She won an Academy Award® for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line and was later nominated in that same category for Wild in 2014, which she also produced. Witherspoon also starred in beloved films Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blonde, and Election, as well as the award-winning television series Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere, and The Morning Show. Her other film credits include Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, Universal Pictures’ animated musical comedy Sing and Sing 2. In addition to her acting and producer roles, Witherspoon is an author and founder. In 2018, Reese released her first book, Whiskey in a Teacup, which was an instant bestseller. In 2016, she established the media brand Hello Sunshine. Hello Sunshine puts women at the center of every story it creates, celebrates and discovers. Hello Sunshine tells stories across all platforms–from scripted and unscripted television, feature films, animated series, podcasts, audio storytelling, and digital series–all shining a light on where women are now and helping them chart a new path forward. Hello Sunshine is also home to Reese’s Book Club, Reese’s YA Book Club and newly launched Gen-Z focused brand Sunnie. Hello Sunshine is part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises. She’ll soon release her first novel, Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller, co-authored by Harlan Coben on October 14th.