The Moment She Was Gone

by Evan Hunter

It's an axiom of fiction as well as real life that a phone that rings in the middle of the night rarely portends good tidings. For Andy Gulliver, the protagonist of Evan Hunter's gripping new novel, it usually means that his peripatetic twin sister, Annie, is gone again, along with her tenuous hold on reality. Annie has been disappearing with no warning and reappearing just as unexpectedly ever since her adolescence, when she ran off to Sweden to find her first love, a boy she met on an earlier trip abroad with her family. However, the real, if unconscious, object of her search, as Hunter makes clear, is the father who abandoned the Gullivers years before. Annie's occasional postcards and letters from places as far-flung as Nepal and New Guinea offer just enough reassurance to enable Andy and their mother to maintain the illusion that there's nothing really wrong with her. Annie's increasing mental deterioration, like her family's implacable denial, is brilliantly depicted, and drives the narrative to its heavily foreshadowed but still shocking conclusion. Hunter, a master of suspense, is the author of 20 novels as well as countless police procedurals and detective stories, all of which are marked by the psychological acuity that suffuses this, his latest. --Jane Adams

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Drama, Mental Illness, Audiobook, Crime, Family

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Better known by his pseudonym Ed McBain.

Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When his twin sister disappears, again, the other twin and his family try to piece together what is going on.

Not one of Hunter's best.

[Annalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and enjoying Ed Mc Bain's "Cop Hater", I noticed that Ed Mc Bain is Evan Hunter's pseudonym. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this novel on a book shelf in my home and I couldn't even remember when or where I'd bought it!
This is an interesting and well written novel about twins, one of which has mental illness.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book during the blizzard of 2007 when I was storm stayed at a work conference and read it in one sitting. Whether it was the environment or the book, I found it engrossing.
On this reread I was able to set it down and continue on with real life.
I can completely understand the family’s reluctance to admit what they all know to be true about their daughter and sister Annie. When an outsider mentions the truth, they close ranks against that outsider. While extremely supportive to Annie, it is obvious this is not the best way to deal with her illness.
It is so easy to read this story and judge this family unfairly. This is one to be thankful that there, but for the grace of God, go I.

[Armand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the first 75 pages, then skipped to the last chapter. The book is about a dysfuntional family dealing with a dysfunctional adult daughter. Very dialogue heavy, not much tension in the plot, a bit too much reliance on "interesting" (flaky, artistic, well-educated) people, a bit too much reliance on backstory. Probably would have worked better as a short story. I honestly think the author was trying to stretch about 50 pages worth of interesting stuff into about 200 pages, and he pulled the story too thin.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing read about a family coming to grips with mental illness written from the perspective of Andrew Gulliver, whose twin sister Annie has been diagnosed as schizophrenic.

Not an up-lifting read you might think but somehow it is often quite funny & the family scenes are very vivid & credible, & following Andrew's journey as he finds out about events in his sister's life, & whether these actually happened or are figments of her imagination, is both absorbing & satisfying.

I have to say that when I picked the book up I didn't know Evan Hunter was a pseudonym of Ed McBain & I'm sorry to say that if I had I probably wouldn't have picked it up - more fool me! I might have to dig into hubby's McBain collection now.....

[Lbaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Ed McBain books - have read a lot of them.
I've also read a fair number of his books written under his "real" name of Evan Hunter.

I did not like this book - at all.
I kept reading it, thinking it would improve, it hadn't when I quit 3/4 the way through.
I finally thought - why am I still reading this? I don't like any of the characters, the brother Andrew, who narrates the book is at once naive and cynical.

[cynthia Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has a mentally ill family member will probably relate to this novel, as the one who is suffering from psychosis, bi-polar disorders or any other abnormalities of the mind will cause their other family members to be sympathetic in some cases, and beyond frustration in others. When twins are involved, it seems natural that one twin would have various emotional responses beyond what any other family member experiences, partly from the fear of suffering a similar fate, and partly just from the intimate relationship they have with the other close twin. Having had a psychotic mother, I could feel the stress and frustration she caused to all other family members, just as it did to my family, and my decision to remove myself as much as possible from her, both physically and emotionally. I asked myself many times why the rest of us had to suffer from her actions and her madness. I had no good answer, except “we shouldn’t.”

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a fast read by a storied author (Blackboard Jungle, The Birds screenplay, nearly 70 novels under pseudonym Ed McBain). He’s especially good with dialogue. The main characters, members of a dysfunctional broken family, leapfrogging through memories back and forth over decades, all seem to suffer from varying forms of mental illness and enabling behavior. Ranging from compelling to irritatingly obtuse to self-destructive, the characters make the reader want to slap one or two of them on occasion. I’m not sure it’s possible to create these character depths without having known a real-life person suffering through these problems. There’s no magic answer to mental illness, no happy ending wrapped in a bow, but exhausting and endless ups and downs disappearing over the horizon. It’s a book that makes you think.

[Morgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andy gets a call from Sicily where his twin is in a hospital. She's always been "high strung" and 'different,' but the Italian doctor's matter of fact referral to her schizophrenia is news to him. The book covers his recollection of their past in light of this possibility, mother's denial, brother's long term recognition of it, and the way Andy let it destroy his marriage, and yet, it is breezy and funny right up to the last 2 pages.

[Allison Malter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read books by Evan Hunter and his alter-ego Ed McBain many years ago and always loved them. I discovered this book at a library book sale. It is told by Andrew who is searching both figuratively and literally for his twin Annie. The entire family is trying to deal with and confront the reality of her schizophrenia. Very sad and funny at the same time.

[Holly Skilbeck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this book in the sense that it was about mental health. I felt like i wanted to cuddle Annie the whole way through the book.
But most of the diloge was boring and it carried on for ages even though it was such a short book.
I only really liked the last two chapter of the book unforuntely

[Lisa P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this author. I actually laughed out loud more than a few times reading this. He is a good writer. He took on such a tough issue, mental illness, and humanized it. It was a quick read. While I enjoyed it, it’s not a book I would recommend to someone or keep in my collection.

[Joan Horkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd. At least it was short.

[Athena Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrible story beautifully told. A family revealed and madness uncovered. Love, denial, and hope are entwined. What a master Mr. Hunter was. I miss his genius.

[Deborah Rosen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although a short book, it seemed to go on forever. Very monotonous.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exceptional, somewhat flawed actually, yet very enjoyable. (Okay, I read it in one sitting, which is a criteria which always makes me feel like the book was relatively good.) I may also be a bit biased because I'm feel like I'm always enjoying thrillers that deal with people with any kind of psychosis. Dunno, I happen to find these fascinating, whether the book is actually good or not.

I don't know whether I should be mad at Andy for being for so long in denial of what happens to his sister, or pity him because he obviously loves his sister, his twin sister and I guess I can see why he did not want to acknowledge the fact that she had a problem. To be honest, it was actually kinda sad to see him go through all his memories (and new accounts of incidents from his family) and realize that her sister indeed needed help, and that he hasn't been able to for so long (if ever).


Bad points. A bit repetitive at times. I mean, Annie's stories... It always leads back to pretty much the same. But then again, I'm not familiar with, what was it again? schizophrenia? (or is it another one?) so it may be like that with people with this illness. They have one scenario that repeats itself, only with minor changes according to the situation? Whatever, this is not the point here.. And it kinda leaves you with a feeling of an unfinished tale. We will never know whether Annie got better. (Although, I can understand why the author left it to our imagination. In some way, I guess anyone would like to know that she did get better, but it also sounds like too much of a happy ending after such a roller-coaster. So yeah, maybe it's better that way?)

Good points. The topic is interesting, albeit maybe not thoroughly explored. And I really liked how it's written, from Andy's POV, as if he was telling you the story himself while you're sitting for coffee (or rather, maybe at a therapy session I guess). Makes the narration much more lively. It's also probably because it's written from his POV that you can't help but feel sorry for him, while it sometimes feel like it's a bit of his own fault for ignoring the signs.

[Brittney Gibbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is two o’clock in the morning when Andrew Gulliver gets the call he’s been half expecting all his adult life. His twin sister, Annie, is gone.

Annie has been taking off on adventures ever since she was sixteen, returning from her wanders full of colourful stories for her indulgent family. But this time it’s different. Last month Annie was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. The family refuse to accept it, but Andrew isn’t so sure. And now he must embark on a journey of revelation and self-discovery as he tries to find his beloved sister - before it’s too late.

At first I didn’t like this book. The first person narrative annoyed me, as did Andy, going into detail about the origin of family member’s names and all kinds of things that just weren’t pertinent to the story. But I really wanted to hear about Annie.

Then I decided to step back a little bit and read this for what it is - a brother and his family going through the motions of learning to accept that his sister might not be as okay as they all wanted to believe she was. Then the narrative and flashbacks and overall feel of the book made sense.

The intense sense of denial in this book is very very real. As are each individual family member’s coping mechanisms; from enabling the behaviour to completely cutting off people who threaten the belief that Annie doesn’t need help.

For anyone with first hand experience of having a loved one diagnosed with schizophrenia so many of these scenes will be relatable and the sheer ludicrousness of Annie’s hallucinations heartbreaking.

At only 213 pages this isn’t a huge book, but a very sincere and true to life story nonetheless.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ive read Evan Hunter before so I was curious about this one. Different but I enjoyed it.

[Eadie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain) does an excellent job with this book. I've never read Hunter or McBain before so I didn't know what to expect.

The Gulliver Family is having a hard time dealing with Annie who is mentally ill. Annie is constantly taking off without notice to different places around the world. She returns unexpectedly, only to disappear again and again. This novel is about how a family needs to confront family secrets in order to keep Annie from harming herself or someone else.

The book is hard to put down and Hunter's writing ability allows the words to just flow off the page very fluently. It is a journey of revelation and self discovery and makes you very sympathic to Annie and her problems.

I am now looking forward to reading another Evan Hunter novel!

[a. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book, but I slogged through til the end. It was just... very poorly written. Also, the kindle version had horrible formatting errors, which is not the author's fault, but it didn't make the reading experience any better. I felt zero connection with any of the characters, they were enablers. Long paragraphs of just rambling by the sister. Having worked in a group home for those with some of the more sinister mental disorders, I know this type of rambling first hand. It was loathsome that the characters in the book refused to acknowledge there was an issue. Absolutely loathsome. This book actually kind of mad me angry. I can't say that I will ever read this author again (he's also Ed McBain, I'm told). But I'm done now. Scale of 1-1o 10 being the best, 1 being the worst.... I'm going with a 1. Or in other terms A-F, well this book fails.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh... not horrible (the Kindle formatting, though, was *awful* unlessyoulikewords stucktogether likethis. And random spaces between paragraphs so you think you've switched to a different scene, but nope, just extra space. Hardly fair to judge a book by its layout, but honestly, it made reading a bit of a headache).

This is a book full of the most frustrating cast of characters, which is really the point of it. A family that has willfully ignored all signs that something Is Not Right with one of their members, or avoided dealing with it when they could not ignore it. At the same time, it rang fairly true.

I really had mixed feelings on this one, what can I say?

[Michelle Winters · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I have to admit I listened to this on CD...still feels like "cheating" thought I've become more comfortable doing it LOL

I really liked this book. It was quirky and weird. The family was disfunctional in a "quiet" sort of way. I enjoyed the main character who told the story of his crazy sister, and i enjoyed hearing about her wild exploits even more. The tenderness between the twins was sweet but not too sweet. The mother was a great charicature.
I might see what else Hunter has written because of this book.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very interesting. I liked how the writer wrote it, even though at times I would have to remember where I was at (jumps around alot between past/present). A story dealing with a mentally ill person and how her twin and other family members come to deal with her issues. I didn't think it was horrible, but yet, not awesome, thus the 2 stars.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I think of this book. A brother eventually comes to accept his well-loved twin sister is schizophrenic. The writing is great as you'd expect from such a prolific writer as Hunter/McBain. It reads somewhat as a Roman a Clef.I think I'd have enjoyed it more if it was actually a memoir/biography.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. Written by one of the best writers of fiction. I haven't read many books by Hunter but have read every book by the pseudonym he uses to write novels of the 87th Precinct. Close to fifty novels as Ed McBain. In this story Hunter deals with mental illness. Andrew Gulliver gets a phone call from his mother,who tells him his twin sister,Annie is gone...again..

[Jasmine Holloman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many others who have finished the book, I really do not know what to think (which oddly could be the author's point). Even though I enjoyed reading about Annie's struggle, the book felt a little incomplete. I wish the author went into more detail about finding the root of the problem of why Annie was the way she was. Either way it was a fast and easy read.

[Marguerite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on Kindle, many run-on words were annoying but the storyline is compelling. It's a look at mental illness and the effects it has on a family and their extended circle.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of potential; I thought there would be more secrets, etc. 37 year old Annie goes missing. Flashbacks of her life with mom, twin brother, famous artist dad. She is schizophrenic so the flashbacks are all about episodes, her fits.

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Ed McBain's pen name. An intriguing novel pertaining to the mentally ill. It's does a good job in looking at different points of view of all the main characters. I found my self really empathizing with what the loved ones and acquaintances of the mentally ill go through.

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not care less about the characters. The mother could haunt a house. The sister was so annoying. Don't bother with these people. You wouldn't want to ride on an elevator with them. Why would you waste time reading about them?