Gone

by Kit Craig, Kit Reed

Clary Hale believes she has finally escaped her horrific past—until one day her children wake to find her gone, kidnapped by the psychopath who has been obsessed with her since her youth.

“Genuinely frightening” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Riveting and menacing to the last page” NEWSWEEK
“Chillingly memorable” SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

---

When fifteen-year-old Michael Hale wakes up and finds his mother is missing, he immediately knows something is wrong.

His older sister says he’s overreacting. His baby brother is too young to know what’s going on.

But as the day comes to an end and their mother still does not return, it’s clear that Michael is right.

Beautiful, loving Clary Hale is gone…

---

Rave reviews for GONE and Kit Craig…

“Tantalizes and terrifies… a one-sitting book defying the reader to budge until the end” — LOS ANGELES TIMES
“An outstanding psychological thriller”— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Frightening… the sense of unseen menace is nerve jangling to the last page” — GLAMOUR
“Gone combines the obsession and madness of Fatal Attraction with the cruelty and horror of The Silence of the Lambs. Don’t miss it!” — Mostly Murder
“For those who like to be scared, Gone is pretty close to perfect” — BOOKLIST
“Kit Craig catches the thread of our primal nightmares” —Lois Gould
“Plays off every child’s—and parent’s—worst nightmare… Chillingly memorable” — San Francisco Chronicle
“A fast-paced thriller… the portrait of the seductive psychopath is so stunning that it’s hard to put the book down” — Library Journal
“A tightly wound psycho-thriller written with terrifying understatement” — NEWSWEEK
“Gets to the heart of a parent’s greatest you can’t always protect your children” — New York Newsday

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Ebooks

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Pseudonym for author Kit Reed.

Reviews

[Barbara Elsborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this. I read a lot of psychological thrillers and this is an old one. It dates back to 1992! But it stands up with the more recent ones I've read and is better than many. No need to worry about making batteries dead on mobiles or losing them because they weren't common then. The story was fast moving, exciting and while a bit far fetched in places, riveting! 3 kids wake to find their mother is missing - they're Navy kids and follow orders. But should they be following the orders of the man who comes into their life?

[Keri Surprenant]

I can’t do it anymore; adding a DNF tag to this one. The writing is so off putting to me and at 44% it felt like nothing is happening most of the time. There were flashes of interest but I’m done with pushing myself when I’m already almost halfway through.

[Robyn Skelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent story unique

[Beth Crofts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible. I have zero idea what I just read.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a free book I had downloaded and a new author to me. Seems he uses 2 names and there were heaps of differing editions on Goodreads so that's all a bit of a mess, which I have attempted to combine together and tidy up.
I had had enough of it only 5% into it, though. It started to get all flowery and poetic with the language used and I prefer straight talking. It just takes too much effort trying to wade through it otherwise and life's too short as it is !!
He wrote belter and not better and waked as opposed to awake or woken like maybe English isn't his first language.
But, "Fueled by pain, roots fed the double trunk" quickly followed by, "...that empty place where the trunk splits to put two feet on the ground" did for me.......it's just guff.
So not for me at all, I'm afraid.

[Kathy Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

great mystery and SUSPENSE, filled for sure

What a different perspective, and I’ll say I was a bit confused, but keep on going for great mystery and SUSPENSE filled story for sure . Draws you right into daily life, then to years of growing up, this will take you thru unexpected story, certain to make you rush reading each word to get to next page & chapter

[Ernest Judge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling. Frustrating. Compelling!

King, Koontz, Herbert fans would love this. More psych thriller than horror, but horrific enough to please, horrify, astound and compel you to read on. Prepare to have your sleep disturbed!

[Barb Andrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read

I had some trouble following the different peoples storylines. The first half was a little slow but thesecond half wasmuch better.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t a fan of her writing. However, I would say it was a good storyline.

[Ginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book kept me turning the pages, despite it's not being very believable.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting Psychological Thriller

A very well written psychological thriller. Great characters, the good and the bad, with a twisted and often terrifying plot. A great read.

[Larz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you ever have a feeling that someone is watching you, well maybe they are.

A scary book that makes you read your past.

[Leiba · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 1/2 stars

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

PG18
very dark. some language (sh.. f...) child rape by father, madness, pure evil character.

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fifteen-year-old Mike Hale wakes up one Saturday morning to find that his mom is gone. His submarine captain dad has been missing in action for months, and now Clary, his mother, has disappeared. There’s no note, there are no orders. Mike awakens his older sister, and the two agree that the best approach is to not let anyone know Mom is gone.

But after a week, when their lifestyle is looking more like something out of The Lord of the Flies every day, they determine that the best thing to do is find Mom. They get one postcard in the mail from a South Carolina resort, and with the help of their cleaning lady, they pile into the car and head for the hotel. But first they stop at what had been their mother’s childhood house. It is gone, and the old couple next door to it seem more than a little strange. What Mike, his sister and little brother don’t know is that a psycho is only miles behind them at any time, and their lives are as endangered as is their mother’s.

Before leaving for South Carolina, the kids took a call from someone who mysteriously told them their mother was in a Florida town. When they failed to find her in South Carolina, they went on in search of her.

The chapters that allow you into the mind of the killer were more drug trippy than creepy. You read a bizarre farrago of rants directed to Clary and women in general. As thrillers go, this one was ok, but some of the newer stuff in the genre is far more sophisticated and, well, thrilling.

[William Herring · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason why I did not give it one star is because the beginning is pretty enjoyable. I found the rest of the book to be pretty boring. There are also too many characters. The mother, kids, killer, and maybe the commander were really all we needed. I understand that the point of the killer was that he can form relationships with multiple people, however, it got difficult to track who is who sometimes. The book also wasn't good at keeping the atmosphere steady throughout. I know that it's hard to capture an atmosphere in literature, however, I've seen it done in many novels. However, this one seems to fall short. Overall not a terrible story, but I don't see myself reading it again.

[Kellylynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This another one that I am struggling with here. Very difficult to rate. Clary, a mother of 3, goes missing. The family is already struggling with the idea that their father is missing at sea. The whole idea that the kids would go hunting for her on their own and never talk to anyone about what is happening is just odd. Then add in the creepy guy from clary's past that is behind it all. And it is just an odd story. But the author is rather well written, I just did not like this story.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a new writer for me. As you know, I go to the library, so books are usually not the most recent out.

This writer is pretty good. She offers plenty of suspense and keeps you reading.

I'll definately read more of her books.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the plot. It was the plot that kept me going to be honest. I had to find out what had happened. Other than that, I found the style of writing quite frustrating. Plenty of missing punctuation so I had to re-read some of the sentences just to make sense of what it said!

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to re-read a sectione within the first chapters and still didn't know what the author was trying to say. I found this book too much like hard work to keep reading it and so stopped at the end of chapter 3. Maybe it's just me but I couldn't get into it.

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good; Children track down mother and her kidnapper, a man from her past who had killed her parents.

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a mother who goes missing and her children go in search of her. I found the book to a bit slow going but it is an okay read.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so insane and crazy. It left with a feeling of dread. I'm glad I am done with it. I need a more light-heart book so I can get out of this feeling. I almost hated it.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

nothing much to see here

[bette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of an overload from the hard drinking, drug using womanizing private investigator plus being foul mouthed, Unlikable character.

[Holly Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start. A little confusing at first. The action picked up later. Overall, an ok book.

[Toesnorth's mom]

psych suspense, good

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needed more editing, but an ok story.

[Vismitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read... The story is predictable but the author brings in the helplessness and the desperation of the characters brilliantly. Worth a read!

[Susan C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A truly creepy bad guy, but took some work to get through the book