Gone but Not

by Shane Spyre

Ten-year-old Iris thinks she’s going on an outing with her mother. She has no idea that by the end of the day she’ll be someone else.

She is picked up by the police. Lost for two years, now miraculously found. Apparently, her real name is Charlotte and her real mother is waiting for her.

Returned home, there are pictures of her with this strange family – the Gallaghers – all around the house. Everything she thought was true appears to have been a lie.

But her newfound family aren’t quite the perfect unit they claim to be. Are they just being protective of a traumatized child, or is Charlotte right that they are keeping secrets from her?

She gradually pieces together her real past yet, discovering what lurks there, might it have been better to be kept in the dark?

GONE BUT NOT is the second sensational psychological thriller by Shane Spyre. Look out for his debut novel, WHICH CHILD.

Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 6, 2024

Reviews

[Melany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning was a bit slow, some parts could get very confusing due to the different views and stories.... it's all intertwined, and you have to figure out who is telling the truth and who isn't. It's a great read if you can keep all of the different lies and Truths separate. I truly loved the twists that kept coming. The ending was truly shocking! I gasped. I enjoyed it once I pushed past the slowness of the beginning. Great read!

I received this ARC to read/review from NetGalley and The Book Folks. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

[Anna fully.booked_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. It kept me intrigued and wanting to know the truth the entire time. But the story and timelines were all over the place and you never really knew what was going on.

[Rebecca Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thoroughly engrossed in this book from page one!
Everytime I thought I knew what was going on I was thrown on another loop...so many twists, so many things uncovered!
What a thrilling ride! I would recommend this book!

[Erin VanVleet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced and full of suspense!! Loved the timelines and all of the different POVs!! I was on the edge of my seat the entire book but the last sentence - WHOA!!! So many twists you will be guessing the entire book!

[Kayla Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing read!!! Omg ok my deat the whole time and finished in little over 3 days!!!! Love love love!!! Must read!!!

[TheLisaD · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is just so much going on in the book and you really have to pay attention or you’ll miss a turn. I really enjoyed this book and had several OMG moments while reading it which I love!

[Robin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shane Spyre wields his pen like a sword, challenging his readers to solve the great conundrum in his plot. The writing is captivating and from the very beginning one has an irresistible urge to find out what happens next but the author is determined to keep secrets right to the very end. Each tantalising glimpse of the truth is revealed like the...drip...drip...dripping of an old tap into a zinc bathtub. As the puzzle becomes ever more perplexing it is a real effort not to start biting one's nails.
With deft sleight of hand, like a modern day Houdini, the author conjures up surprise after surprise, shock after shock, until the final dark disturbing revelations.
Pitch perfect psychological plotting.

[Beth Roger aka Katiebella_Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️
Publisher: The Book Folks
Publication Date: 5/6/2024

When Charlotte was 8 years old, she disappeared from her family's farm. Two years later, she turned up again, only she didn't know herself as Charlotte. She knows herself as Iris. She knows a different woman as mom. She can't remember this new past. Both "mothers" claim her as theirs. But who is telling the truth?

My Thoughts

I've read this type of storyline before. It's not new. Normally, it's told from the mothers point of view. This author took a different approach and told it from the child's Charlotte/Iris. The writing comes off as a bit immature until you understand it's told through the eyes of a traumatized 10 year old. It's actually brilliant in its simplicity.

The part that irked me the most was the lack of any kind of testing or confirmation that Iris WAS Charlotte. They seemed to all just take it for a fact even when the child couldn't remember any of her "real" family.

The whole book has multiple timeline jumps between Charlotte and Iris, who are essentially the same person but with separate pasts. It's confusing. It's disjointed. Something entirely wrong is going on, and it is hard to keep up. No wonder the poor mite is so scared and confused. She doesn't even know who she truly is.

The first two parts of the book were intense and had me throughly engrossed and engaged. The third part.......? Well, that's when the whole thing went off the rails. The timelines become screwed. The author messes up what happened in the first few parts. Nothing quite adds up or makes sense. You can see where she is trying to go and how she is trying to get there ( it concept is amazing FYI) she just seems lost on the way. It needs a better edit. Someone needs to take noats on the first few sections and correct the mistakes. There are no clear indications as to who is talking, whose life we are seeing, and whose story we are hearing. It all becomes an incoherent mess.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Rachel Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yikes. I’m not sure how I feel about this book. On one hand it kept me hooked and I read it in about 24 hours. On the other hand once I made it to the halfway point I was so confused by what was happening. The story had about a thousand twists and turns, and the multiple POV’s without telling us whose pov we were reading made it hard to follow.

I also felt like a lot of the behavior was as not on par for the age of the characters. Every time I thought I was caught up with what was going on things changed again. Definitely not a book for anyone who struggled with any kind of attention span issues.

Give it a try if you can devote 100% of your attention to the book and you’re not a mom who has kids interrupting you for a snack every ten minutes.

Thanks NetGalley and The Book Folks for the chance to read and review this book!

[Mackenzie Busalacchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

GONE BUT NOT is a dark, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller. I can honestly say that this was one of the most complicated and intelligently written books that I have read this year. Charlotte went missing two years ago. Now she has been found; however, she insists that her name is Iris and that she has no idea who these people are who claim to be her family. Each character has their own version of Charlotte's disappearance and the reader has no idea who to believe. To be honest, even the identity of the POV character is not always crystal clear. The book is expertly written, and I loved the ending. My only issues with the overall story were some of the more unbelievable actions (there was at least one too many deaths/murders), and I'm never a fan of animal cruelty. I know it explains one of the individual's character/personality; however, there was a bit too much detail. Again, overall, it was cleverly written and quite unique. I will definitely recommend GONE BUT NOT to anyone looking for an exciting but dark thriller that keeps the reader needing to turn pages.

[Teri Herron · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for your next read full of twists, turns, mystery, suspense, and family drama grab a copy of Gone But Not and buckle up because you are guaranteed to be taken for a ride. There’s a lot going on in this book. Duel time lines keeps you on your toes as you try to figure out who’s who and what actually happened. Just when you think you have it all figured out, guess again!

Thank you Net Galley and The Book Folks for providing an ARC of Gone But Not by Shane Spyre for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

[Christina Riostirado · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me crazy. I had no idea who was who or even whose thought commentary I was reading. I think if it was re written with the characters are cleared up and not so much jumping around the idea of the mystery and story is intriguing.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! It's well paced and it kept me intrigued from start to finish. I would recommend this to those who enjoy thrillers. Thank You to Shane Spyre, The Book Folks and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was all over the place, kidnappings, murder, asylums. It was too much and didn't work for me at all. Also the main characters were not handling the situations according their age. It was just not believable.

I really didn't enjoy this story at all and I just read it to finish it.

Thank you Netgalley.

[Pamela Signa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was all over the place to me. It was a mystery but I found it hard to follow. And some of the actions seemed out of the norm for the ages of the characters.

A family, mystery, murder and all others things thrown into the story just didn’t flow right to me.

[Rudrashree Makwana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is twisted, mysterious and suspenseful. The writing is gripping. The characters were deceptive and mysterious. A lot of unexpected things happens in the plot and truths unveils with a layer of secret. The revelations at the end were shocking. The book is unputdownable.

Ten year old Irish has no idea who she is or if she is being deceived and she can’t trust anyone around her. Her mother tells her to keep going, she trust her but the path leads her to the police and then she end up in someone’s else house and finds out about her strange family. She can feel that something is wrong because she doesn’t remember anything. She is being told that She is Charlotte, Michelle’s daughter who went missing two years ago. She try to find the missing link between her present and past and soon she gets tangled in lies and secrets. It all feels so deceptive. While so many terrible and unthinkable things happens in the plot. The truth is revealed at the end. The twists and turns kept me on the edge.

Many Thanks to Author and Publisher

[Anesa Hamid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a page turner. I could not put this book down. Just when you start to figure out what is happening...boom plot twist. I do feel like some of the story line jumped around but as you keep reading it works. I did like how the author included everyone perspective in order to find out the truth. This book kept you guessing and thinking what the hell did I just read until the end. Loved it.

[Krys · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have listened to my gut and DNF'ed this one when I originally opened it, and saw that it was 109 chapters long. Because seriously? There is absolutely no reason for that kind of nonsense as far as I'm concerned. But I kept swiping anyway.

Yes, for anyone wondering, they were short chapters which is how I made it as far as I did before I just gave up.

Here is the thing, this book absolutely has the potential to be great. Yes, the first third story is told in a very immature way, BUT I brushed that aside since you are seeing things from the point-of-view of a child so it makes sense that it would be presented that way. In fact, I liked being inside the head of the child because it made things interesting.

Until it didn't.

How many times are people going to get shot over this one child? Why if money was exchanged is this person still involved? How can this child have memories of two different people? Why is EVERYONE SO DRAMATIC (and I meant this most sincerely, there was so much drama going on inside the Gallagher household that it was no wonder Charsis (as I began calling her) had problems fitting in. Everyone keeps secrets, the sisters pit one another against each other, "Mama Michelle" is just overbearing and irritating and the other one is just stupid. I also noticed that sometimes, Charlotte would speak in a way that was much older sounding that how old she was supposed to be.

The book then jumps to Charlotte as an adult, and as it would turn out, after a shocking turn of events a woman has been discovered. A woman who not only looks just like her, but who is also claiming to be Charlotte Gallagher, and she wants what is owed to her. Cue page upon pages where everyone has a secret, and it would seem that no one is who the seem to be. By this point, I was just hoping that it was all going to be over soon, because this was book was just such a train wreck. You know, where you want to look away, but can't? Especially when we get to the part about the families stay at the resort and all of the weird secrets of their parents start coming to light.

Finally, I got to the end, and while I'm sure the author meant for the ending to be some sort of shocking twist, not only did I see it coming from miles away, I was also just absolutely over this entire book and wondering why I wasted so much of my time on something so confusing. And also can we talk about the fact that the one "couple" mentioned during this part and the kinky things they were into was really kind of gross and inappropriate considering the age gap and the history not only between them, but between one of the adults and the Gallagher family as a whole.

As you can see, this one didn't work for me for a lot of reasons. I think it could have been edited down to not be 109 chapters and maybe not have cliff-hangers every other paragraph, but I do believe there will be other people who will enjoy this one.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

[Andria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Where do I even begin with a book that left me completely speechless? This book is, for sure, one of those books you will not be able to put down!

Iris, the main character thinks she is going on an adventure with her mother. Little does she know the adventure she is really about to take. She had been missing for two years and is now in the custody of the police, on her way to her real family. Iris, or is her name really Charlotte? Iris does not remember anything about her disappearance nor does she remember anything about her family. Her parents, her sisters, are all strangers to her. Slowly she starts remembering bits and pieces and is starting to put together just who they are and all the secrets they keep. But does she really want to know all that she has forgotten?

This book will have you suffering from whiplash as there are so many twists and turns. Once you think you have the book figured out and feeling confident you know who everyone is in the book, here come more twists and turns.

There were a few parts in the book where I was confused as to what was going on, but I think that's just because I would pick up from where I was the night before and was probably only half conscious while reading.

This is the the first book I have read by Shane Spyre, and I guarantee it will not be my last! The writing style and the way this book is set up is amazing and just leaves you wanting to know what happens next.

If you are looking for an amazing thriller/mystery, this is definitely a book to add to your TBR.

A big thank you goes out to The Book Folks and to Shane Spyre for allowing me to read this before publication.

[Farah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited at the prospect of reading this book. It sounded terrific, and I was really happy to be given the ARC.

Overall, it was a mixed bag for me. On the plus side, it was way more complex and sinister than I had initially thought, and there were a lot more twists and turns than I'd expected.

"One Child.

Two Mothers.

Someone is lying"

Or so the blurb says.

But in fact, *everyone* is lying. And that's where the problem actually lies (pun intended).

With the number of POVs, the fact that almost everyone is discovered to be lying multiple times, the degree of suspension of disbelief required to accept the "actual" version of events - which involved psychiatric facilities, kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, and everything else in between - I was totally confused by the end.

Moving between timelines and repeatedly inconsistent behaviour on the part of the characters also didn't help. Everyone seemed to be a psycho.

So, there you have it. A clever, complex and potentially excellent attempt at storytelling that was something of a letdown for me in terms of execution. I'm still giving it 3 stars, but I wish the author had clarified things properly at the end instead of adding what looked like YET ANOTHER TWIST.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[The Book Folks · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like simple boy-meets-girl, butler-did-it mysteries with bland, cardboard cut out characters and bread-machine prose, you will absolutely hate this book. If unreliable narrators baffle you, and you can't get your head around stories told from different points of view, you'll despise it. If post-modernity passed you by, and you are stolidly marching grandly forth on a linear narrative from cradle to grave, it will confuse you.
If, on the other hand, you want to be taken on a journey that will bounce you around, disorientate you, make you question your own sanity, and make you question the sanity of others, you'll love it. If you are curious about the world, about other people, about life beyond the threshold, it will delight you. If you like being intellectually challenged, and read not just to ignore the fading light, but to innervate your every day, you'll be begging for more.

[SusanH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris, age 10, is walked by her mother to a field, where she says goodbye. Iris is met at the other end by police where she is told her name is Charlotte and she has been missing for two years. This is just the beginning. Spyre’s psychological thriller is unusual and perplexing. There are several characters, multiple POVs, and different points in time. Is she Charlotte from the Gallagher family, or is she Iris? Is anyone telling the truth? Absolutely no character can be trusted. The story twists and turns, weaving a very complex web that will send your head spinning. This is a book you will keep thinking about long after you are finished reading. With thanks to Netgalley and The Book Folks for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

[Shauntelle (myglamorousreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa! There was so much going on in this book. I had to pay attention to every word as well apart more thane, just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. The premise of this book was very intriguing, and outside of a few confusing parts that I had to re-read, I really enjoyed this one. I found myself racing through the pages to get to the end. I just had to know what would happen. I couldn't even attempt to predict what would happen because there was A LOT happening. There were unlimited twists and turns that gave me whiplash and made my jaw drop. This was a complicated plot to me. Was it executed perfectly? No, but it was executed well. This was a captivating, complex read.

Thank you NetGalley and The Book Folks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me at all. I found every character unlikeable (actually , more like evil), I felt the plot was chaotic, and, in the end, I wondered what I was supposed to take away from having read it. This is a book that focuses on lies and liars, but they lie so much and change the lies so often, that the reader is hard-pressed to keep up. Honestly, having tried hard to pay attention and follow the trail, I still have no idea what really happened here. I think it was supposed to fall into the mystery genre, but the mystery is "solved" so many times (100+ chapters worth), that nothing is actually solved or resolved at all. This was not for me, and I wish I would have stopped when I first realized it.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is so different from a typical psychological thriller/mystery tale - I loved it so much! I was so confused throughout the book, but it kept me turning the pages and staying up late to get through one more chapter. I feel like this book should have been called "listen for the lie" and also be careful of the truth. There are layers upon layers of truth and lies and you have to pay attention to the smallest details in order to piece it all together. And after all that, the ending still shocked me! I have some questions that were not answered (for me) and I've recommended it to a couple of friends so we can discuss it and piece it together. I definitely will be re-reading it!

Many thanks to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to review it.

[Rachel Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot sounded so intriguing so I was excited to read the ARC provided by NetGalley!
It was, for the most part, everything I hoped for, dark, sinister and suspenseful. The plot was clever and kept me on my toes.
I found though that between the different points of view, and back and forth with different points in time, it felt like I was getting whiplash. It often left me very confused as to what was happening. I feel that the plot could have been written in a more streamlined way to keep things straight in the readers head.
Overall, it was definitely enjoyable though confusing at times.

Thank you NetGalley for the read!

[Luciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

''Utterly gripping twisty psychological thriller'' indeed. I don't even have words for this book. Twisted? Wicked? Creepy? All the above? One thing is certain: This is the second book by Shane Spyre, and boy, he does know how to write about twisted pre-teen girls with wicked families and creepy scenes. Every chapter is a whirlwind, that even when you think you know what's going on, well not, and the whole plot is so mind blowing that it leaves you dizzy. I can't wait to read the next book by this author. And to say that I highly recommend his books is an understatement.

[Bookdragon_Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

# 33. This book was quite good, but it did have some confusing elements. The constant shifting between perspectives made it difficult to keep track of who was speaking in each chapter. The characters Charlotte and Iris became so intertwined that it was hard to tell them apart. It would have been helpful to have a clearer indication of who was speaking in each chapter. Despite this, the book was well-written, and with some tweaks, it could be even better. 3.5⭐️

Note: this is an ARC through Netgalley.

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I couldn't finish once I got to 42 percent. This book was crazy and just too hard to follow. A little girl goes missing for two years and she is found and comes back home. But the woman who took her, Marci, keeps coming back to get her. The timelines are so messed up and the little girl, Charlotte/Iris narrates the first part of the book and she is only 10 but it comes across as an adult. It was just to weird for me.

[Carrie Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is such a thing as too many twists

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, and have read probably 100 or more books in this genre. I know people often comment about how many surprising twists and surprises a book has. However, this was an example of a book with too many twists. So many that it made it damn near impossible to understand. Perhaps if you have time to read it all in one sitting and take notes or draw diagrams or timelines to keep track it would be more clear, but for me it was more frustrating than enjoyable.