Where Have You Gone Without Me?

by Peter Bonventre

Eddie Sabella is the city columnist at a New York tabloid, a 37-year-old hot shot who is a ferocious reporter and competitor, and hard to beat on a story. And in “Where Have You Gone Without Me,” he stumbles upon the biggest story of his career when a statue is stolen from a church.

Not just any statue, but one that had seemed to weep real tears only the day before, an event that made headlines. Eddie’s pursuit of the story behind the theft brings him in contact with a colorful cast of characters, including a respected restaurateur with a secret past who had donated the statue to the church, a cantankerous old priest with a taste for fine wine and expensive cigars, a stylishly dressed bookie who has the best table in the best restaurants in town, a legendary hit man who uses countless different methods to kill his prey, and an aging, still-volatile Mafia soldier who operates a funeral home but dreams of owning a tiki bar.

And then there is Phyllis, a raven-haired beauty who was Eddie first love and had disappeared without a trace 15 years before. Phyllis makes a startling appearance as Eddie is dining at a popular restaurant, nailing him to his seat and disrupting his personal life while he hustles to solve the mystery of the stolen statue, a mystery with more twists and turns than he ever have imagined.

Genres: Fiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2021

About the author

In his long career in journalism, Bonventre was an award-winning sportswriter atNewsweek magazine. As a writer/producer at ABC Sports, he won three Emmys, and co-authored Howard Cosell’s I Never Played the Game, which spent six months on the New York Times best seller list. Switching his focus to entertainment news, Bonventre joined Time Inc, where he served as a senior editor at Life magazine and Editorial Director of Entertainment Weekly magazine. At the same time, he appeared on ESPN as a pop culture commentator. He lives in Manhattan and Bronxville, N.Y., with his wife, Donna Olshan, who is a real estate broker and a columnist at Forbes.com.

Reviews

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty, yet inspiring all at once.
The writing is decent enough, but the narration bumps it up to a four star.
It slightly misses in a few areas, but overall it’s an enjoyable read with a unique story. Between the narration, the mystery & old school newspaper feel it kept me enthralled.

[Genevieve Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I took the chance and used ab Audible credit on this, because I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of the mysteries I'd pick up from the library as a young teenager. I'm not sure how to explain it, just, it had that kind of 90s amateur sleuth mystery vibe. But in a good way. It was lighter than my usual fare, in spite of the requisite brutal murders. The tone wasn't bleak/grim/melancholy. The protagonist had moments of deep introspection (mostly related to his feelings for his first love, the one that got away and reappeared 20 years later, which sounds clichéd, but it wasn't actually that bad. The whole "you never forget your first love" thing is pretty universal, and it's interesting to see what happens when you don't address and process the lingering feelings), but the overall tone was... not light, exactly, but kind of quotidien, maybe?

Like, the whole thing starts out as a human interest story for the paper, a weeping statue, then it's a follow-up when the statue gets stolen, but it's still just a quirky story until the first person dies. And even then, it has a weirdly measured tone, like, the reporter protagonist deals with stuff like this all the time. Which, I suppose, he does?

He never throws himself headlong into danger, there's no explosions or chase scenes or big showdowns. He actually does solid, thorough detective work, asking the right questions to the right people, making connections and figuring things out. Which was kind of refreshing.

The protagonist was alright. Kind of an everyman, neither likable nor unlikable. Likewise his wouldbe girlfriend. The secondary characters, though, are great. The parish priest, for one, is a gem. So are the protagonist's coworkers. Even the villains were written in a believable way.

The other thing is, as a Catholic, I was delighted at how my church was portrayed- again, in a really quotidien, boring sort of way. The priest is a bit of a cynic and a bit of a lush, but he's a good guy. He quickly refutes the "miracle," citing a leak in the ceiling above. The parishioners are bummed, but accept it. Well, for the most part... They are also shown as just normal people who aren't solely defined by their religion, and who are capable of rational thought (which shouldn't feel like such a win, but here we are). Catholicism wasn't made to be this weird, mysterious, vaguely sinister thing, with heavy emphasis on the imagery and ritual, which was nice, because, yeah, that's all valid, but... at the same time, there's nothing weird and mysterious about how I spend my Sunday mornings, you know? Going to Mass just a normal part of my routine. (Pre-Covid, anyway. Now I've joined the congregation of Mass for Shut-ins, haha.) And there wasn't a single reference to pedophilia!

The ending was a bit of a surprise. It made sense, though it felt a bit anticlimactic? I guess I just fell for the red herrings, because I was expecting something else I thought the protagonist's love interest's dad was the brains behind the killing. He was so suspicious, and I bought into the hints at his possible mob ties. It really felt like that's what was being set up, a big tragic conclusion where the revelation of her father's criminal activity destroys the burgeoning relationship between the love interest and the protagonist. But then it was something completely different. One of the victim's own men killed him in a spontaneous fit of rage, when the victim laughed at his request to put in a good word to his bosses, that he might join the mob, and then insulted his looks and called him Frankenstein. He was wracked with guilt after committing the act, and confessed to the priest right away, and turned himself in. So yeah, anticlimactic, but it worked?)
Overall, though, this was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and author for the gifted copy of 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒆.⁣⁣
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𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔: 𝐸𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑓𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔-𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟. 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐸𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑?⁣⁣
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At first I felt there was a lot going on in this story, but as the story unfolded and Eddie slid his way into the lives of all the colorful characters and they opened up about grudges, “friendships”, mafia involvement, and aspirations I slowly began connecting the dots with Eddie and an intricate plot unfolded.⁣⁣
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I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The characters were likable in their own way, I was digging on its 1990s detective series vibe, and I’m always ready to devour anything with monsters and good Italian food.⁣⁣
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This is definitely a whydunit instead of a whodunit, which fit perfectly with the fact that our protagonist was a journalist who was intent to get to the bottom of the story. This well crafted mystery with the gritty streets of New York at its heart is great for anyone drawn to character driven plots.⁣⁣
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𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 3.5 ⭐️⁣⁣

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I have been a writer for a newspaper in my city of Toronto, I could really relate to the very likeable Eddie Sabella, who chases the stories for his paper in New York City. In particular, a curious visit to the site of a statue of St. Joseph in a church that has appeared to be cry. While it is not certain that has been the case, the visit to the church leads Eddie through a fascinating web of characters when the statue is stolen. From mafia sorts to a very down-to-earth Father Kelly, Eddie puts the pieces together when some connected to the theft end up dead. And what to make of the Filomena, Phyllis, whom he meets suddenly, his long lost love who disappeared on him 15 years earlier? This was an entertaining and catchy mystery that any person who has read a newspaper, watched the news and wondered about the hunt for the truth in stories will enjoy.

[Sherry]

Eddie is a reporter that stumbles upon one of the biggest story of his career. I don’t know why, but this reminded me of a caper with an amatuer PI. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the narrator, but the book is very light and easy for it having some gruesome murders.

What started out as a weeping statue of Saint Joseph made me wonder if this would turn into a preachy religion book. I was happy when it didn’t.

There is suspense, drama, red herrings and of course murder. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I was entertained by this book.

Adam Barr really added to the writing and I enjoyed his narration. He really brought the story to a new level.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a different type of mystery/thriller.

[Jan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Have You Gone Without Me by Peter Bonventre is a great listen! I really enjoyed how this book evolved and the cast of characters. The imagery was well done. The setting was one that I could envision so many details. Adam Barr was great performing the book. He really brought the characters to life with his voice. I so appreciate it when a narrator can give the various characters distinguishable voices, so I know exactly whom is speaking. Thank you #NetGalley and #Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to a copy of this book. I really enjoyed it.

[Lorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts out with a statue that is weeping tears. Eddie pursues the story and then the theft of the statue. Along the way he meets mobsters, murderers and his old girlfriend. It was a pretty fast paced book and I really like it.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very middle of the road for me. I feel like although it was entertaining while reading, it didn't offering anything special to make me rave about it or even remember it a few weeks from now. Just a very basic story.

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun. Fast. Enjoyable. Interesting characters. Inside New York aka Pete Hammil and Jimmy Breslin.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a fun read, with a quirky protagonist and some other fascinating characters. The crying statue is a fun image.

[Julia Culbreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good fast read that’ll keep your attention if you need a mental break from something really heavy. Great for travel or the beach!

[C]

it started out slow. i wasn't sure about the premise but then it really got interesting.

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook! It was not at all what I expected. From the description, I expected something a little lighter and more dishy, focusing on a tabloid reporter. What I got instead was a really interesting story about family and faith and secrets and misunderstandings.

The story was richly characterized, and the characters jumped off the page with all of their quirks and foibles. The story was engaging and entertaining, with clever writing and excellent narration. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author - and his narrator!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.