Gone is British writer Mo Hayder's seventh novel, the fifth to feature Detective Inspector Jack Caffrey of Bristol's Major Crime Investigation Unit, the third with police diver Sgt. Phoebe "Flea" Marley and the third in the Walking Man series. In other words, there are many threads to follow if one needs or wants them. Happily, however, readers who are unfamiliar with this talented--and very dark--writer need not worry about missing anything here. Twisty, fast-moving and often creepy, this satisfying thriller stands very well on its own.
The premise, if not the plot and characters (which take several turns along the way), is fairly straightforward; a carjacking by a man wearing a Santa Claus mask turns sinister when Caffrey realizes that the jacker wasn't after the car, but the 11-year-old girl in the backseat. It soon becomes evident that this isn't the first such abduction, that the jacker takes a particular pride in both taunting the police and torturing the families of the kidnapped girls, and that he is planning another abduction right... now. As in the most effective police procedurals of this nature, the lines between good and evil are porous and ill-defined. Both Caffrey and Marley are haunted by their own demons and by a dark secret corroding their once-simmering relationship--factors that soon begin to take their toll as the case becomes ever more nightmarish.
While Hayder does a bang-up job larding her page-turning plot with blind alleys and unexpected curves, it is her in-depth character portrayals, especially of the mothers of the missing girls, that give the novel its depth and complexity. The terror and anguish these parents feel is conveyed with pinpoint accuracy, offered in well-balanced counterpoint to the dread Caffery feels as the case starts to get away from him and Flea's desperate need to redeem herself. Yet even packed solid with the points of view of several different characters, secondary storylines and detailed descriptions of Flea's increasingly risky dives, Hayder never sacrifices pacing or tension. This is quite a feat for a novel as frontloaded as Gone; part of the enjoyment of reading it comes in wondering and then admiring how she pulls it all off.
Mo Hayder has publicly acknowledged her penchant for gruesome violence--and has stated that if she were a male writer she'd likely not be able to get away with it. But in fact, if there is one quibble here it is that the end of this fine thriller is much less dark and violent than the rest of it promises. Then again, a happy ending never killed anyone.--Debra Ginsberg
Shelf Talker: A terrific, expertly crafted thriller from British crime writer Mo Hayder featuring her series character DI Jack Caffrey.