Name: And Now She's Gone
Rating: 5.0 (1 reviews)
Author: Rachel Howzell Hall

About this book

Summary

Book Summary

Isabel Lincoln is gone. But is she missing?

It's up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray's search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman's secrets and the truth she's hidden from her friends and family.

Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, Rachel Howzell Hall's And Now She's Gone explores the nature of secrets ― and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.

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Media Reviews

"[R]azor-sharp... Full of wry, dark humor, this nuanced tale of two extraordinary women is un-put-downable." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A fierce PI running from her own dark past chases a missing woman around buzzy LA. Breathlessly suspenseful, as glamorous as the city itself, And Now She's Gone should be at the top of your must-read list." - Michele Campbell, bestselling author of A Stranger on the Beach

"Smart, packed with dialogue that sings on the page, Hall's novel turns the tables on our expectations at every turn, bringing us closer to truth than if it were forced on us in school." - Walter Mosley

"One of crime fiction's leading writers at her very best. The final twist that will make you want to immediately turn back to page one and read it all over again. And Now She's Gone is a perfect blend of PI novel and psychological suspense that will have readers wanting more." - Kellye Garrett, Anthony, Agatha, and Lefty Award-winning author of Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending

"Sharp, witty and perfectly paced, And Now She's Gone is one hell of a read!" - Wendy Walker, bestselling author of The Night Before

"Hall once again proves to be an accomplished maestro who has composed a symphony of increasing tension and near unbearable suspense. Rachel brilliantly reveals the bone and soul of our shared humanity and the struggle to contain the nightmares of human faults and failings. I am a fan, pure and simple." - Stephen Mack Jones, award-winning author of the August Snow thrillers

"Heartfelt and gripping... I'm a perennial member of the Rachel Howzell Hall fan club, and her latest is a winning display of her wit and compassion and mastery of suspense." - Steph Cha, award-winning author of Your House Will Pay

This information about And Now She's Gone was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Cloggie Downunder

A clever and brilliantly twisty page-turner.
“Gray knew firsthand about men who could turn charm on and off like a beer tap. Love letters and expensive sea salt caramels one day, spit-flecked lips and bugged eyes two weeks later.”

And Now She’s Gone is a novel by best-selling, award-winning American author, Rachel Howzell Hall. After two years behind the scenes at Rader Consulting, Grayson Sykes is finally given her first proper case (not a Chihuahua): she has a missing girlfriend to locate. “She’d always been the nosy kid, the Negro Nancy Drew.”

Isabel Lincoln has been gone for six weeks, and her boyfriend, a hunk of a cardiologist named Ian O’Donnell, wants Gray to find her. “Once she realizes she’s being stupid, yes, she’ll come back.” Ian pointed at her. “I just need you to help me help her accept that sooner rather than later.” Isabel also took his dog, which angers O’Donnell, and Gray wonders if he wants the dog back more than the girl. She also wonders why he wants Isabel back: is it really love or is he concerned for his image?

Even before O’Donnell has told Gray repeatedly what a nice guy he is, she has already decided that Isabel has gone “Probably because she smelled the crazy on him and didn’t want it to get into her favorite coat. Hard to get the stink of nuts out of wool.” Familiar alarm bells are faintly ringing. The more people she talks to, the more Gray feels that Isabel was lucky to get away, and Gray should know: she has her own history to draw on. But O’Donnell is the client so she at least has to go through the motions.

When she does, though, something strikes her as not quite right: she’s getting conflicting information and begins to wonder if O’Donnell is an abusive, narcissistic and possibly dangerous man from whom Isabel Lincoln needs to escape; or if O’Donnell is a genuinely nice (if narcissistic) guy and Isabel is a vindictive gold-digger.

And those disturbing texts to the number generated for her dating app: has Gray’s own personal monster finally tracked her down? Because Gray is heartily sick of looking over her shoulder, of checking the rear-view mirror on every drive. She’s armed and feeling dangerous.

Wow, what a tale! The plot has so many twists that the reader might want to pre-book a chiropractic appointment. There’s plenty of dark humour in the dialogue and Gray’s inner monologue, quite a bit of action with knives, and the body count builds with each jaw-dropping revelation.

Howzell Hall’s protagonist can’t fail to appeal: Gray is smart and sassy, gutsy and ready to stand up for herself. Her rotten past has firmed her resolve against being a victim and to help others “Especially cases that helped women get away from dangerous men.” A clever and brilliantly twisty page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Tor Forge

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Author Information

Biography
Books by this Author

Rachel Howzell Hall Author Biography

Photo: Andre Ellis

Rachel Howzell Hall is the author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize– and Lefty Award–nominated And Now She's Gone; and the Anthony Award–, Lefty Award–, and International Thriller Writers Award–nominated They All Fall Down. She also writes the acclaimed Detective Elouise Norton series, including Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes, and City of Saviors. Rachel is also the coauthor of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which was included in the New York Times bestseller The Family Lawyer. She lives in Los Angeles.

Link to Rachel Howzell Hall's Website