Book Review:Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon; Harlan Coben

Gone Before Goodbye is a psychological thriller co-authored by Reece Witherspoon and Harlan Coben. 

Dr Maggie Maggie McCabe had been a successful surgeon. She had worked as an army surgeon and won several medals for her bravery. When she left the army she married fellow army medic, Marc, and set up a charity , WorldCures Alliance, which helped victims in war torn areas with their best friend Trace. Her life fell apart when Marc was killed in a war torn Tunisia - he had gone to save lives but lost his own. Her mother died, Maggie’s medical licence was suspended and she was facing a lawsuit from a former patient, so was unable to practice what she loved. She was talking to her husband through a grief bot an app that her sister was creating to help people come to term with their loss of loved ones. Maggie and her sister were facing bankruptcy when she was offered an opportunity by her old professor, Dr Barlow. She would go to Russia operate on 2 people and leave. It sounded so simple and would clear their debts. She took the job and her life spiralled from there into a murky underworld which finally solved her husband’s  death. 

The first 47% of the novel dragged in places as the scene was set for the twists and turns which culminated in an end I did not anticipate. The characters interact well together. Porkchop is my favourite character who, during the first half of the book, caught my interest enough to carry on reading and I am so pleased that I did!  Porkchop’s humorous and stoic character balanced out the confusion, intensity and grief that shaped the main storyline. The exploration of grief and the use of AI to combat those feelings was an interesting tool to show how deeply Maggie depended on her husband in life and death. I read this in one setting as the suspense was palpable. I wanted to see who actually killed Marc and find out where Trace was.  The ending was unexpected as the authors left not a single clue or hint until the last few pages unveiled the answers that Maggie and Nadia had been looking for. 

An ARC copy was provided by Netgalley UK and Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review