Dr. Sloan Hastings, adopted at birth, has spent years getting to where she is now. Her newest project is to understand how genealogy impacts forensic pathology. In order to learn more, she submits her own DNA, only to discover that she’s been missing since she was a baby. The Margolis family has spent the last 30 years looking for ‘Baby Charlotte’ as the press coined her, and to find out what happened not just to her but to her parents as well. As Sloan investigates her disappearance more, she’ll soon uncover that not everyone is happy for her to be back or for her to be asking questions.

I’m a big Charlie Donlea fan, and all you really need to know is that Long Time Gone is a captivating thriller that has the perfect amount of suspense and plenty of clues. I really enjoyed the mixture of the past and present settings and Sloan and Sheriff Eric Stamos made a superb team. My only complaint and the reason for dropping a star, is I found it so hard to believe a doctor as smart as Sloan, in this day and age, had basically zero knowledge about genetic testing. I’m talking bare bones knowledge, even I know more than that having done a genetic test on my dog. But minus that one thing, this was another gripping thriller from Donlea. It definitely sounded as if he’s setup Sloan to have her own series, which I for one am excited for!

AMAZON | GOODREADS |★★★★

Long Time Gone comes out May 21, 2024! Huge thank you to Kensington Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books or on Tiktok @speakingof.books