Review: He's Gone

Author: Deb Caletti

Title: He’s Gone

Description: Dani wakes up one morning to find her husband Ian missing from their bed. At first she makes excuses—he went in to work, he’s visiting one of his daughters. But no one knows where he is, he doesn’t come back, and Dani can’t quite remember what happened the night before. As time passes and the search intensifies, Dani spends the time remembering their relationship; begun in adultery, she wonders if the marriage wasn’t somehow stained from the beginning.  

Review source: Library Thing Early Reviewers

Plot: The plot is nothing remarkable—Ian has disappeared, and all the possibilities for where he might be are examined, one by one.

Characters: Dani is the first person narrator, and the other characters are those closest to her: Ian, her ex-husband, Mark, her daughter, Ian’s first family, and so on. Dani considers each of these people and their relationships in detail as she reviews the past few years of her life with Ian.

Writing style: Very interior. The book is more of a musing upon marriage than a mystery. Can a relationship that started in infidelity to two spouses ever rise above that level of deception and selfishness to become a true marriage? Or will the partners always wonder if previous infidelity will lead to future betrayal?

Audience: Women’s literature, sort of mystery, but mostly not.

Wrap-up: Unlike some other recently-read material, this book does actually end with a solution to the puzzle, and one that is actually believable. I did, however, wish for an end to the soul-searching a little bit sooner. 3/5*