When I learned that Harlan Coben was teaming up with Witherspoon to write Gone Before Goodbye, my interest was immediately pique. As a kid, I devoured Coben’s Mickey Bolitar series as well as some of his adult fiction before one particularly violent scene had me creeped out. I’m glad I decided to pick this book up, though. As a reader, my one weakness I try to hide behind my wall of classic literature is a love for murder mysteries. My guiltiest pleasure is not a Netflix binge but starting a thriller at 9 p.m., snuggled in bed, and turning the last page at 3 a.m.
Gone Before Goodbye delivered on all fronts—a deeply painful death, international machinations of the sinister medical variety, plot twists and enough red herrings to keep me guessing until I turned the last page. It was everything I expected from Coben as a writer, with the Hollywood spin on elite plastic surgery that could have only been imagined by someone who lives in an industry that breathes these procedures.
While I found the novel highly entertaining, I was bothered by some POV changes I found rather inconsistent, a character who felt a little half-baked and a few murky details that still felt unclear by the time I turned the last page. But overall, it was a spectacular debut for Witherspoon and hallmark of Coben’s best work. The writing is crisp, clean and detailed, with a satisfying ending. Definitely worth a reading binge into the wee hours of the morning.