He's Gone: A Novel by Deb Caletti

(This book has been provided to me by the publisher and TLC Book Tours.)

about book:

From National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti comes an intensely gripping story about love, loss, marriage, and secrets—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult, Kristin Hannah, and Anna Quindlen.
  
“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?” 
The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

my thoughts:

He's Gone just wasn't my cup of tea.  I found myself wanting more of the mystery and less of the introspection.  You see, the book starts off with Dani waking up and realizing her husband, Ian, has gone missing.  So, I figured that the story would revolve around that - trying to piece together what happened to Ian.  Instead, I found myself reading a slow-paced novel about a woman looking back through her past memories in order to figure out her present life.  And as a result of Dani's flashbacks, I found myself disliking the couple more and more. 

Now, don't get me wrong, the book is actually a pretty good read.  The writing is terrific and the pacing of the book fits in perfectly with the way the story unfolds.  I even found myself eagerly turning pages at times to see what would happen next.  However, my dislike for the characters combined with the flat ending wound up clouding my view of the story completely.  In the end, this book wasn't for me.

I've read some pretty glowing reviews of this book, so I'm thinking it was just me that didn't connect with this book.  And, I don't want to discourage you from reading what could be a great read for you, so I'm including the link to the TLC Book tour page for He's Gone - check it out here!!

I'm off to read Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns - the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  I wanted something fun to read and this fits the bill perfectly!  Happy Reading!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!