Debbie Stone and Gini Cunningham
Debbie: Summer reads. Are they different from other seasonal reads? Do you feel like the lazy, hazy days of summer are more open to suspense and thrills? Or a quieter cozy beach read? A thousand-page tome or a few shorter stories? Well, WOW! is all I can say for this summer thriller. It reminds me of a ‘blockbuster: fast and furious; addictive and entertaining.
Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea is a 344-page, page turner for me from beginning to end. I find it to be a unique approach on a cold-case file which involves a missing person, murder, mobsters, and forensic science in genetics. You are wondering how those things can be connected, right? That’s part of the mystery!
The story is told in dual timelines with a whole lot of family drama added in, too. I feel the dual timelines are very well done, and yes, of course, the ending is a little bit over the top - it’s a summer blockbuster so it has to be. But that’s okay — it is entertaining. My husband and I listened to this on audio during a long car ride. He enjoyed it also.
There’s just one BIG thing in this book that made us laugh and laugh while we listened to it. The narrator pronounced Nevada correctly, so that’s always good, but this fictional (and I have to remember it’s fictional) town in Nevada which is located in the middle of the Black Rock Desert, is glorious! It is green, it is lush, it is a metropolis, it has lumber and rivers with bridges and waterfalls. Cedar Creek Nevada (sigh); I want to live there.
I am smiling now as I think of it only because for those of us who live in the great DRY state of Nevada, we know how ‘fictional’ the above description is and I think maybe the author should have done his research just a bit better.
On the other hand, it is such a fun read. Can you overlook that major (only to us in Nevada) faux pas? If you can, be sure and give this one a read this summer. On the beach, in the car, wherever summer takes you.
Gini: As June started to fly I suggested we get going on a book – any book - that would allow us to share our review with you. Debbie offered three possibilities, all falling under the “thrillers” category. Thus, Long Time Gone became our choice. I imagine you’ve already guessed that this is not my preferred genre, but I also like to step out. While the story starts out with a bang as Sloan Hastings is assigned to complete genetic research related to unsolved crimes, it slowly fizzles.
With part of the story in 1995 and the rest in the present and future, Donlea does a good job of weaving in and out without confusion. However, the author does feel a need to explain items of the ‘90s to his readers like the novelty of genetic testing, the ethics behind genetic research in solving mysteries, and even how to develop a photo using the “old-fashioned” darkroom techniques. I didn’t mind that too much, but he over does it with repetition. I am not happy when author’s think readers are not smart enough to grasp a concept on the first go ‘round. But, on to the plot.
Knowing she’s adopted, when Sloan completes her personal DNA there are no surprises about the lack of biological connection with her parents. She does learn, though, that she is not Sloan, but baby Charlotte, a child who went missing with her biological parents almost thirty years earlier. Naturally this fits together with her assignment to use DNA investigative tools.
Living in North Carolina she decides to fly to a small town 100 miles north of Reno where her parents disappeared and where prominent family members still reside.
Then arrives my second bug-a-boo. Cedar Creek, the town mentioned, is tucked near the Sierra Nevada mountains, on Highway 67 (that also has what sounds like freeway exits), a route between Boise and Reno. Try as I may, I could not connect these dots. Please, Donlea, study your geography! Then this tiny town has a vast law firm with over 100 lawyers. Explain.
It is not a bad book; there are interesting parts, but the ending becomes exaggerated as and tiresome. I felt joy when I reached the final page.