Once Gone: a fast paced mystery

Once Gone by Blake Pierce is the first book in the Riley Paige series. When women are turning up dead in rural Virginia, killed in grotesque ways, the FBI are stumped. With a serial killer on the loose, they know there is only one agent who could possibly crack the case: Special Agent Riley Paige. But after an encounter with the last serial killer, Riley is on paid leave, suffering from PTSD. When the FBI calls, reluctantly asking for her help, Riley comes aboard, needing to battle her own demons the only way she knows how: catching the bad guys. As she chases every clue, she realizes that the killer is far more twisted than she thought and when another woman disappears, she is in a race against time. Pushing herself to her limit, putting her job on the line and losing her fragile hold on reality, she refuses to quit. Will she find the woman before it’s too late? Will the killer slip away once again? Can she catch him before she completely snaps herself? 

I’ve been a reader of Blake Pierce for quite awhile and usually they are good thrillers. However, lately, I’ve noticed that the stories are becoming formulaic. Once again, a strong woman is the only brains in law enforcement, the only one who can catch a killer and the men who stand in her way. While I enjoy Blake Pierce’s books, they are fast and engaging reads, but it’s easy to figure out The mystery formula of “arresting one wrong guy after another and the men rushing to close the case despite the objections of the main character” gets old fast. Overall, I enjoyed it. I was engaged. And there was a nice hook at the end to intrigue the reader to get the next book. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Riley and her teenage daughter, April. And Riley’s struggles with PTSD and the memories of her last case felt very real. If you haven’t read any of Blake Pierce’s books, I recommend checking them out. They are entertaining, even if you begin to sense a pattern in her books. 

Once Gone is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook