This book is a great example of how well Amazon markets books to readers, as I’m pretty sure I found out about it through an ad directed right towards my demographic. You know the demographic – middle aged, Southern women who cry easily over drama filled stories. Emily, Gone certainly hit the mark as I spent the whole book (which I unapologetically read in one sitting, needing to get some resolution once I started!) intermittently wiping away tears and holding my breath.

Sigh. So good. So, so good.

The premise is a simple one that quickly becomes complicated. Rachel, a young mother in Georgia, wakes up one morning to find that her baby, Emily, is missing from her crib. She and her husband begin a long search for their daughter, but with little to no leads, they’re left with silence and the unspeakable horror of having no idea where their baby is or what has happened to her. Meanwhile, we (the readers) all know that Emily has been taken from her crib by Vicky, a woman traveling in the area who is still grieving the loss of her own stillborn infant, Lara. As she travels back to Kentucky with her boyfriend (who doesn’t realize until they’re very far away that Vicky even has an infant with her), she makes a plan to start over again with this new baby, acting as though Emily is Lara.

I don’t want to say too much more and ruin the story, but a whole lot happens from there (is that vague enough?), leading to a conclusion that makes the tension of the whole ordeal forgivable. Do you read like that? Holding your breath, wondering if it’s going to all end badly and you’ll mourn the time you spent reading? You’ll hold your breath with this one, but by the last few pages, you’ll be so glad that you read it!

The story is entertaining with characters that you’ll love. Yes, even Vicky is written in such a way that while you can’t condone what she’s done, you’ll empathize with her pain and her loss. I didn’t feel like there were any manufactured or forced emotions on any of the characters’ parts, as you might expect in a book with so much high tension, and the growth experienced on everyone’s part throughout the book felt genuine. So good!

And it’s on Kindle Unlimited… woo-hoo! Go here to get it!