Gone Without a Trace

February 6, 2017
Hannah Monroe, the narrator of Torjussen’s strong debut, is flush with the promise of a much-earned promotion at her accounting firm and eager to share the news with her live-in boyfriend of four years, Matt Stone. But when she returns to her house near Liverpool from a training course in Oxford, Matt isn’t there, and all his belongings have disappeared with him. Bewildered and devastated, Hannah discovers that Matt’s phone number has been deleted from her phone and that he’s even left his job. She turns for comfort to her best friend, Katie, who tries to persuade her to move on, but all Hannah wants to do is find Matt and confront him. Soon she begins receiving strange texts and suspects that someone is entering her house. As Hannah falls apart and her work suffers, readers realize that not all is at it seems. The deliciously dark conclusion is perfect for this tale of all-consuming obsession, jealousy, and the secrets that lie beneath the most perfect of exteriors. Agent: Kate Burke, Diane Banks Associates (U.K.).

February 15, 2017
When her boyfriend disappears, his belongings in tow, a Liverpool woman pulls out all the stops to find him, dismantling her own life in the process.Hannah Monroe's life couldn't be better. She has a great job as an accountant, with a possible promotion on the horizon, and an equally prized boyfriend, architect Matt Stone. But then it's gone, with Matt vanishing one night after work, taking everything he owns with him. Hannah, with her self-centered personality and lack of empathy, garners little if any sympathy from the reader. Torjussen tries to make Hannah's dual reactions of pining and searching aimlessly either resonant or nonrepetitive but fails. Matt's presence is not only wiped clean from the house--he took everything from his jazz posters to his ugly mugs--but he erased himself from social media as well. While it's clear that a sense of foreboding should be building for the reader as it mounts for the frantic Hannah, instead what's kindled is a curious lack of emotional connection. Hannah's best friend, Katie, tries to tell Hannah--who's slowly losing it at work as she spends hours Googling Matt and possible leads regarding his whereabouts--to move on, but Hannah won't have it, especially when she starts receiving cryptic texts and is sure someone is lurking in the house. Sometimes a missing person should stay missing, for the benefit of the story and the reader. This is one of those times. The reveal, when it finally comes, is less revelatory than cheap, an attempt to breathe dramatic life into a story that sorely lacks it.

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