Good as Gone (Gentry)

Book Reviews
If the central question of the novel is inescapably simple—Is this person Julie Whitaker or isn't she?—there are only two possible answers. But the attendant riddle of identity is correspondingly complex. In the end, Gentry's novel isn't primarily about the version of the self that comes from a name and a family of origin; instead, it draws our attention to the self that's forged from sheer survival, and from the clarifying call to vengeance.
Jean Hanff Korelitz - New York Times Book Review


A mother, a daughter, a zealot, an investigator, a family, a stripper, and more than a few survivors lay the riveting groundwork, but it's Amy Gentry's realistic portrayals of victims and their families that set Good As Gone apart from other page-turning crime dramas.... The end result is a true "novel of suspense": a book that's hard to put down not only because of our investment in the plot, but also because of our investment in the lives of the complicated characters.
Austin Chronicle


Compelling and emotionally nuanced.
Seattle Times


Both a mother-daughter and a family-under-fire story, Good As Gone is laden with confused identities and a thrumming plot. Amy Gentry's debut also holds a mirror up to the myriad ways rape culture is perpetuated.
Bustle


[S]uspenseful if flawed first novel.... Gentry does a good job of making the characters, especially Anna, psychologically plausible, but the final revelation is a letdown.
Publishers Weekly


Clever perspective changes give Gentry's debut building suspense.... Fans of Paula Hawkin's The Girl on the Train will enjoy the shifting points of view and the complex female characters, and those who liked Samantha Hunt's Mr. Splitfoot will appreciate the seedy characters and haunting theme of childhood vulnerability.... Gentry's depiction of a family working through immense suffering will connect with many readers.
Booklist


A kidnapped girl, missing for eight years, shows up on her parents' doorstep…but is it really her?... [B]ack-and-forth points of view which eventually dovetail in the big reveal (and the big reversal) are a popular tactic for the emotional thriller.... Debut novelist Gentry delivers on genre expectations with crisp, unobtrusive writing and well-executed plot twists.
Kirkus Reviews