Here and Gone by Haylen Beck

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Here and Gone by Haylen Beck



                Audra was just trying to get away from her ex-husband and his controlling mother. It took her years to finally get over her addiction, develop a relationship with her kids, and finally leave. But he still controlled their lives. He was constantly trying to take the children away from her and she needed a break. Four days they had been on the road, making their way cross country when everything changed. The sheriff pulled her over, her kids were taken from her and now the sheriff claims they were never with her. She knows the truth and yet no one believes her. Except for Danny, the man who this has happened to be before, and who has been hunting for the people responsible.
                Here and Gone has a really interesting premise and started off strong. The sequence with the children being taken happened in the beginning stages of the novel and readers weren’t aware of how far into addiction Audra was and for what reasons until those facts were used to paint a picture about her. This helped with character development and with developing the plot but some of the aspects of the story felt really forced. None of the other characters were strongly developed. Those behind the kidnapping were given very little motivation outside of monetary reasons and those who demeaned Audra never gave her a chance. I also didn’t care for the world development because not much detail went into creating the setting for the story. In all, I thought this book was ok. It has a satisfying end even if some of the plot dragged a little in the middle of the novel.


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