Gone Before Goodbye

Gone Before Goodbye, Harlan Coben and Reese Withespoon, authors; Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Saskia Maarleveld, Peter Ganim, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Kiff VandenHeuvel, and James Fouhey, narrators.
Surgeons Maggie and Mark McCabe are working together with their friend and fellow surgeon Trace Packer, traveling around the world to help those in need by providing their medical expertise and surgical skills. They have all had previous military training together. Now they operate a non-profit company and perhaps, unknowingly at first, have also been helping businesses to launder money. Soon, they also realize they have been helping to arrange organ harvesting. This realization caused rifts in their relationship.
Their company, WorldCures show more Alliance, is engaged in important research to develop an artificial heart. The money coming in funds that project as well, which influences them to stretch the rules and look the other way, without actually acknowledging their wrongdoing. Did they begin to overlook ethical concerns in favor of their personal end-goals?.
When the book began, there was a very exciting and tense scene taking in Libya. Mark was operating on a boy when the area where he was working in was violently attacked. He dismissed everyone and advised them to run to safety, but he refused to leave because his patient would die if he left. Soon, Mark was declared dead. Trace was missing. Maggie was suddenly a widow. Both Maggie and Porkchop, Mark’s father, are despondent. Soon, Maggie is adrift and in debt. She loses her medical license. The company folds. She moves in with her sister Sharon, who is also in debt. Then, one day she gets a call from an old mentor and friend, Dr. Ted Barlow. He is a surgeon for the rich and famous who want discrete services and complete secrecy when they have treatment. In an attempt he claims is to help Maggie, he invites her to join him. She will be paid handsomely. Her debts and her sister’s will be paid off in addition to further financial compensation. He is able to arrange to reinstate her credentials so she can work internationally. Soon, Maggie travels to Russia to perform surgery on an oligarch, Oleg Ragoravich and his mistress, Nadia aka Salema Strauss. Dangerous complications follow, and she soon finds herself in Dubai and then in France. She is trying to find out why she is in so much danger and grows even more determined to find out why her husband was murdered and by whom. She wonders, could he really be alive? She also continues to search for Trace. He might have answers. Her father-in-law, Porkchop, a throwback in times, a motorcyclist, is helping her.
Maggie alternates between someone who seems quite naïve, placing herself thoughtlessly in danger, but then turning into somewhat of a superhero. After surviving violent attempts on her life and sustaining injuries from which she always seems to recover to fight on another day, she again puts herself in even more danger, yet again escaping.
I wondered about the use of nicknames and upon doing some research, I discovered it was a common device used by the author Harlan Coben. I wondered if they were also used to emphasize the attempt to disguise one’s real identity. That is a theme in the cosmetic surgery business for which Maggie was hired. I also thought it might emphasize the more important characters, but one nicknamed Porkchop played a very important part in the novel, so he may have been an outlier.
Although the book created interest and tension, it did not create a feeling of authenticity. Many of the scenes required the suspension of disbelief. I think the novel intersected between romance and chick lit, diminishing the mystery. The premises of the book were very worthy subjects to discuss, however. How far would someone go to save the world from itself? How far would someone go to avenge a loved one’s death? How much danger is one willing to accept to save another’s life? What makes a hero? What makes a villain? In the end, no character was exactly who they pretended to be, and each seemed to have a major flaw. Although many scenes seemed repetitive, as was some of the dialogue, the ending was filled with unexpected surprises. show less

A female physician, Maggie, is recruited to perform plastic surgery on a secret patient. One problem, she lost her license to practice. However, with enough money, things can change. So, she travels to perform not only this surgery, but also surgery on his mistress. She notices a tattoo on the woman similar to one on her own husband. Along with her father-in-law, Porkchop, Maggie tries to escape the jaws of the conspiracy she has unwittingly discovered, and the people she thought she trusted aren't necessarily the good guys.
I was a bit disappointed, and definitely confused, at the end.

A fun page-turning adventure, complete with a Russian oligarch, Dubai nightlife, a motorcycle club, and open-heart surgery. The intrigue and swashbuckling are tempered with some deeper themes of grief, ambition, and revenge. There's also some contemplation about the benefits and dangers of over-reliance on technology to fix our problems.

The audiobook is excellent, with Reese Witherspoon really breathing life into her narration of the main character.

Great premise and I wanted to love this as I do most of Coben’s books, but this one fell a little short. The novel's promise was one "filled with global medical intrigue and massive corruption, all centered around a woman whose superpower was her surgical prowess". What I liked, the characters were well developed, the science and medical information was compelling, and the story moved along pretty quickly. What I didn’t like, trying too hard to be confusing to the point of my almost not caring. Who was good? Who was bad? Who knew what and when did they know it? I’m still not quite sure of these answers. And the ending left me completely confused, even after reading the epilogue three times. If you figured it out, please drop that show more explanation first me here. I hate reading a book and having the ending leave me wondering what I just read. show less

Maggie McCabe is a highly skilled combat surgeon. She is grieving for her husband Marc and has been struck off as a surgeon. Maggie is approached by a very rich individual who wants her to perform surgery, no questions asked for a very high fee. She agrees but then her patient disappears.

This is another hyped book and again I'm tucked in to reading it, and again I'm disappointed.

I've read a few books previously by Harlan Coben and enjoyed them for what they are. This time he has collaborated with Reese Witherspoon. Not sure that this actually worked.

The story was interesting to begin with and there was one particular storyline that held my attention as many times I was going to DNF. The story was fast paced but I found it too tedious show more and ridiculous which then left me feeling bored.

Would I read Harlan Coben again in the future, well yes I would. He is a well loved and respected author but don't think he needs to partner with anyone to write a book. show less

Fast paced international conspiracy thriller.

Grief, betrayal, and a high stakes conspiracy entangle a disgraced former Army surgeon, Maggie McCabe, in a complicated plot involving the wealthy elite. Maggie is barely holding herself together after losing her medical license and her husband. Drowning in debt and facing an uncertain future, her former mentor gets her a super secret job as a concierge surgeon to a Russian oligarch. When she arrives at the highly secure location, she’s told that she is to perform two surgeries, take her money, and leave. Absolute non disclosure.

I could go on with the synopsis since what I’ve read on product pages is wildly inaccurate or misleading, so I’ll let the reader find out the rest. No spoilers show more but there’s definitely a large cast of characters and a lot going on.

I liked the collaboration between these two authors as I have lately gotten bored with Harlan Coben who seems to write mostly the same formulaic standalones. I would love to know the extent of Witherspoon’s contribution, but, regardless, it seems to work with the two of them. I found it interesting that the main character in this was female as that is not typically the case for Coben.

I would say this novel reads like an action film. The Maggie character is nothing short of amazing along with being beautiful and resourceful with her daring escapades. Maybe a bit too much so? The Porkchop character was almost a cliche and made for a very convenient wingman. There wasn’t much dimension to any of them, but since the main focus was twists and revelations, one can ignore that and of course logic goes out the window. So most of it was implausible, but that often happens with conspiracy stories. Emotional depth was attempted with the exploration of Maggie’s grief and her interaction with the grief bot was interesting as an aside.

So we have a wounded heroine who, against all odds, gets the answers she needs and the closure she craved.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book. The narrators are a full cast recording and they all did a fantastic job of bringing this book to life and creating a really immersive experience. Reese Witherspoon voices the protagonist, Maggie McCabe and her performance was nothing short of amazing. Chris Pine, Saskia Maarleveld, Peter Ganim, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Kiff VandenHeuvel, and James Fouhey voice the remaining characters (some doing multiple roles) with appropriate tone, accents, and dramatic flair. Don’t miss out! show less

The inspiration behind the story is admirable and I usually love Coben's writing style but it all felt a bit sloppy in this book. The artificial intelligence sideline plot is thought-provoking but so much of the story is wildly unbelievable and characterization is inconsistent.