Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book.  Post contains affiliate links. I may earn commission if you make a purchase. Opinions shared are mine.

I’m on a kick lately, reading books based in Nashville.  Last week it was All We Ever Wanted.  This week, I lost sleep over And Then You Were Gone by R. J. Jacobs.   

This book had me wrapped up in all kinds of stress, doubt, and surprise.  The main character, Emily, is an intelligent psychologist who gets tangled in a couple of murders.  Yes, more than one.  It’s like nothing can go right for poor Emily!  To add to her troubles, she was delicately balanced on the edge of sanity.  Suffering from bipolar disorder meant that she was on a precarious mix of medicine and timing; one wrong move and she was in trouble.  The author of the book is a psychologist as well, and he clearly used his expertise to define Emily’s experience in his book.  Emily’s ability to articulate what she was feeling and thinking added so much to the story.  I was spellbound.

I have to say, for a moment of comic relief, that Emily’s boyfriend was named Paolo.  Forgive my immaturity, but every time I read his name, I thought about Rachel’s Paolo on Friends.  It was hard to take Book Paolo seriously.

(image borrowed from Cosmo)

All in all, though, I really liked And Then You Were Gone.  With its witty banter and likable character, it was the perfect blend of entertaining and suspenseful.  It was easy to figure out “who did it” but the path to the truth was worth the read.