MRC Recommends Going Gone! by Anita Dickason

MRC RECOMMENDS: Going Gone! by Anita Dickason

“…an enthralling action adventure that will have the reader racing around the greater Austin, Texas, area…”
– The Mystery Review Crew

Going Gone! A Tracker Novel

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Review of Going Gone! by Anita Dickason

Going Gone! is an enthralling action adventure that will have the reader racing around the greater Austin, Texas, area as the good guys tangle with the bad guys to save a group of kidnapped children before time runs out. In this second book in her Tracker series, author Anita Dickason kidnaps the reader’s attention and imagination and holds them until the very end of the story.

The story begins by latching onto the actions of Austin-cop-turned-private-investigator Kerry Branson. Driving in rural Texas, Kerry happens upon a very dirty young boy who runs out in front of her truck, asking her to keep the bad man away. After talking with the child, she leans that he’s the kidnapped son of a U.S. Senator.

Kerry calls her boss, who then calls in the FBI. However, when it seems the bad men know of Kerry’s every move, she suspects there’s a mole in the FBI, so she brings in some of her friends in the Austin PD.

What ensues from this point can only be described as a nail-biter and page-turner. As Kerry and her team valiantly try to return the boy safely to his parents, trying to stay at least one step ahead of the bad men, some children of other high-ranking politicians begin to disappear. But then the team learns what will happen to the children in only a matter of days, and it is despicable! And the clock is ticking.

Although there is naturally some violence in a story like this, to her credit the author did not get “down into the weeds” on what was physically happening to the children. However, Dickason did not hold back on the tenacity of the team to find the children before time runs out.

The description throughout the story does a great job of allowing the reader to share in the senses of the characters. For example, in describing how a character felt as the children’s deadline approached, the author wrote, “It wasn’t often he ever felt the sharp thrust of terror.” The word usage was perfect to convey the emotion.

Thankfully, the author included some light-hearted banter here and there to allow the reader to come up for air. There’s even a small subplot that dangles potential romance between Kerry and one of the other team members. However, all of this is done without taking anything away from the pace of the story. 

In our opinion, the pacing throughout is borderline perfection. It is the pacing that keeps the reader turning those pages, yet the same pacing will likely make the reader want to skip ahead to see what happens. (The threat is real.)

The character arcs are appropriate and well-established. The book is well-edited, and the ending brings closure.

There’s just something different about a story involving law enforcement written by an author with significant law enforcement experience. It has that indescribable something that just makes it better. So is the case with this story and this author.

About Anita Dickason