Good As Gone

Good as Gone (2016), a mystery novel by Amy Gentry, tells the story of a family reeling from the kidnapping and subsequent mysterious return of its older daughter, Julie. The book has an unconventional structure, alternating chapters told from the first-person point of view of the mother, Anna, with chapters told from the third-person point of view that tell the events of Julie’s kidnapping in reverse chronological order.

The story starts with Julie’s kidnapping, witnessed by her younger sister, Jane. Jane hides in the closet while a man breaks into the house and forces Julie to go with him at knifepoint. It is several hours before Jane, overcoming her fear, alerts her parents; by then Julie is gone.

Eight years pass with no leads in the case. Jane grows up into a resentful and troubled college student and Anna into a distant parent. One day, a grown woman claiming to be Julie arrives at the house. Anna and her husband, Tom, recognize her, though Anna is dismayed that she cannot feel much joy or relief at the reunion. The police question Julie who says that she has been abused but will not give many details about where she has been.



Eventually, Julie tells a story about being kidnapped by a human trafficking ring and forced into prostitution. She says that she eventually ended up as the mistress of a Mexican drug lord, who one day grew tired of her and ordered his men to kill her. Instead, the men let her go and Julie snuck back into the country and found her way back home.

While the police investigate, Anna tries to reacclimatize Julie to living with her family. They go shopping, and Anna fills her in on what has happened over the past eight years. Though Julie is emotionally disconnected, she does not behave as if she is traumatized, smiling and talking openly. Anna does not think to question this openly. Her relationships with Tom and Jane gradually improve.

However, one day, Julie suffers a miscarriage in the bathroom. In her report to the police, she claimed that the Mexican drug lord had stopped raping her six or seven months ago, but the fetus she miscarries is less than three months old. Anna realizes that Julie has been lying about at least some of the circumstances of her abduction.



Anna attempts to investigate by meeting with Julie’s therapist, Carol Morse. Carol tells Anna that she cannot discuss anything she and Julie have talked about in their sessions, but also informs her that Julie has not been attending her appointments. Shortly after that, Alex Mercado, a private investigator, contacts Anna, suggesting that the returned Julie may not be who she claims she is.

In a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that Julie actually had several identities over the time she was gone. She spent time in foster care, but eventually ran away and worked as an exotic dancer and a singer, all under different aliases. Anna and Alex investigate further and discover that Chuck Maxwell, a local megachurch pastor, may be involved in Julie’s mysterious history. On the days that Julie skips therapy, she is sometimes seen at Maxwell’s massive church, the Gate.

Alex reports to Anna that the remains of a teenage girl have been found in the area near where Julie disappeared. The remains are also about eight years old, indicating that the girl died around the time Julie disappeared. Suspecting that they may be Julie’s remains, Alex urges Anna to get a DNA test for the woman living in her home, but Anna refuses. Alex tries to convince her by reminding her of all the ways Julie’s abduction was atypical and how Anna and Tom were once suspects in her death.



One night, Anna spots Julie sneaking out of the house and follows her. She tails Julie to the Gate, where she overhears her talking to an ex-boyfriend named Cal about how she plans to confront the person who kidnapped her. Anna learns that Maxwell kidnapped Julie after meeting and grooming her online. Julie was held captive with a girl named Charlotte, who was killed by Maxwell, giving Julie a chance to escape. Rather than go back to her family, Julie lived on the street and in various foster homes until finally deciding to return home.

Julie confronts Maxwell, who attempts to kill her. However, Anna intervenes just in time and shoots Maxwell. Julie explains that she had staged her kidnapping with Maxwell, that she was never actually abducted. She did not come home immediately after escaping him because she was ashamed of that and of the abuse she suffered. When she did return, it was only because she knew that Maxwell had resurfaced in the area, and she wanted to confront him. However, at the end of the book, she grateful to be reunited with Anna and her family.