The story is all over the news -- two young acting students found naked and dehydrated in the hills of Malibu, recounting a terrifying story of abduction and abuse. It becomes even more newsworthy a few days later when it's revealed the couple staged the abduction as a kind of "acting exercise." Imagine the headlines when a few weeks later one of the pair is murdered and her partner in crime has gone missing.

Working the case is LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis, with a little help from psychologist Alex Delaware. Clues keep leading the pair back to The Playhouse, where the victim and her partner met. Alex and Milo must sort out fact from fiction while dealing with people who tell lies for a living.

GONE is a fast-paced, engrossing thriller. This being the 20th entry in the Alex Delaware series, relationships are firmly established and not fully explained to the novice reader. While it would be interesting to know how Alex became involved in helping Milo investigate murders, not knowing does not detract from the reader's enjoyment.