Once again, no surpirse....Hyde has written all the way around a topic, covering in detail every aspect of the issue, from at least three points of view that are closely connected but then we also have what happens to the other people , in widening circles, who are also affected by the situations these three woman experienced. Norma is a gem of a character and as usual, I picture Catherine Ryan Hyde right inside her, directing everythinig that happens....she IS Norma, in a sense..Where does Hyde's own remarkable ability to write, always, about how we WISH the world would work, with common sense and just letting people live their lives without the burdens of cruelty and just plain meanness. There is comfort, always, in reading a Catherinie Ryan Hyde book. ( )

A Different Kind of Gone by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Thought provoking look at the way life can change by making one choice versus another.

What I liked:
* Norma: bar tender, divorced, mother of two sons, volunteers for search and rescue, has a horse and two hounds, gruff, quiet, a bit of a loner, wise, cares more than she seems to, has secrets, in her fifties when the story begins
* Betty: tends bar with Norma, outgoing, warm hearted, open, the opposite of Norma, good friend, similar in age to Norma
* Jill and Wanda: both suffered abuse at the hands of the same man, managed to escape, benefited from knowing Norma, and matured quite a bit in the book
* Norma’s backstory that comes out and helps explain why she makes the choices she does related to Jill and Wanda
* The search and rescue component of the story, Norma’s horse Fred and her hounds Lonny and Gracie, and the close bond between animals and human that are seen throughout the book
* The way abuse was handled, how it impacted more than one character in the story, its ripple effect, and the mention of why some who go missing get more airtime than others
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* That it made me think, feel, and care about the outcome
* Reading a new to me author I will read again
* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about abuse and the impact it has

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake union Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

The one thing about Catherine Ryan Howard’s books, they will make you think about a moral dilemma. What WOULD you do?

Domestic violence is front and center in this book. A young woman is missing in the mountains, a suspected victim of domestic violence. A mature woman, with secrets of her own, is on the search and rescue team. What happens next will have you thinking about how you would handle things. A beautifully written book about women helping women, the cycle of abuse and having the courage to do the right thing. But, as we all know, doing the right thing is not always easy or popular. Characters are relatable, hard working, every day people just trying to get by. Situations brought forth are unfortunately too common. You just never know what secrets your neighbor is hiding. I thoroughly enjoyed this thought provoking, fast read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest opinion. ( )

Catherine Ryan Hyde really tackled multiple issues in “A Different Kind of Gone” and the problem is that one spiraled into another and then each had to be parsed, examined, explored and explained. I admit to typecasting the protagonist Norma Gallagher. Hyde has so exquisitely imbued Gallagher with such quiet intelligence that I had to rethink the stereotype I planted on her. But Hyde is a master of expounding on the everyday profound. I really like her and the character that she has created. Gallagher’s thoughts are so basic, so real, so conflicted:

“This is the problem with being an adult…… You’re always having to make a decision that someone will like and someone else will hate. You’re always having to betray someone. Decide one thing, betray one party. Turn around and decide the other thing, and get ready to be told you just burned the people on the other side. Because people’s needs are always in conflict. There’s no such thing as everybody happy all at once.”

I think this is the gist and premise circling at all times in this book. A parent realizes their child may be in life threatening danger - what happens next? How far do you live the truth? How far do you live a lie? Can you live with the consequences? Can you live with not righting the wrong? Ends / means who and what justifies each? So many questions, so many scenarios, and Catherine Ryan Hyde doesn’t back away from anything. A very deep, disquieting story that had me thinking long after I turned the last page and pondered the book club questions. Great writing, important issues and maybe just a slight tilt at a not so old major news story that gripped us in the news and papers for weeks.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a copy. ( )

My sincere thanks to Lake Union and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read A Different Kind of Gone and give my opinion of it in the following review.

It has been a while since I've read a Catherine Ryan Hyde book, but I have enjoyed many in the past. This one sounded interesting so was excited to give it a try. In this book, Norma is a lady who likes to speak her mind and has been through quite a bit in her lifetime. She helps with search and rescue and is called to help look for a young woman who has disappeared. She finds the girl, but is begged to not tell anyone and help her get to her parents. She fears her boyfriend will kill her if he finds her. Norma has a big decision to make, will she go along with this? What happens when the search is continued and no one else knows that the girl is safe? What happens with the boyfriend? These are all questions that find answers as this book twists and turns along. I found myself wondering what I would do in the same situation. The choices made in this book are not easy. The relationships Norma forms and the way she deals with her feelings about how she has handled things are deep and raw. It was kind of an intense book, but I was drawn in by it. The author handles serious ethical issues with care. I highly recommend. ( )