Long Time Gone by Gregory Stout

An intriguing cold case about a missing person four years gone, Long Time Gone blends suspense into a traditional PI novel to keep the pages turning. In this fourth book of the Jackson Gamble series, Author Gregory Stout nicely sets up the premise for this book with how difficult it is to disappear with today’s technology tracking us. When Sarah Bergman enlists the help of PI Jackson Gamble to search for her husband, Isaac, a college professor, he wonders why she is so eager to find him after all these years. 

Stout’s description of people and places provides a vivid picture of Nashville alongside the college campus and life in academia. Not everything is as ideal as the Catholic Saint Bernadette University would have people think. Rumors of infidelity and wrongful dismissal pale at the underlying scandal no one wants to talk about. The fact that there are no leads in Isaac’s disappearance doesn’t deter Gamble from pursuing the case. Even when Sarah is murdered, he feels he owes it to her to find out what happened to her husband.

Jackson Gamble is a likeable character with a strong sense of integrity, but also someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the ones he cares about. An ex-cop, Gamble isn’t against bending the rules if that’s what it takes to ensure justice is done. And when his digging into people’s business puts him in danger, it doesn’t stop his quest for the truth. 

The well-woven plot involves more than one case and several mysteries. A penny-ante criminal links to organized crime, which connects to Gamble’s case. A side of romance, drama, and social injustice add to the complex world Gamble navigates. Author Gregory Stout expertly juggles a myriad of criminal activities alongside his main character’s own personal issues, pulling together several sub-stories into the main narrative and leaving the reader satisfied with how the pieces fit together.

There is no end to surprises and twists in this novel, and the ending includes a shocker that will stun you and have you asking what is next for Jackson Gamble and his love interest, Maggie.