For Tomasetti, who lost his family three years previous to murder and Kate, who left the plain way after a horrible experience as a teen, the case hits what could be too close to home — which, given their personalities, makes them work even harder. When a girl from Kate's own town falls victim and they still have no solid leads, the entire team begins to lose hope, but sometimes it's the thinnest thread that leads an investigator to the perpetrator ... and, sometimes, that investigator is by herself when everything hits the fan.

A drastic improvement over 2011's Breaking Silence, Gone Missing is fast-paced, suspenseful, and at times terrifying.  I have only two complaints, the primary of which is Castillo's tendency to repeat important phrases, facts, and emotional scenes.  The second – that the book is only 275 pages long – seems a little petty, but I like my mysteries a little more drawn out. 

Fans of the series who have been waiting for a little more insight into the man in Kate's life will be disappointed, but at least more is made out of the sometimes-awkward and never simple relationship between Tomasetti and Kate.  Anyone who found Breaking Silence unworthy will find that Gone Missing redeems what we all knew to be true: that the Kate Burkholder series is kick-ass, even if it stumbles occasionally.

--Sarrah Knight