At the start of this creepy, adrenaline-fueled thriller from debut author Mary Torjussen, 32-year-old Hannah Monroe returns from a business trip to discover that her boyfriend, Matt Stone, has left her. His belongings are gone from her house. All trace of him has been removed from her phone. Her computer and iPad have been similarly sanitized, all of Matt’s social media accounts have been deactivated, and his telephone number is no longer in service. He even went so far as to quit his job.

Hannah is devastated; Matt was her world, and he gave her no indication that he was unhappy in their relationship. Sadness and humiliation quickly give way to obsession, though, and soon, Hannah is spending every waking moment searching for her wayward ex. Readers can’t help but sympathize—until Hannah starts receiving disturbing texts from unknown numbers and finding evidence of an intruder in her home. While a sane person would be terrified, Hannah becomes inexplicably convinced that Matt is trying to communicate with her and redoubles her efforts to find him.

Fans of Claire Mackintosh and J.T. Ellison will find plenty here to love. The concept is unique, with a clever setup that hooks on page one. Torjussen’s character work is solid and she does an excellent job of placing the reader inside Hannah’s increasingly unhinged mind. The writing is sleek, the pace is propulsive, and the tale’s tension remains palpable throughout.

In a subgenre where third-act twists are the norm, Gone Without a Trace is the rare domestic thriller that simultaneously shocks, challenges convention, and delivers an important social message. Readers will likely be split on how they feel about Torjussen’s big reveal (and whether or not she laid enough groundwork to earn it), but her authorial ambition is laudable, and the book’s final page is guaranteed to chill.