The Gone World

Read The Gone World Storyline:

Critically-acclaimed and fresh off his spectacular debut, Thomas Sweterlitsch delivers an all-new harrowing, urban thriller made possible by science fiction, but rooted firmly in the real world.

March 9th, 1997: A family murdered, a daughter missing. All evidence points to a dangerous suspect: ex-Navy Seal Patrick Mursult, who has vanished without a trace. NCIS Special Agent Shannon Moss is determined to take down Mursult and bring the girl home. But Moss isn't only up against the clock--working together with the FBI, the case runs against walls of uncooperative witnesses and a lack of solid leads. Spanning the coal towns and mountains of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, every moment without a break in the case brings everyone involved closer to tragedy.
Shannon Moss, however, is one of the few federal agents with clearance to investigate strands of the multiverse--to experience possible futures that grow out of the circumstances of the present.
April 19th, 2014: Seventeen years have passed since the Mursult family was killed, but Moss still questions witnesses whose lives have changed far from their fears and tensions that had made them so reticent to talk about the original incident when it was close at hand. Filling in details of the long past case, Moss learns the terrible truth about Mursult and the fate of the missing girl.
Moss returns to the present with the information she needs to close the case, but at what cost? Every decision she makes, every plot she unravels, has terrifying consequences--consequences she sees with every trip to a new future
**Review
“The Gone World will horrify and fascinate readers in equal measure. It is also a primer on cutting-edge theories about time travel and astrophysics...Prepare to be dazzled.”—Pittsburg Post-Gazette
“In Shannon Moss, Sweterlitsch has created a protagonist reminiscent of Clarice Starling—fearless, damaged, driven—and placed her in the most original novel I’ve come across in years. I simply loved The Gone World. Set against a murder investigation spanning multiple realties, this is big-idea fiction that defies genre in the best possible way. Epic and mind-bending in scope, it carries the reader through on beautifully rendered, human moments.”—Blake Crouch, New York Timesbestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy
“Another visionary blend of science fiction and mystery. Set in Western Pennsylvania, an NCIS special agent is called on to solve a mass murder, only to be caught up in a time-travel vortex of deceit and intrigue.”—Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“A fascinating blend that doesn’t skimp on the criminal investigation or the [sci fi]...Describing much more than [the] simple setup would rob the reader of the trippy experience of navigating the time-travel intricacies of this nail-biting speculative thriller.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“A mind-blowing fusion of science fiction, thriller, existential horror, and apocalyptic fiction...The power of this novel is two-fold: Sweterlitsch’s intricately plotted storyline will keep readers on the edges of their seats until the very last pages, and his extended use of bleak imagery coupled with his lyrical writing style make for an intense and unforgettable read...This darkly poetic and profoundly disturbing glimpse into the potential last days of humankind will surely haunt readers’ dreams long after the book is finished.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)**
“At once futuristic, nightmarish and hard-boiled. Once again Tom Sweterlitsch takes readers to another world and back again. Take the trip.”—Stewart O'Nan
“Compelling...The multiple futures and the contemporary setting showcase world-building at its finest, while the characterizations are thought provoking and grittily realistic...A page-turner from beginning to end!”—RT Book Reviews

“In a word: Whoa! Edge-of-your-seat crime fiction that bends both time and mind. Think True Detective meets 12 Monkeys. Throw in the end of the world and you can begin to imagine where this gut-twisting tale will take you. This is cross-genre fiction at its best.”—Sylvain Neuvel, author of *Sleeping Giants
*
About the Author
Tom Sweterlitsch is the author of The Gone World and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. He has a Master's Degree in Literary and Cultural Theory from Carnegie Mellon and worked for twelve years at the Carnegie Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and daughter.