Gone: Volume 1

Michael Grant

May 2009 · Gone Book 1 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

The first in New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant's breathtaking dystopian sci-fi saga, Gone is a page-turning thriller that invokes the classic The Lord of the Flies along with the horror of Stephen King.

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else. . . .

“A potent mix of action and thoughtfulness—centered around good and evil, courage and cowardice—renders this a tour de force that will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and utterly breathless.” —ALA Booklist (starred review)

Read the entire series:

• Gone
• Hunger
• Lies
• Plague
• Fear
• Light
• Monster
• Villain
• Hero

Ratings and reviews

This is a great story ruined COMPLETELY by what is quite possibly the worst 'ending' ever. This story could have been wrapped up and considered a modern sci-fi classic IMO; instead, it turned out to be an intentional play at getting the reader to purchase the next book in the series. I feel insulted and a little ripped off and the suspension of disbelief is shattered, ensuring I definitely will NOT be reading anymore of Grant's works.

For a while there i got confused with the dome. Then suddenly a lot of kids got superhuman power and the storyline went downhill from there although it never was good from the start anyway. I got to a few pages out of curiousity and give up. Not much different from other coming of age books. Once you have read one you probably have read all. Definitely not my cup of tea.

I got recommended this book by Play Store for being like "Lord of the Flies". Sure, the theme of kids being left alone and in charge of the world resembles the original, but I found the writing more like the TV series "Under the Dome" - linear characters and a storyline unpredictable only when bordering the absurd. Quick read and engaging in parts, unlike the TV series. Well said, rating system: "It's OK".

About the author

Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, the Messenger of Fear series, the Magnificent Twelve series, and the Front Lines trilogy, has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn’t tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, with whom he cowrote the wildly popular Animorphs series. You can visit him online at www.themichaelgrant.com and follow him on Twitter @MichaelGrantBks.