Gone (Gone, 1)

by Michael Grant

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061448788
• Release Date: April 2014
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.4" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Good book but

This series is great. I've read it before and it's that good that I wanted a copy of my own. My problem is with this website which I also love but the cover wasn't the one shown. I also picked very good and the books been written in and very worn.

Best series I’ve read

Best book I’ve read in a while, it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, the characters were amazing and you grew fond and hated others really quick, the whole series in general had me crying and irritated

The Greatest Book

I absolutely love this book. I was addicted on the very first page. Michael Grant creates a beautiful and gritty world, and you end up loving every single character. I have read all the books a million times and never get tired of them. Trust me when I say GET THESE BOOKS!!

Excellent Debut Novel

Gone by Michael Grant is a truly fascinating novel. One moment Sam is sitting in school listening to the teacher drone on and the next minute everyone over 13 has disappeared. Sam then takes a journey not only to find out what has happened, but a journey to overcome his own short-coming and fears. Mr Grant writing is very easy and I was hooked after just a few pages. Twists and turns abound, and I was left guessing up until the end which is left wide open for a sequel which I highly anticipate. Mature themes like leadership, death, growing up, survival, and others make for wonderful character development and an excellent story. I highly recommend this one!

Brilliant and un-put-downable

Fair warning: I was the editor of this book once upon a time, though I have since left publishing and have no stake in this novel. I just love it and think everyone should read it. It's that good. (Also, I want to counter-balance the malicious efforts of someone else, a spamming geek of a so-called "author" who has jealously tried to tear down Michael Grant's achievement here by posting tons of fake negative reviews.) Some books grab you from the first chapter, or from the first few pages. GONE grabs you from the first SENTENCE and doesn't let up until you turn the final page. It does this not through cheap tricks but through basic good storytelling. You care about the characters and you want to know what happens to them and you'll stay up all night reading in order to find out. The story is described elsewhere, but here it is again: For some mysterious reason, everyone over the age of fourteen has disappeared. The kids of San Perdido are left to fend for themselves--to figure out how to ration food, how to deal with violence, but mostly how to deal with each other. Because at the same time the adults disappeared, many of the kids are manifesting strange and often deadly powers. And not all of these mutated kids are sweet and reasonable. There are elements here that readers will recognize, elements that a lot of television shows and writers have used before--think of LOST or HEROES or Stephen King. (The writers of those shows and King also use a lot of familiar elements. There truly is nothing new under the sun.) But what Michael Grant shares with those writers is an ability to take an idea and make it new, and to combine lots of ideas into something sustained and original and awesome. It's a great book. Can't wait to see what comes next!

Lord of the Flies in a Left Behind world that turns Wild in the Streets

Abracadabra anyone over thirteen years old simply vanished. Preadolescent kids are stunned when they realize there is no one ordering them about. Soon that shock turns to fear as a tough mentality begins to create a social Darwinist environs. With the help of his kinetic power, Coates Academy charming delinquent Caine takes control of Perdido Beach with an iron rule. Sam also has power but he is reluctant to use it as he blames himself for the disappearance. Whereas some of the children look to townie Sam to take charge, Caine tightens his hold through his academy Freaks minion. War in Fallout Alley Youth Zone between the two sides is imminent; though turning fourteen next week means Sam is GONE. The obvious immediate perception is that of the Lord of the Flies in a Left Behind world that turns Wild in the Streets. The story line explores the reactions of the young when the older generations are suddenly GONE. Michael Grant targets teens, but does not dumb down his apocalyptic thriller, which will delight his audience especially with knowing what Sam knows will happen to him shortly; as he has one week left before he vanishes. Although he prefers not to get involved, he is a natural leader; as is Caine although their values differ. Thus good neighbor Sam expects an OK Corral like battle against Caine that he believes will determine the future, which he hopes is his legacy once he is GONE while his adversary's bully mentality is based on maximize your pleasure at the expense of others in order to live for today. Harriet Klausner

Wow! Fantastic!!

Welcome to the FAYZ, short for Fallout Alley Youth Zone. There's no one who's over the age of fourteen; they've all "poofed," they're just gone. But the strangeness only starts there. There's a circular wall, or maybe dome, surrounding the land within a ten-mile radius from the nuclear plant. The wall is impenetrable and burns you if you touch it. There are strange mutations in the animals, such as seagulls with talons, winged snakes, and talking coyotes. Some kids have also developed strange powers. The rules of the world are changing, and Sam is running out of time before he turns fourteen and is bound to poof. The kids from Coates Academy come down to the town of Perdido Beach, and one of them, named Caine, basically takes over. He acts as if he's benevolent, but people are dying, and it's because his sheriff and Captain Orc's little gang of bullies keep beating people up who break the rules imposed on them by Caine. And while some of these rules are actually valid, others prevent people from gaining any power to oppose Caine. Sam, Quinn, Edilio, Astrid, and Little Pete find themselves thrown together for survival. Sam knows that something is off about Caine, and he also has a power to shoot fire from his hands. They are constantly running from Caine or one of his allies. They eventually meet a girl Lana, who is a healer, and discover that Little Pete has special abilities of his own. When they save a bunch of kids with power from Caine, who had them imprisoned with their hands cemented in blocks, the kids join their movement to take Caine down. The struggle escalates, and all their lives are at stake. When I first read the summary for this book, I was extremely intrigued. This new world is almost like a parallel universe. I really enjoyed the references to Harry Potter, Star Wars, Hollywood, Agent Orange (the bad), and other literary works. Reading into Astrid and Sam trying to figure out where they were and what was happening to their world was very stimulating. There is a lot of exciting action in this novel, and even though the kids' powers sometimes seemed like they were taken from the movie The Incredibles, I still enjoyed it. I wanted to cheer and scream at the ending of the novel, and I really hope there will be a sequel to this book. Gone was simply an amazing book; I don't think I can stress that fact enough, and I recommend it to everyone. This book is very thick, and I hope its length will not discourage anyone from reading this fantastic story.

In A World Turned Terrifying, Good and Bad Leaders -- Age 13

Remember that controversial reality-TV show where they put a bunch of kids in a ghost town and let them run their own world, without any adults? Whatever happened to that? In reality, you can go only so far without breaking written and unwritten laws; in imagination, you can go all the way, and that's what GONE is: a fully imagined world in which all the adults have vanished and kids are forced to survive on their own, as the world around them mutates in terrifyingly unfamiliar, menacing ways. What happens? Well, inevitably, leaders emerge, and to me the heart of this book -- and what makes it far more than just an exciting thrill ride -- is the emergence of two leaders, a good one and a bad one. It's not as simple as white and black hats, either: the "good" leader responds very reluctantly, though at last very stirringly, to the call, and the "bad" leader is an attractive and recognizably hurting individual. And they're both 14 years old! And they're more intimately connected to each other than you might imagine. The more this book sinks into me, the more I connect it with the upcoming election. Our world is mutating in terrifying ways, and we're about to choose someone to lead us into the unknown. What are the qualities of a good leader? Who has them? GONE is an allegory of this moment, at the same time as it creates a gripping, spooky, and strangely seductive world all its own.