Already Gone

Jake Reese thought he had put his troubled past behind him. Then two men violently attack him in the parking lot of a bar and cut off his finger. Suddenly, his quiet existence as a writing teacher at a small college looks to be in jeopardy. He has just married the love of his life, and they live in a beautiful Tudor not far from campus. Jack doesn’t want to believe that the peacefulness he has worked so hard to create could disappear in an instant, but the police are not exactly inspiring confidence that the assailants will be caught. Despite his better instincts, Jake is seriously thinking of reaching out to the hard-core criminal who mentored him as a young man and, he is convinced, would find the culprits ASAP. In his third novel (after The Grove, 2010), Rector keeps his plot churning and his prose lean in a narrative that contains both riveting forward momentum and an unsettling view of marriage and friendship. The writing is ever so stylish, and the characters are deeply flawed—an irresistible combination.— Joanne Wilkinson

“Swift and savage and smart, Rector’s thriller delivers high tension with low-key ease, underscoring the way bad karma can disrupt a good life. Literary in the best, most unpretentious sense, Already Gone is superior pulp in the grand James M. Cain tradition.” ―Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition

“Already Gone is a terse, moody thriller by a novelist who I consider to be one of the very best new writers to enter the scene in a very long time…John Rector is a game changer.” ―Spinetingler Magazine

“At a time when most suspense is more filler than thriller, John Rector’s third novel drags the genre kicking and screaming back to its roots. Already Gone is a thriller in its purest and most cinematic incarnation―not a word or emotion wasted, it’s a taut, nerve-jangling ride that barrels towards an electrifying conclusion, which will leave you shaken, stirred, and above all else eagerly awaiting the next Rector novel.” ―Ray Banks author of Saturday’s Child and Gun

“John Rector really knows how to pour on the intensity and leave his readers with a smile on their faces. Rector has written a fast-moving thriller that will take you on a trip through the life of a man who, in his youth, inflicted pain and suffering…Now his past has come back to haunt him and he’s paying a big price.” ―DJ Weaver, Suspense Magazine

Praise for Wall Street Journal bestselling author John Rector

”John Rector piques our curiosity at every page turn and leaves us hanging at each chapter ending.” ―New York Journal of Books

“It’s time to get on board, before Rector stops being ‘the next big thing’ and becomes the phenomenon he deserves to be.” ―Los Angeles Review of Books

“Swift and savage and smart, Rector [writes]…superior pulp in the grand James M. Cain tradition.” ―Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition

“…One of the very best new writers to enter the scene in a very long time…John Rector is a game changer.” ―Spinetingler Magazine

“A bestselling author who doesn’t make us embarrassed to have his books on our shelves.” ―The Nerd of Noir

“Rector brings some really impressive writing and strong characters into a genre that is often teeming with contrived, cringe-worthy dialogue and flat, unoriginal characters.” ―Baltimore Reads

“[Rector’s] consistent excellence in storytelling is already proving his calling card.” ―Books and Writers

“John Rector writes a lean, mean mystery.” ―Lincoln Journal Star

“If Rector came out with a book tomorrow, it would be at the top of my ‘to-be-read’ list by nightfall! He has refined his craft, opening new possibilities for the future. Wherever he goes, I’ll follow.” ―Grift Magazine

John Rector is the #1 bestselling author of The Grove, Lost Things, The Cold Kiss, and the International Thriller Award Nominated Already Gone. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and won several awards including the Porterhouse Prize.

He lives in Omaha, Nebraska.