After She'd Gone

By: Alex Dahl

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

Unsettling, gripping and darkly glamorous, After She'd Gone is a timely psychological thriller about the danger of beauty, the lure of power, and the fierce love of a mother for her son.

Liv loves her son, Adrian. That's why she keeps a low profile in Sandefjord, Norway: just another tired single mother, trying to make ends meet. She has never told her son about the secrets she carries or the life she lived before he was born. She will do anything to keep him safe.

Anastasia's life is transformed when she moves from Russia to Milan and starts modelling. Suddenly, she's rich. She's desired. But then she begins to see the dark side of her new life: the high-pressure catwalk shows; the glamorous, drink-fuelled after-parties; the sun-baked Italian palazzos owned by powerful men. She will do anything to escape.

Selma is a feature journalist in Oslo. She's horrified to uncover an unsavoury and dangerous underworld when she writes an article looking into the modelling industry. Then, a woman goes missing in Sandefjord...

©2022 Alex Dahl (P)2022 W F Howes

Critic reviews

"A true Scandi-noir thriller." (Daily Mail)

"It will leave you gasping for air." (Rachael Blok)

"Tense and twisty." (Woman's Own)

Disappointing and Dizzying

I am a huge fan of Alex Dahl so perhaps my expectations were set too high.

I enjoyed Alex Dahl's “The Boy at the Door” and the author's "Playdate" would have earned 10 stars if this was an option.

The publisher's blurb calls this book "unsettling and gripping" and although many aspects of the book were extremely unsettling, it was NOT gripping.

The book was told from four POVs and different time periods with multiple storylines and, quite frankly, at times the book was more "dizzying" than gripping.

I commend the author for exposing the dark world of modeling and human trafficking.

Although I enjoyed the twist at the end, it was a twist that I had predicted.

Helen Keely did a superb job with the narration. Since the book was told from four POVs, it would have benefited from four different narrators. If so, perhaps it would have been less "dizzying".