From Publishers Weekly
Margolin's gripping, gruesome whodunit about vanishing Portland housewives was a PW bestseller. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Four women disappear from Hunter's Point, New York, before the murdered bodies of Sandra Lake and her six-year-old daughter are found. Next to Mrs. Lake are a black rose and a note that reads, "Gone, but not forgotten." Ten years later women are vanishing from Portland, Oregon. In each of their homes is a black rose and a note identical to that found in Hunter's Point. After hearing about the New York case and its possible connection to his, Portland's district attorney, Alan Page, arrests wealthy Martin Darius for the torture and murder of the people whose bodies are found on his property. Meanwhile, Betsy Tannenbaum, a rising star in the legal profession and Darius's lawyer, discovers incriminating evidence against him. Margolin combines the riveting suspense of the traditional thriller with the current legal thriller to create a first-rate novel containing all the best elements of a mystery as well. The pat denouement is the only negative in this thoroughly enticing book. Essential for all fiction collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/93.- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OhioCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Whitton's reading of this gripping story of a clever serial killer is as brilliant as Margolin's writing. J.A.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
A rash of grisly torture/murders of upscale Portland, Oregon, housewives--each kidnapped by someone who leaves behind a black rose and a note saying ``Gone, but not forgotten''--turns out to have unholy roots in an identical series of killings across the country a decade earlier. Martin Darius, the megalomaniac developer accused of the crimes, swears he's innocent. But Nancy Gordon, an ex-detective from Hunter's Point (New York) homicide, tells his lawyer, Betsy Tannenbaum, that he's Peter Lake, whom she's convinced was behind the Hunter's Point killings--including those of Lake's wife and young daughter. Betsy's own investigation points to a coverup nine years ago: Lake was pardoned by police and a governor desperate to find starving kidnap victims that Nancy Gordon never mentioned to Betsy. Now that that governor's nomination to the Supreme Court could be jeopardized by any whiff of the pardon, Darius admits to Betsy that, yes, he's Lake and that he did indeed kill those women back then--but not the current victims, whom he insists obsessive Gordon has murdered in order to frame him. Gordon, meanwhile, has disappeared, and a third suspect has surfaced: Samantha Reardon, a surviving Hunter's Point victim whose graphically detailed captivity may be fueling a psychotic thirst for revenge. ``Can you imagine a case you wouldn't take?'' a reporter asks Betsy about her repulsive client--but in fact Betsy's ethical dilemma is only the beginning of her troubles. Margolin's writing won't win any prizes (``Darius was in Betsy's soul''; he's ``not just a bad person, but pure evil'')--but this slick, pulpish first novel will keep an awful lot of people up until dawn. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"Best fiction book of the year? Easy.Gone, But Not Forgotten keeps the twists and turns coming a breakneck speed."
--Larry King

"One scary story...it takes a really crafty storyteller to put people on the edge of their seats and keep them there. But Phillip Margolin does just that."
--Chicago Tribune

"This gripping, page-turning crime thriller is engrossing, intelligent and well-crafted...Gone, But Not Forgotten is the book you will want to tel your friends about."
--Jean Auel

"Absolutely mesmerizing."
--Cosmopolitan


Review
"Best fiction book of the year? Easy.Gone, But Not Forgotten keeps the twists and turns coming a breakneck speed."
--Larry King

"One scary story...it takes a really crafty storyteller to put people on the edge of their seats and keep them there. But Phillip Margolin does just that."
--Chicago Tribune

"This gripping, page-turning crime thriller is engrossing, intelligent and well-crafted...Gone, But Not Forgotten is the book you will want to tel your friends about."
--Jean Auel

"Absolutely mesmerizing."
--Cosmopolitan


Book Description
The first time Russ went into the bedroom, he missed the rose and the note. His back was to the bed when he stripped off his clothes and hung them in the closet. When fifteen more minutes passed without Vicky, Russ went back into the bedroom to phone her best friend. That was when he saw the note on the pillow on the immaculately made bed. There was a black rose lying across the plain, white paper. Written in a careful hand were the words "Gone, But Not Forgotten."


From the Publisher
"Best fiction book of the year? Easy.Gone, But Not Forgotten keeps the twists and turns coming a breakneck speed."
--Larry King"One scary story...it takes a really crafty storyteller to put people on the edge of their seats and keep them there. But Phillip Margolin does just that."
--Chicago Tribune"This gripping, page-turning crime thriller is engrossing, intelligent and well-crafted...Gone, But Not Forgotten is the book you will want to tel your friends about."
--Jean Auel"Absolutely mesmerizing."
--Cosmopolitan


From the Inside Flap
The first time Russ went into the bedroom, he missed the rose and the note. His back was to the bed when he stripped off his clothes and hung them in the closet. When fifteen more minutes passed without Vicky, Russ went back into the bedroom to phone her best friend. That was when he saw the note on the pillow on the immaculately made bed. There was a black rose lying across the plain, white paper. Written in a careful hand were the words "Gone, But Not Forgotten."

ANNOTATION

Portland is cloaked in a shadow of fear by a series of disappearances identical to those ten years earlier on the other side of the country. As a female defense attorney receives a mysterious retainer from a multi-millionaire developer, the District Attorney begins a manhunt for a killer who leaves no traces . . . except for a black rose and a card reading "Gone, but not forgotten."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Portland, Oregon, the wives of several prominent businessmen have disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a black rose and a note with a simple message: "Gone, But Not Forgotten." An identical series of disappearances occurred in Hunter's Point, New York, ten years ago - but the killer was caught, the case was closed and the special "rose killer" task force was disbanded. Betsy Tannenbaum, a Portland wife and mother who has gained national recognition as a feminist defense attorney, is retained by multimillionaire Portland developer Martin Darius - for no apparent reason. Nancy Gordon, a homicide detective for the Hunter's Point Police Department and an original member of the "rose killer" task force, hasn't slept a full night in ten years, haunted by nightmares of a sadistic killer who, she swears, is still out there... Alan Page, the Portland district attorney, trying to make sense of the sudden series of disappearances, opens his front door one evening to find Nancy Gordon on his doorstep - determined to tell him a story he won't soon forget. Across the country, in Washington, D.C., the President of the United States has just selected United States Senator Raymond Colby to be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In a private meeting, Colby assures the President there are no skeletons in his closet.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Images of gruesome violence pervade this gripping tale of abduction and serial murder. Affluent housewives in Portland, Ore., are disappearing without a trace. In each case the only clue is a black rose and a note reading, ``Gone, but Not Forgotten.'' Upstate New York police detective Nancy Gordon arrives to tell Portland's DA of a similar series of murders she had investigated back East. After implicating powerful local developer Martin Darius in the crimes, Gordon herself disappears. When several mutilated bodies are found at a construction site owned by Darius, police take him into custody. Darius's newly retained attorney, criminal lawyer Betsy Tannenbaum--a zealous advocate of women's rights and a successful defender of battered wives--begins her own search, which leaves her wondering if Darius is a psychotic killer on the loose, or the victim of a government cover-up involving the President's nominee for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Margolin ( The Last Innocent Man ) writes with breakneck pacing and just the right injection of lurid detail to make chills race down readers' spines. If his narrative is a bit choppy and some of the plot twists are telegraphed too clearly, he nonetheless delivers a top-notch whodunit with an explosive and satisfying conclusion. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection; major ad/promo; author tour. (Oct.)

BookList - Wes Lukowsky

Betsy Tannenbaum is a defense attorney of growing reputation in Portland, Oregon. Her specialty is battered wives who've retaliated against their abusive husbands. Local multimillionaire contractor Martin Darius puts Betsy on retainer for crimes he "may" be charged with in the future. Wives of local businessmen are being kidnapped; the only clues are a black rose and a note saying "Gone, But Not Forgotten" left at each scene. A police detective arrives from New York with evidence that Darius is actually Peter Lake, a New York attorney who was a suspect in a series of similar incidents 10 years earlier. Darius admits to Betsy his involvement in the first set of crimes but insists he's being framed for the current Portland kidnappings. Betsy is put in the position of defending an admitted monster who has shown that he prefers to torture his victims before he disembowels them. This is an excellent thriller in the "Silence of the Lambs" mold, but what sets it apart from similar efforts is the use of choice as a plot device. Throughout, good people are forced by circumstance to choose between two evils. How can one live with a decision when the choice is between today's suffering victims versus tomorrow's potential victims? The characters agonize because the results--whatever the choice--are the seeds of nightmares. This topnotch thriller more than lives up to the "Not Forgotten" in its title. Expect the book to generate debate--as well as chills--among its readers.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING