I liked this one ok but I’ve read a couple other books like this that are way better in my opinion. It did keep me entertained but I wasn’t enraptured by the story.

Absolutely brilliant! Loved the setting and the storyline. I thought I had it all figured out but I didn't! Highly recommend.

What a gripping thriller from start to finish! Again, the author made me finished reading this book in one sit.

Elsie and Sean enjoyed their first night out after their lovely baby was born. Finally some couple time together. When they arrived home, they saw the police standing outside their house. Someone reported their baby was missing. Fortunately, when they opened the door and their baby was still in the crib.

But Elsie was sure that the one who reported this knew her past. The secret that she had been keeping for so long....

The story interwove two timelines, Elise's past and the present, which made the whole storyplot even more completed and in-depth. Wendy has once again surprised the reader and I cannot wait to read her next write.

An ARC from NetGalley! A psychological thriller that flips between past and present, creating a tense atmosphere that keeps you wanting more. This was a page turner, and I totally didn’t see the twist at the end coming. Trigger warning for domestic violence. I’m definitely going to check out some more of this author’s books, I really enjoyed her writing style

Wendy Clarke, you little rascal, you!

Have you ever tried to put your entire fist in your mouth? No, okay well I knew I was a bit off but this just about nails it. The amount of stress and angst I felt while reading The Night Out, caused me to attempt to put my entire fist in my mouth so I could not yelp out every time a twist was exposed.

My knees trembled, my pulse raced, and I gripped my kindle so dang hard I could see my knuckles turn white.

This book is not for the faint of heart and will have you thinking about it long after concluding. You are instantly thrown right into the drama and you won't be given a second to even catch your breath. The ending, you ask? It's explosive and not one you want to miss !

Don't take my word for it, The Night Out, is FREE on kindle unlimited and you need this book like you need the air to breathe! Check out this teaser :

Sean pulls me to him, and we both laugh happily, as we stroll home from our favourite wine bar. It’s our first evening out since our baby girl was born. I’ve only thought about Kitty a couple of times, wondering if she’s settled without my goodnight kiss. But our perfect night is shattered when I see the police car and the two officers on the front steps of our home…

Someone has reported our sweet baby missing.

When I rush inside the house and mercifully find our little girl tucked up inside her crib, you’ll think that’s the end of the story.

And when Sean says a prayer of thanks, the police close the case and I hold Kitty in a tight embrace, you’ll feel grateful it was all one big mistake.

But you’ll be wrong.

You don’t know what I did fifteen years ago, the lies I’ve told or the reason I desperately want the police out of my house. I’m sure the person who reported Kitty missing knows everything about my past…

You don’t know how much danger I’m in. Or how far I’ll go to keep my family safe…

The Night Out is a fantastic story that had me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. There were plenty of twists to the story and the characters were so well written and realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "The Night Out" in exchange for my honest review.

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic Violence.

This story starts with a prologue where someone is watching at a window - their daughter Megan had been taken from them.

The book goes back and forth between Elise "now" and "then", Megan "now" and ending with "3 years later". The parts of Elise that are in the "then" chapters are difficult to read because there is a lot of references to domestic violence and abuse.

Elise and her husband Sean had enjoyed a rare night out when they return home to find the police in front of their house because a woman had reported that a baby who had been taken from a playground lived at this house. Someone wants Elise to know what it feels like to lose a child.

During the "then" chapters, Elise narrates her past as she lived it and remembers it. She starts out happy and hopeful after meeting an older police officer named Alex who thought she was special. She first hears Alex's favourite saying "an eye for an eye."

Meanwhile in the present Megan wants to know who her father is and why her mother refuses to tell her anything about him. She claims that Megan was the result of a one-night stand but Megan is not accepting that. She feels that she should search the house for something hidden that might tell her who she is and who her father is.

The reader learns that someone knows where Elise lives and what she did.

Elise remembers how Alex changed once she moved in with him. What started as verbal abuse soon escalated to physical abuse when she was pregnant with Megan. He became mean, demeaning, controlling, manipulative, isolated her from her friends, refused to pass on messages that he intercepted.

As Elise fears more and more for her safety in the present, Megan drifts more and more to the father that she thinks loves her and is looking for her. The book comes to a shocking and thrilling conclusion with an ending that was impossible to see coming.

The Night Out by Wendy Clarke was an excellent book that will have you gripped from the very beginning till the end, especially as it was full of good twists and turns throughout. It was so good I ended up being glued to my kindle until I finished it. Great holiday read

I highly recommend this book.

*Trigger warning for domestic violence.*

Big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Wendy Clarke in exchange for an honest review.

Please see my post for review.

Blog tour - http://ramblingmads.uk/2023/06/11/blog-tour-the-night-out-wendy-clarke/

Elise and Sean Bailey with in a lovely home with their baby daughter, Kitty, and Elise’s teenage daughter, Megan. Elise paints seascapes and sells them.

One evening, Elise and Sean leave Kitty in Megan’s care while they go out for dinner. When they return, they find a police car in front of their home. The police say that someone reported a baby missing from their house. But with Kitty and Megan safely inside, they figure someone must have reported the wrong address. Ah, but Elise knows that it wasn’t a wrong address because she realizes she has been found.

When Elise was young, she fell for Alex, a police officer. However, before long she got pregnant with Megan and Alex changed. She soon realizes that Alex is not the man she thought he was. She scared and knows she needs to get away from him, but how?

This is a very good book that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. it’s scary and brought out the anger in me at Alex. Oh, but the twist at the end is heartbreaking. Get ready for a compelling ride here. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I did enjoy it but found it quite slow in the middle. The plot line didn’t really stick out and it was quite predictable. I enjoyed the ending and there was a good twist in the storyline

I absolutely loved this wonderful, wonderful book. Amazing author - I adore her books and this one is just wow! Do read this one - you will be wowed! One of my top reads of 2023!

The past always has a habit of catching up with you when you least expect it as Elise finds out, fifteen years later.

How do people do this? I have no secrets whatsoever from my partner, it wouldn't feel right doing so.

Clarke comes up trumps again with another cracking page turner. The Night Out is a fast paced thriller that's big on suspense, has some truly loathsome characters and is fueled by secrets and lies. It's narrated in dual timeline, past and present, cleverly plotted and does have triggers of domestic violence throughout, which make for uncomfortable reading.

That twist at the end though - in the voice of Simon Cowell - I wasn't expecting that!

I enjoyed the book and read it in one sitting.

Elise and her husband Sean were having their first date night since the birth of their daughter Kitty. As they were walking home a blue lighted police car flew paste them and in that moment Elise’s gut feeling was telling her that something was wrong.

It didn’t take long until Elise’s fears were realised as when she arrived home there was a police car outside her house with officers knocking on her front door.

Elise and Sean approached the officers and asked what was going on, where they informed them that a call had been made to the emergency services reporting a baby missing.

Fearing the worst Elise runs upstairs to check on Kitty only to find she is perfectly safe on her older sister Megan’s room. Relieved that both her children are safe Elise goes back downstairs to confirm her baby is safe. Elise should feel relieved that her family is safe, but Elise knows who it is that made that call and fears that she has been found by her ex-boyfriend Alex.

Alex started off his relationship with Elise years ago. At the start he appeared to be the perfect gentleman, however behind closed doors Alex was as evil as they come. Elsie does everything in her power to try and get away from Alex and his abusive behaviour but as in most domestic abuse cases Alex always seems to be one step ahead of her. Now Elise has finally escaped and has a new life with her husband Sean she will do everything in her power to keep it that way and will go to any length to keep her family safe.

I think the way this book was written kept the reader interested, it was written in a “then” and “now” form with a cliff hanger at the end of the chapter making the reader want to read on. The then chapters walk you through the journey of domestic abuse that Elise found herself on. The now chapters show Elise trying to hide her past from her family whilst also trying to keep them safe and as the book goes on it becomes more and more challenging for her.

A massive thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

Enjoying a night out together soon turns scary when Elsie and Sean discover police at their door as they make their way home. Someone has called to say their baby girl is missing, but it isn’t true. Why would someone do this? Who would do this? and does whoever it is, know the secrets that Elsie is hiding?

This narrative is told in a dual timeline of past and present and will have you entertained and a twist that will have you shocked. Clarke gives us characters we can either love or hate, but they are realistic that we probably know someone similar.

Wow! What an amazing book! I’m on such a roll reading these awesome thrillers. Clarke has skillfully written characters that you either loved or hated, or just were annoyed with. I hated Alex, loved Sean, and found Elise to be so annoying at times! Why do people always hide some huge secrets from their significant other! Especially one as amazing as Sean! I mean, if her teenage daughter seems to like her stepdad more than her mom, you know he’s a great guy! However, I was completely rooting for Elise at other times in the book. This book is the true definition of an on the edge of your seat thriller. Just when you think you’ve figured everything out – BAM! And man, that last twist in the book! I didn’t see that coming from miles away. I’m pretty sure my jaw hit the floor with that one. What an excellent book and I’m so thrilled that I had the opportunity to read it. This is perfect for anyone that loves a good, fast paced, keep you guessing, on the edge of your seat thriller.

This is a story told in the then and now timelines. Great character descriptions and an amazing build up to an ending I could never have imagined.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

Finally they have a night to themselves after their daughter's birth. Elise and Sean get home - to find the police at their house. Their daughter has been reported missing.
And thenfun begins.
Already paranoid from years of hiding, Elise struggles to hold onto the stiff boundaries.
Loved the dual timeline - heightened the suspense. Also this family - the healthy relationships were so refreshing.
Highly recommend.

I've seen some rave reviews for this book and my FOMO meant I had to read it.

Elise has been living in fear of secrets from from her past catching up with her, secrets her teenage daughter and husband don't know about.

It's starts with a bang, police on the doorstep following a phone call that their baby daughter has gone missing.

There are some dark themes, if you've read Behind Closed Doors and Into The Darkest Corner you'll know what I'm talking about.

It kept me entertained rather than enthralled. It didn't grip or hit quite as hard as the books I've mention but the unexpected twists and original plot lines keep it interesting.

One to read if you enjoy those Domestic Ab*se thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture

The Night Out by Wendy Clark grabbed me from the very beginning, and I couldn’t put it down. It’s not often I say that about a psych thriller, but there you go. This one had it all.
Elise and her husband, Sean, are on the night out in question, when they realize there are police at their house. Their daughter Megan is at home with their baby Kitty. Everything seems to be fine.
So why did someone call the police?
These opening scenes laid the groundwork for what was a tightly written plot that saved the biggest twists for the end.
I don’t often put trigger alerts in my reviews; they’re often detailed elsewhere. But it seems proper to say that domestic and psychological abuse figures very heavily in Elise’s story.
I liked how the author laid out the story. It was mostly from Elise’s point of view with a few from Megan’s. I also think she did a good job with Megan. She was a very realistic teenager, moving between responsible big sister, to thinking her mom was too strict and that she knew what was better.
That almost turned out tragic for her. But there will be no spoilers here.
If I had to pick on anything – and I had to dig deep for this criticism – it’s that I didn’t feel like Alex’s part in the present was big enough. I thought he would have had more to do. Conversely, it seemed like Amity was thrown in as an afterthought. I didn’t get much from her either.
I’ve written several times about how I like to try to outguess the author on the twists in a psych thriller plot. I did NOT guess the most jaw-dropping one in this story.
Wendy Clarke is becoming one of my favorite psych thriller authors, and The Night Out is just about as perfect as one can get.

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