Teenage sisters Emma & Cass went missing three years ago. Now Cass has returned begging everyone to find and rescue Emma, who, along with her two year old daughter is being held on an island somewhere in Maine.

Abby from the FBI remembers the original disappearance and search. It is a case that has never really left her, as the narcissistic personality of the girls' mother reminds her of her own childhood and how, as a psychologist she has made an in depth study of this disorder.

As Abby and her partner attempt to find and rescue Emma we delve into the murky depths of this family and into the mind of Cass.

I think this is quite a clever story in some ways, but the desperately dislikeable characters made it quite a struggle for me to get through it. There were surprises and moments of- 'I didn't' see that coming!' but even so I'm afraid three stars is all I felt I could give it.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read & review this book.

A bit disappointed in this book I expected a bit more saying that the book is fine it just wasn't great.
The story is Told from several points of view I didn't like the characters much I just didn't connect with them.

Thanks the to the Author and Publisher for a chance to sample this book.

Oh, the games people (and authors) play. Two sisters disappear one night and three years later one reappears with a story to tell and an eager FBI agent and forensic psychiatrist ready to listen. Cass has returned with horror stories of kidnapping and being held on an island against her will. She has made a narrow escape from her captors. Will someone please take her seriously and go retrieve her sister Emma?

Psychological thriller authors have trained me to doubt everyone with a voice on page. In Emma in the Night we have a narcissistic mother, more interested in publicity than in the search for her two teenaged daughters. Her second husband is less than trustworthy. The majority of the “where have they been” recollections are told by Cass and Abby, the forensic psychiatrist. Abby seems to have issues of her own, many happening over the past three years when no one would believe her that the girls might still be alive. She suspects their mother thanks to her own encounters with narcissists. I couldn’t help feeling a lot of Abby’s actions and reasons for her behaviour in the novel were left on the editing floor. I would have liked getting to know and understand her in more depth. Cass has quite the story to tell. We not only hear her retelling of events but are also privy to her inner thoughts and recollections of life with her mother, a woman she refers to as Mrs. Martin. Too bad her own inner monologue is filled with inconsistencies.

I admit to being sucked into this family melodrama. A dysfunctional family to be sure. I knew I was being pulled into a web of lies and misinformation but I couldn’t look away.

3.5 stars for the ride.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

Publish: Aug 8, 2017 Hardcover, 320 pages
Published by St. Martin's Press ISBN13: 9781250141439 Rating: 5*

If one is looking for a twisting thriller, with a highly dysfunctional family, then EMMA IN THE NIGHT is what you are looking for, where nothing is what it seems and the truth of it all stays hidden right up to the very end.

Three years ago the Tanner sisters, fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma go missing. Three years later, Cass returns without Emma. Her tale of kidnapping and betrayal, a mysterious island and a baby Emma delivered is far-fetched with a lot of missing pieces. As the story continues, some of the pieces fall into place – and some don’t necessarily ring true.

To forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Abby Winter, things don’t add up. As she looks deep into the family dynamics she begins to identify a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent seems to be at the core of the mystery.

Note that I must warn you that you should not begin this book the night before work or school because you just might find it too hard to put down. Very good and a lot of twists one doesn’t see coming,

Marilyn Rondeau

Wow. This was not what I expected. It was so much more than just a "missing girl" novel. It was suspenseful, tragic, and a great read. I definitely want more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. This book was very full of suspense. It was impossible to put down. I highly recommend!!

I was a huge fan of All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker and was anxiously awaiting another novel from her.
Emma in the Night is a mystery novel surrounding the Tanner Family. Sisters Cass and Emma Tanner disappeared from their home in the middle of the night. Police had no leads, the case grew cold and neither girl was seen again.

Three years after the girls vanished, Cass miraculously shows up and walks through the front door. The family gathers and the police are called immediately. Cass is anxious to tell everyone what happened to her and Emma.

Cass tells the police and her family a curious tale of the two girls being kidnapped and ultimately held hostage by a mysterious couple on a remote island off the coast of Maine. Then, Cass drops a bombshell - Emma had a child and they are both still alive. She gives the police bits and pieces of her memory in hopes that Emma will be found quickly.

As the search for Emma and her child goes on the police and the Tanner family begin to doubt Cass. The story she tells is nearly impossible to believe. Will they ever find out what happened to Emma and what did Cass have to do with her disappearance?

Emma in the Night is packed with dark secretes, family drama and characters that will have you shaking your head in disbelief. A must read for the mystery lover.

Some major ups and downs, but basically two girls vanish, and one girl returns. Three years have passed, and Cass is home, but Emma, she is still missing. This reopens a very cold case, based on Cass's testimony. Mommy dearest is a narcissist of the highest order. If you have ever been around a narcissist, this book nailed them. It can be really slow, with a different type or writing style, but I still had to read it all.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

This is a book I've been seeing a good amount of people talk about. I have never read anything by Wendy Walker but I do have her other book All Is Not Forgotten on my TBR list. I have to say overall I really enjoyed this book.

So the story is about how three years ago two sisters ended up disappearing. Now we just discovered that one has returned back home and we're trying to figure out what happened to them and where the other sister is. Right away I was intrigued and I was dying to know what happened those three years ago.

One thing that I really enjoyed is the author talks about narcissist personality disorder which I didn't know was even a thing. I've studied psychology in the past but that was never something I learned about. I enjoyed that I was learning about something new without really realizing it. You get to learn about how the person is with narcissist personality disorder. You get to see how it affects the people around the person with narcissist personality disorder. You even learn about how it might carry over to the children of the person with narcissist personality disorder. So that was super interesting and a fun way to learn about it.

One thing I did not like about the story is that it ended up getting pretty repetitive. The author gives you two different perspectives. The first one is the one sister who just returned, Cassandra and the other is from Dr. Winter the psychologist working on the case. I usually love when you end up getting different perspectives from stories but this didn't do it for me especially in the beginning. I felt majority of the time one narrator would tell you something and then it would end up getting repeated in the next narrator's perspective. I love when authors do different perspectives because I love getting to see what each person is thinking but not when you're being told the same thing twice. I do have to say the two different characters were very unreliable so they were always second guessing each other which really kept me reading. I wanted to get down to the truth of what happened.

The one thing that made me continue reading the book was I needed to know how it ended. I do have to say that was well worth the wait. I was completely shocked by the ending. I did not end up seeing that coming. I honestly can't wait to read Wendy's other book to see what other twists she has up her sleeves.

Emma & Cass Tanner - divorced parents pulling them in both directions. A narcassistic mother who plays them against each other.

At 15 and 17, they both disappear one night. No sign of them and despite a widespread search, no info and no clue as to where they are.

Fast forward 3 years, when Cass shows up at her mother's home. Without Emma. And telling a tale of kidnapping, being held captive on an island, a baby, and that they need to save Emma and the baby.

We watch as the police and psychologist unravel Cass's story to get to the bottom of what happened and try to find Emma and the baby, and capture the couple who held them on the island.

Lots of twists and turns in this book, and I didn't see the ending coming ahead of time, which is always a plus for me!

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book.

Not a bad read, but I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and getting invested in their plight.

I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but there was something that just felt off about this book to me from the start. I'm usually fine with unreliable narratives, but I found myself getting frustrated with the lead character Cass. Cass has a story to tell, and she's going to tell it on her own time and at her own pace, regardless of the fact that she is the key to finding her sister. I'm usually fine with flawed characters as well, but here there were just way too many of them competing for attention.

The unfolding of the night that Cass and Emma disappeared is what held my interest. Handed out like breadcrumbs, the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. The ending did wrap things up nicely, I just wish the middle hadn't been so all over the place.

ARC provided by NetGalley

This book drove me crazy, couldnt finish it. I wanted to like it but it just felt derivative and confusing

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Cass Tanner, the daughter of a classic narcissist who disappeared three years ago along with her sister Emma. Cass suddenly appears after the three years on her mother’s doorstep, with claims that Emma is being held against her will and that they need to go save her. Spending most of the next few days with the police telling them every detail she can remember in the hopes that it will help piece together where they were being held and where Emma is now. Through all this, Dr. Abby Winter, a forensic psychiatrist who is familiar with this case, notices oddities about Cass’s story that don’t quite add up.
Overall I loved this book. I didn’t want to put it down – the story was so interesting and engaging. It was perfectly in your head psychological and i could see into the mind of Cass and could understand her thought process. I loved the plot and all the plot twists and everything the story encompassed. Also funny story, I read this one while visiting my family’s house in Maine, which is off the coast near South Bristol. And funny enough when they’re trying to find the island where the girls were being held this was the exact location they were looking at. They even mention the island of Thrumcap in the book which is so cool because I could see that island from my house! Even without that added coincidence though, this was a great book with a lot to offer for a thriller and I would definitely recommend it!!

This is a good suspenseful mystery which will appeal to my customers who enjoyed Gone Girl and the The Girl on the Train. I great book to recommend as the summer winds down, there's still a few beach days left!

It's been a while since a book made me cry. The story was... awful to say the least. Every time that a child is involved, and cruelty, or kidnapping, anything, I think of my own daughter and am emotional. But this book, it's different. Seriously, I would NEVER have predicted the end, and how I would react to it. It was really good.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-copy.

Thanks to Netgalley, Wendy Walker and St Martins Press .
I have read works by Wendy Walker before. I must say this is my favorite one. Definitely five stars. The story was so believable and yet became so many stories within the story. I could clearly see in my mind the characters, the island, and the story materialize in front of my face.. I absolutely loved it! I'm usually pretty good at figuring out the endings but this one definitely threw me. This is one book I will not forget !

Two sisters disappeared mysteriously in the middle of the night and three years later only one returns. When Cass Tanner suddenly turns up on her mother's doorstep early one morning, soon the house is swarming with police officers and detectives who want to know what happened to her and her sister Emma. Cass tells her story, but her narcissistic mother thinks she is crazy and psychiatric Abby Winters thinks that Cass is hiding something. Cass is on a mission to get justice and revenge while Abby wants the truth.
The story slowly unravels with many flashbacks and we learn the truth about the events that led to the night of the girls' disappearance. The novel is told from both Cass and Abby's points of view and, it is clear that Cass is not telling the whole story. Cass is a good narrator, giving detailed descriptions and her story is so captivating that until the end, it is not clear which part is real and which is not. A novel about dysfunctional families, obsession, jealousy, mental illness, and secrets, I found it at times exasperating but mostly fascinating as the author explores the psychology behind the characters' behaviour. It's a dark and thought-provoking novel with a few surprising twists.

This one is really good. It isn't creepy exactly, but it's pretty twisty. Emma and Cass disappear and 3 years later, only Cass reappears. Cass tells the story of how they were taken away and kept isolated on an island with no contact other than a couple and their errand runner. How did Cass get away? Will Emma be there when they finally find the island? The FBI is on a search for the island, the couple, the boatman and Emma and Emma's daughter. Will they find any of them? Is any of it real? Perhaps Cass is crazy like her mother suggests. I really liked this because I didn't have it all figured out until the end. I definitely recommend it.

Teenage sisters, Emma and Cass, disappeared three years ago. One day Cass turns up on her mothers doorstep on her own. She has a bizarre story about the last few years, saying her and Emma were living on a small island with another couple. Emma was pregnant when they left and when she had the baby the other couple took over it's care. Cass says she has escaped the island and has to get back there to rescue Emma and her child. The book was ok but sometimes read like non-fiction. There were no characters that I liked, either.

Extract: 'Abby had not forgotten the Tanner sisters. Not for one minute of one day. The facts of the investigation had lain dormant in the shadowed corners of her mind. But that was not the same as forgetting. They were with her, even after a year of being off the case. They were in her bones. In her flesh. She breathed them in and out with every breath. The missing girls. And the theory of the case that no one else would believe. '

THE BLURB: 'From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten comes a thriller about two missing sisters, a twisted family, and what happens when one girl comes back...

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn't add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister's return might just be the beginning of the crime.'

Following are two quotes from Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker which to me describe the problems I had with this book.

'A story is more than the recounting of events.' Yet this is exactly how the book is written, a simple recounting of the events.

'Her voice was steady, as if she were explaining a term paper she'd written in school.' Again to me, that is how the book read.

Imagine if you will, sitting down to a meal you have been looking forward to. It is your favorite meal. In front of you, it looks delicious. It smells wonderful. Yet, when you take a bite, it is bland. Occasionally you get a taste of the flavors that should be there, but overall the meal is tasteless, and you feel disappointed, cheated almost.

That sums up how I felt about Emma in the Night. It was bland. Disappointing. Flat.

I am a voracious reader. Yet it took me four days to chew my way through this book. One chapter at a time. Sometimes not even that. It was a tough read.

2.5 reluctant stars - the extra half star because the premise and promise of the plot was great. I just feel that the way it was written and delivered left a lot to be desired.

Thank you to St Martins Press via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.