Best book I have read in a while. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Plot was fast paced and gripping

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Wendy Walker and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My full review has been posted on Goodreads. Such a riveting, suspenseful story...I was glued to the pages and just had to keep reading to know how it would end. Will definitely be reading her first book as soon as I can get my hands on a copy!

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller by Wendy Walker. It is riveting from the beginning and hard to put down. Some complex characters, some I liked and some I did not, especially Mrs. Martin, the narcissistic mother of Emma and Cass, and a very interesting story line that was not predictable at all and that kept me guessing. Although there were a couple of things I did figure out, the ending was a surprise and totally not what I expected. If you enjoy reading books with many twists and turns that will keep you captivated for hours, then definitely read Emma in the Night!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

As with All is Not Forgotten, Walker shows she understands the “psychological” part of psychological thrillers. There were enough twists and turns here to keep me satisfied… and ultimately, surprised by the final turn.

Emma and her younger sister Cass go missing in the middle of the night and 3 years later only one comes back. The beginning of the book has you hooked and you just can't wait to see where it takes you. Unfortunately, it really doesn't take you far. The book had great promise, it just failed to deliver.
You have an extreme case of a narcissistic mom, a simpering fool for a father, a pedophile step-dad and step-brother AND then the FBI woman who also had a narcissistic mother. I would have only given it only 2 stars, but I didn’t see the ending coming. I knew something funky was going on but I didn’t expect what happened.

This is like a 3.5 read. It goes fast, it's not entirely predictable, but it's not entirely unpredictable either. You can kind of figure out bits and pieces but I didn't completely piece together how it all fit.

The choice of narration was kind of odd; narrated in first person by Cass, Emma's sister, and third person following the forensic therapist, Abigail Winter. Cass's first person narration kind of took away from Abby, who you kind of really don't get a chance to know in the brief interludes that follow her part in the investigation. If the story had focused on either woman, it might have been stronger.

I enjoyed this so much more than her previous book, All Is Not Forgotten, which I had DNF'd. There is something that's keeping me from giving this 5 stars, but I did enjoy the ending very much.

I was thankful in receiving this book from NetGalley as I really enjoyed Wendy's previous book "All is not forgotten". I was also seeing alot of rave reviews about this book on Goodreads and had to get on the bandwagon. Not to mention sharing the same name as the main character. Mysteries and Sychological Thrillers and Suspense are my typical go too genres and this one certainly didn't disappoint. So many twist and turns to keep me hooked right up until the end. Great job, thoroughly enjoyable read, highly recommended.

Very interesting read. You have to feel for Cass & Emma as their mother seems bat crap crazy. This reminded me a little of Mommy Dearest without the wire hangers. The story was well told. I didn't really see the end coming. All in all it was a very good read.

3.5stars
This is one of those books that the only thought you get after finishing it is “wow” followed by “holy crap”…

I don’t even know what to say about this… For starters, I had some problems with the writing. I couldn’t really get into it, maybe because it was extremely slow paced and I wasn’t in the mood for that? I’m not sure but after finishing it I just kept thinking that this could have been the best thriller I’ve read until today, and it’s kinda sad I can’t give it 5 stars because in the first 50% of it I felt sometimes bored with the pace. But the end was SO worth it! And made me want to read this book again and see the details I might have missed because I didn’t know where to look.

This had the most surprising ending I’ve ever encountered. I thought I knew what was going on and I discovered that I had absolutely no idea of anything. I started doubting myself, I started doubting the characters and the end blew me away because I just would have never seen that coming.

One thing be told… Most unreliable character award goes to Cass! I can’t even describe this girl. Holy… She is a mess! She is so strong and yet so messed up, it’s scary! The story is told in multiple POV. In Cass’s ones she tells what happened to her while she was gone, every detail, everything she can remember to help the police find Emma that didn’t return with her.

During the book, we learn about Cass, about her life during those years but all over life before them. What was like to live in her house with her family which is completely unfunctional. It’s difficult to choose only one character of this book as the one I hate the most… But I did hate Cass’s mom and at the same time I was intrigued by and wanted to know more about her for how sick she is.

As I said before, I had some problem with the writing. It didn’t feel as gripping as I was expecting it to be, but it was written extremely carefully and with a lot of details that still made you want to know more and read till the end. This was the first book I read from the author and I am totally up for more heavy mystery books like this one.

But the most fascinating part of the book was Cass. I can’t really tell much of the why, but if you like messed up characters and excruciating mysteries this is the book for you! Although the pace was slow, the book was fascinating.

Suspenseful! The author kept the tension finely strung throughout the entire book, never slacking, right up to the end. The plot twists kept me guessing. The book also finished on a good note - although there are terrible people in the world, not all of them are - which can be rare for psychological thrillers. I enjoyed the scientific aspect of the behavior of the characters as well.

“Emma in the Night” by Wendy Walker is a suspenseful thriller that will keep readers guessing. Two sisters, Emma and Cassandra just disappear one day. No one knows where they have gone or why, not even the FBI. Three years later, Cass just shows up at her mother’s house, unannounced and by herself, no Emma. Where has she been and what happened to Emma? The details slowly emerge, and the truth is revealed.
The book is written from two main points of view, that of Cass, and that of Dr. Abigail Winter, the FBI forensic psychiatrist who investigated the disappearance of the two girls and is back to continue the investigation. The action is dialogue driven, and individual chapters are identified by character to help readers keep track of the viewpoint.
The main characters are well developed, and the alternating chapters enable them to each express their own voice and viewpoint. Supporting characters, seen through the perspectives of Cass and Dr. Winter, are dysfunctional, controlling, and narcissistic; none is likeable.

I received a copy of “Emma in the Night” from St Martin’s Press, Wendy Walker, and NetGalley. It is a disturbing, twisted, and yet captivating thriller that will keep readers guessing all the way through. I enjoyed reading it and was satisfied with the ending

I really, really enjoyed this book. I have to say I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t like the alternating point of view aspect between Dr. Abby White and Cass, but I actually really loved it. It was interesting in a plot such as this to get to hear from both sides. The book is told in the present when Cass returns home after being missing for 3 years, but Cass very often tells stories from the past, both before her disappearance and what happened while she was missing, to fill in the gaps. The family dynamics in this book are amazingly disturbing, the way the mother and step-father treat the children and the games the children play with the adults. Cass calls her mother Mrs. Martin through most of the book which just gives you an idea bout how she feels about her mother. The dynamics between the parents, Emma and Cass and their step-brother Hunter, are complicated to say the least. Dr. Abby White was originally on the case when the girls went missing and had some theories that her colleagues dismissed, leaving her slightly obsessed with the case. When Cass shows back up, Abby jumps back into the investigation and ends up uncovering a great deal of secrets that the family has been keeping.

There were several plot twists in this book that I didn’t see coming and I was very impressed with those twists, as well as the way the book ended. I was afraid that hearing from Dr. Abby White’s perspective might sound clinical, but it didn’t at all and I really enjoyed hearing from her character as well, especially towards the end of the book when she starts figuring a few things out. Cass is a complicated character and it’s hard for me to fully explain without giving away any spoilers, but I also really enjoyed her character and what she has gone through. I liked the way she explained things; the way she describes people, relationships and emotions. We learn a lot about Emma, their mother Mrs. Martin, Jonathon, their step-father and their step-brother, Hunter, throughout the book as well. I felt like we got to know Emma fairly well through Cass’s retelling of stories from their past.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book; the plot twists, the author’s writing, the characters and the split perspective between Cass and Dr. Abby White. I look forward to reading more by the author in the future. Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for sending me an ARC of this book.

I was eager to read this book after All is Not Forgotten by the author was such a page-turner. Emma in the Night shared the suspenseful quality and I think the way the tense atmosphere was building in this book was even more powerful. The story is told from different points of view, which I generally enjoy and was done well here. While this is not necessarily the most memorable story, it was definitely gripping and I would recommend it to all fans of psychological suspense!

Twisted! Crazy! Intense!

"We believe what we want to believe. We believe what we need to believe."

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker is a compelling psychological thriller that hooked me in right from the start - I couldn't put it down!

Three years ago Emma and Cass Tanner, both teenagers, disappeared without a trace one night. Three years later, Cass returns home, without her sister Emma. Where is Emma? Why hasn't she returned home with Cass?

Cass tells a gripping story of kidnapping and deception on a mysterious island where they were held for 3 years. But as Dr. Abby Winter, a forensic psychiatrist, listens to Cass tell her heartbreaking story she starts to see how things are just not adding up. What happens next is resolved piece by piece. Dr. Winter starts looking deeper into this dysfunctional family and uncovers a very narcissistic mother who craved attention and taught her daughters the art of seduction.

"Am I a good mother? The best mother you could ever want?"

Will Dr. Winter find out what happened on the night Emma and Cass went missing?

I loved this book! Wendy Walker did an amazing job researching narcissistic personalities. Brilliantly written... she hit it out of the ballpark with this one.

*I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

The genre of unreliable women narrators has become more and more popular, and so throughout this whole book I guarded myself, wondering who was lying and who was telling the truth. Couple that with the fascinating psychology of narcissism being a main component to this novel, and I was hooked. All in all, it made for a satisfying read, and I will admit I teared up at the end, which doesn't usually happen in a psychological thriller, so you know I got involved with the characters, which is always a win in my book.

I fond this to be a captivating storyline, right up to the conclusion.

Emma in the Night keeps you guessing until the end. The Tanner sisters have been missing for three years. But then one day Cass shows up at her mother's home. Right away the authorities from three years before are called back in. Cass recounts what happens to her and Emma. At the same time, the author delves into the life of the psychologist working the case and the Tanner girls' family history.

The whole time I was reading the book, I was trying to catch onto every little clue or detail to see if I could figure out the ending. I could not! I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend to anyone who likes suspense novels.

I am not sure why I have not previously read this author's work but after this book I certainly will look for others. I enjoy books that make a person think and this did just that. Two sisters disappear without a trace, but three years later one returns. This one is a twisting, turning thriller that will engage readers from the first page and keep them reading.