Three years ago, sisters Emma and Cass disappeared one night, leaving no trace of where they’d gone—or why they left. Then Cass shows up at the family home, alone. She tells a story of kidnapping and being held on a mysterious island against her will, and is desperate for the police to find Emma.

But forensic psychologist Abby Winter sees holes in Cass’s story, and it will take delving into her own past to uncover the truth hidden behind a narcissistic mother who twisted the lives of her daughters until they no longer knew the truth. Only Abby can find Emma, because even Cass doesn’t know the true story.

Emma in the Night is not a happy family tale. Not in the least. Cass and Emma’s family is troubled, controlled by their narcissistic mother, an expert at twisting things to get what she wants. There are so many twists in this story! While I knew Cass wasn’t telling the whole truth—there are little signs of that—I had no idea what the truth actually was. The author does a great job of drawing the reader in and bringing them along for a ride filled with unexpected twists and turns.

(Galley provided by St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I had heard so much about this book that I was looking forward to reading it. Sadly soon after starting it I found it to be very uncomfortable to read. The narcissistic mother made me angry and sick about the things she did to those around her that she claimed to love. This is the second book I've read lately where telling lies was a major factor of the story (the other was "The Lying Game" by Ruth Ware) that just did not live up to the hype I heard about them.

I so enjoyed Wendy Walker’s ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN. I was elated to read another book by this author. EMMA IN THE NIGHT is a story about two sisters. This story is also about narcissism and how it can affect a family.

Cass, 15, and her sister, 17, have been missing for three years. At age 18, Cass comes home and tells how she and her sister, Emma, were kidnapped and held on an island the whole time. For Cass the clock is ticking and she needs to convince everyone to find that island and capture the couple that held them and rescue Emma. For Dr. Abby Winters, Cass’ story doesn’t add up. Abby’s hunch along with the fact that Cass and Emma’s mother is a textbook narcissist convinces her that there is more to the story then Cass is telling.

I really enjoyed this psychological suspense. The story alternates between Abby and Cass’ POV and is told in alternate timelines. Cass does a lot of remembering her sister and the events that took place at the hands of her mother before she left, while she was gone, and now after she has come home. Cass chooses to live with her mother, who she un-affectionately calls Mrs.Martin, instead of her father which threw up big red flags for me right away. There she also faces a Mr.Martin and a shady step-brother.

Cass is really complicated character. I was riveted reading about Cass’ experiences in the hands of her kidnappers. That story alone would have been enough, but life is really tough for her at home as well. Cass uses counting as a mechanism to cope. Abby explains in detail how this counting probably saved her. Cass’ recounting her kidnappers really adds urgency for the reader as Emma is still there and in grave danger.

Abby plays a major role in this story, as her background is in personality disorders and more specifically narcissistic mothers. Her insight into the home of Mrs.Martin and her daughters is on point and her observations added to my enjoyment of this book. With Cass being gone so long and going through so much, bringing a forensic psychiatrist along with the FBI will only help with the investigation. It takes all these brilliant minds to see past the lies and get down to the truth which has long been buried.

There is much more to this story, but I don’t want to give away all the juicy details. This story is suspenseful and intelligent, but it wasn’t quite as good as ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN. I deducted a star only because I caught something early on, but only because this author’s other novel is still so fresh in my mind. I would still highly recommend this book. Once again this author sheds light on an important mental disorder that often goes undiagnosed. This is a story you need to read for yourself to appreciate.

The twists, the turns, loved it!

The challenging life of Cass. She is in a family that could define dysfunctional.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC.

This was a captivating story that held me from beginning to end. It kept me guessing! I love books that develop rich and interesting characters and this one did just that!

It is interesting to explore the idea of how deeply a parent can impact the personality and life of their child. (It's pretty frightening as a parent!) I also find the description of narcissistic personality disorder fascinating, although I'm not sure how accurate it was.

Overall a great read! Makes me want to read more by this author!

I'm fascinated by a psychological thriller that has unreliable narrator you never quite know who or what to believe, consequently I immediately find myself on “high alert” seeking out inconsistencies when I read a book that uses this form of narration. Two sisters Emma and Cass disappear without a trace leaving many questions answered, but then one day Cass returns and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter begins to unravel what happened to the sisters. Emma In The Night is an intriguing look at mental health, manipulation and how a family is ultimately affected.

Emma In The Night is a book filled with dysfunctional and manipulative characters so I found myself struggling to connect with the characters, now sometimes I find this isn't a problem and it can actually make a book more intriguing, but unfortunately I found most of the characters incredibly irritating as they all had traits that made them difficult to like or feel empathy for, so consequently this slightly distracted from my enjoyment of this book.


This isn’t an edge-of-your-seat hardcore thriller Emma In The Woods is very much character led, and so the pace of the book felt very slow at times. There is a strong focus on mental illness and narcissism which the author has obviously researched in great detail. If I'm honest I really enjoyed this book up until the half way mark, I found myself desperate to find out what happened to both girls that night, but a round this point I found the plot slightly predictable, and it very much turns into a case study of a dysfunctional family.

I have a feeling Emma In The Night is going to be one of those “marmite” books, and I can see why readers will rave about it, but unfortunately for me I found myself becoming detached from the characters and the plot which in the end meant that although it made for a good read I did struggle with it. As I said I'm sure there will be numerous readers who will love everything about this book, so I think this is one of those books I would recommend you read for yourself and make up your own mind, who knows you may just love it.
This review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Imagine being raised by a narcissistic mother and how your life would be one of living with a person whose abnormal behavior was characterized by feelings of self importance, admiration and a total lack of concern or understanding for the feelings of others? This was the case for the sisters Cass and Emma. Cass is fifteen while Emma is seventeen, young girls setting out on their own unable to stand the life at home with their mother. After years of living this life, the sisters leave and three years later Cass returns sans Emma.

Cass tells a tale of intrigue, kidnapping, and betrayal as the sisters try to move forward, but is her story true? Enter into this story to puzzle out its veracity is the forensic psychologist Dr Abby Winter. She slowly unravels the mystery of Emma's whereabouts while Cass structures a tale of their lives since their disappearance that while convincing possess holes that Dr Winter is able to see eventually.

This book was a fine psychological thriller in which the author clearly makes the reader aware of what life is like living with someone who is a narcissist. While Cass is a unreliable narrator, one can see the effect that her mother has had upon her and her sister. Where is Emma and why does Cass need to return to a mother such as hers provides the basis of this tale.

Thank you to NetGally and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this novel.

This book paints a picture of a psychologically disturbed family, full of manipulation and influence, the mother exhibiting a narcissistic personality disorder. The story is disturbing, captivating, and twisted. The first chapter really grabs your attention and peaks your curiosity. The book starts in present day on the day Cassandra returns home after being missing for three years. The two sisters in the book vanished on the same day, but her older sister, Emma, is still missing. There is quite a bit of background and character development in this first chapter that lays the groundwork for this complex psychological thriller. The plot is peeled back methodically, interjecting key points with surgical precision. Foreshadowing and subtle clues throughout keep you turning the pages to discover what happened three years ago, what the sisters have been up to since then, and if they will ever find Emma.

Dr. Abigail Winter is the forensic psychologist from the FBI that was investigating the original disappearance case. Even though she was removed from the case a year prior, the details and circumstances of this case continued to haunt Abby. She is recalled to the case when Cassandra reappears. The chapters alternate between the points of view of Cassandra and Dr. Winter, exposing the thoughts and motives of each as the investigation unfolds. Dr. Winter's character is well developed through memories and internal reflection regarding her own mother and sister. As Cassandra recounts the goings on of the past three years, Dr. Winter and FBI agent Leo Strauss desperately try to piece together the puzzle. However, Dr. Winter cannot shake the feeling that Cassandra's story just does not add up, either something she has said or maybe something she has not said. The investigation leads to a very shocking yet satisfying conclusion.

I would recommend this book to fans of psychological thrillers and suspense. I received this book as a free ARC from St. Martin's Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While this novel showed promise, it just took too long getting to where it was taking us. The story is told in alternating chapters by three very different characters. Kukafka does a wonderful job of fleshing out these characters, but unfortunately, I found their storylines to be on the boring side and just overall depressing.

Three years prior Cass and her older sister who she adored, Emma, had disappeared leaving investigators and the family clueless as to what happened to the girls. Was it a drowning? Kidnapping? Runaways? But now three years later Cass shows up on the doorstep of her mother and stepfather’s home safe but insisting that they must find and rescue Emma.

When investigators arrive including forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter Cass begins to tell a story of how she had followed Emma one night and the pair ended up on a mysterious islands as prisoners. Cass’ escape and her details lead to more questions leaving Abby with the feeling that things just aren’t adding up. As the holes begin to appear Abby is determined to find out just what happened to the girls all those years ago.

Emma in the Night is one of those thriller reads that had me hooked for the opening pages when we find out that one of the two girls has returned. Knowing she is back the book takes the reader back slowly but surely as we learn what had been happening over the course of the years. Told from the point of view of the victim and investigator you get both sides of where the investigation is leading.

I will admit for a while this one wasn’t looking as if it would be quite the five star read as the story unraveled. I had this sense of where the twists were taking us along the journey as we got to the answer of what had happened to Emma but then the author just kept going and adding on a few more twists and turns that ended me with completely loving the story. I’d definitely say check this one out to the thriller fans, it was a bit slow but even with my impatience I came away loving the book.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Emma in the Night is the second novel of author Wendy Walker's that I have read. Walker's first book, All is Not Forgotten, was a fabulous read. Emma in the Night is an excellent second novel. You won't be disappointed.

If you are looking for a psychological thriller filled with twists then Emma in the Night is for you. I knew there was always more to the story but I didn't predict what was going to happen at all. The Tanner sisters both disappeared three years ago. Only Cass returns. Where is Emma?

I don't want to give anything away. What a great book. Highly recommend for fans of thrillers. Great read!

A NetGalley e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I like this book but I didn’t love it.

The beginning was hard to get into. I didn’t really like or care for any of the characters. Some of the interactions felt forced and not life like. Once the story really got going (over halfway through) it got me hooked in but the ending was not a total surprise.

After the Tanner sisters disappeared three years ago one returns, but where is the other? The daughter that returns starts weaving a tale that seems too improbable. A lot of her actions don’t match up to her story, but is that just a side effect from her dysfunctional family? Regardless, only a few people really know what happened that night and one has returned and started talking.

A quick read and worth the read. Just got to hold on through the first half of the story.

This was a very interesting book. I kept trying to guess where it was going...it was totally impossible. I won't mention what it was about, you can get that from the book description. What I can say was that the characters were well fleshed out. There were definite villains, fools, and heroes. I did shed a few tears. I don't think I ever laughed. And I am definitely going to look Wendy Walker up and read more of her books.

I really wanted to get into this psychological thriller. The description sounded like a great story. The first few chapters really captivated me, but it soon turned into a chore to read. The issues of narcissism and dysfunctional families was really disturbing, and troubling to know how realistic is to some people. I will recommend this book, but it wouldn't be my top choice of recommendations.

Emma in the Night is one of the most twisted and disturbing psychological thrillers to has completely hold my interest this summer. If you’re a lover of psychological suspense, like your stories filled with drama and thrills, and insist they be intelligently crafted and extremely well-written, then look no further! An excellent and intelligent premise, a strongly driven plot, characters that are well-developed and range from intelligent, toxic, extremely unlikable, likable, and flawed all entwine to make this novel an exceptional read! This was my first Wendy Walker book, but it won’t be my last!

I was spellbound by the story of the two Tanner sisters, Emma and Cass, who vanished one night at the ages of 17 and 15. There had been no traces of either girl in the years since they had gone missing, so Emma was presumed dead since her car and purse were found abandoned at the beach and no one knew what happened to Cass, who had vanished without a trace. The FBI searched but failed to find anything although Dr. Abigail (Abby) Winter, FBI forensic psychiatrist suspected the Tanner household was highly dysfunctional, neglectful, and that Mrs. Martin, the girl’s mother was suffering from a pathological narcissistic personality disorder, which was the reason for the girl’s disappearances. Abby was never given a chance to pursue her theories though before the case was shut down.

The story really begins when Cass suddenly reappears on her mother’s doorstep three years later, very much alive…and alone. Cass’s reappearance instigates a reopening of the FBI investigation when all she can tell anyone, in the beginning, is they must find Emma! Emma is alive! This prompts Mrs. Martin to repeatedly tell everyone that Cass is suffering from mental delusions and needs a psychiatric evaluation. I immediately wondered what Mrs. Martin was hiding and why she wanted Cass to have mental delusions instead for Cass to be telling the truth. Why was the mother not more concerned about finding her oldest daughter alive?! This led me to suspect certain things and although I was wrong about a few suspicions, I was right about others, including the big reveal at the end. It was excellent fun to delve into the psyches of all these characters and see just how twisted and messed up so many of them were! Walker did an excellent job introducing so many disturbing psychological aspects to the story that it was brilliant. However, if you are not into behavioral or cognitive psychology like I am, then this might not be the book for you since it is heavy on a lot of these themes.

Cass tells her story in the first person POV, and it is not only a quite mysterious tale of where she has been but a horrific one of an emotionally abusive mother throughout her childhood. Cass is a strong young woman, but she is an unreliable narrator, which only made the story more captivating and enthralling! If you can’t trust the protagonist, then who do you trust? I certainly wasn’t sure what to believe as Cass told the FBI that they were held captive on an island, and she had only escaped with the promise to return for Emma. I’m not going to go into the details of how the sisters came to be on the island since that part is very integral to the later plot, and I think the reader needs to go into that part completely blind and without any ideas that will spoil the story! The reader needs to be shocked when Cass makes her big reveal about what happened the night they both disappeared because believe me, it is shocking!

What was horrible to read was Cass’s recollections of what it was like being raised in such a dysfunctional family where verbal and emotional abuse was the norm, fights between Emma and her mother were rampant, her mother gave and took her love like it was a prize to be won, and there was an unnatural interest in both Emma and Cass by their new stepbrother. It is these recollections that help convince the reader the girls ran away that night(but did they?) and were much better off far away. But if so, why did Cass reappear at all at her mother’s house three years later? Besides getting Emma off the island, what is she up to?

Dr. Winter reappears as the FBI investigation unfolds and her voice is the second POV in the story. She has the same feeling something is very wrong in the Martin/Tanner household that she had the first time she encountered Mrs. Martin. She herself is the daughter of a mother with narcissistic personality disorder, so she is all too familiar with the signs of a mother who must be placated by their children and told they are the best, most loved, most beautiful of all and are always in competition with their children. She sees all the signs as Cass placates her mother, always wants her around and is very docile towards her; yet, Abby is also reading signs that there is more to Cass’s actions than meets the eye just as there is so much more to what is really going on with the story Cass tells about her and Emma’s disappearance and her escape.

Emma in the Night was such an addictive read! I loved how it made me question what was real and what wasn’t since I love my suspense to be unpredictable! And the ending was more than shocking, it was intense and superb in every way! I highly recommend Wendy Walker’s newest novel if you want to read a satisfying family drama full of mystery, secrets, revenge, love, and hate. You can’t go wrong with what will be one of summer’s hottest psychological suspense hits!

**Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wendy Walker for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.**

Perhaps I am getting jaded by the search for the next 'great' thriller; they all seem to be devolving into the same formulaic plot line. Thus, while I find Walker writes a solid mystery, it is nothing new. Two teenage sisters disappeared three years ago, and now the younger one, Cass, returns and insists they must find Emma, her older sister. As Cass strings out the story of her three years of captivity, the FBI behavioral analyst and the FBI agent in charge listen to her tale and ultimately try and lead Cass to where they want her to go. The analyst has a familial past which leads to some perspective issues as well. At times I wondered how realistic the family was: Were the sadistic wars within a step family that brilliant and dark? Could the girl really be that clever? Is mom a legit monster? Would FBI agents really be able to pull off this scheme? Ultimately, what I decided about this book was that yes, it is a solid, page-turning thriller that will grip you as you try and figure out the puzzle; yet, if you've read a lot of thrillers, it quite frankly is just a re-do of what has already been done. My suggestion? How about throwing in some characters who are not white, wealthy, and privileged, but instead have some complexity in social class, race, religion, geography, life choices and motivations, etc.? Just my two cents:)

I really wish I could say I enjoyed this more. I thoroughly enjoyed All Is Not Forgotten, so I was looking forward to this one. What I got was a semi-decent plot with poor pacing and an underwhelming reveal. I enjoyed all of the psychological elements of this book. It's clear that a lot of research went in to it and it was portrayed well. The mystery and the alternate timelines just failed entirely. I found myself constantly getting distracted or bored while reading and that is unusual for me. It is still a 3 star read simply on the basis of character development.

This book was murky.. The story was so gripping, however, that I read it in almost one sitting. The final quarter of the book made up for the questioning that I had throughout the first three quarters. Worth a read!

Firstly, thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a pre-release review copy of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.

The plot, briefly, revolves around Emma and Cass, two sisters who go missing on the same night. Three years later, Cass returns, alone, to her home with tales to tell of the harrowing ordeal that she and Emma have been through. FBI forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, who worked on the original missing persons case, is again enlisted to disect Cass' statement to try an figure out where Emma is and what, exactly, happened to the girls.

The story, as it turns out, isn't quite as straight forward as it might seem from the blurb. While Cass recites her story to the letter, there are obvious gaps that lead you to believe that things aren't quite as the character describes. There are also enough of those gaps to send you down the wrong road on more than one occasion. While it's not until the last few chapters that what actually happened to Emma and Cass is truly revealed, there are some indications to lead you that way pretty much from the last third of the book.

I can't deny it's a good book and, after having read and thoroughly enjoyed Wendy Walker's previous offering All Is Not Forgotten, I was expecting nothing less. However, the one thing I found with that and which seems to have carried over to this novel is that it doesn't exactly move at a great pace. In fact, sometimes it really does feel overly drawn out to the point of I wasn't exactly desperate to get to the next chapter. - hence the reason for only four stars.