This book is rather creepy but written really well! You really get sucked into the book and the lead up to the ending will have you reading with a lump in your throat waiting to see what happens. Really well written!`

WHISTLE IN THE DARK

Emma Healey

Troubled teenage daughter goes missing – every mother's nightmare - except that this daughter has been found just before the story starts, and a different nightmare begins.

Lana is fifteen, and disappeared unexpectedly when she and her mother Jen were on a painting course in the Peak District, a course that was an attempt by Jen to re-connect with her troubled daughter; an attempt perhaps doomed to failure, as Lana has history – she has been hoarding pills and she has been self-harming. Once she has been “recovered” (actually, she simply appears on the hills near the setting of the course), she refuses the police offer of a forensic examination (“a rape kit” as the police so sensitively tell her parents). Other than that, Lana insists that she can't remember anything about the four or five missing days and, just like any normal teenager, bitterly resents her mother's questions. Just in case you were wondering, Lana's father Hugh, goes with the flow, but even his optimism eventually feels the strain.

Emma Healey throws quite a few ingredients into the emotional mix swirling round Lana's anxious mother – could the girl's disappearance be connected to Matthew, the teenage boyfriend picked up during the course, with whom Lana shared a bottle of vodka ? Or to Stephen, the older fellow-painter who apparently successfully tried to interest her in his religious cult ? Is there anything in the local legend that a young boy was once taken down to Hell through a cave in the area where the course was held ? If all that weren't enough, Lana's much older gay sister announces her donor-inseminated pregnancy, Jen's mother trawls the papers for cuttings about Lana's disappearance and posts all of them on to Lana, Jen's friend Grace enthusiastically presses her to try all sorts of alternative healing from crystals to esoteric diets; and inevitably the internet, social media, and the mobile phone all exercise their baleful influence on Jen's desperate efforts to make contact with a daughter who flatly insists that she can't remember what happened to her. The fact that Jen opens Lana's letters and tries to eavesdrop on her phone calls to school friends only makes matters worse.

Then, rather disappointingly, Jen's desperate effort to get to the bottom of Lana's missing days suddenly brings about an explanation of what happened, enlightenment and even resolution ~ “Mum … where are you ? Dad says you're on your way.” “I am on my way.” “Good,” Lana said. “Because we need you.”

Nigel Melville

I loved Emma Healey's debut, ELIZABETH IS MISSING, so I went into this with really high expectations. It's a careful, empathetic exploration of a difficult mother/daughter relationship. In some ways, it surprised me - my allegiances kept shifting, and there were moments where I felt completely on Lana's side, or on Jen's, or on Meg's. But I wasn't as surprised by the central mystery to this, which felt like a story I'd heard before. WHISTLE IN THE DARK is a clever, dark and oddly tender family drama - just don't go in looking for a mystery.

This thriller by way of family drama missed the mark for me. The relationship between the mother and daughter was intriguing enough but not particularly original. The resolution at the end felt rushed and disappointingly mundane and predictable given all the hints and pointers to something more ... juicy if you will. However, it was very nicely written and a certain section at the end was so evocative I couldn't stand it - I had to read the end to make sure it was 'safe' before i could read it as I found it so anxiety inducing!

Whistle in the dark is a family drama with a little mystery added that worked well.
This book is based around mainly Jen who's is mum to Lana a difficult teenager that Jen does everything she can to make her life as good as it can be. The drama starts as they head out on a painting holiday in the Peak District, just the two of them leaving Dad at home. The holiday seems to be doing the trick and mum and daughter seem to be growing closer until Lana goes missing, leading to four days of angst until she is found by a farmer, tired, bruised and cut but apparently with no memory of where or what has happened I those four days.
The story follows the time after and the need for Jen, which I totally related to, to find out what happened to her daughter whilst Hugh played the part well for me doing just what most dads would do and just be happy their daughter is home and well.
This was a different kind of read with a sort of revealing end and I enjoyed how the book was lay out in little sections and the characters I found were believable which made it more readable although for some reason despite Lana's problems I wasn't keen on her character as I thought she came across quite spoilt and brattish at times, more than my own anyway!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Viking, Penguin Books for this Arc I received in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book sounded intriguing, mysterious and compelling. A 15 year old girl, Lana, goes missing for 4 days and thankfully reappears and, despite some scratches and bruises, appears well. This is just the start of it though as, much to her parents’ despair, she claims to have no memory at all of where she was and what happened to her over that period.

The focus of the story is on Lana and her mother, Jen. We see things through Jen’s perspective and are party to her worries over her daughter and her increasing paranoia. Whilst I fully appreciate the how upsetting this whole situation must be (their daughter has a history or mental health problems, mainly depression), I found Jen more and more difficult to read. Dare I say I found her irritating? I hate to sound unkind but, alongside the seriously slow burning nature of this novel, I just found her and the book itself, a tad frustrating.

I kept reading because I Wally did want to know what had happened to Lana, so I guess I was fairly invested in the book to that end. What I found though was that when the truth was revealed, I felt a bit cheated as there wasn’t really much twist to it. It’s what you would think very likely to have happened. I don’t mean in any way to take away from the seriousness of it, it just felt rather predictable.

I don’t want to sound totally negative, this book contains some beautifully descriptive prose, I think it’s a really not my cup of tea but I can see from other reviews that it very much other people’s! If you enjoy a very slow burning tale then you may well love this book, it just (sadly) wasn’t for me.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for sending me an advance copy of #WhistleInTheDark in exchange for an honest review.

Jen' s daughter Lana went missing for 4 long days from a art trip with her mum in the peak district. When Lana is found she is mostly unharmed apart from a few bumps and bruising but she seems different. The police can't get Lana to talk about what happened to her while she was missing and this is driving Jen crazy (Literally). Jen then works on trying to figure out what happened by herself by asking Lana questions to which Lana refuses to answer, searching through phones and quizzing Lana's friends.

So to start Lana was a troubled teen so to spend time with her Jen takes her to a painting week in the Peak District. They meet some strange people and seem to be getting on much better and then Lana goes missing. While Jen is trying to figure out what happened we read about how her paranoid behavior grows and grows. The paranoia helps to keep the mystery going in the book.

The story is well written and I don't want to say this is a bad book because I did enjoy parts of it. I enjoyed the relationships between the families and the differences between Lana and Meg.

I requested this book because I felt captured by the synopsis but the story was very slow. The speed of the story helped to build the intrigue and when Jen found a new clue i found myself trying to figure out what happened. I felt like I was being built up for this WOW ending but that never arrived.

I think if the ending was different then the slow burning read would have been worth it but the ending was lack luster. I do wonder though if this story is just not my cup of tea and it might be something that others enjoy much more.

The story follows Jen, mother of two daughters born 11 years apart, both of whom present different challenges to their parents. The elder daughter seems settled, but there are surprises from her. It is the younger daughter, Lana, who is central to the book; on a holiday with her mother she disappears for four days then, when found, has no memory or explanation of what happened or where has been. The core of the book is Jen's troubled relationship with Lana and her search for the truth about the missing days. Thought provoking but enjoyable.

A haunting and beautiful story about depression and perception, this is about one woman's struggle to cope with her own demons whilst trying to discover the truth about her daughter's disappearance.
Thoroughly compelling, full of emotional twists and turns - this will make the perfect book club title, and I'm confident it'll be a best selling title.

Although I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn’t all consuming and was quickly forgotten.
I couldn’t quite get close to the characters, none of them very likeable however the suspense was edgy and tense at times.
A dark thriller, with a decent plot and flowing script, a bit slow at times and certainly not one of my favourites.
I would check out this Authors’ other works though as the premise had a much better potential given the chance and I liked the writing style.

Thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC of this book. I won't be leaving a negative review on Amazon or any other site, but I really didn't enjoy this book. None of the characters were sympathetic in any way,except maybe the father. The 'plot' was unreasonable; there was no reason that the girl wouldn't say where she had been. A'whiny' overlong novel.

I loved Elizabeth is Missing and was really looking forward to reading this book. I am sad to say that it was not an enjoyable read at all. I found the floating back and forth did help define the characters well but it seemed to disjointed an did not flow easily when reading. I did feel sorry for all the family and could easily see the situations and emotions really happening. The book was rushed in the last 10% to tell you what had happened and this ended the story nicely but seemed so out of place and unreal.
My expectations may have been too high after reading Elizabeth is Missing and this book does not hit the right notes for me.

Not for me this one, though I loved Elizabeth is Missing. I felt that I had complete apathy for the characters, and therefore the plot. It also really plodded along from about 20% to 90% and I rushed through it to get it finished rather than because I was captivated.

I have not read Elisabeth is Missing, and was much surprised to find out on the day that I started the book that EH was going to give a talk in late May. Suffice to say the book was not what I anticipated from the blurb. I think I expected a mystery. I was to be disappointed there. The book, however, did not disappoint on any other score. Wittily written with warm and humour it is a tale of parental despair when faced with the worst kind of unhappiness that can befall your child. As a mother and teacher it was a difficult read - the helplessness that the main character feels when faced with her daughter's despair is all-consuming.
This is a story of communication, listening and accepting - mostly that sometimes all we need to do is trust, that sometimes just being there is worth everything, that we do not need to do things, even though the act of doing is therapeutic in itself. It also shows that in the dark of the depression there can be a breakthrough and that a chance event can propel a person back to valuing life. As such it is a story of hope and coping, of being a parent, loving and just being there.

A well written and compelling read. A dark read in places and the author has a good understanding of mental health. Recommended.

I struggled with the book a bit altho I did love the idea. A bit of a thriller, a dram all rolled into one. Central to the plot is the mother and daughter relationship . Teenage daughter goes missing, like any mother she’s trying to figure out what’s happened as any mother would seeing as Lana is claiming not to remember. I read it but I wasn’t hooked.

I was looking forward to this new title by the author of 'Elizabeth is missing' which was brilliant. Whistle in the dark is an invitation to look at family ties - what makes up a family and the social and emotional effects when the daughter briefly goes missing only to return a few days later with no answers to where she went, who she went with and what happened. The reader is given 'clues' and follows the mother's own investigations into what really happened.. I found this 'mystery' very interesting and am looking forward to reading another book by Emma Healey.

I'm afraid I didn't get on at all well with Whistle In The Dark. Plainly a lot of other readers did and I'm in a small minority, but I found it rather clunky, needlessly slow and not very original in its insights.

The book opens with Jen and Hugh's daughter Lana arriving at hospital after having gone missing for four days while on holiday in the Peak District. Lana insists that she cannot remember anything about what has happened and we are left guessing about whether this is true or not. Oh, and their other daughter chooses that day to announce that she is pregnant by donor insemination and that she has split up with her (female) partner.

The book develops primarily into an examination of the relationship between insecure, emotionally clumsy Jen and Lana, the classic rude, recalcitrant teenager with a history of depression, self-harm etc. for good measure. There is also some sisterly infighting to help things along. Meanwhile Jen intrudes further and further into Lana's life to try to find out what has happened to her as the narrative jumps back and forth in time (as seems near-compulsory these days) and a rather tame story eventually emerges.

I'm afraid I found it dull and unoriginal. The relationships and characters seemed very familiar to me from other books and the story certainly didn't hold my attention. It seems to me that there was an awful lot of Creative Writing but not much in the way of worthwhile content. Plenty of others have enjoyed this very much, but I'm sorry to say that I really didn't.

(My thanks to Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

I thought the first few chapters in this book was intriguing and would continue in this vein. Unfortunately the middle section was wandering, unfocused and involved things which didn't make sense. I liked the ending. I won't say any more in case it spoils the ending for you.

I am afraid this book was just not for me . I did not like the characters or the story. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.