Emma in the Night

I was a huge fan of Wendy Walkers last novel All is Not Forgotten which was for me, one of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given. So when a copy of Emma in the Night winged it’s way to me, I was kind of nervous to even start it just in case it didn’t live up to my expectations. But it delivered a punch straight to my gut within the first few pages and that feeling didn’t let up until I finally, and very reluctantly, put the finished book down. Not only did Emma in the Night live up to my expectations, it hit them into the middle of next week! I loved it just as much as All is not Forgotten, and possibly just a teeny bit more!

Told over the period of a week by Cass who turns up on her mother’s doorstep three years after disappearing with her sister Emma following a family argument. We are then drip fed flashbacks to Cass and Emma’s upbringing with their narcissist, manipulator of a mother whilst also listening to Cass telling the FBI and a forensic psychologist what happened to the sisters after that night. Wendy Walker slowly sets the traps for her readers and I fell into all of them. How she can manipulate my emotions to such an extreme is beyond me, making me care about what happened to this extended family of the most unlikable, egocentric and destructive characters I have ever met. Cass herself proved that, although an unreliable narrator, we are never quite sure of her own emotions which she keeps tightly controlled inside her. One of the most powerful quotes here was this one

I think there are two types of people. Ones who have a scream inside them and ones who don’t.
Cass was repressing her scream throughout and when it finally emerged, I found the resulting emotions very difficult to handle. Not many authors can wring me dry but Wendy Walker has an intrusive style of writing that seems to burrow it’s way into your subconscious, bringing to the surface long forgotten memories and the resulting feelings. She is very, VERY clever at what she does!

This cleverly constructed storyline grabbed me in its entirety, unnerving me to the point that I had to put it down at one point-it all got a bit too much for me!! But I quickly realised that I had to do the “band aid” thing and “rip it off” quickly, hoping it would hurt less in the end! So I picked it up again and read to the end. And what a brilliant and perfectly plotted ending it was too.

I can highly recommended Emma in the Night. It’s a fascinating psychological thriller weaving around the lives of one of the most dysfunctional families I have ever come across! I absolutely loved it!

4.75⭐️
Thank you so much to Netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of Emma In The Night by Wendy Walker in exchange for an honest review. Emma in the night will be published on August 8,2017 by St. Martin's Press.
Emma in the night captures your attention from the very first sentence! We believe what we want to believe. I was hooked.
We follow two people looking for the same person, Emma.
We follow Cass, Emma's little sister and the last person that saw Emma before she disappeared. In Cass's perspective we get to see young Emma and Cass live their lives, grow up (to a point), deal with school, friends, brothers and unprotected sex that lead to running away, which got them into this mess.
Emma and Cass, missing three years...
Once Cass is home she is a celebrity, everyone wants to know what happened and where she was, where Emma still is. Cass provides detailed explanations of her experience on the island in hopes that she can help the detectives find Emma before its too late.
When reading about Cass's time on the island I felt like i was there. It was detailed and thrilling!

We also follow Detective Abby Winters who is put on Emma's missing person case. Abby's perspective is more clincal, direct, and serious. Identifying key persons of interest, interrogating Cass about her sister and to Abby finding Emma is her job, nothing more then a missing person and case to close. Until Abby talks to Cass and finds out that Cass and Emma were held as prisoners on an island.

This book isnt just a mystery it is a story of lies, deceit, survival, plus twists and turns that will keep you guessing til the very end. I highly recommend this intense, heartbreakingly beautiful novel!

Emma in the Night is beautifully written, a classic psychological suspense novel with a brilliantly observed unreliable narrator in Cass and a multi-layered plot that digs deep into a family dynamic that is fascinatingly twisted.

A slow burner of a story that slowly unravels the truth behind the disappearance of two sisters, Wendy Walker takes us on a tense and atmospheric journey through lives affected by mental disorder, Emma in the Night is an emotionally charged tale which even though occasionally predictable does what it is supposed to do - engage you into the lives of its protagonists and stick with them to the bitter end.

Clever and absorbing therefore recommended. Full featured review to follow upon publication.