When I first started reading this novel, I found myself frequently checking that this was written by the same Kathy Reichs that we all know and love. The plot was slow and plodding and the writing felt amateur. The heroine was annoying and reminded me more of a snotty entitled teenager rather than an ex cop with baggage. I also found the shift from first person to third person point of view and back quite distracting.

I persevered, having faith in Ms Reichs, and was well rewarded. The second half of the book picks up the pace and the intrigue and twists kept me guessing right to the end. I found the angle on modern day terror fresh and new and quite thought provoking.

Overall, probably not the best Kathy Reichs book I have read, but well worth the read. I look forward to reading more about Sunday Night and hope that this is the beginning of a new series. Recommended!

Sunday Night likes to mind her own business. She's tried her hand at a military life as well as at being a cop, but her passion these days borders on near recluse-like solitude. So, when she is sought after, by a wealthy widow, to help search for her daughter's and grandson's killers, Sunday's initial instinct is to beg off. Money doesn't concern her and she's no longer on the job. Albeit, something nags at her about the offer. The missing granddaughter who was assumed dead but never found. Is Sunday drawn to her because of her own troubled childhood? Could there be more to it? Was there a chance she might not only be able to track down the killers, but also maybe locate the missing girl alive and well?

What you get when you pick up Two Nights is an action packed thriller that keeps you on your toes til the final pages. Sunday Night, Reich's newest heroine, is snarky and bad ass. She's got her own demons to battle, but she knows how to brave them and get the job done. I recognize that as of now this is a standalone novel; however, I would be very much interested in seeing more Sunday Night adventures in the future.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for providing me this early review opportunity. It's been great!

Okay. Uhm, let's see. Two Nights. Uhm... no. This just wasn't my thing. It could have been, but it wasn't, and I should have known better seeing as this is a Reichs novel, and I have never actually enjoyed anything I have read from her. I thought this would be different, as a standalone and not part of her Temperance Brennan series, but boy, I was wrong.

I absolutely could not stand the lead character, Sunnie. Or her stupid freaking name (Sunday Night - I am not even kidding). Or her horrendous sense of humour. She was a gruff character, and not in the good way. She annoyed me, she did not come across and broken or strong or a survivor, but a whiny brat. Also, stupid little details that Reichs insisted on highlighting - such as exactly which shade of OPI Sunnie was wearing on nails was just grating. I did not like the way the book was written, either. Certain phrases were constantly recycled (the biggest offender was "pro that I am"). So many of the sentences are short and snippy, which makes for staccato reading, nothing smooth. Just jarring.

The books dawdles and runs in circles the whole time, and there are massive chunks of time dedicated to, well, nothing happening. Just repetitive waiting, waiting, waiting, and I just couldn't stand it. I think the best thing about this mess was Gus, and he was not featured nearly as much as he could have been. Another thing? The history of Gus and Sunnie had so much more potential than was realised in the book. This really could have been the something to draw us in. Instead the constant hinting but no real payoff really just got under my skin. Yes, it really seems that this whole book got under my skin, and it did.

Two Nights is sloppily written, filled to the brim with hateful characters, and has a rather thin story stretched out to within an inch of its life. It is dull and a total waste of time, and took me forever to slog through. Definitely not a book I enjoyed or could recommend.

The first book by Kathy Reichs debuting Temperance Brennan was the the best. Reading through her series shows good character development but sometime the plot lines can be a little thin. This new stand alone shows good characters and story reminiscent of the original Temperance Brennan.

This was my first Reichs novel, and while it was an interesting story and cast of characters, I didn't really feel a connection to Sunday, the main character. If that had been there, it would have been a five star from me.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this novel.

The heroine of this book, Sunday Night, is a troubled, ex-army, ex-police officer turned PI. She's not the most likable of characters and is rather gloomy and sarcastic. Sunnie was hired to investigate the kidnapping of a wealthy, socialite's granddaughter after the rest of her family was killed in a bombing.

I liked this book, but I did not love it. I'm not sure if it is because I really struggled to connect with the main character or what exactly that I was not a huge fan of. I do have this feeling that she was meant to be unlikable but there are many parts of her that were a little to vague for my liking.

The plot and story itself was really interesting and is probably what kept me reading. If there was a sequel, I would be willing to give it a chance to see if there is more development in the characters and see if some of my questions get answered. Overall, it was a fast, easy read and it is not the worst book you could pick up. Despite my feelings, if you're interested in the synopsis, make sure to give it a shot because maybe you will enjoy it more than I did!

The characters are really large but I loved them all!. Lots of action and twists. At times I could not put this one down. Not the ending i expected.

This stand-alone novel by Kathy Reichs was a really pleasant surprise to me. I liked the quirky main character, Sunday Night and her brother Gus, too. She is called out of her reclusive retirement on Goat Island to try to find out if a missing girl is alive or not. There was a bomb involved, so Stella may be dead, but her grandmother, Opaline Drucker, has tons of money to throw at finding her and the bombers, so Sunnie takes the job and off she goes on a fool's mission that might very well get her killed. She travels in the fast lane to LA, Chicago and DC, tracking down the bombers and trying to find out whether Stella is alive or not. The action is fast and believable but not the usual bodies to be discovered Kathy Reichs fare. There are no forensics involved and no body farms but a lot of detective work and plenty of brain activity on the part of Sunnie who has to puzzle together what is really happening before it is too late. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to see more of this character.

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs is a standalone book about Sunnie (Sunday) Night who is a recluse living in an isolated area clearly suffering from PTSD. Her past is sketchy and we find out she was in the military and then became a police officer who was let go after an incident in which she was wounded and killed a man. She now lives in solitude and likes it that way. Enter a case that entices her into leaving her bubble and going out into the world again to see if she can find a missing girl, Stella.

Stella's family was killed by a bomb and Stella went missing shortly after the bombing. Her grandmother pays Sunnie to find those responsible and to see if Stella may still be alive. Sunnie accepts and begins a journey of finding the truth about what happened. When she calls in her twin brother, Gus, I really was surprised. They both showed great perseverance and had the ability from a personal level to understand the mindset of a cult.

The books gives us snippets of Sunnie's past through flashbacks. She had a difficult childhood and it kind of explains why she is the way she is now. I liked how her brother, Gus, steps up to help her. She needed his help at points and he didn't disappoint. They were a good team and seemed quite adept at figuring out what was going on. The book had some good twists and flowed well. I would not mind reading more about Sunnie in the future. She was an interesting character who, though she had flaws, was true to herself. If you have like the prior books by Kathy Reichs, I would give this one a try. Although it is a departure from her Temperance Brennan series, it really did keep me guessing what was going to happen. I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Sunday Night is OK but her brother Gus doesn't quite gel as a sidekick (no backstory provided). Kathy Reichs can put sentences together. The problem is that the plot is lame and improbable and there are a couple of big gaps. I didn't finish.

I received a review copy of "Two Nights: A Novel" by Kathy Reichs (Random House – Ballantine) through NetGalley.com.

Intense story about a bombing, a missing girl and cult-like terrorists. Sunday Night has isolated herself on a difficult-to-access island following her discharge from the force. She agrees to help investigate a missing child case at the urging of her foster dad and with the assistance of her twin brother. With elements mirroring her upbringing and long-time effort to move beyond her past, Sunnie jumps into the fray with little regard for her own safety. Reichs weaves a background story into the main tale, leaving the reader unsure whether that story provides insight into the current plight of the missing girl or the past that still haunts Sunnie. Regardless, the reader can't help but root for both Sunnie and the missing girl, Stella, and will be surprised as events unfold until the bitter end.

In this suspense novel, former cop Sunday Night is enlisted by a wealthy woman to see if her granddaughter is still alive. Sunnie is a likeable, tough woman who had an abusive childhood. Being adopted by a cop through her high school years couldn’t erase the damage that had been done, but Beau was the reason she enlisted in the Marines. After an unsuccessful stint in the military and then as a cop, she lives off the grid on a tiny island. Though she’s got a hard shell, she is funny in her way.

Sunnie’s adventures take her around the country as she attempts to find out who bombed the Jewish girl’s school where Opaline Drucker’s daughter and grandson were killed and where her granddaughter Stella disappeared a year ago. The pacing is mostly fast.

Reichs has a distinctive writing style—she uses a lot of sentence fragments and her analogies are unique.
The subject matter was timely—I can’t say more without giving up some of the clues that Sunnie discovers as she tries to hunt down the bad guys and save Stella if she’s still alive.

This was a fun book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

Great read. Gets you hooked from the start. Would highly recommend!!

Thanks to Random House Publishing House, Ballantine Bantam and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I'm a big fan of Kathy Reichs, and I loved this book. It's a standalone book separate from her usual series. The main character, Sunday Night, is an ex-police officer and Marine turned P.I. with a difficult past. She is hired by a wealthy Charleston socialite named Opaline Drucker to find a group of bombers who blew up a Jewish school in Chicago. Her daughter and grandson were killed, and the body of her granddaughter Stella was never discovered.

Sunnie believes Stella could be alive and goes to Chicago to investigate, assisted by her brother with whom she is very close. As she gets closer and closer to the bombers and to the truth about what happened to Stella, she finds her life is in danger and memories of her past come back to haunt her.

The writing in Two Nights is superlative. Kathy Reichs knows how to tell a story at a breakneck pace and the plot had a twist at the end. I read the book in one sitting. The descriptions of the P.I. tricks of the trade were fascinating. The characters were very strong. I would love to see more books featuring Sunnie!

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

This will surely be another best seller for Kathy Reichs! I was not sure I liked Sunnie Night at the beginning, but I grew to love her as I learned more about her and her past. Sunnie has a tragic past, physically as well as mentally and emotionally. She was a cop and an incident left her with a scarred face and only one eye. She refused to do desk work, so left the police force and moved to Goat Island, where she lives virtually as a hermit. Initially she comes off as a brash character who uses as few words as possible, that is, when she decides to speak. You learn more about her childhood and background through alternating chapters that go back in time. Her brashness and terseness is a defense mechanism, enabling her to cope with her trauma. But then she is asked to take on a case by her foster father, Beau, who is well aware of her background. The case opens up old wounds for Sunnie. I felt that deep down she really cared about people, especially those she felt were like family. I would just love a series based on Sunnie and her twin, Gus.

Her name is Sunday Night. She ran from an abusive past and chose the day she was found as her name. She's built a new life but it's not like anyone else's. She lives on island that is accessible only by boat. She has a squirrel for a pet. And she likes it that way. But when a grandmother asks her to find her missing granddaughter, Sunnie agrees. She feels a connection to the young missing girl...

Random House Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published July 11th.

This is a creepy story of people who want to kill the Muslims in the states and send a message they are not wanted here. A young man who is sadistic and cruel leads the group and he's got the girl that survived the bombing. He's honing her to be part of his network by torturing her.

Sunnie chases the clues from the past to the present and gets close to catching him but never succeeds. She's killing off the ones sent to kill her but that doesn't save the girl. When the bombers have all been disposed of, the grandmother takes her off the case. She doesn't want her to pursue the enemy far enough to get the granddaughter killed. But trying to stop Sunnie from following through is impossible.

There's more than one crazy person in the scheme and the ending is take down is a major operation. I didn't find the ending satisfying but I did find Sunnie interesting. I'd be interesting in reading the next book and seeing what kind of case she gets then.

I have watched every episode of Bones, more than once, but this is my first book by Kathy Reichs. If this book is any indication, the mantra of all book lovers will stand true…the book is always better. This book caught me a little off guard. I read a lot, and books that drag me into a story this completely are rare. I loved every page.

Having said that, let me explain a little. I wasn’t sure at first that I was going to like Sunday Night. Sunnie has a lot of issues. She’s anxious, angry or both…all the time. It was a little disturbing. As I read further, her oddness became understandable and a little endearing. By the end of the book, I wanted was to know more of her story and ride shotgun on more of her adventures. She’s a hell of a traveling companion.

There is a delightful amount of detail as Sunnie tracks down the missing girl, lost after her family is killed in a bombing. As she uncovers clue after clue, learning more and more about the fundamentalist cult behind the bombing and the loss of the young girl, we also learn more about the horrors of being raised in that culture…by Sunnie herself. It’s a fascinating journey leading to an action packed, thrilling ending that will leave you breathless!

One more thing. The title, Two Nights, is a double entendre that you will have to figure out for yourselves!

Enjoy!

2shay

I thoroughly enjoyed this new book by a fantastic author. Two Nights has a great plot and very well developed characters. Hoping there are more Sunday (Sunnie) Nights in the future. I highly recommend this book.

Sunday Night (Sunnie – a misnomer if ever there was one) is a woman with quite a backstory, though it takes most of the book to understand quite what that story is. The central protagonist in Kathy Reichs new stand-alone novel, Sunnie is ex-military; ex-Charleston Police Department, following an on the job incident which left one man dead and Sunnie with an eye injury and permanent scarring.
Sunnie took disability rather than be stuck behind a desk. Now she lives in an isolated cabin on Goat Island, South Carolina, within rowing distance of her foster father Beau. She is a withdrawn character, living with her own demons and her only companion is a squirrel she has named Bob. Beau comes to see her and suggests to her that she should take on a cold case.
Opaline Drucker is rich, entitled and unafraid to speak her mind and pay for what she wants. Her daughter and grandson were killed in a bomb explosion at the children’s Jewish school, but her granddaughter Stella, who was with them, has never been found. Opaline wants Sunnie to find out both who was responsible for the bombing and what happened to Stella.
Sunnie isn’t motivated by the money, but she realises that she is very drawn to help find out what happened to Stella and whether she is still alive.
The Chicago police haven’t had much luck in sourcing leads and so Sunnie enlists the help of her twin brother Gus, (hence the eponymous two nights) and together they set out to unravel the mystery.
This is a fast paced, plot driven novel that does not relay on characterisation for its narrative. There is lots of action, a plethora of clues and bodies and although somewhat improbable in places (police are literally clueless and they drag a key suspect around with them everywhere), the action propels the novel along to its neatly wrapped and ribbon tied conclusion.
Two Nights is an easy read and none the worse for that. I would have preferred deeper characterisation and a more complex plot, but for all that, it is eminently readable and I quite enjoyed it.