From the very first page, I was drawn into the story of two girls who were missing for three years, and only one of them returned home. The author has taken a unique approach to the psychological thriller by having the book revolve around a mother’s narcissistic personality disorder. The author carefully crafted this book, adding information and showing the reader through the character’s actions what this is like, so if you aren’t familiar with this mental condition, you will definitely have a pretty good understanding as the book progresses.

The book is well written. I could not even begin to guess the ending, and it came as quite as surprise to me. The characters were well done with insight into the thoughts and behaviors of the most important ones. There is growth for two of the daughters of narcissistic mothers as the book progresses. I found myself cheering for them and hoping they would overcome their upbringing. You’ll have to read the book to see how it all works out.

The book does contain sex; however, it isn’t thrown in there just to have sex in a book, (like too many authors do) it actually does go along with the narcissistic personality and how women may use their sexual appeal when they have this disorder. There is also some cursing here and there.

I never saw the ending to this book! So many twists and turns. A very messed up family with lots of Dark secrets.

This book is really being hyped up . I usually love a thriller and this one certainly intrigued me. Two sisters disappear and one returns 3 years later . With Emma still missing Cass begins to tell her story. There is an extremely narcissistic Mother and a detective with Mother Issues. Although the plot was good I guess this book was just not for me. It seemed forced and began to bog down in the middle. I give the author credit for a new idea though

Wow, this psychological thriller will keep the reader wondering until the very end. With a narcissistic mother, can daughters break the cycle is a question everyone will ask. Talk about a dysfunctional family, this story is a perfect example. It is hard to put down and will keep the reader's attention to the conclusion. Highly recommended!

Twists! Turns! Unreliable Narrator! Surprise Ending! Emma in the Night delivers on all of that. 🛶

Three years ago Emma (17) and her sister Cass (15) disappear without a trace. Now, Cass has returned to explain what happened and help the FBI find her sister.

Cass tells a captivating story about abduction, deception and general creepiness on an unknown island off the coast of Maine where she and Emma were held against their will.


Before their disappearance Cass and Emma’s home life was far from perfect including a narcissistic mother whose treatment of the girls can only be described as despicable behavior and treatment of the girls. The rest of the family isn't great either, so be prepared to read about some serious dysfunction.


As holes in Cass’s kidnapping story start to surface, you won’t be sure what to believe and the pages will turn easily as you become more and more eager to learn what really happened.

The ending was a complete surprise to me. The story was not without a few plot holes and question marks and most of the characters were unlikeable (some were downright awful) but overall I really enjoyed this thriller and would recommend it!


Best paired with a Cape Cod Cocktail.

Another psychological thriller to enjoy is Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker. I’ve seen this one again and again, getting awesome reviews. It’s high up on my To Read list and I have a feeling that its one of those books you start and read into the night.

Synopsis:

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up.

Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister’s return might just be the beginning of the crime.

A disappearance, kidnapping, dysfunctional family? This has all the ingredients for a compelling read!

I liked this book....not as good as I thought it would be, but I would recommend it!
I did not expect the way it all came together at the end.....I was shocked 😊

If you are a fan of books that have an unreliable narrator at the heart of the story, Emma in the Night would be right up your alley. This psychological thriller is told in the third person, by two separate characters, making it sometimes a difficult follow. Two sisters are kidnapped with no trace; one returns three years later relating a tale of being held captive on an island. The family is definitely dysfunctional and extremely unlikeable. There is a forensic psychiatrist assigned to the case, and she was by far the most interesting character. As the mystery unraveled, I found myself more intrigued with the book. Having the narration be third person didn't allow me to connect to the girl and the psychiatrist on more than a surface level, which I found disappointing (I considered making this a three star review because of that technique and disconnect). Wendy Walker's offering is fast paced, has a very tightly woven mystery, and I found it entertaining.

This is one of those books I didn't know much about but wanted to read based on the good reviews I kept seeing. The premise seemed interesting but another one I wouldn't quite say was a thriller.

So two sisters go missing one night and three years later only one returns. Emma is the older one and the preferred daughter of their mother. As much as one could be preferred when your mother is narcisstic. The mother is a piece of work! Actually, the whole family is. When Cass, the younger daughter, reappears secrets soon become evident. With the help of Dr. Winters, the two of them will solve what happened.

Some of it was mysterious and I was really intrigued to know what happened to the sisters. The family themselves put me off. They were seriously f'd up. As a whole the story was ok but not something that will end up on my favorites list.

**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2

While some of this book was a little weak (the focus on the investigating detective's obsession with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, too much telling instead of showing about what NPD is and what effects it can have), it also had an ending that for once I did not see coming. The fact that the resolution and denouement would be unexpected/twisty was pretty well telegraphed throughout, but I was impressed that, unusually for me, I didn't have many guesses about what the truth would actually be.

This was my first book From author Wendy Walker. While browsing Netgalley I came across Emma In The Night. I was immediately drawn to the cover art. Clicking the cover I read the description and knew I had to read it. It sounded intriguing. I wasn't disappointed.

Cass return home after vanishing years ago with her sister, Emma. Cass is all alone. The questions begin. Where is Emma? What happened? Where have the girls been this entire time?

Chapter by chapter Cass tells the story. Each revelation brings even more questions from her parents and from investigators. With each chapter we learn more about the secrets to the girls' past. Not everything in this well-to-do family is how it seemed to the outside world. Right away, FBI agent and forensic psychologist Abby Winter can see through Cass' story and pokes holes in it.

This story is well written. The plot twists come a the perfect time and kept me interested and engaged throughout the entire book. The ending was not something I imagined or saw coming. A beautifully disturbing read!

This is a solid 5 star read for me! I look forward to reading Wendy Walker's other books, as they have already been added to my TBR pile!

You can get your ebook, hardcover or paperback copy of Emma In The Night now! While you are there, check out the author's other books.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me a free copy to read and review.

Happy Reading!

I completely devoured this book! A truly twisted psychological thriller that grabs you from the very first page, throwing in just enough surprises to keep your interest throughout! Highly recommend!

Very confusing book. I am not a fan of first person writing but I did read this book. Really could not connect with the characters

Boy oh boy did a certain pig head go into this with seriously high expectations after reading All Is Not Forgotten. It’s a bummer this one didn’t work so well.

Per usual, since this is a mystery/thriller not a lot can be said without potentially ruining someone else’s good time. The basics are three years ago Emma and her sister Cass disappeared in the night. Emma’s abandoned car, purse and keys were found at the local beach. Nothing belong to Cass was located. Fast forward to the present where Cass shows up at her house, leaving everyone asking . . . .

WHERE WERE YOU?!?!?!?!?!

What follows is a wibbly-wobbly timey wimey tale of what happened to the two girls – not only during the three years since they went missing, but also about their entire upbringing . . . . .

“Aren’t I a good mother? The best mother you could ever want?”

The main problem I had with Emma In The Night was that I found it super boring. I don’t necessarily mind an unbelievable story behind a mystery and I definitely don’t mind unreliable and/or unlikeable narrators. What I do mind is feeling like a book that was barely over 300 pages was more like 500 due to the trip to Dullsville it took me on. Normally when I read a book, I’m in it - like 100000000%. Even books I hate I tend to become fully vested in for the simple fact that if I’m going to rage out, I better be able to explain what made me ragey. When I find myself taking breaks to put another load of laundry in the machine or start thinking about what sounds good for dinner, it’s not a great sign.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. What a dysfunctional family! And that is putting it madly. We have two girls being raised by a Narcissistic mother. One day they both disappeared. Three years later Cass returns, but the question is what happened to Emma? The story is told from Cass and Abby's (FBI) perspective. As this story unfolds, it gets so bazaar and intriguing. Very enjoyable and some pretty interesting twists.

It took awhile for this book to draw me in. The shifting voices and time periods threw me for the first few chapters. And it took me an even longer time to understand the "Mom"/"Mrs. Martin" thing. I stayed with it because I had heard good things about the book and I wanted to be there when the puzzle pieces were put into place. The ending was pretty good although I had inklings of the answers way prior to the ending. Perhaps it is because I am a mother and have been a stepmother but I'm not very happy when either of those is portrayed as evil. I also have a very difficult time with stories involving children being harmed physically, mentally or emotionally. That being said, I did find the book interesting although I would not recommend this to someone without many warnings. I will be seeking out Walker's earlier book "All is Not Forgotten".

If you are looking for a psychological thriller that always keeps you guessing, you’ve found it in Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker.

The story is narrated by Cass, Emma’s sister. Cass is 18 years old and has just returned home after her and her sister disappeared 3 years ago. She tells the tale of being on an island with her sister and an older couple. The older couple wouldn’t let them leave, but Cass managed to escape and now is trying to help the investigators find the island.

The investigators that began working on the case 3 years ago are called back in. One of them, Abby Winters is a forensic psychologist. She finds the case extra intriguing because she is sure that Cass and Emma’s mother, Mrs. Martin has a narcissistic personality disorder. Her own mother had that disorder and she understands the effects that it can have on a family. Perhaps it has had more of an effect on Cass and Emma than anyone is recognizing.

There are plenty of twists and turns in the story, it had me second guessing the whole time. The addition of the personality disorder the mother made it even more interesting.

I received and ARC of the book.

"We believe what we want to believe. We believe what we need to believe. Maybe there’s no difference between wanting and needing. I don’t know. What I do know is that the truth can evade us, hiding behind our blind spots, our preconceptions, our hungry hearts that long for quiet. Still, it is always there if we open our eyes and try to see it. If we really try to see it.

When my sister and I disappeared three years ago, there was nothing but blindness."

So begins Wendy Walker’s Emma in the Night, the story of a heroine returned home after a harrowing kidnapping. A survival story. Or maybe narrator Cassandra, sister of the missing Emma in the title, the Emma of the night, is finally returning to an abusive home she managed to escape for years. A different kind of survival story.

emma-in-the-nightEmma in the Night dives headlong into that most intimate and tortured of female bonds, the relationship between daughter and mother. This isn’t a We Need to Talk About Kevin, although it certainly wants to be. It explores narcissism and motherhood and who we become based on who raises us, all wrapped in a strange, island-set mystery that feels part Lost and part Hamptons.

Women have always written some of the best psychological thrillers. Those of us in love with thrillers knew this pre- and post-Gone Girl era. Since Patricia Highsmith and Daphne Du Maurier we’ve known that women understand a certain simmering torture, and do it well. We’re all Gone Girls, taught to swallow our anger and cough up a smile. And Cassandra wears this struggle well, a struggle to be something to everyone, the detectives, her family, even the reader.

Other reviews of this book are all over the map – some people hated the long drawn out exposition as Cassandra flashes back to her kidnapping, and I get that. Flashing back as a plot device in thrillers is overused, and we should have little tolerance for it. But me, personally? There wasn’t a moment I wasn’t enthralled by Cassandra’s story, caught up in her odd tale, and totally lost in trying to decipher where the truth in her strange words could live. I didn’t find the back and forth, so often utilized to delay a lack of actual mystery, distracting.

There is nothing like that heady foggy thrill of being lost in a world that makes no sense at all, but promises to, if you keep forging ahead. And Emma in the Night is one of those worlds, built on remote islands and bizarre memories of strange encounters in the dark. It’s built on a family broken or a girl lying, or both. If you’re a fan of that sort of dark domestic thriller that turns home life into horror, then pick it up. Just be ready to not put it down.

Three years earlier, 15-year-old Cassandra Tanner and her older sister Emma seemingly vanished without a trace. Surprisingly, Cass turns up on her mother’s doorstep, without Emma, but with a fascinating story about being held on an island somewhere along the Maine coastline. The lead investigator and FBI psychologist assigned to the case originally are back to hear Cass’s story and to do the best they can to find Emma and bring their captors to justice.

Dr. Abby Winter is well aware of the dysfunctions in human relationships. Not only did she have a narcissistic mother, but her dissertation was on that topic. Abby sees something disturbing in the family dynamics, and supports Cass as she relates the details of the three years the girls were missing, focusing on the finer points in an effort to pinpoint the island and locate the couple who kept the girls hidden away.

This was definitely a compelling read, and I’m left shaking my head at the complete and total dysfunction of these people. Everyone in the family had a hidden agenda, they kept count of the slights and offenses, and were determined to make you pay for whatever they thought you had done or were preparing to do. Cass’s survival skills, coupled with Abby’s insight, led to an interesting case study of narcissism and demonstrated the damage it can inflict on those around you.

I was kept guessing til the mystery was solved and usually I guess it early. The character development was well-written and I truly formed people in my mind and I hated some and questioned the veracity of the others. With all those good things, though, I never found one character I really liked or trusted. That was disappointing- but that is only my need - to find a character to become attached to.