What a twisting psychological thriller, involving two sisters,Emma and Cass, their narcissistic mother and t heir lives growing up. One night both sisters disappear, no one has any knowledge of where they have gone. A couple years later Cass shows up at the family house, with a long story of both Emma and her living on an island with a couple. The FBI has been involved since the beginning , so the lead investigator and forensic psychiatrist are back to investigate. What follows is along tale of Emma having a child, living on the island and the take-over of the baby by the couple helping them. You won't be able to put this story down as you are wound like a clock, trying to figure out where the other sister is! Very entertaining right through the end! I received a copy of this book from Netgalley,and would like to thank them, Wendy Walker, the author, and publisher St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to give my thoughts.

*4.5 stars. I could NOT put this one down--the psychological drama between these characters is fascinating!

Cassandra and Emma Tanner disappeared from their home three years ago and now suddenly, Cass has reappeared on her mother's doorstep. She has a story to tell about being held on a remote island on Maine's rugged coast and is desperate for FBI authorities to find her sister.

The story is told from not only Cass's viewpoint, which is totally unreliable, but also from that of the FBI's Forensic Psychologist, Dr. Abigail Winter, who has been working the case with Special Agent Leo Strauss since the girls' disappearance was first reported.

As a young girl, Cassandra learned that her name comes from Greek mythology: "Cassandra had the gift of prophecy but the curse that her prophecies would never be believed." In her own short life, she has also learned that: "People believe what they want to believe."

Dr. Winter is an expert on narcissistic personality disorder and sees signs of that disorder in the behavior of the girls' mother. She has always believed the roots of this 'crime' lie in the family dynamics. Teens are frequently driven from their homes by dysfunction, abuse, neglect or instability. Are these girls the daughters of a mother with narcissism? This is something that Abby Winter has experienced in her own life and wrote her dissertation on in graduate school.

What is a narcissist? "In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter who was consumed by his own beauty and pride." He fell in love with his own reflection in a pool and "stared at himself until he died." A narcissist has a "grandiose sense of self-importance; fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty, brilliance; requiring excessive admiration; elevated sense of entitlement; takes advantage of others to achieve their own ends; lacks empathy; unwilling to recognize or identify needs and feelings of others." Hmmm...sounds like someone we know who is always in the new these days, eh?

Cassandra's story unfolds over the next seven days as tests are done, drawings of suspects are made, and the search for the remote island begins. The reader always has the sense that there is a hidden agenda playing out here and that keeps one turning pages to see what will be revealed next. I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful novel and highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an arc of this new book.

Wow! This book has left me speechless. I did not see the ending coming. I was totally shocked by the twist. Everything is brilliantly and cleverly written. I was totally taken in by the version of events Cass tells. I believed the whole way through that Emma had to be found. This book is definitely worth reading. It is a fast paced thriller which has a brilliant ending and which led me in to thinking I knew where Emma was and then blindsiding me with the answer.

WOW! I have never read a book like this. So well done! Unique, multi-layered plot. Twists and turns? More like twirls and swirls! I loathed every single character, except Leo and Abby. But I find this a true talent of a gifted writer. Ms. Walker deftly crafted characters that were deliciously perverted, repugnant and abhorrent. I was rooting for their demise! I hope this doesn't mean I am as sick as they are. 😜 I would definitely recommend this masterpiece to any reader who enjoys heart-stopping psychologic thrillers.

"Emma in the Night" is a journey into the mind of an abused child, and her ultimate revenge on those responsible. I enjoyed this book immensely. The story is told from two POVs, Cassandra Tanner, whose narcissistic mother ruled over Cass and her sister Emma by a system of rewards and punishment designed to maintain her own feelings of self worth at any cost-and Abby Winter, a psycologist with the FBI, whose upbringing was similar to Cass's. The girls disappeared three years ago, but only Cass returned with a tale designed to bring about the return of her sister Emma. The ending was great, but it is the journey to the conclusion that makes this novel a page-turner!

Since Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, psychological thrillers seem to be everywhere. Unfortunately, many of them seem to fall into two camps: predictable or jump the shark. This novel falls into the later category. Well-paced, this started with potential, but the entire story fell into the category of tell, don't show (large swaths of the narrative is the main character in monologue with police investigators) and the plot is tangled to the point of no return. By the end, the twists felt very contrived.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

Enjoyed this mystery...have shared it w/ all of my reading friends...and libraries.

An abandoned mystical island, family secrets, a kidnapping and a missing sister! Get ready for some twisted family secrets to be uncovered! Emma is missing and the circumstances of her disappearance are more than unusual! Get ready for a ride that will be both thrilling and have you questioning who to believe!!

Labelled a thriller, Emma In The Night crosses the YA boundary by depicting the disappearance of two girls and the return of one of them. As a combination of two of my favourite genres, I could tell from the first chapter that this book would be a winner. The story-line is embedded in my brain, making me wish I could write something just as good.

When Emma and Cass disappear, no one knows whether they were kidnapped, murdered or runaways. Three years later, Cass returns without her sister and tells a story of how they were held captive on an island. Psychologist Abby Winter doesn't think the story adds up but plays along to uncover the real truth.

Told from the perspectives of Cass and the psychologist on the case, Abby, there is a growing sense of tension that shifts between character to character. The cast of the book are the line-up and you as the reader have to point the finger at one of them with blame.

Emma In The Night is a reading experience like nothing else as it's told in a reflective past tense. Rather than the pacey present/immediate past tone of many thrillers, it looks back on the traumatic incidents from three years ago like a chilling bedtime story. In the same way, it is not told from the "main" character, Emma's, perspective. Cass is the quiet, overshadowed younger sister who's voice is muffled by Emma's drama. As Cass unravels the truth about what happened in the build up to the girls' disappearance, it becomes clear that she really was an active presence that no one ever saw before.

The family dynamics are all over the place, but I mean that in a good way. With step-fathers, divorced parents, step-brothers and a strange mother leave room for all sorts of chaos and behind the family facade, there is a lot of room for darkness.

Written in a compelling way with a bold story-line, I highly recommend picking up Emma In The Night. It's one you won't forget about in a hurry.

This novel draws the reader in from the very first sentence, and keeps your attention up until the very (surprising) end.

This is the first novel I have ready by this author, but it certainly won't be the last. Ms. Walker has away of weaving together a story that is not only brilliant in its complexity, but engaging as well. And while I had expected a lot of things as the story unfolded, what I did not expect, and truthfully did not see coming, was the way the author choose to end the story. It fit perfectly, but it was the absolute last thing I ever would have considered.

The fact that this story is told from two different perspectives, Cass' as she retells the story of where she and her sister have been for the last three years, and FBI agent Abigail Winters, adds a layer of depth and complexity that I feel would have otherwise been missing. To be able to experience the same story from two different areas of expertise was invigorating. The fact that the author also chose to highlight the cycle of abuse that comes from growing up in a household where one of the parents suffers from narcissism was a cold dose of reality, but one that helped define the characters, who they were, and what drove them to act (and react) in the ways that they did.

Overall, I am sure this story will definitely appeal to those who enjoy a well put together and executed thriller novel, and I would read more from this author!

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Wendy Walker's newest psychological thriller.

I loved Wendy's debut novel, ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN, so I was very excited to read an early copy of her newest thriller. Emma in the Night revolves around two sisters disappearing and only one returns several years later. What does Cass know? Where was she all this time? And where is Emma??? It's up to an FBI psychologist to figure out what Cass is hiding and if her dysfunctional family is holding more secrets than truths. Lots of twists and unexpected turns. A solid story and satisfying mystery.
A real page turner!!! Perfect for a beach escape.

Three years after teenage sisters Emma and Cass disappear without a trace, Cass returns home with a story of being held captive on an island, from which she escaped. The agents on the case try to find Emma and the island, while psychologist Abby Winter, who always suspected that the girls' mother was a narcissistic personality and should have been investigated more closely, continues to interview Cass, feeling that something is not quite right. I really liked this. At first I was not too excited about it; the whole narcissism thing doesn't really do it for me, but as I read on and tried to get a handle on what exactly was going on and what I was missing (because you know there's something just out of reach the whole time...), I really got into it. The last time I felt that way about a book (The Missing - Caroline Erikkson), I felt let down at the end and disappointed that what I had been racing through the book and chasing after was not really worth it. This time it was worth it. I gave this one 4 stars, but I'd maybe round up to 4.5.

Emma in the Night is the story of two sisters, Emma and Cass, that went missing one night. The only thing found was Emma’s car left on the beach. Three years later, Cass returns with a story of an island where she and Emma were kept.

Emma in the Night is a spectacularly crafted mystery. Revealing just enough at each point to slowly unveil the truth of what happened. I was hugely impressed with how well Walker so carefully gives us progressively more information, but does not show her hand until the very end.

Be careful about reading this book in public places. I gasped, audibly, at the gym, coffee shops, in cars, and many other inappropriate places, where one should not gasp.

This book was very frustrating to read. It didn't catch my interest from the beginning as it seemed to be talking around the issue with little hints here and there about what had happened. Instead of coming across as telling a story it came across more as avoiding telling a story. I just couldn't get into it.

Emma in the Night started out great - I was hooked, couldn't stop reading! Then about 3/4 of the way through it devolved into a predictable messy thing, and my enjoyment just sort of drained away. Wendy Walker does an excellent job with the narcissistic personality disorder. She totally nailed the mother, and I loved Dr. Winter and the slow reveal. But by the end I was just...unsatisfied? Drifting away? I don't know. I'd recommend the first three quarters completely, but after the last I'd leave this at a solid 3 stars.

Emma in the Night was an incredible read. It had me captivated from the first page and was nearly impossible to put down.
There are plenty of thrillers on the market right now but none that threw me through so many loops and made each chapter an adventure such as this one.
The plot in and of itself isn't necessarily a unique concept, but the way it was executed was beautiful and original. The characters were all intense and with each page you delved deeper into Emma or Judy or Abby's lives and development as the mystery of Emma unfolds.
The abuse mentioned in this book is one that isn't talked about very often, particularly in literature, so it was a nice peek into the issues and results of the type of abuse the girls suffer by their mother.
What I loved most about this novel was every time you think you know exactly what was going on/what happened, it kept proving you wrong. It changed what you thought you knew to be true throughout the entire novel, even after "the big reveal" of what actually happened.
I can't wait till this novel comes out, because I fully plan to buy a copy, as well as recommend it to friends and family!
Thank you so much to Netgalley, St. Martins Press, and of course Wendy Walker for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

After Cass and Emma, two sisters disappeared three years ago, Cass returns with an incredible tail of an island, a child, and a husband and wife that kept them captive. The story alternates between Cass and Dr. Abby Winter, as the truth is slowly unraveled.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. The story unfolded at a nice pace, keeping me reading and involved. However, Cass was just so unrealistic. She seemed well educated, insightful beyond her years and a master manipulator. It just didn't work with the idea that she had been kidnapped as a 15 year old and returned at 18. I would be interested in reading more from this author, but I don't think I would re-read this 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.

Three years ago, two teenage girls, Emma and Cass Tanner, disappeared from their home. Now, Cass has come back, but where is her sister?

You may find this description a bit vague, but believe me when I say that this is a book best delved into blindly to make the most of the mystery lying at its core. So if you haven’t read it yet, please tread with caution – whilst I will try and stay away from spoilers, even little innocent remarks could spoil a major aspect of the plot in this convoluted tale of lies, betrayal and family dysfunction!

Just as I was complaining that there haven’t been enough books out there lately that mess with my mind, I came across Emma in the Night and bang! I eat my words, because this is a book that has all the elements of a twisted psychological thriller. Without giving away too many clues, it is instantly obvious that Cass, the returned teenager, is a troubled soul. Can she be trusted? Have her experiences in the last three years scarred her so much that she has gone crazy, like her mother is claiming (a mother, who Cass calls “Mrs Martin” – go figure)? And what is really going on in the Martin household? These are the questions forensic psychologist Abby Winter is asking herself as she is frantically trying to untangle Cass’ story in a race against time to find her older sister Emma.

Personality disorder and dysfunctional families feature prominently in this dark and disturbed tale, which leads the reader down a path so windy and tangled that one can never quite see the way out of the thorny thicket that is the story of Emma and Cass’ disappearance. Told in part in Cass’ own voice, and partly from the viewpoint of Dr Winter, I was never quite sure who I could believe or trust – which made the story quite intriguing for me! I admit that at times I struggled with the web of family dynamics, which are disturbing to say the least, and which carried a large part of the story.

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

With some confronting images, this is not for the faint of heart! And although the book is brimming with unlikeable characters, the author’s extensive knowledge of narcissistic personality disorder presents them as three-dimensional personalities, making the tale all the more chilling in its premise.

Emma in the Night is a twisty and disturbing tale focusing on family dysfunction, personality disorder and the effects of childhood trauma. With many of the elements that make for a riveting psychological thriller, Walker delivers a story that will stay with you long after the final page has been turned. Highly recommended to lovers of the genre who like a story where nothing is quite as it seems.

“It’s my turn now, my turn to be the lightening rod.”

Cassandra and Emma Tanner are sisters from a broken home. Three years ago they both vanished. A car left at the beach and shoes of one sister left at the water’s edge. The novel begins with Cass’s sudden return to her mother’s house on Sunday morning ….but without Emma. FBI Special Agent and psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winters interrogates the now 18 year old Cass about the story of their disappearance. All Cass can utter is “We must find Emma." It is here that the story is told of imprisonment and deception, and the story of escape. But something does not add up. Where is Emma?

The novel is recounted by Cass and Abby's alternating perspectives. The cunning narrative flows freely dealing with the complex subject of narcissism and social relationships. The characters are sophisticated and complex. Judy Martin is a narcissistic mother who self-interest is cringe-worthy. Cass is an unreliable narrator and beguiles her audience and you alongside. This psychological thriller will hook you from the first page and keep you wanting more at the end of every chapter. This is my first novel by Wendy Walker and it will not be my last.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed learning about narcissism while reading this story. Lots of suspense, interesting characters and plot. Highly recommended. I didn't want it to end.