Two sisters disappear, three years later one returns and what seems like the end of the mystery is really only the beginning.

First thoughts after finishing the book:
Wow, wow, wow!! I did NOT expect this to end the way it did, at all. One of the best thrillers I've read this year. The second book I've read by this author, and I'm hungry for more from her.

Full review:
Cass's family is incredibly dysfunctional, and sometimes difficult to read about, but she never lets them break her or dim her desire for justice, closure, and a new life.

The entire book is filled with twists, turns, and suspense. Every time I thought I knew what had actually happened, the next twist would send me off in another direction. Things are definitely not always what they seem. I enjoy the alternating viewpoints and the way they keep the reader off balance.

**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, with no expectation of a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I read this book while pregnant with my first child. There have been several occasions where I think to myself, "Am I just going to magically know how to be a mom?!". After reading this book, one thing was clear... don't do anything the mother in this book does, and I will probably be fine.

This is not a twisty, turny, on the edge of your seat thriller. But it is a well written, well paced, building story that suddenly slams.

I really enjoyed this book.

A rabbit warren of theories formed in my head whilst reading this book but never did I expect the end. A great, tense read with lots of potential suspects. Definitely recommend.

ARC copy via Net Galley - Thank You

Haven't read this Author's other book but liked the title cover & synopsis for this book.

'We believe what we want to believe. We believe what we need to believe.'

Enjoyable read told from different characters view points each one giving you that little bit more information telling you that all is not as it seems and needing you to read on. The author definitely knows her subject matter and I did find myself glossing over some parts as they seemed repetitive but I suppose helps you understand that the illness is not just selfishness & self centredness.

The characters certainly change from how they were introduced and goes to show what goes on behind closed doors.

Enjoyed the ending . Enjoyed the whole book. 4 stars from me

This was incredibly creepy. I can usually piece together a mystery before it is revealed, but this one kept me guessing constantly. 10/10 would recommend.

The way this ultimately weaved together was fascinating, but ultimately not something I was super excited about.

Because the way this book was told was all gearing up for the ending, for the "plot twist," but it didn't really make the rest of the book that interesting to read. I was intrigued, yes, but I picked up a couple of other books while reading this and probably would have forgotten it had I not been reading to review.

This was another book were the details were quite clever and the way that they were strung together to create a picture was done well. I think perhaps I'm over having something at the end be a big reveal and then having all those details explained. I didn't feel like Walker had much respect for the reader in thinking that they could put pieces together.

Walker has strong concepts and I'll look out for her next book, but this one didn't quite do it for me.

4.5 stars
This really worked for me. I loved delving into the psyches of different characters and seeing some really interesting psychologies there.

This book was hard for me to read as way to long and really didn't keep my interest. Hate giving bad reviews but this was not up to my usual thrillers I like to read.

This book takes you for a wild ride through the viewpoints of two characters, Cass Tanner, one of the girls who disappeared, and Dr. Abby Winter, one of the ones that searched for her. I was shocked over and over again throughout this book--good job, Walker!

When Cass returns home after being missing for a number of years her mother didn't even recognize her. But as her story unravels between the countless interviews with police and other government forces you begin to realize that part of her might forever be away. All Cass wants is for her sister, Emma, who also disappeared, to be found. As the reader of the book even you don't know what to believe or how Cass, a narrator who seems to be completely candid (at least in her thought life), could fool even us.

Read this, no really...do it.

This book ended up being a hard one for me to get into. In the beginning of the book, when Cass has returned from wherever she has been, she begins telling a story about this island that she and her sister Emma were living on. She goes on to explain that she had her way with Emma and they went to this island to get help from a couple who aids runaway teens. There's a bit more to the story, but I'll let you figure that out as a reader.

The entire story that she tells sounded very far-fetched to me from the beginning. I found Cass as a character to be a bit intolerable. While the other characters were excited about her return, I did not feel the same excitement. I don't think she was built up to be a character who was particularly likable, which made it hard for me to celebrate the fact that she was home. I was more invested in Dr. Winter, a psychologist from the FBI who was working the case when Cass and Emma disappeared about three years ago. Her insights into the family in the way that she piece together the actual story behind the disappearance was what kept me reading.

The end of the novel does have an excellent twist ending, so you do get the pay off that you're looking for all the way through. Overall I did enjoy this book, although it was not the page turner than I had hoped it would be. I still recommend it.

An absolutely magnificent book! This story of narcissism is equally as informative and educational as it is entertaining. A brilliantly complex piece of work with great attention to detail, the story is told from the viewpoints of Cass and Forensic Psychologist Abby and the two complement each other perfectly. A great plot with plenty of twists throughout, I hope to see this played out on the big screen.

This started out as an interesting idea...two girls disappear, and one returns years later without the other. Where has she been? Is what she is telling her parents and police true? The idea of the narcicistic mother controlling her families choices was interesting and fresh, but the end felt hurried and a little muddy. Overall, not a bad read.

A very well written book about two sisters that go missing and years later only one returns. This book kept me guessing through out it. The reader is presenting with multiple viewpoints that make you question everything you thought you knew. The forensic psychologist is pretty quick to figure out that things don't add up and maybe the narcassistic mother has more to do with the disappearance than she originally lets on. However, the doctor's past makes her colleagues question her. A very engaging read. .

Emma in the Night is Walker’s second novel after 2016’s All is Not Forgotten, and while the two books share much in style and substance, I found this one more compelling and enjoyable. Three years ago, the Tanner sisters – 17-year-old Emma and 15-year-old Cassandra – went missing with no explanation. The circumstances were suspicious – Emma’s car was found abandoned in a parking lot near the beach, and her shoes abandoned by the shore. There was no evidence that Cass was with her, and yet she is gone too.

Now, three years later, Cass shows up on her mother’s doorstep – without Emma. She tells an incredible tale about kidnapping and captivity on an isolated island which cannot be located, and a daring and dangerous plan for escape. Forensic psychiatrist Abigail Winter worked on the Tanner sisters’ case years before, and she always felt that there was some obvious clue that she was missing. Now, hearing Cass’s story and watching her interactions with her mother, she suspects that the reason for the girls’ disappearance is close to home. With Cass’s help, Abby slowly uncovers the dysfunctional family’s secrets of narcissism and abuse.

The novel is told in dialogue, as Cass slowly reveals her (perhaps unreliable) story in careful moderation – she manipulates her audience much as Walker leads the reader on this fascinating journey. The structure of this novel is much like Walker’s first novel – it is an unconventional thriller in which the story takes place after the main action has concluded. It is more like reading the case notes of a crime, delving into the obsession and mental illness that formed these characters. There is much more telling than showing, and yet it works. Cass’s story is perhaps even more compelling because we did not witness the action and therefore cannot know if anything she’s saying is true.

The procedural aspects of the story are not all that realistic, but it is worthwhile to suspend disbelief and trust that each piece will eventually fit together. The slow reveal is geared towards reader manipulation – to keep us guessing and successfully create suspense. I thought some of the characters could have been more complex, instead of so clearly good or evil – but Cass especially was intriguing. Her narration is detached and cold, which keeps the reader at a distance, but it works because she withholds her true feelings and motivations right up to the last scene.

While Emma in the Night has its flaws, Walker is a talented storyteller who manages to lead the reader without oversimplifying the story. The descriptions of mental illness are fascinating and disturbing, especially as Emma and Cass are affected by their mother’s behaviour in very different ways. Cass’s flat narration has a strong emotional undercurrent that gives depth to the novel, creating an intelligent and thoughtful mystery that crosses genres in unexpected ways.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are always stories about dysfunctional families, mysteries, police investigations... Emma in the Night kept my interest as it weaved its way through past and present and told the story of 2 girls and a manipulative mother. Now, we've all known those people who know how to manipulate others, but Emma in the Night added in multiple perspectives and timeframes in a seamless way that keeps you going, wondering who is telling the truth. There isn't anything in this that's merely for shock value or to serve as a red herring... it all ties together.

Cass and Emma are sisters. Their parents have divorced, their mother is manipulative, there's a step-brother and step-father thrown in the mix. Their mother is a narcissist and uses situations to use the girls against each other to prove who loves her most, granting favors to the favored child and leaving the other always trying for approval.

One night, Cass and Emma disappear and an investigation ensues. The psychologist on the case has a family history with narcissistic parents and suspects there's more to the story but can't prove it. They remain missing for several yearsr, and then Cass returns.. but where's Emma? Cass's return has multiple twists and does a remarkable job telling how life in the household affected her, how Emma reacted, the roles that their mother, father, stepfather, stepbrother, and half-brother all played. The original investigator and psychologist are back as well, so through brilliant storytelling, you learn how the original disappearance and return affected everyone. I was honestly surprised at the ending and thoroughly enjoyed the book.

If you're looking for a great read with intrigue and family dynamics, this book is for you.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book for an honest review. Two sisters go missing on the same day, three years later, one sister comes home so what happened to the other sister? Great roller coaster ride.

3★
“A war had begun in our home, and it would not end until the night we disappeared. Hunter had not wanted to defeat Emma, because defeat meant the war was over. And Hunter never wanted anything with Emma to be over.”

Emma and Cass are sisters who disappeared suddenly at the ages of 17 and 15. Three years later, Cass has returned and tells us her story. Other voices chime in, but mostly it’s Cass or Abby, an FBI forensic psychologist who’s been investigating the disappearance and is still looking for the truth.

The girls are the daughters of a manipulative mother and a discarded father. Mother Judy is a self-proclaimed femme fatale, evidenced by her tempting their father away from his first wife and son, and replacing them with a stronger, wealthier man and his handsome son.

The divorce was bitter, and Judy was so mad at Cass for saying she wanted to stay with their father (Emma said they should feel sorry for him being all alone), that from then on, Cass was to call Judy “Mrs. Martin”, not Mother.

Spiteful, much? As Cass tells us their story, she always refers to Mrs. Martin and Mr. Martin, which I found unrealistic. Sometimes she says “my mother”, but usually it’s like this, describing a fight.

“Mrs. Martin was stronger than I had ever imagined,. . . ”

She and Emma were 11 and 13 at the time of the divorce. I don’t believe an 11-year-old would change her thoughts to “Mrs. Martin” instead of “Mom” even if she changed her speech.

But, it was a strange set-up and a weird household. They adored their half-brother, Witt, who used to visit regularly when their dad was part of their lives but whom they seldom saw after their dad moved out.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin liked to go to the club, where she could flirt and party, while the girls were left on their own. Witt didn’t see his half-sisters very often after the remarriage, but when he did, he told them that their life was not normal. It’s weird that they are raising themselves.

It is weird. Add a hormonal, teen-aged stepson, and it gets weirder. Mother-Mrs Martin-Judy doesn’t like the way Mr Martin and his son Hunter are eyeing Emma, who’s tarting herself up and enjoying stealing the limelight from her mother. Judy blows hot and cold with Emma. Best friends one minute, cat fights the next.

And Emma does the same with Hunter – flirting and snuggling and smoking pot together one minute, then taunting him with some new boyfriend the next. It’s a very unhealthy set of intersecting, competing relationships, and Cass watches it all unfold. She sees Emma is as manipulative as their mother.

She tells us how Emma plays off everyone against each other, encouraging lustful glances from father and son to the fury of her mother. Mother is quite happy to be as sexy as possible in front of Hunter and eventually, one night, both girls disappear.

Cass explains how someone survives for three years away.

“No matter where we are and what we are subjected to, we will eventually settle into the new reality and try to find pleasure, even if it is nothing more than a warm shower or food or even a glass of water.”

So what happened? I was just curious enough to read to the end, which I didn’t guess.

The only character I liked at all was the older investigating officer who was working with Abby, the psychologist whose role seems mainly to be to feed us information about narcissism and other mental conditions. Special Investigator Leo Strauss was the older guy I didn’t mind, probably because we see so little of him.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted (so quotes may have changed).

Three years ago, fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma disappear. But Cass has returned without her sister and tells a crazy kidnapping tale. Normally I like a good suspense book. However, I found this to be a pretty unrealistic story with manipulative, psychotic characters. I read Walker’s previous book All is Not Forgotten and enjoyed that one a lot more.

http://nyfoodiefamily.com/august-2017-reads/

Was excited to get my hands on an ARC of Wendy Walker’s “Emma in the Night” based on great reviews and hype from other great authors (Mary Kubica gave it 5 stars) and celebrities (Krysten Ritter selected this book for September’s Book of the Month club). I had pretty high expectations for this one, even though I haven’t ready any of Walker’s books before.

Although this book was full of twists and turns that kept you guessing, it was also extremely unrealistic. When you finally find out what really happened the night the girls disappeared, and the years that followed, you’ll be in disbelief. There is absolutely no way any of this transpired and went unnoticed for 3 years.

To add insult to injury, every single character was out of their mind – from the girls (Cass, Emma) to the parents (Mr. & Mrs. Martin), to the detective and therapist! Not one sane character. *pulls out hair*

I love being surprised and Walker kept my attention until the end, but it is not enough to put “Emma in the Night” on my list of recommendations.