Julia Heaberlin is always good for a unique spin on a thriller. Night Will Find You is no exception. With its psychic, scientific, and conspiracy theory elements, this book held my attention and I was drawn into the dark corners of Vivvy’s mind. There is A LOT going on this book with multiple plot points which did lose my attention slightly. Howeve r, I enjoyed and was surprised at how it all came together. Definitely keeping Heaberlin on my “‘must read” list.

Good Lord! This woman can spin a tale! This is an auto-read author for me. Not only because she is Texas-based and her stories are mostly set in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area where I live, but they are also GREAT!! This is no different and also one of her best ones yet! Not gonna lie, the description didn't grab me. Not a fan of psychics. But it's Julia Heaberlin so I had to say yes! So happy I did! This is an original story; well, it is a missing child sort of story that the author has taken and made completely original. Vivvy wants to stay in her Big Bend home but is called back home to Ft. Worth after her mother passes. Vivvy is also a psychic astrophysicist. Say that three times fast. Years ago, Vivvy saved a boy with an impossible prediction. That boy, Mike, grew up to be a cop and asks for Vivvy's help with a missing girl case. What follows is a slow burn of a story told in dual timelines where we also learn more about Vivvy's childhood and her Mother's supposed psychic abilities. I loved the explanations for both science and psychic abilities. You get a great feel for the people Vivvy meets. Each has a distinctive personality, and the atmosphere is very well done, especially being familiar with it. The twist is one for the records too! Can't wait for more!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Julia Heaberlin and Flatiron Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I read a Julia Heaberlin book way back (it was Black Eyed Susans) and then lost track of her.

But wow, I loved this one. It took common mystery tropes and wove them together in a really interesting way. It did read a bit like long form journalism. The main character talked in paragraphs and was definitely a colorful character. So this book will not be for readers who like snappy, fast-paced thrillers. But I thought 0n the thematic level (and I love a thematic book) it was fantastic.

Excellent thriller! Very original plot featuring an astrophysicist who is also a psychic. She gets pulled onto a cold case involving a missing girl when she returns to her childhood home for her mother's funeral. Atmospheric novel set in Dallas with a detailed backstory and a twist you won't see coming. I wouldn't mind reading another novel featuring Vivvy and Sharp.

Julia Heaberlin is an auto read author for me. She writes the best thrillers and this one is amazing! Vivvy is an astrophysicist and she is physic. When she is home dealing with the passing of her mother, an old friend who is a detective asks for her help with a missing girl. SO many twists and turns are throughout the story and I couldn't put the book down. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This was an intense book. I thought the idea of the book was good. It did seem to ramble at times but I still was glued to each page. It’s full of twist and turns. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Thank you Julia Heaberlin, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. Vivvy Bouchet has a gift not only is she smart she also possesses psychic abilities like her mother. After her mothers death she is brought back to her hpmetown and quickly thrown back into a world she has been hiding from. She must help solve the case not only for the missing but unfinished business her mother had started. This book had me hooked from the beginning. You are quickly swept into Vivvy's world and although one might find the ability to help and serve those who are no longer with us or just for see the future, told through the narrators eyes it can be a lonely journey.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the new book by Julia Heaberlin (author of the wonderful We Are All the Same in the Dark) and narrated by the wonderful Karissa Vacker - 5 stars!

Vivvy Bouchet is always on the seesaw between science and the supernatural. When she was young, she saved a boy’s life by making an impossible prediction. Now a brilliant young astrophysicist, she wants nothing more than to be left alone with the stars in the Big Bend country of Texas. But the boy she saved, Mike, grew up to be a cop and he believes in her psychic abilities. While she's at home going through her mother's affairs, he begs for her help in solving an old case of a missing young girl whose mother sits in prison for the crime. A conspiracy theorist who has a radio show, Bubba Guns (gotta love that name!) invites her on and opens the floodgates of the media onto Vivvy's doorstep.

This is such a wonderful book, exploring that fine line of faith and science. Vivvy was raised by a mother who believed she had psychic abilities and has grown up listening to voices in her head. Beyond all that discussion is a taut mystery with lots of intriguing characters, haunting atmosphere, and plenty of twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. Another fabulous read by this author and Vacker's narration is pitch perfect as always - highly recommended!

Night Will Find You is a slow-burn twisty thriller which follows Vivvy Bouchet, a genius astrophysicist who inherited her mother's psychic skills, and her reluctant quest to solve a cold-case missing child presumed dead. I really enjoyed the dual timeline in the first half of the book which also told Vivvy's childhood story. I appreciated the internal and sometime external dialogue regarding what constitutes psychic skills and even trying to find scientific justification as to how or why they might occur. The sciency tidbits and conspiracy theory debunking the MC shared, often at awkward times, highlighted Vivvy's quirky brilliance. There were a couple of plot inconsistencies which sort of bugged me, though they did not play into the overall whodunnit. Overall, I enjoyed the story and Vivvy as a refreshing whip-smart strong female heroine.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

In Night Will Find You, Vivvy is an astronomer who has the sight just like her psychic mother. When her mother dies, she returns to her hometown to clean out her mother’s house. While there, she is asked by a high school and local police officer, Mike, to do some psychic work on their missing person cases. Soon, Vivvy is embroiled in two high-profile cases and entangled with another skeptical, but hot, cop named Sharp. Can she untangle the clues while also opening her heart?

The first third of this book was great with an almost horror vibe from the ghosts appearing to Vivvy. However, it soon devolves into a standard mystery with a romance. The saving grace is the characters are unusual, genuine-feeling, weirdos. However, I wanted the scary feeling from the beginning back. But the mystery within Night Will Find You was good, and a red herring really tripped me up. 4 stars!

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I really liked the idea of this book. A psychic helping police with missing girls. I had high hopes for this but had a hard time getting through it. It did pick up at times and engaged me hence the 2 stars.

Night will find you is a psychological thriller that follows Vivvy, a psychic and astrophysicist who is called upon by an old friend to solve a cold case of a missing girl. The girls mother sits in jail but proclaims her innocence. Vivvy remembers the case because he mother was also a psychic who tried to find the girl before she died. Vivvy reluctantly agrees and what transpires is a twisted tale of family secrets, conspiracy theories, and a battle between logic and faith. This thriller is more complex than a run of the mill one, as the characters are complex and it is somewhat of a slow burn. A running theme is the argument over science vs mysticism and it is personified beautifully in the complex and warring personality within Vivvy herself. Vivvy is a complex character but whose struggles make for an enthralling read. I did lose interest near the last 3rd, as the book felt like it was starting to lose its pace somewhat. However, this is still a worthwhile and interesting thriller that should be worthy of a spot on summer tbrs.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel sucked me in from the first page of the prologue and didn't let me go until the final sentence. Vivvy is a very vivid character - she's had quite and interesting (and somewhat traumatic) life, and you will root for her the entire story. The rest of the characters are equally as well fleshed out, especially Jesse Sharp. This is a psychological thriller, and a study on the dangers of conspiracy theorists, and a story about trusting yourself. The twists and turns are great as well.

"When she was ten, Vivvy Bouchet saved a boy’s life by making an impossible prediction. Ever since, she has been in a life-long battle between the urgent voices in her head and the science she loves. Now a brilliant young astrophysicist, she wants nothing more than to be left alone with the stars in the Big Bend country of Texas.

But the boy she saved, now a Fort Worth cop, has always believed she is psychic—even though she won’t say that word out loud. He is begging her to help solve the high-profile cold case of a little girl who disappeared in broad daylight from the kitchen of her old Victorian house. A body was never found, and her mother sits in prison still loudly proclaiming her innocence. Vivvy reluctantly agrees to try.

When a popular Texas conspiracy theorist podcaster named Bubba Guns finds out about her involvement, he spews conspiracy theories about the case and muddled truths about Vivvy’s murky past. As his listeners spin dangerously out of control, and with her career and the people she loves on the line, Vivvy decides to fight back."

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Night Will Find You started off strong for me, but I started to lose some interest in the middle. By the end I was invested again, and the some of the final chapters had me on the edge of my seat. I loved that the protagonist, Vivvey Bouchet is a scientist/astronomer and psychic - she was such a unique character and I enjoyed reading the book through her perspective. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read that I would recommend!

What a cool concept for a book and a fantastic execution. Love the battle between science and the unexplainable in this book.

Texas astrophysicist finds danger in D-FW author Julia Heaberlin’s ‘Night Will Find You’

In new thriller, Heaberlin’s writing walks the line between plain speech and poetry.

By Joyce Sáenz Harris
Special Contributor.
8:00 AM on Jun 14, 2023

Vivvy Bouchet, the engaging protagonist of North Texas author Julia Heaberlin’s new thriller, Night Will Find You, is a brilliant 28-year-old astrophysicist with a doctorate from Harvard. She lives in Big Bend’s Chihuahuan Desert, working as “a professional stargazer” in a remote, off-the-grid hilltop home outfitted with solar power and an impressive array of telescopes.

She devoutly believes in the truth and power of science. At age 25, Vivvy says, “I caught a glimpse of artificial light coming from a planet far beyond our own system. Light that is unexplained.” Now she’s working on a grant that will allow her the chance to catch another glimpse of that elusive light and so expand humankind’s knowledge of the universe.

Vivvy also possesses a very different kind of knowledge: psychic flashes from who-knows-where, a gift presumably inherited from her late mother, who worked as a Fort Worth medium. It’s something Vivvy has avoided talking about for years. But when she was a child of 11, one of her visions helped her publicly and dramatically save the life of Mike, a boy she had a crush on, and she became briefly famous.

Seventeen years later, Vivvy and Mike are still best friends, but nothing more is possible between them. He’s now a Fort Worth police officer, and when she takes leave from her work in West Texas to come home and care for her dying mother, he asks her to look at crime-scene photos and use her abilities to help solve mysteries of missing or murdered persons. She has done this five times in the past two months, but she has done it only reluctantly, and only because it’s Mike who asks.

“My special skills are on duty 24/7, daytime and dreamtime,” Vivvy thinks, “like I’m the fille de joie of a very demanding pimp.”

This time, the sixth time, her mother has just died, and it feels different. Vivvy will look at the photos from one landmark cold case and get “an official introduction to this skeptical cop,” a cowboy-style lawman by the name of Sharp. When he finally enters the interview room, his alpha-male presence so overwhelms Vivvy that “Jesse Sharp feels on top of me. Body, dense. Ego, denser. The gun at his waist, inconsequential, a prop he doesn’t need. … There’s much less of everything while he’s in the room. Less air, less space, less me.” Later, she confesses what she feels is even more dangerous: “Dark, inexplicable attraction.”

The cold-case file is about Lizzie Solomon, a Fort Worth 3-year-old who vanished from her family’s Victorian mansion one morning 11 years ago. Her parents were well-to-do, handsome lawyers with a crumbling marriage. A year later, her mother was convicted on circumstantial evidence, though Lizzie was never found. Another year later, her father tried and failed to commit suicide at the old mansion. Now, the father lives in a trailer park and the mother in the women’s prison at Gatesville’s Mountain View Unit.

When word leaks out that Vivvy is helping the police on Lizzie’s case, she becomes a target for Bubba Guns, a local radio talk-show host and podcaster with a national following and a crude, cruel modus operandi, not unlike Alex Jones. While the formidable Jesse Sharp tails her everywhere to protect her from Bubba and his cultists, Vivvy works to find evidence to back up her conviction that Lizzie is alive — something that only Vivvy and Lizzie’s imprisoned mother think might be true. One surprise twist follows another, with the last one coming out of nowhere to fulfill a vision that we almost forgot Vivvy had.

In this, her sixth novel, Heaberlin’s writing walks the line between plain speech and poetry. This is particularly true when she talks about her native Texas, a place where, especially for Bubba’s fandom, Vivvy thinks “carrying a gun is like carrying a wallet.” (Which is why she has started carrying her mother’s gun: for protection.)

“The best way to feel the muscles of Texas, to ride its natural curves and bends, is by traveling the Farm to Market roads,” Vivvy muses. “I pull over in a dirt rut, staring into a picture of harsh beauty that hasn’t changed much in a hundred years. Barbed wire fence, big sky, blackbirds, and silence like glass waiting to be broken.”

When Vivvy thinks of her beloved Big Bend, “I long to be lying in West Texas, one of the darkest places on Earth, where the quilt is above me, spilling with milk and sequins, reminding me I am lucky to be alive in this incomprehensible miracle.”

Yet, “Tonight, like every night, the stars I’m staring at are either already dead or trying to survive in their own pool of violence — storms raining iron, galaxies eating each other, black holes ripping apart whatever drifts too close.

“I’ve drifted too close to Sharp. I know that.

“This is when things get hard. When I don’t know whether it’s my imagination in control, or something else.”

Night Will Find You
By Julia Heaberlin
June 20
(Flatiron Books, 368 pages, $27.99)

Author events
Author Julia Heaberlin has a pair of local events planned to promote Night Will Find You.

On June 17 at 5 p.m., Heaberlin will have a conversation with author Christopher Kelly at Interabang Books, 5600 W. Lovers Lane, No. 142, in Dallas. A reception with psychic readings will start at 4 p.m.

On June 20 at 6 p.m., Heaberlin will appear at Barnes & Noble, 4801 Overton Ridge Blvd., at Hulen Mall in Fort Worth.

Joyce Sáenz Harris is a Dallas freelance writer.
artslife@dallasnews.com

I don't know if this necessarily did anything all that unique in the world of thrillers, but I absolutely loved it and was completely engrossed!
*
This tells of Vivvy Bouchet, an astrophysicist whose childhood friend, now a cop, asks for her help, as a psychic (even though she won't call herself that) on a cold case of a girl who disappeared 10 years earlier.
*
I loved Vivvy as a character, it was interesting to have a scientist who leaned into the more mystical side of the universe. I was also entertained by how she handled herself when people begged her for a reading, or any special insights into their lives. I also really liked the complexities of her relationships with the other characters in the book.
*
The writing was great, I absolutely couldn't put it down and tore through it in about a day. I thought she did a great job of incorporating issues with conspiracy theories, fanatics, and the role of social media (or podcasts) to spur these on.
*
My only slight negative was the epilogue - I get why it happened, but I felt like it was truly needed. But that was a small thing, and I would definitely recommend this!

In the sharp, atmospheric thriller Night Will Find You, Texas’s wild ways drive a story of psychics, skeptics, villains, and vultures.

Vivvy Bouchet, an astrophysicist with extraordinary observational powers, is torn between solitude and obligation. She reluctantly agrees to aid a childhood friend in solving a missing girl’s cold case. But the secrets and lies in Vivvy’s world threaten to unravel the investigation and her carefully constructed life. As she crosses paths with a Fort Worth detective who seems more foe than friend, Vivvy fights to resolve the past and the mystery which tore a community apart.

Much like crime fiction writer Louise Penny, Julia Heaberlin masterfully works the land into the soul of the story. The peculiar nature of North Texas is weaved around multiple plot threads to create a thriller with few simple answers and crackling tension.

Night Will Find You is full of thorny, fraught, and complex characters. The difference between hero and villain is often razor thin here, and it is not revealed until the final pages on which side of the line they fall.

This sense of unease permeates Heaberlin’s brilliant and thought-provoking narrative. Night Will Find You is a must-read for fans of suspense and thriller novels seeking their next page-turner.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date June 20th, 2023.

Julia Heaberlin is back with another twisty Texas thriller, perhaps her best work yet.

The heroine of Night Will Find You, Vivvy Bouchet, is an astrophysicist with a psychic gift. Her talent was revealed when – at age 10 – her vision saved a child's life. That child grew up to be a cop, and he taps Vivvy's expertise from time to time to help with cold cases.

Now she's being asked to weigh in on another cold case, that of a child who disappeared a decade earlier. No body was ever found, but the child's mother was convicted of murder and sits in prison. The case is one of Fort Worth's most famous.

Vivvy's involvement attracts the attention of podcaster Bubba Gunns, whose conspiracy theories send his followers to Vivvy's doorstep.

Heaberlin's writing, as always, is evocative and beautiful. This book is a thriller that will keep you turning the pages, but it also tackles big questions about the universe.

I received an early review copy from NetGalley.

This is my second book by this wonderful author from my home state and I adore her writing style and plotting. I’m probably biased but, her landmarks and area descriptions are spot on. The settings are places you can see in your minds eye as she depicts them. The characters are interesting people you want to know more about. The flow of the plot kept me racing to discover the answers with Vivvy.
Vivvy has recently returned home after her mother’s passing. She and her sister, aren’t always close, some issues to work through. She’s left Vivvy to deal with their mother’s affairs including the house. Vivvy has a doctorate, is a super smart astrophysicist, perhaps inherited her mom’s psychic ability to see and feel events. Vivvy is one smart cookie and would probably make me feel inferior. Mike’s a cop, married to Vivvy’s sister. He’s part of the past to sort out. There are several love/hate relationships to resolve between family and friends.
Lizzie has been missing from her home in Fort Worth over a decade, her mother convicted of her death, despite a body never being found. An impertinent Detective, Jesse Sharp, entangles Vivvy in the ice cold case. Podcaster Bubba Guns is outrageous, spreading fake news like a West Texas wildfire. He pounces on Vivvy’s fortune teller attributes with a vengeance and drags her further into the dark, messy web of lies and deceit.
I’m a confirmed skeptic when it comes to magic, tricks, paranormal and crystal balls. I do believe in gut feelings, deductive reasoning and common sense. Sometimes people believe what gives them hope. Vivvy was a great character, believable with layers of surprises. The plot had me fooled and the twists full of bombshells. Highly recommend the book and author.
A big thank you to Julia Heaberlin, Flatiron Books and to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “Night Will Find You”. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.