THE NIGHT OF THE STORM by Nishita Parekh is a locked door mystery that uses Hurricane Harvey and a family filled with secrets to craft a pretty serviceable, if not pretty run of the mill, mystery thriller. I liked the use of the storm to keep Jia, Seema, and their families unable to leave a situation where bodies are piling up, and I liked that there were some pretty okay red herrings as to what was going on and to who the killer was. I also liked the fact that this was a family that wasn't the usual WASP suburban family that is seen so often in these kinds if thrillers, as Jia and her family are Asian Indian and that adds some other layers to the mystery due to the cultural angles. This book did keep my interest, but it didn't really reinvent the wheel, and outside of Jia the characters were pretty two dimensional. Which made the stakes not too high even as the plot kept me interested. And even then, it was fairly standard and didn't divert from the usual tropes too much.

THE NIGHT OF THE STORM is pretty middle of the road. I was entertained, but not super blown away. But if you like locked room mysteries it will probably be enjoyable!

Jia is a single mom and evacuates to her sister’s house as Hurricane Harvey is set to hit Houston. Jia was reluctant to go as her sister, Seema, husband, Vipul, had been sending her inappropriate messages. But she is trying to keep her son safe, so she goes. It’s not long before Vipul’s brother and sister-in-law show up as well. With a full house, tensions rise, especially as Grandma plays favorites among them all.

When dead bodies start turning up, and flood waters rise, Jia begins to wonder if she really made the safest decision.

I love thrillers, and my favorite sub-trope is probably locked room thrillers. I also love a good storm. So, to say I was excited for this book was an understatement. However, this one was a letdown. My biggest issue with this was that I felt that I had read it many times before. It was predictable, and while that isn’t always a problem, I get annoyed with thrillers I figure out way ahead of time. It was almost like thriller-light or even more of a contemporary fiction / family drama. I also struggled with the pacing. I prefer the pacing to be on the faster side, and this one was slower. I also didn’t appreciate the flash back episodes, they seemed more like fillers and not inherently necessary to move the plot forward.

I do think that this was great for a debut, there is a lot of promise within the pages, it just didn’t work as a whole for me.

Thank you so much to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

As thrillers go, a bunch of people stuck in an isolated house and then some of them being killed is not particularly original, so it has to be exceptional to stand out. Unfortunately this is not exceptional and, though the author creates a decently claustrophobic atmosphere, the plotting and the writing are stiff and clunky.

Jia and her son Ishaan flee from the hurricane lashing Houston to her sister’s house in a swanky suburb. Other members of the family are also sheltering there and over the course of one night mysterious and creepy things happen and people start dying.

The author made the hurricane very present, so much so that I kept checking outside to see how bad the rain was, even though it was a sunny California day. Sadly that was the best part of the novel for me. The characters and their lives and inevitable secrets were clumsily drawn and the events of the night were teeth grindingly prolonged and disjointed. The cliff hangers at the end of each chapter became absurdly bathetic and there were too few characters for the twists to be surprising.

So while I’m not very enthusiastic about this debut, kudos to the author for actually writing a novel and getting it published.

Thanks to Dutton and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Jia is recent divorcee with a 12 year old son, the problem is that being divorced in her culture makes her persona non grata and it seems to have isolated her from those around her. This is problematic as a major hurricane is imminent to Houston, Texas, where Jia and Ishaan just moved. She plans to weather out the storm with her sister and her sister's family, but there are some secrets that are threatening to unfold if she chooses to stay. With the storm on their tails, Jia and Ishaan have no where else to go.

Once we get to her sister's home, there are events that start to happen and build up the drama that unfolds. From unexpected visitors to rising flood waters, our family faces great challenges and we start to see that someone in the home is not who they seem. The intricacies of the Indian culture that were included in this novel were beautiful. I think that Nishita Parekh did a great job of character development and creating the setting for the reader. I don't feel that this was a thriller, as marked, I think it was more of a contemporary fiction or drama rather than a thriller. It just didn't hit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pengiun Group Dutton, Dutton Publishing and Nishita Parekh for the advanced eARC of The Night of the Storm.

Publication date for The Night of Storm by Nishita Parekh is 16 January 2024.

This was a great read but, unfortunately, did not hit hard as a thriller.

Jia is a single mom of 12 yr old Ishaan. Her divorced status makes her almost a pariah due to her Indian culture. When Hurricane Harvey hits Houston, TX, Jia must take her son to her sisters home and into an unknown danger.

What I loved about this book was the intricate details on Indian culture and the different families/siblings' lives and relationships. I loved how in-depth the author went with each character's background. The main issue I have with this book was how the thriller aspect of the story just didn't have my full attention. However, as a family drama, this was excellent.

Out January 16, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

I love reading books like this that take a genre that I love, mystery, and they integrate a closer look at a culture that maybe I didn’t have any type of background knowledge into before reading about it. I really shouldn’t be surprised at how the Indian culture deems woman, yet I really was. It saddens me to know that woman are so disregarded. Especially those that feel they need a divorce. Yet I am glad to see a book that is bringing that injustice to light, even though it is not really the main focus in this book. The mystery is really quite fun. The twists are reveled at the perfect times, and the realizations tie up the book nicely. This will be a great book to recommend.
Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

It took me a while to get into this, but once I got going, I found it pretty good. I would most definitely take the chance and read more from this author!

This was such a fantastic read. I enjoyed the twisty family dynamics that kept getting revealed as the storm went on.

Unusual and very interesting plot.
I thought the character development was on point and there was several good twists to the story.
Great debut novel.
Would like to see another book by this author.

I love locked room thrillers and love to see how each one is different from the next. This story, while it was a locked room thriller, definitely had more of a domestic and family situation going on. It took a while to get the story moving along, but a good read.

I am so thankful to Dutton Books, Nishita Parekh, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital and physical access to The Night of the Storm before it hits shelves on January 16, 2024. This wasn't necessarily MY CUP OF TEA, but I can't wait to deliver this book to one of my dear friends to see how she likes it.

The Night of the Storm tells a catastrophic tale of the before, during, and aftermath of Hurricane Harvey as it made landfall in suburban Texas. Our main character flees to her sister's home for refuge but finds that she opens a whole new can of worms as someone in this family is OUT FOR BLOOD and is working in cohesion with the steadily arriving natural disaster. Everyone in the family has a secret and if you think your family has drama, just you wait until you dive into this hot mess.

2.5 stars rounded up

The cover and the title of this book drew me in. I love a good locked door thriller but this was definitely more domestic drama than thriller for me. The beginning was very slow. It definitely picks up at the end and I really enjoyed the final twist, but overall this was just okay for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and dutton group (penguin) for sending me an arc of this book for an exchange of my honest review

rating: 2.5/5 stars

While I was drawn in by the cover and synopsis, the book just wasn't for me. I struggled through a huge chunk of it. It was more of family drama than actual thriller and some of the characters were just incredibly difficult to connect with. The end was good, though it took a lot for me to get there. I'd give this author a second chance because the writing style is good, the story just was not my cup of tea.

This wasn't the book for me. It started so slowly I nearly gave up on it. I just couldn't believe some of the decisions made by Jia and that made it hard for me to connect with her. The ending was compelling but not all readers will make it that far.

This one was a struggle to get through for me. The last 10% was, honestly, great. However, I really didn’t like any of the characters and felt the rest of the story was choppy and cumbersome.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I thought that I would be hooked. I settled in for what I thought was going to be an immersive experience, but instead family drama began. I mean I am a sucker for some good family drama. If you met mine you would see why. Honestly, I was bored throughout this book. It was sort of predictable and just didn't speak to me.

This was the first book I have read from this author and I did enjoy the story. The book is about Jia, a divorced single mom, whom is in the middle of a hurricane warning and goes with her son to stay with her sister and brother in law, along with other family, to ride out the storm. While the storm rages on, people start dying, and Jia is trying to figure out who is the murderer and how is she going to survive to get her son and herself to safety.
This was a good book overall, however, some of the twists were predictable and I had wished it was faster paced and a little darker than it was. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those who enjoy a thriller with mystery, family drama and secrets, along with trying to survive a natural disaster.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author fir the ARC of this book!

This book had me panicking and second guessing myself! A claustrophobic mystery/thriller set during a hurricane where a family must shelter together and try not to kill each other. Until someone actually does.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The title and cover reeled me in. The beginning was promising, but it fell flat and the shock factor wasn't there. It was very predictable. It had storms, murder, family tension, but it did not grab me. I hated everyone.

The Night of the Storm by debut novelist Nishita Parekh takes place in Texas during Hurricane Harvey. The book follows Jia, a recently divorced mother of a 12 year old son Ishaan. Jia is just trying to make ends meet and make sure Ishaan stays out of trouble. When Jia recieves word that they must evacuate their apartment due to possible flooding from the strom. Seema, Jia's older sister wants her and Ishaan to bunker down at her house in Sugar Land. Against her better judgement Jia decides to go. As the flood waters keep rising and Vipul, Seema's husband keeps making advances at Jia she knows that she must tell Seema the truth or leave the safety of the house with Ishaan. When one of the guest's suddenly dies everyone in the house is a suspect, including Ishaan. This book had an unbeilvable twist at the end that I didn't even guess. Nishita Parekh gave an beautiful history of of the Indian cultural and how even living in America, women are seen with less worth. That surprised me the most. If you liked the the following books then you will love The Night of the Storm. The Guest List by Lucy Foley, Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson, The House Across the Lake and The Only One Left by Riley Sager, The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley, and She Started It by Sian Gilbert.