I really liked this story set in Houston Texas during Hurricane Harvey, a hurricane that devastated many neighborhoods and businesses. The MC Jia is a divorced single mom, from India where divorces are looked down upon. She is trying to raise her teenage son, Ishaan, who is getting into trouble at school and whose father is now claiming she's not a fit mom. Very hard for a single mom to hear. There's lots of family drama, tension, and I didn't figure out who did what until it was very near the end. I also loved the little tidbit from Grandma at the very end. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked how this story was set up! It taught me so much about Indian culture that I feel like offer gets overlooked in books like this. There were parts that initially confused me a bit but after the first few chapters it was much easier to understand. If you like mysteries and psychological thrillers be sure to try this book out!

Content warning:

- Death
- Domestic abuse
- Fatphobia
- Hate speech
- Murder
- Racism
- Sexism
- Sexual harassment
- Violence

Jia Shah finds herself in a local HEB, trying to get clean drinking water as reports of a huge hurricane echo through Houston. She’s anxious about her ex-husband pushing for custody of her son, and nervous because she’s just moved to Houston from Chicago and doesn’t know anything about preparing for or surviving hurricanes.

Her sister, Seema, insists that Jia and her teenage son, Ishaan, come to stay with them. At first, Jia manages to resist her sister’s summons, but she eventually caves in and drives through flood water to get to Seema’s house. When they arrive, we find out part of the reason Jia doesn’t want to stay with her sister is her discomfort with Seema’s husband, Vipul.

Jia and Ishaan aren’t the only ones staying, as Raj, Vipul’s brother, and Lisa, his wife, arrive as well. Ishaan is tasked with babysitting Asha, and Jia does her best to avoid being near Vipul. The adults watch news about the hurricane while Jia nervously wonders if Seema’s house is going to flood. Vipul insists that because the house is up on a hill, and has a steep driveway, it won’t flood like others in the neighborhood.

Loud noises from the driveway alert the adults, who go outside to investigate and find Jia’s tires slashed. Jia suspects her ex-husband, who has been sending her cryptic messages, may be responsible, and she starts to feel more unsafe.

Just before dinner, a neighbor named Rafael knocks on the door and asks to be let inside. The other houses in the neighborhood have flooded, and he’s hurt, limping and nursing a bleeding wound on his hand. Though Vipul doesn’t particularly like this guy, he lets him into the house because it would be cruel to leave him outside.

Though Jia is initially worried and horrified for the neighbor, she begins to mistrust him when his story doesn’t quite line up. Raj and Lisa notice this as well, and the three make a plan to keep a close eye on him. After Seema gives Rafael a tour of the house at his request, they all sit down to have dinner together.

Seema leaves to tend to Asha, her baby, and while she’s out of the room, Rafael has a reaction to his drink. He’s allergic to peanuts, and when he starts to choke, he asks for his EpiPen from his jacket. They rush to the coat closet to retrieve the EpiPen, but can’t find it in the pocket. They try to call 911, but the hurricane has clogged the lines, and Rafael dies on the floor.

Everyone is shocked at this turn of events, and the men work to move the body into the garage. It seems like a horrible accident until Jia finds Rafael’s EpiPen in the trash, and realizes someone killed him intentionally.

When Vipul sends Jia a sexual photo, we find out why she’s been so uncomfortable around him—he’s misinterpreted her kindness for flirtation. She’s so overwhelmed trying to raise Ishaan on her own that she continually accepts his help, even when she realizes he’s lying to Seema about where he is.

When Jia heads to bed that night, Vipul comes to her room, apologizing for being inappropriate. Though Jia wants to accept this gesture, Vipul quickly shows his true colors by trying to grab her hand despite her protests. She slaps him across the face, and Raj comes across the aftermath, asking them both what is going on.

Vipul leaves her alone and goes angrily down the hall. A little while later, Jia goes to the bathroom to get a glass of water and hears loud noises coming from the study. When she goes to investigate, she finds that Vipul has been shot to death.

The house returns to chaos, with Seema arriving and finding her dead husband, and the others in the house follow suit. They all panic, believing someone has broken into the house and killed him, but after a short investigation, Raj points out that the window was broken from the inside.

Seema starts looking through Vipul’s phone to figure out what he was doing and finds the messages he’s been sending Jia. Jia tries to explain the truth of the situation, but Seema doesn’t believe her, claiming Jia had an affair with her husband.

The others in the house grow increasingly suspicious of Jia and refuse to let her out of their sight, but then the power goes out and the house starts to flood aggressively. Jia uses this to do more investigating, finding a paternity test on Vipul’s computer and a bloody print in the bathroom. She realizes Seema is the only one in the house with the motive to kill Vipul, since Asha isn’t biologically his.

Knowing she has to tell somebody, Jia texts Dev this information just before they are all forced out onto the roof to escape the flood in the house. At first, Seema is alone with Jia, and reveals that she’s been the one sending the texts and pretending to be Dev. She explains that she and Rafael have been having an affair, and that they had made a plan to get rid of Vipul on the night of the storm so Seema could be with him without going through a divorce.

The others join Seema and Jia on the roof, then we find out that Lisa has been working with Seema so she can get money for fertility treatments. Lisa takes Ishaan captive, but then he falls over the side of the house and Jia has to jump over to save him. The two are rescued by boats sent by Dev.

At the end of the book, Seema is in prison, Ishaan is seeing his dad again, and Raj has written a book about the experience of losing his brother.

I always like to start with what I like first, and the first thing I like about this book is the setting. I think placing a thriller in the midst of a hurricane is a good way to turn up the pressure automatically, without having to add additional plot points. The rain, wind, and threat of flooding set the tone and provide more stress for the characters as they navigate their lies and nefarious plans.

Vipul was a useful character for this story. We start to hate him right away when he demands tea from Seema, and again as his pride keeps him from protecting his family. He insists they stay in the house, and that there’s no way it could flood, instead of getting his wife and child to safety. Then, through his interactions with Jia, we see him sexually assaulting his sister-in-law. I felt these interactions were realistic and helped to depict how confusing and difficult real sexual harassment can be. Vipul knew that Jia needed the help, and used his power as someone with more time and money to take advantage of her emotionally.

As someone who doesn’t know much about Indian-American culture, I also appreciated the chance to see how those dynamics and interpersonal relationships may affect a thriller plot. For example, a lot of the conflict comes from Seema’s resistance of being cast out by the Indian community. As a divorcee, people may not respect her, but as a widow, the people in her community may be more likely to support, respect, and feel sorry for her.

My first criticism is for pacing. When reading a thriller, I want to feel like I can’t look away from the page, but there were several moments in this one where it felt like not a lot was happening for long stretches of time. I’d find myself getting distracted or wanting to skip forward in the story.

There were also a few times that the writing took me out of the story. Awkward phrasing or unrealistic interactions sometimes made it hard to suspend my disbelief.

In this thriller, we see so much of the conflict coming from the relationships within this family. Lisa feels tension as the newcomer who wants to prove herself, Raj is constantly facing criticism from Vipul, Vipul suspects his wife is cheating on him, Seema hates that Vipul doesn’t respect her and is in love with someone else, and Jia envies her sister for the family she doesn’t have.

So much of this inter-family conflict centers around the two sisters—Jia and Seema—and because of that, I wish we had a meatier relationship to watch fall apart. I wish we had more chances to see their closeness so it would be more impactful when Seema finally betrayed Jia at the end of the story.

All in all, I liked The Night of the Storm and I thought it was worth reading.

We’re following a multi-generational Indian family who is stuck in their house while Hurricane Harvey is wreaking havoc across Texas. As if a major hurricane isn’t bad enough, someone winds up dead in the house. The ensuing story is a mix of thrills, chills and what the heck just happened moments.

I don’t understand the mixed to negative reviews that this novel is getting. It’s a shame because it’s a really fun story. Yes, it takes a little bit of time to get to the proposed “thriller/killer” point of the story, but it’s integral to the story to build up story way it does. For a debut author it’s an impactful story and I appreciate reading about other cultures.

Many thanks to the publisher for the e-ARC.

The Night of the Storm is Nishita Parekh's debut novel. And if you're a fan of twists and turns, you'll find them here.

The cover gives you a good idea of what you'll find inside. The storm in question is Hurricane Harvey and the house is where Jia, her son and other family members choose to hunker down - instead of evacuating. A perfect setting for a 'locked' room mystery. Because...yes, you guessed it...one of them turns up dead. So who is the killer?

Parekh's characters all have their own secrets and agendas. And each one of them is offered up as the culprit as the plot unfolds. This changes often and Parekh leads the reader down the garden path more than once. The only character I liked was Jai - and my thoughts on her changed more than once. Parekh takes inspiration from her own life, family, mores etc. and inserts it in her novel. "She (Parekh) is a software programmer but a writer at heart, and loves writing about her experiences as a woman and an immigrant."

I enjoyed the twists and turns up to a certain point - and then I felt they were becoming just too unbelievable. The epilogue cleans up all the questions and 'where are they now' info, along with another twist Jai makes a decision that I whole heartedly disagree with.

The Night of the Storm was a good debut novel and I liked it, but didn't love it.

A surprise from Nishita Parekh! I wasn’t sure what to expect from a murder mystery set entirely in one house over the course of one night, but what a ride it was!

“The Night of the Storm” takes us to Texas, where a hurricane of historical proportions is set to make landfall. An extended family decides to take shelter together under the same roof to ride out the storm. But not all of them will live to see morning & the killer is who you least expect.

A definite page-turner with a fresh take on psychological thrillers! I loved the characters & their plot lines. Found myself wanting to read “just one more page” in the hopes I would find out the next twist!

As Hurricane Harvey approaches Houston, Jia is already stressed--recently divorced, she's struggling to make ends meet while parenting a twelve-year-old son who was recently suspended from school, avoiding her brother-in-law who has transitioned from helpful to creepy, and hoping her ex isn't serious about revisiting their custody agreement. Grudgingly, she accepts her sister, Seema's, invitation to ride out the storm in her McMansion, figuring keeping her son safe outweighs the risk of being in close quarters with her amorous brother-in-law.

Also there for the storm are her brother-in-law's brother and his new wife, along with her sister's resident mother-in-law, who immediately ramps up tensions by playing favorites among her daughters-in-law. Then a neighbor takes refuge in the house, only to die. His death is followed shortly by another and all the adult members of the household (save Grandma, who is being sheilded from the truth) begin to suspect one another--because, obviously, someone in the house is guilty of murder.

This locked room thriller is updated with a more diverse cast, suburban McMansion, and the tensions that accompany newer immigrants to the US. It is mainly enjoyable, although the author succumbs too often to the Nancy Drew/sitcom method of creating a mini-cliffhanger at the end of each chapter in such a heavy-handed manner that it distracted me. And as the parent of someone with an anaphylactic allergy, I'm really triggered by the anaphylactic death as a plot device. Despite these flaws, I enjoyed the story and the subtle social commentary. #TheNightoftheStorm #NetGalley

{3.5 stars}

A major hurricane is headed to Houston, and the city has ordered evacuations. And an affluent neighborhood and Indian family gathers to wait it out in the safety of their home. Soon the body start to pile up and everyone’s secrets start to surface.

I like a good locked room mystery. But we don’t get enough BIPOC focused ones. I really like the cultural aspects that impacted this story. The nuances of class, religion, gender roles and struggles that immigrants go through to assimilate and thrive added real depth to the story. I will say, I was able to solve the main mystery pretty early but the final chapter reveal was a surprise. Overall solid, pacey thriller with great atmosphere.

Thanks to Dutton Books for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above my own.

This is Nishita Parekh's debut and it's got plenty of tension and all the elements needed for a locked room murder mystery. 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 receives word that they must evacuate their apartment due to possible flooding from the storm. 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 unbelievable twist at the end that I didn't even guess. Nishita Parekh gave a beautiful history 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 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.

3.5 This was a fun thriller but a little predictable. This story follows Jia a recently divorced single mother who recently moved to Texas with her son to start over. Not long after a hurricane moves in the likes Texas has never seen before. To escape the storm Sima, Jia’s sister, invited them to come stay at their home in the suburbs that they thought would be protected from the storm. Sima also invited her husbands brother in law and his wife as well. All was going well until family drama soon takes over leaving them looking for a way to escape but the hurricane has other ideas.

I enjoyed this book it was a fun fast paced read. The writing was very easy to follow and the family drama was entertaining. As far as the characters go I felt that some were really well fleshed out but others relevant in the story were kind of flat and I wanted to know more about them. My main issue with this book was the ending wasn’t my favorite and it felt a little predictable. I hope to read more from this author in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and the twists kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next. I will definitely be recommending this book to friends and will be reading more by this author!! Thank you for letting me read and review this book!

A fun, trapped-in-a-house mystery. It's bit slow to start, with light cliffhangers at the end of every chapter that led me to feel a bit like I was being led around without much to go on, but at some point the pieces started coming together. Really, the best thing about this book is the cultural aspect-- it adds a fascinating depth to the relationships and motives. Without it, the novel would fall flat.

I enjoyed reading this book, but it didn't quite capture my attention as I had hoped. It was an interesting premise and I empathized with the main character and all the issues she was having. Its totally relatable as a mother to be overworked, stressed, and feeling like you are just messing everything up. The ending at first was really good, but then it petered out a bit for me and the bit of back-tracking that happened was meh.

The Night of the Storm is Nishita Parekh's debut mystery novel.

When a hurricane threatens to flood their apartment, Jia and her son Ishaan flee to her sister Seema's mansion on the hill. Seema's husband Vipul swears it's impossible for their home to flood, so everyone will be safe there. Raj and Lisa also join the family for safety, with Grandma rounding out the cast of characters. When the new neighbor from across the street shows up needing help, they have no choice but to let him in. But before you know it, one of them is dead and the only possible culprits are in the house, and the rain keeps coming.

This was definitely a slow build for me, it didn't have much suspense until maybe the last 50 pages or so. Told from the perspective of Jia, she's focused on keeping her son safe, making the right decisions, and less on who the killer is. I didn't find any of the characters to be all that likeable. Jia was annoying, jumping to conclusions about anyone and everyone, and was too worried about her ex-husband wanting custody of Ishaan. Seema is a manipulative, passive aggressive wife, with no redeeming qualities. Vipul seems like the perfect husband, but he's got his own secrets and eventually shows his true colors.

For a debut novel, this was pretty good. The ending was unpredictable, I didn't really know how it was going to wrap up. There were multiple plot lines going, with clues here and there hinting at what was happening.

All in all, this was a good first outing for Nishita. If you enjoy a locked room mystery, multigenerational family drama, a whodunit, and secrets, then give this one a try!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @DuttonBooks for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

Jia’s life has taken a vast turn after deciding to divorce her husband and move to Houston, TX with her son, Ishaan. Struggling with being a single parent and behavioral problems with her son, Hurricane Harvey was the last thing Jia needed to happen. The use of a hurricane to set the scene for this thriller added to the urgency of discovering answers that Jia needed. We got a pretty thorough background on Jia and Ishaan as the book progressed, but there seemed to be less depth for the other characters mentioned in the book.

It was easy to support Jia and understand why she was “seeking” attention from her sister’s husband, Vipul. Vipul and his wife were at a rocky point in their marriage – especially because of Vipul’s mother. When Hurricane Harvey gave Jia no choice but to seek refuge at her sister’s house, more than the truth came out. Surrounded by family members and then the ominous neighbor, more and more kept going wrong (not even considering the mess that the hurricane was causing).

The beginning of the book had a slow start, but I couldn’t put it down once I was about halfway through. Parekh did a wonderful job building Jia’s story and character, but more about her sister Seema would’ve added another layer to the story. I would’ve loved to understand both sisters throughout the book and not just discover Seema’s motives in the last chapters. At one point, it seemed like the storm took a backseat and then it was all of the sudden detrimental to Seema’s home. I think the ending was predictable just because of the clues throughout the novel. Overall, the thriller story line can keep readers hooked through the end, but left feeling like something was missing. The book including a diverse group of characters was a positive and makes it stand out in comparison to the stereotypical characters in thriller novels. I am excited to read more of Parekh’s work in the future!

Hurricanes and family drama is definitely the mashup to make for a good story. A house full of family that is uncomfortable around each other and all keeping secrets? Even better. All good if the delivery was perfect.


The story follows Jia and her son as they go to stay with family during a hurricane hitting Houston. Everyone has secrets and some inappropriate behavior making others uncomfortable. I liked the group of characters and how different Parekh made them. You had many personalities with different beliefs, while also sharing some similar beliefs. I also enjoyed the way there were a lot of hard-hitting topics like divorce in hyper-traditional families, sexual harassment, and affairs. When an author adds in so many nail-biting topics, its almost guaranteed to keep you turning the pages.

While the story did keep me reading because I just had to know how this was going to end, there were a few things that bothered me. Being someone who lives in Florida, I know quite a bit about hurricanes and some of the information regarding the storm itself was off. The timeline was the biggest bother. It seemed like the storm was just approaching, but suddenly highways were under water and the city was JUST issuing evacuations. Cities wouldn’t tell people to evacuate if the highways were under water. They would have done it before. The flooding at the house also confused me because of timeline issues. The way the storm progressed seemed weird. I’m not saying it was completely wrong, but the timeline confused things and didn’t mesh with what was happening. This caused plot holes and that makes reading it harder.


With that said, I knew I was going to keep reading because the main storyline of what was happening with Jia was enough to make me want to know who was behind all the crazy things happening. The Night of the Storm was filled with suspense as I tried to figure out who was the bad guy and were these people going to live through this storm. Pick up a copy and give it a read. Let us know what you think.

I was so intrigued by this book being set during a Hurricane with an entire family forced together due to a storm. This being a mystery and all, there was sure to be plenty of family drama, dysfunction, and at least one murder. All of this did happen.

Jia Shah is staying with her son, Ishaan when she hears she must evacuate due to Hurricane Harvey. Her Sister, Seema insists she come stay with her. Family is everything she says. It just is not safe to be alone. Well, that statement does get tested many times. Jia brings her son to Seema’s gorgeous home in Sugar Land. Seema’s husband, Vipul, their young daughter, Asha, and her elderly mother-in-law. Vipul’s brother, Raj and his new wife Lisa will also be staying until the storm passes. Being of Indian descent means much is expected of the women and it is hard to always be the perfect person. Jia especially feels the sting since she decided to get divorced from her husband, Dev and in the Indian American Community one is judged very harshly for that. Yet, Seema and Jia have always been close.

Much dysfunctional family drama does occur. Too much actually. The events do not unfold naturally and it was hard to believe many of the story lines. There were too many and the family was constantly fighting with one another. Yet, big events happen and everyone is acting fairly normally. I thought I had figured out the story, but by the time I did, I wasn’t invested enough to really care about anyone.

This was the author’s first novel and it did provide interesting aspects of being part of an Indian Family. The novel was a fast read and easy to follow, but it needed less and more at the same time. I didn’t completely dislike this book, but it wasn’t one that will stay with me long. Except Grandma, I will remember her.

Thank you NetGalley, Nishita Parekh, and Dutton Publishing for a copy of this book. I always leave reviews of books I read.

2.75 rounded up. Jia is a single mother who must take her son to shelter at her sister’s home in Houston during hurricane Harvey. As the water rises, other family members and a mysterious and suspicious-acting neighbor arrive and soon the group is trapped by the flood. Everyone seems to have secrets and after one of the house’s occupants dies suddenly, the others become more paranoid and make bad decisions. Before the night is over, another death occurs and the survivors are sure that the danger is within the house.
This review is difficult because other than the creative setting during hurricane Harvey and the locked room mystery plot, I’m having trouble identifying positives about this book. The dialogue is sophomoric at best and the situations are very unrealistic. For example (and trying to avoid spoilers), while being rescued and in a boat, two of the characters ask their rescuers for a phone so they can look at a Facebook video. And this example is just the tip of a very far-fetched and unrealistic iceberg. The characters are not at all likable or realistic. This author has some good ideas so hopefully her writing can improve. I hate writing negative reviews and I’m no author but this book is a hot mess.
#NetGalley #PenguinHouseDutton

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book a third of the way through. This just wasn't for me. I felt it was a textbook explaining Indian traditions with a story mixed in. I wanted more story and suspense other than explaining and complaining from the narrator.

*Thank you @duttonbooks and @prhaudio for the #gifted galley and audiobook in exchange for an honest review. This review will not be posted to Amazon/Goodreads because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

Unfortunately this book was not for me. It should have an exciting tense read but for the first two-thirds of the book it was all one big pity party on behalf of the narrator. She never had anything nice to say about anybody either. The hurricane should have brought a lot of tension but most of the time the characters were acting like everything was normal. It could have been a great closed room mystery but by the time it gets exciting, I didn’t really care anymore.