I was excited to read this one with a lock room feel especially since I’m claustrophobic. There was a lot of drama going on in here which I thought we wouldn’t more about the storm and the murder. We were more submerged into the lives of the characters such as Jia and her drama. Jia was a very unlikeable character in the book. Over the book was ok for me.

Thank you to Dutton Books for an advance copy of The Night of the Storm.

Hurricane Harvey is on its way to Houston and that’s not the only storm Jia is facing. Jia is an Indian American single mom who is also divorced - two things that are frowned upon big time within her family & community. To add insult to injury, her pre-teen son was just suspended from school for fighting. With their home being in an evacuation zone and nowhere else to go, Jia reluctantly agrees to go to her sister’s house in the fancy suburbs of Houston despite feeling uncomfortable around her brother-in-law Vipul and some of his past interactions with her. There they join Vipul and Seema, their young daughter, and Vipul’s mother.

Not long after Vipul’s brother and his wife also show up and things grow even more tense and Grandma has always played favorites - amongst the son’s as well as their wives. As the flooding intensifies outside, a body turns up in Seema & Vipul’s home and everyone is left wondering if it was an accident or if one of them is actually a murderer. Jia goes on the defense, determined to keep her son safe and prove her worth as a mother and independent woman while they wait out the storm.


Well that was quite a debut! Nishita gives us a tense, suffocating, and slow burn thriller with an explosive finale that I did not see coming. The combination of so many claustrophobic events sets a whole mood for this book - a storm that requires sheltering in place, being forced into a setting with someone who makes you uncomfortable, someone who judges you, people you can’t relate to, outside forces beyond your control, feelings of adequacy, and more leave readers feeling trapped right alongside Jia.

Despite loving this book, Jia was not my favorite character. I typically like my female MC’s to be a little more sure of themselves and a tad more mature and Jia read like a YA FMC. However, given the context clues into Jia’s past, it’s understandable that she would present as a weaker character. The upside to this is that we do get to see quite a transformation in her throughout the book proving that once again, that we can endure and overcome experiences we never thought possible.

I know that a lot of people aren’t a big fan of the slow burn thriller trend we’ve been seeing lately or locked room thrillers as they can be very hit or miss, but I think Nishita was successful in both aspects and I am definitely looking forward to what she comes up with next!

3.5 Stars

Jia Shah is a newly divorced Indian-American mother of a teenager. She decided to give her and her son Ishaan a fresh start by moving from Chicago to Houston. Even though her sister, Seema, also lives in Houston, Jia and Ishaan aren’t having an easy time adapting to their new life. When Hurricane Harvey strikes the area, Jia and Ishaan accept shelter with her sister and her extended family to ride out the storm. Jia is hiding a secret from Seema, but she isn’t the only one with something to hide. Now in addition to navigating family tensions, it seems there is a murderer in the house and everyone else is now in danger.

The Night of the Storm includes a murder mystery, but I would classify most of the book as a domestic drama as opposed to a mystery or a thriller. Things would already be complicated between the characters, but everyone staying together worrying about the storm makes things even more tense. I didn’t really warm to Jia or most of the other characters. You weren’t supposed to like some of the characters, but there were only one or two out of all of the characters that I was rooting for. Jia overreacts to almost everything, so it’s hard to tell the red flags from the red herrings when Jia tries to figure out who the killer is.

I enjoyed learning about the Indian-American customs that are mentioned throughout the story. I appreciated Jia’s insights about one of the characters who isn’t Indian trying to fit in with her husband’s Indian family, reminding her of how she felt as a U.S. immigrant. However, sometimes Jia had too many observations and asides that slowed the pace of the book. I am glad the suspense picks up as the storm continues. I like the dramatic showdown near the end of the story as well as the book’s shocking ending which helped raise my rating of the book.

~ Christine

This started out promising - single mother, Jia, is in the middle of a custody battle over her troubled adolescent son, has money issues, and is being harassed by her brother-in-law. All of this is happening as a catastrophic storm is getting ready to hit, forcing her and her son to seek shelter at her much more affluent sister’s house. With the brother-in-law, of course.
Unfortunately, it went downhill pretty quickly. Jia seemed to make one stupid decision after another, until it became almost impossible to sympathize with her. Then the plot (which seemed good enough in the beginning with the dysfunctional family dynamics) started getting more and more ridiculous - murder, scheming, backstabbing; pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.
Ultimately, a disappointment.
Thanks to #netgalley and #duttonpublishing for this #arc of #thenightofthestorm in exchange for an honest review.

** spoiler alert ** This locked-room mystery is the debut effort of Nishita Parekh, and a solid outing.

Jia Shah, newly divorced, has moved to Houston with her son, Ishaan, to be nearer her sister's family. As Hurricane Harvey bears down on the Texas Gulf Coast, the sister, Seema, urges Jia and Ishaan to leave their apartment and come shelter at her large home in a fancy suburb.

Also in the house are Seema's husband and daughter, her mother-in-law and brother-in-law and sister-in-law. As the storm waters rise, this extended Indian-American family (and one stranger) are stranded together. Is Jia's ex, Dev, lurking about, causing trouble? What's up with the stranger?

The pace of this novel is brisk, and I enjoyed the author's insights into the extended family dynamics and immigrant experience. With not one but two murders by the end of the book, I thought the plot got a bit over-complicated. But it was a fun read.

I received an early review copy from NetGalley.

This was the first book I have read by this author and I will be looking for more! I loved this book and the twists and turns!! I have considered this book one of my top reads in January! I would definitely recommend this book.

The Night of the Storm is a super tense read that focuses relationships gone awry, cultural tension, and lots of drama. I enjoyed the "lock-room mystery" trope, but I was disappointed with the characters, particularly Jia. I found her logic questionable, and she overall appears very weak (but will suddenly have a moment of strength or confrontation, and then go back to being relatively weak). I did appreciate the complexity of her situation and tension created for her internally as a mother with the pressure to always make the right decision for her son. Overall, this was a solid 3-star read for me.

The Night of the Storm is a thriller that you have to read for yourself to truly experience. I did find that the dialogue was a bit stiff- particularly at the beginning but the further I read, the smoother and more realistic it became. As Nishita Parekh is a debut author, I think this is a fair part of development and growth. I was able to look past this and continue the story and the little pieces of mystery kept me hooked. Thank you Netgalley for my eARC copy!

I was so intrigued by the unique setup of a locked room mystery set during a hurricane! unfortunately I left the book quite underwhelmed - I feel like a lot of it has to do with the marketing of it being a mystery. it mainly focuses on the family dynamics and drama and despite its shorter length it still felt super repetitive.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙-𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮.

I love a good claustrophobic locked room thriller so I had such high hopes for this book. It sounded so interesting with the story being set during Hurricane Harvey. Unfortunately, I have such mixed thoughts about this book.

I looked at the reviews on Goodreads before going into this book and they weren’t the best, but I still went into this with positive thoughts. The story starts off so strong and had me intrigued, so I was hoping maybe I would’ve loved this one and been in the minority.

Unfortunately, I feel like the story lost me somewhere in the middle and I didn’t love the direction it took, it felt too predictable.

I did, however, love that we follow an Indian American culture, I was immediately emerged in the story and the drama with this family. It did seem like more like a mystery with a huge side of the family dynamics, there’s topics in here that I didn’t really vibe with.

The twist at the end was such a disappointment. I feel like the story had a good pace up until that twist. It wasn’t too much of a shock as it’s way too predictable.

Overall, this was a solid thriller with its pros and cons. The mystery behind this family had me intrigued, I just didn’t love the way it ended. I loved how the hurricane affected the story and the concept. I’ll be checking out more from this author in the future!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Dutton for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

Reading this book is a roller coaster, there are so many subplots in this book that at times it was hard to keep track but they kept me on the edge of my seat.

I will fully admit it took me some time to get into this one, our main character Jia is a little bit annoying in the beginning if I'm honest but by the end, I had a much better feeling of why she was the way she was and it all made sense.

Imagine being in the midst of a nasty divorce and an even nastier hurricane and you get the setup for this book filled with mystery, murder, and enough questions about who did what to fill an encyclopedia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing a copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton & Nishita Parekh for the ARC of The Night of the Storm.

Jia & Ishaan make the move from Chicago to Houston after Jia gets a divorce from her cheating husband. Houston is where Jia’s sister Seema lives with her husband Vipul & their daughter Asha.

Jia & Ishaan live in an apartment which is no place to be with the hurricane coming. Jia reluctantly takes up her sisters offer to stay at her house, but things go terribly wrong while they’re there. The new neighbor across the street, Rafael, shows up with a story that throws up red flags.

When Rafael & Vipul wind up dead, you already have an idea of who did it due to the clues earlier in the book. The story tends to drag on and is rather slow in the beginning so it’s one that’s harder to stick with and finish reading.

A very well done, disturbingly atmospheric thriller. I'm not the most culturally diverse individual out there so I sometimes struggle with stories deeply ingrained with cultural references, but the Indian customs referred to were very easy to follow and quite interesting. The background of a "storm of the century" scenario really added to the tension. Every character had the potential to be the "whodunnit" and misdirections and reveals did a great job of keeping you guessing.

Yet another reviewer favorite locked room mystery/thriller, Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh. With moving pieces to the puzzle, many characters to love or be outright suspicious of, all in the center of an almost world-shattering hurricane, who is the killer?? You barely get into it and already become cautious of who to trust. Plot pieces including divorce and suspected infidelity throwing even more doubt into the mix.

I find I really only had issue with the ending, and not so much about how rushed it appeared to be compared to the rest of the novel, but the characters’ ability to too easily forgive those who truly should not be trusted. Family does not constitute blind faith, but it may also speak to the difference in culture in this instance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the chance to read this fantastic eARC!

In The Night of the Storm, Jia and her son are trapped in a house during a hurricane with several generations of family members. Chaos ensues, people die, and secrets are revealed. It's your typical locked-room mystery.

Overall, I thought this was a good debut thriller - it kept my attention (I listened to the audiobook) and was interested in the story. At times it was confusing keeping track of everything happening - it seemed like everyone was hiding 3-15 secrets, but I got the hang of it. I also liked learning more about Indian culture and the Hindu religion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a gifted e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, but I guessed what would happen from the very beginning. I found the characters quite unlikable and they made very poor choices. The premise of the book was a family trapped in a house during a hurricane. However, they were told multiple times to evacuate before the situation got bad. Then of course, they ignore the warnings and assumed that they knew better. The main character, Jia, talks about making the right decisions for her son, but does the exact opposite at any given moment. I wanted to yell at her so many times and tell her to get it together! Especially with the whole ordeal with her brother in law, Vipul. That whole situation was entirely avoidable and she made some really bad decisions that directly affected her son. Overall, I was too frustrated with the characters to even begin to enjoy the story.

Being a resident of southern Louisiana, I am very aware of how intense hurricanes can be, and how that alone is a nightmare. This book coupled that with a double homicide though, and whoa! That ending! My anxiety increased the further I read into the book as the tension just built and built. I enjoyed the background scenes—flashes from the past and what happened with Vipul, or her son at school. Also that there was a character commonly talked about, the father Dev, who seemed to be a threat from afar when the real threat was nearby. The book coupled dealing with Mother Nature in a hurricane and your own people in a murder, and combined for one intense thriller!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the arc!

In yet another locked room thriller in Nishita Parekh's debut novel, this one involves a multigenerational Indian American family who find themselves stranded due to inclement weather. That is rather putting it mildly, as they are all under hurricane watch.

However, there’s a killer in the house. One of the family members is Jia Shah, who is six months divorced and is in danger of losing custody of her son. They take refuge at her sister-and-brother-in-law's house and Jia has to face her brother-in law Vipul. The two have an uneasy relationship, and this keeps Jia quite nervous.

Meanwhile, there is a death in the house, A murder, actually, and the number of people who could have been responsible is rather limited. Then factor in the tension between Jia and Vipal and readers have quite an interesting story.

Many thanks to Dutton and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This locked room murder mystery is a nail biter! Jia is waiting out Hurricane Harvey in Houston at the large home of her sister Seema and Seema's husband Vipul. There is so much going on under the surface. Jia has left her husband and has taken her son Ishaan with her. Vipul has been calling on Jia, much to her dismay. Her fear of her ex husband taking her son is the main reason she is hunkering down with her sister's family. Jia is afraid of everything. I think a lot has to do with her Indian heritage and how she was brought up but she is afraid of her own shadow! Maybe she should be afraid. When a neighbor comes over, she suspects something is wrong. Then there are two deaths and nowhere to go with her own family even thinking she is the murderer. As the flood waters rise, so does the paranoia and suspense.

I have to say that I did figure out a major plot point early on but I kept thinking maybe I was wrong. I was into it. Great tension built throughout the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dutton Books for an advance copy for review.

Maybe because I had just read The Guests by Margot Hunt, which was a nearly identical premise, I was underwhelmed by this. Right away I suspected there would be trouble during the hurricane and I guessed who was bringing it. There was a twist near the ned the did bring some surprise. I definitely think this would be an enjoyable read for anyone looking for a closed door thriller.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for the complimentary ebook.