If you like mysteries/thrillers, add this one to your TBR! Ellie returns after having been kidnapped for 2 years. She wants nothing to do with the investigation into her abductor. It's a bit of a slow burn, but well spaced reveals kept me turning the pages. There was a major twist that I did not see coming!

This was great . Lots of twist and turns definitely kept me guessing. Looking forward to read more from this author
Thanks to NetGalley for advance copy

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

HOW is it possible that Emiko wrote this AND Tokyo Ever After AND Mika In Real Life and they are all so different and incredible?!

THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK centers around the past kidnapping and present-day reappearance of Ellie Black. The story is told from Ellie's POV, and man some of the scenes from her time being kidnapped were difficult to read. It's also told from Detective Chelsey Calhoun's POV, who is put on the case to figure out who took Ellie. The dynamic between the POVs makes for a very bingable thriller I couldn't put down. Excellently written!

“Why did no one ever tell [her] that the most dangerous thing in the world isn’t natural disasters or wars or weapons. It is unremarkable men with beautiful smiles and even bigger promises.”

I was hooked from page one of this obsessively readable thriller, which opens with Ellie Black emerging from the woods two years after she was reported as a missing person. Trauma, grief and the will to survive center prominently in this atmospheric and mesmerizing story set in the Pacific Northwest. What happened when Ellie went missing, the intervening two years, and the return to her family, are told from multiple POVs. Jean does a masterful job of weaving together the tapestry of Ellie’s story, while also offering complicated, yet sympathetic, main characters and captivating cliff hangers. There are plenty of twists and turns, and even a few red herrings along the way to keep thriller fans engaged in this story from cover to cover.

Trauma, grief and mental health are handled with sensitivity and compassion by this author. Sensitive readers may want to view trigger warnings on The Storygraph. However, I did feel the author gives the reader just enough information to understand what is happening without getting into a lot graphic and violent details.

The Return of Ellie Black is one of my favorite thrillers of 2024 so far. If you enjoy a missing person’s story, morally grey, but sympathetic characters including a sharp female detective, multiple POVs, and atmospheric page-turners, give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed.

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5 Stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean in exchange for my honest review.

A page turning thriller from start to finish. Great characters, a fast paced plot, and some unexpected twists kept me reading late into the night. I would love to see this as the start of a series, the main characters are compelling and the writing is engaging. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy.

One of the BoTM app hints strongly suggests this will be a Book of The Month pick this month and I can definitely see this being a crowd pleaser. Jean’s writing flows well and the mystery was easy to get into. Getting multiple POVs and different timelines definitely kept it interesting. I’ve previously enjoyed Jean’s other novels as well and she writes a wide range of genres and always excels in conveying the psyches of her characters and this one definitely had aspects of that. While I thought the ending and the villain reveal was a bit too easy for me, I enjoyed the journey enough.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for the ARC

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean is a highly recommended psychological thriller/procedural/crime novel.

Teenager Ellie Black has been found alive in the woods of Washington State after disappearing two years ago from the small town of Coldwell Beach. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is assigned the case and immediately begins to work with Ellie and her family and question everyone involved in the case previously. Ellie, who was a teen who was pushing all the boundaries before she was taken, has returned a seriously traumatized, damaged young woman. Chelsey's sister Lydia was presumed dead fifteen years earlier, so she has empathy with families of missing girls and wants others to find the closure they need.

The narrative unfolds through multiple perspectives. Mainly it is told from Chelsey's point-of-view, but Ellie's point-of-view is presented in separate sections inserted within the chapters. Ellie's therapist also has some separate sections. Chelsey's chapters examine her investigation, her relationship with her husband, Noah, and her background. Ellie's point-of-view details the events during her horrific captivity. Using multiple perspectives results in the two main characters being sympathetic characters who are portrayed in a realistic manner.

The writing is good. There are a few sections where it flags a bit, but once the action picks up and the twists begin, the pages do fly by. I will say that more than once as I was reading I paused and thought, "Wait. Haven't I read that in another novel?" Some similarities to other novels with missing girls would be obvious, but this was more some of the details, the supporting material.

The ending twist is very surprising and shocking. You will not see it coming. However, it was simply too over-the-top much for me and required a heaping amount of setting aside disbelief. On the other hand I will certainly admit that The Return of Ellie Black is a page turner that will keep most readers glued to the pages. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

What did I just read? This was so good, so twisty with plenty of plot twists. I was a fan of the author and who would have known - her debut thriller would be amazing. I loved the characters especially the determination and tenacity of Detective Calhoun. I could not put this book down. The characters were so thoughtfully crafted. The mystery and intrigue was done so well - I was HOOKED. Thank you to the publisher for this EARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.75 stars …
I was immediately gripped. The premise of this book really pulled me in - I also recieved a physical ARC (the candle that came with it smells soooo good)

As the story progressed I was so irritated with Ellie. I understand why she was the way she was but I just wanted to shake her.

I enjoyed Chelsey and thought you had a lot of gumption and was a strong FMC.


Mild mild spoilers..
My biggest critique of this book is that there wasn’t enough red herrings… there was truly only one outcome and I guessed part of it by just reading the synopsis and the other part within the first few chapters. I knew the who but not the why. The journey to the reveal was entertaining though.

I devoured this - great story and writing. This was my first Emiko Jean book but it will not be my last.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Emiko Jean for allowing me to read the ARC of The Return of Ellie Black in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie is home! Where has she been? She’s not talking. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is more than anxious to hear her story. Ellie’s sister was missing twenty years ago. This book will keep you reading so you can figure out the mystery. Is the kidnapper her neighbor, someone in authority, or an old boyfriend? This book will keep you guessing up to the end.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of 'The Return Of Ellie Black in exchange for an honest review.
Fully agree that wow' is the operative word for this book.
The kind of thriller that delivers everything you want and expect in a breathless page-turner.......and then gives you even more.
The evil at work here is overwhelmingly vile, cruel and terrifying - the serial abductions and murders of young girls. The baffling, horrific case falls to Washington State detective Cheney Calhoun. She's already haunted and tormented by death of her younger sister. Her sibling's body was never found but judged a murder victim of her boy-next-door boyfriend before he committed suicide.
This makes Cheney driven and determined to unlock the dark memories and secrets of Ellie Black, who's come back as a survivor of her abduction several years earlier. Exhausted, emotionally drained and suffering severe PTSD, Ellie's incapable of cooperating with Cheney who senses there's far more to the girl's terrible ordeal than anyone can yet perceive.....and she's right.
Be forewarned that the interspersed chapters of Ellie narrating her captivity are harrowing and heartbreaking, which makes Cheney's relentless hunt for whoever's responsible all the more urgent. And when those final chapters start racing to the conclusion, you'll abandon anything else that gets in the way of reading. The suspense and reveals are dialed up the max, along with one guaranteed eye-popping/mouth-wide-open twist.
So congratulations and lots of gratitude to author Emiko Jean for the very definition of a 5 star, up-all-night, couldn't-put-down read.

I read this author's YA romance series Tokyo Ever After and fell in love. When I saw she was dipping her toes into the adult thriller world I was so curious! I immediately requested this book, and I'm so glad I did.

Ellie Black has been missing for two years when she's found stumbling in the woods. The lead detective on the case, Chelsey, is thrilled to have her back, of course, but is desperate to take down the culprit who did this to Ellie. Chelsey has personal experience with men taking and killing girls, after her sister went missing and was later found dead 15 years ago. The only issue? Ellie will not cooperate with the police, for whatever reason. It's up to Chelsey to put together the pieces of puzzles herself.

A round of applause for Emiko Jean!!! This book was so good!!! I INHALED it, and I loved all the twists and turns along the way - on top of that, I didn't see ANY of the twists coming at all, which made my reading experience even more enjoyable! What an incredible debut thriller - I will be sure to read any and all books by Jean in the future!

Wow! I think this is the thriller book everyone will be talking about this spring and summer!

Dark, haunting, and tightly plotted. I couldn’t look away and absolutely had to know what happened to Ellie Black. Told between dual POVs of female detective Chelsey Calhoun and missing local girl Ellie Black, this thriller occurs in the atmospheric Pacific Northwest in the woods of Washington State.

Chelsey has followed her father’s steps into police work and is haunted by her own sister’s disappearance and death in her teens. She feels a glimmer of hope when local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

All the stars! Be sure to pick this one up on pub day!

Detective Chelsey Calhoun has been searching for missing girls with the memory of her sister who disappeared twenty years ago. Then Ellie Black reappears after being lost for two years.

Wow, this one was very entertaining. It’s very exciting, especially during the kidnapped scenes, and very suspenseful; as you know the whole time there is much more to the story than what you are being given. It all unravels at the end and you find out all, including several twists that you will not expect. In any other book I may have called the twists unbelievable, but this one was so entertaining and done in a way to make even those twists unexpected and welcome surprises.

“I wish this wasn’t what it meant to be female - it’s not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when.”

The Return of Ellie Black comes out 5/7.

This was a great debut from this author! Chelsea is a cop in a small town dealing with the long ago murder of her sister when missing Ellie Black, who disappeared 2 years earlier, mysteriously walks back into the world. But she's not sharing much about what happened to her. As we get glimpses of Ellie's experience, Chelsea is also digging. The twisty plot is very Silence of the Lambs with the missing girls all kept together. It is slowly revealed the deeper mystery of this and it's a good twist! Well written, with flawed characters you still root for. Definitely recommend this one!

A dark thriller, THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK is the first book I’ve read by author Emiko Jean. She brings great passion and sensitivity to the storyline, the abduction and torture of young girls, especially those of lower socioeconomic status whose disappearances are often not thoroughly investigated.

“How the world let them down” reverberates through the tale told along two parallel lines: Chelsey Calhoun, detective, who lost her own sister, a murder-suicide, at a young age and the first person account of Ellie Black, a missing teen who turns up, dazed, unwilling to share the details of her ordeal.

Ellie’s story begins at the moment of abduction, over two years prior. Chelsey’s story is in the present as she tries desperately to understand Ellie’s strange reticence and dangerous decisions.

The subject matter is difficult, and often unpleasant to read. But ultimately Jean makes it worthwhile with the fast-paced, twisty end.

With thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Intricate police procedural with the protagonist a second generation detective whose father did her no service. Some surprises at the end.

A gripping thriller that explores the tragedy of missing girls., and hope amidst the tragedy. The unexpected ending made this a standout crime novel.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this novel but it had been some time since my last mystery/thriller, so I was really excited to get this ARC. And it ended up being worthwhile. I loved this book! I really enjoyed getting multiple perspectives, especially from Ellie, and how these perspectives built up to becoming linear and I overall really enjoyed reading from Ellie’s POV. Sometimes the other main character, detective Chelsey Calhoun, was a bit much but it didn’t take me out of the story. I love a thriller with cult-like vibes and this definitely came through with that.

The main thing that kept this from being a 5-star is I would’ve liked a little more flashbacks that tied into the bit reveal at the end. I felt it was slightly disjointed because the people involved with the reveal weren’t major players throughout the story/flashbacks. I predicted the major twist early on in the book, and while that’s not a deal breaker for me, I wish the flashbacks aided in this reveal so it didn’t feel so out of left field.

Overall really enjoyed this and I will be recommending for causal readers of thrillers!