I found myself utterly stuck in this book and could not put it down until the final page! Although the story line itself isn't anything new, the author did a great job drawing you in! Using different POVs you slowly come to understand what happened to Ellie Black and the lengths people will go to to protect those they love. I really liked our FMC detective! I would definitely read more books revolving around her character. Overall a real well done thriller for lovers of TV shows like Criminal Minds and Law and Order SVU.

4+ stars

“I didn’t need shackles or chains to keep me bound. All I needed was four walls of pristine forest. And fear. The kind that festers and blisters, makes your limbs twitch. Yes. The best prisons are the ones created in our own minds.”

Author Emiko Jean flexes her fine writing skills, dipping into yet another genre. On the heals of her YA Tokyo Ever After Series, and then an adult novel Mika in Real Life, she takes on thrillers and excels in the crowded space!

This mystery is set in present day Washington State, when young Ellie Black crawls out of the woods - she has been missing for 2 years. Detective Chelsey Calhoun can’t help but jump back into investigating the crime, as her own sister disappeared in the area 20 years ago. This case is personal! With the skillful hand of a seasoned writer, Ms. Jean takes the “show us, don’t tell us” strategy, and subtly keeps the themes of misogyny and unbalanced police procedure in focus. Her research, especially concerning the psychology of caring for these types of victims, is apparent and expanded my view of how vast the effect is on lost souls and those they leave behind. My review contains few plot details with the intention of granting future readers the same experience I had, because oh my, this was a wild ride up to the final page!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Publishing, Net Galley and the Thoughts From A Page Patreon Group for access to the army copy in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was emotional. It was rough. It was shocking. I always forget just how much I love mystery thrillers until I read another one, and this one may take the cake as a best of 2024 reads.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC for review.

Emiko Jean is the best-selling author of adult and young-adult fiction. Her work has been featured by GMA Book Club (Mika in Real Life) and by Reese Witherspoon (Tokyo Ever After). Now she’s expanding her repertoire to include a mystery and boy does she nail it!

Detective Chelsey Calhoun is awakened one night when she gets a call that Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared 2 years ago, has reappeared. Chelsey is determined to find out what happened during those missing years but what unravels is far beyond what anyone could have imagined.

The story grabbed a hold of me from the first chapter and did not let go. I was glued to each page, soaking in while also trying to process the trauma unfolding. The past and present are effortlessly woven throughout and the ending took my breath away.

I highly recommend prioritizing this when it releases on May 7th.

3.5/5 ⭐️
This was a great suspense thriller novel, I enjoyed Emiko Jean writing so much, the first 2/3 of the book were amazing, I did not love the ending but never the less, I still highly recommend this book. It is coming out on May 7th, 2024, make sure you get a copy!
Thanks to NetGally and Simon and Schuster for letting me have this ARC in exchange for an honest review

The writing of suspense in this book was awesome. I felt like the characters were so well written that they are burned into my mind. I will be seeking out more Emiko Jean!!

3.75/5 ⭐️
I don’t normal give ratings .75. I try to stick to whole or half numbers. But with this one, I didn’t think it was quite a 4, yet it also wasn’t on the same level as the other books I gave 3.5 stars. So I gave it 3.75.
The main plot of this story was interesting and on occasion said some really important and amazing things. However, it fell short for two main reasons. For one, it kind of got lost amongst all the POVs. I think if this story stuck to only Chelsey and Ellie, it would’ve had an easier time keeping to the actual plot while also using that real estate used by other POVs to flesh these two characters and the story. Because, with all the POVs all the characters felt surface level. Which leads me to my next issue: the style of writing. I did not mesh with it. In my opinion, it harmed the story. Between the flashbacks that came abruptly, interrupting the narrative flow of a scene without adding much to the overall story, and the many unnecessary asides, I would be thrown out of the narrative. Often to groan, I don’t care. So often the story would be stopped kind of like someone pausing a movie to tell you everything about that character and their past, even the most un relevant details, and about the setting, and etc. I practically was yelling to shut up and just play the movie.
So yeah, in my personal opinion, I think this story had so much potential, it was great at its core, but its writing style kind of ruined it for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

Perfectly paced mystery thriller. I could not stop reading. What made this book unique was the nuanced character study of all the women involved and the main character's reasons for dedicating herself to solve the case.

This was a great thriller! If you love Ashley Winstead, Jennifer Hillier, and Karin Slaughter, you’ll love this. Parts were very disturbing, but it was twisty and kept you reading to find out what would happen.

Emiko Jean can do no wrong. This book is a masterpiece of a psychological thriller. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and could not stop turning the pages. Thank you so much for the chance to read it early.

This was a really good mystery thriller! I enjoyed this story as it is about a teen girl who disappears and then returns two years later.

This book was told from both Detective Chelsey Calhoun and Ellie Black’s point of view. I was especially interested in all of the parts told from Ellie’s perspective. Even though it was kind of dark, it was nice being able to gain insight on exactly what Ellie went through.

There were a lot of moving parts in this mystery and it was interesting to see how everything was woven together in the end.

Read this if you like:
→ Dual perspectives
→ Fast paced thrillers
→ Twists and turns

Thank you to @SimonBooks for sending me a copy for review.

This is a very readable suspense/mystery in which I was totally immersed. The kidnapping/abuse sections were hard to read, but allowing readers to feel those emotions is the sign of a talented writer. If the ending plot twist wasn't so disappointedly unbelievable, I would have given this book five stars. Note to author: you don't have to try so hard. This story would have been absolutely fine, in fact better, had you left well enough alone. On the other hand, you are a fantastic writer and I'm certainly not dissuaded from reading more of your stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you @simonandschuster @netgalley #partner for the free ebook and book!

Driven by past experience, Detective Chelsea Calhoun is on a mission to find the lost. She lost her sister and understands to her core how that feels. She will do anything possible to bring answers to the people who wait at home wondering what happened to their loved one….including Ellie Black. The interesting thing about Ellie however is she turns up after many years of being gone, however, will not share where she was or who she was with. This leads to more suspicion as to what exactly happened to her all those years ago. Detective Calhoun is determined to understand and uncover those details.

I really liked this one and bonus that it was a new author for me! This book was definitely stressful as it seemed like something that could happen in today’s day and age. The author has done a spectacular job creating tension and depth within the sorry and characters! I love how Chelsea’s background and history made her that much more invested and driven to not let it go until she found answers. This book also addresses the elephant in the room viewpoint of what stories get covered in the news and how low income people that go missing aren’t covered the same way as someone that is wealthy or middle class. The ending was very wild and didn’t fit the same vibe as the rest of the book in my opinion but didn’t take away from the satisfaction of this one. Overall this is a solid debut book and am excited to see what Emiko writes next!

Detective Chelsey Calhoun is one of the only women on her small town police force in Washington state. Her father was a cop before her, and she has known tragedy in her own life, with the loss of her older sister many years before.
When a teenage girl whose disappearance she had investigated two years before emerges from the forest, Chelsey is back on the case to figure out where Ellie Black has been, and to track down the person responsible for her kidnapping and captivity. She will stop at nothing to untangle the mystery, to the detriment of her own life if that’s what it takes to seek justice.
The Return of Ellie Black is told from multiple points of view, which definitely works in this case, as it gives the reader the chance to understand how it feels to chase down the bad guy, but also to know what it was like to be the one who was taken, as well as the people left behind. As Chelsey digs deeper, more and more unknowns emerge, and all are intriguing. The twists near the end are shocking, and the fast pace of Emiko Jean’s writing adds to the build up of all the suspense. This book is a thrill ride from start to finish, and fans of psychological suspense will want to get their hands on this one when it comes out!

A missing girl is found alive and an investigation ensues to find her captors and what happened. The police officer investigating is dealing with her own issues, which adds to the drama of the situation. This hooked me from the start and I couldn’t put it down. It’s both well-written and incredibly suspenseful. There are many twists and turns in the plot and several moments that actually made me gasp. I can’t wait to read more from this author. For fans of Lisa Unger and Karen Slaughter.

I am a long time fan of Emiko Jean. Mika in Real Life is one of my favorite contemporary reads and Tokyo Ever After is one of my favorite YA reads. I was very eager to see what EJ could do in my top genre and she did not let me down! Talk about a versatile writer.

Detective mystery thrillers is always a good time and I enjoyed how dark this one went. The book kept me guessing all the way through and I didn’t guess the culprit, which I always like. Lots of great twists and turns. I found myself staying up way past my bedtime wanting to binge it. The themes of grief, trauma, and abuse was well done. I can already tell this one is going to be popular!

This is one of those suspenseful reads that I start and can't put down and read through in one long night! Gripping and twisty, I loved this one. Highly recommended if you enjoy this genre.

I really enjoyed this new one by Emiko Jean. The story was engaging and there were definitely twists I didn’t see coming. I appreciate the way the story was structured so you had the current day storyline but then parts where Ellie was telling her story to fill in the blanks slowly. Very well done.

Wow! This book grabs you from that first page and doesn't let go through the final one. Love the characters and this fascinating story line.

This was scary good! I loved the characters, the crime, the setting, all of it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.