Set on the rugged coastline of Washington state this is a powerful tale of a kidnapped girl. Time is critical in these types of cases which kept me holding my breath as events unfolded. Then Ellie’s sudden reappearance after two years missing lights a fire in a young detective. Chelsey will stop at nothing to get to the truth about where Ellie’s been, who took her and how many more girls are part of this nightmare. Her steadfast perseverance is obsessive. She pushes the victim to reveal more than she’s comfortable with. I was so immersed in the safety and wellbeing of those taken that I didn’t focus much on who the perpetrator was. There were twists and it’s a story that involves uncomfortable and graphic topics.
I’ve read quite a few books themed around missing women, how their plight continues, along with a pronounced lack of response or empathy. This story presented a different perspective and the characters will continue to resonate with me. It’s dark, with despicable acts of violence by depraved predators. The aftermath of trauma is addressed and the victim’s characterization was rendered with a unique viewpoint. It was a thrilling and emotional novel by an author I had not read before, Ellie will stay with me.
An advance reader’s proof of “The Return of Ellie Black” author Emiko Jean, published by Simon & Schuster, expected publication date is 05/07/2024, was provided by NetGalley. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without expectation of compensation.

What's not to love about "The Return of Ellie Black"? It is a very well written book, full of suspense, with great character development.

I had not previously heard of Emiko Jean, but will definitely investigate her previous offerings. This book will not disappoint you!

Two years ago, Ellie Black disappeared. Now she’s back, but she isn’t talking, holding her secrets close despite the local detective’s best efforts to find out the truth.
Having overdone it on thrillers, I am now very selective about the genre. What attracted me to this book was King’s ringing endorsement. And sure enough, this was above average. Still way too much of a formula to truly wow, but entertaining and compelling enough to keep the pages turning.
I can’t say that I particularly cared about any of the characters (and that just isn’t how you spell the name Chelsea) but the suspense aspect was nicely done and well maintained, as were all the twists and turns toward the end.
Like just about every single thriller of this kind out there, the book featured the right i.e. overwhelming amount of estrogen and girl power messaging with just enough token diversity thrown in. Like most YA authors turning to adult fiction, the book featured a lot of teenage and young characters written stronger and more credibly than the adults.
If you’re looking for a decent, albeit cliché-heavy thriller, this might do the trick. Thanks Netgalley.

Fascinating, addictive and stunning novel starring a policewoman and a kidnapping victim. Well written and will keep you turning pages.

You may recognize Emiko Jean as a best selling author of books like Mika in Real Life, but this is her debut thriller and she knocked it out of the park!

Local teenager, Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace 2 years earlier has been found alive in the woods of Washington State. Something isn't right. She won't say where she was or what happened to her. Detective Chelsey Calhoun desperately needs Ellie to open up because she fears there are more girls in danger. This novel has been called a "feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy". Perfectly said.

This was my kind of thriller. Told from dual POV we are given insight into where Ellie has been, while following the detective on her case. Parts of Ellie's disappearance/trauma are hard to read and may not be for everyone. As dark as it gets, there are glimmers of hope that things could get better for Ellie. A bit of me wanted something different with the last twist or two, but overall I devoured this one and think thriller lovers will be all over it!
4.5/5- rounded up!

The Return of Ellie Black
written By Emiko Jean
Published By Simon and Schuster
Release Date May 7, 2024

Trigger warning for rape



Emiko Jean is one of my top 5 favorite authors. There are so many reasons why but you will see for yourself when you read this one. Let me say ahead of time that this is a gripping, very dark and very heartbreaking novel that contains certain trigger warnings but will still keep you on the edge of your seat biting your nails with all of the twists and turns.

Ellie Black was found in the woods alive in Washington State 2 years after she went missing by 2 hikers. It was a was certainly a great moment for everyone in Ellie’s life. but for the detective that gets the case it brought back memories of when her and her sister were teenagers and her sister went missing. That was 20 years ago. Detective Chelsey Calhoun has her work cut out for her. But when they ring Ellie, she won’t talk. If they cannot find out what happened or who the kidnapper was, someone else might be taken.

This book has a couple different protagonists that allow the reader to get all of the pertinent information that is needed to understand everything that happened to Ellie. It will bring out every emotion that you have after learning the dark and cruel things that Ellie endured. Yet, you also see that Ellie has not allowed what happens to her change her inner self.
The ending is not predictable at all and will grab your soul and allow you to to feel the twists and turns while also feeling the emotional value that the author wants you to experience. This is an amazing book that is very well written and the characters are so well developed and the banter between them feel so real. Jean has written other amazingly written novels and I cannot wait until he writes more.

5+++ stars

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for my unbiased and honest review .

I was hooked by this novel from the beginning to the end. The story is told from the point of view of the two main protagonists: Detective Chelsey Calhoun and Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared two years ago and is found in the woods of Washington State.

The fact that Detective Chelsey Calhoun is a full-blooded Japanese and was adopted by a white family as a child is mentioned early on in the book. I identified with her since I am also Asian and a woman. The attitudes towards her of Detective Calhoun's fellow police officers who were mostly white males did not make her job easier.

What happened to Ellie Black during those two years she was missing is revealed in short segments told from her pov interspersed within the novel.

I really dislike any book written in the present tense. They read like a play script to me. As well as the story line was just depressing and sad enough that quit reading about half way. That is just my unique view.

This book was a whirlwind. I’ve read several Emiko Jean novels and enjoyed them all. I could not put this book down. But gosh, it’s a tough read. Trigger warning for just about everything.

Ellie Black has been missing for about two years. Detective Chelsey Calhoun was assigned her case. The missing girls Chelsey seeks haunt her. Chelsey has her own history of trauma, too.

Ellie is found wandering in the woods by hikers. She is returned to her parents’ home, but the transition is rocky. Ellie sleeps in a crawl space, won’t discuss what happened to her, and is constantly on edge.

Chelsey makes some wild connections between Ellie’s case and other missing girls. She becomes determined to crack the case, especially when she realizes there might be hope of saving at least one girl’s life.

The story is mostly told from a third person narrator telling Chelsey’s side, but Ellie’s first person perspective is woven throughout. The writing is strong. The story hooked me in immediately. I was horrified, but also so eager to know what happened. It’s twisty to the end.

Highly recommended. If you’re looking for a psychological thriller and don’t mind sexual abuse, mind control, kidnapping, etc, this is such a good read. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't plan to read this in one sitting but I couldn't stop. Here are the reasons why. NO SPOILERS
Starts with the victim of a kidnap, Ellie Black, who has suffered horrible things returning from the forest on her own. We follow her process of healing, reconnecting with her family and friends, and talking to her doctor and the police.
The book will make you feel a lot of things, especially rage for injustice. The author mentions and points out how being a woman is hard in a men's world, how the lack of resources for institutions can cost a life, how women's suffering can be dismissed by society, and how men can torture and abuse women to feel powerful.
I like that we have multiple POVs and that Ellie reveals to us (readers) more than she reveals to other characters. Unlike other books, this makes us feel one step ahead. At the same time, the policewoman in charge of her case is not dumb at all and I wish many were as invested as her. There are a few major twists closer to the end. One is what made me like Ellie more.

The book was intense and made me feel the same as when I watched the show True Detective.
It is recommended for adults but after the approval of their parents, I think that mature female teens would understand the YA aspect of it: the message of danger, fear, courage, and friendship between sisters.

Thank you, publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc.

This was a fantastic story that honestly surprised me. I never saw the twists coming, and was so shook by all of them! She is a masterful author, and brought characters and scenes alive. Can’t wait to read more from her, she has such a wonderful grasp on writing!

The Return of Ellie Black gripped me from the start. I had such a hard time putting it down, I just wanted to keep reading so I could figure out what had happened to Ellie and how she would come to terms with everything. I can’t really say too much because I don’t want to give anything away.

This was a tough book to read. It’s very dark so I highly recommend checking trigger warnings before picking it up.

Wow! What a twisted read. Very suspenseful. Ellie (Destiny) Black disappears during a teenage party and is abducted. Storyline twists and turns, involving multiple people. Takes you up to the end to get the true picture of what really happened and why. Very well written. Recommend. I was given an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

Hard for me to rate this one, good pushing on great?

What I liked? Femme-centered! Thank you!

But—-also a bit-rape centered but given the subject matter, that’s its territory.

What didn’t work for me—I believe this may be this author’s first non-YA novel? The character’s ages didn’t much hold for me—your main character Chelsey seemed outclassed as a detective—younger than she should. Ellie—more mature than likely to be at 19.

The big “twist”? I personally saw it coming but then again I’m a power-reader—I can tell given what’s be said & what’s not where your “twist” is going to be.

Frankly I’m over the “big twist” trope that seems ubiquitous in thrillers that last few years. If you publish Riley Sager—good on you; you made some cash! But he’s the person I’m talking about—all about the big twist, like M. Night Shyamalan—big twist of boring.

I am recommending this title to true crime & thriller fans though.

Thanks for the read!

Twenty years ago Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister Lydia was missing then presumed dead when the girls were teenagers. Two years ago teenager Ellie Black vanished from Coldwell Beach, Washington and she has just been found alive in the woods but she won’t say where she’s been. What happened to Ellie?

A truth we all know, but I don’t know that I’ve seen so well stated is, there is “ a dollar figure attached to each case. A careful calculation multiplied by parents’ wealth, then divided by race and religion. The poorer and darker a girl the less funds and time the department allocated to her rescue.” Some chapters are told from Ellie’s point of view and the absolute despair there is dark and so very hard to look at. This was difficult to read, at times, but good, even allowing for the far-fetched ending.

First off- huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I was literally invested from page one. It was gripping, dark, heartbreaking, and really difficult to read most of the time. There was no happily ever after. Lots of twists and turns, an unreliable narrator, a female detective who was so real. At times she was strong, at times so weak, other times she was truly devastated to the point of tears, and sometimes she was so bad ass, that it was the best! Lots of undertones in this one, including how society views and values women. Which ones are expendable, which ones won’t be missed? It’s deep and dark and there are probably a grand total of 5 pages of happy- and most of that happiness is wrapped up in memories that may or may not be reliable. It is also a deep investigation into trauma, its aftermath and female resiliency. I think author Samantha Downing may have summed it up best. This truly is “an emotional gut punch of a thriller.” Immersive, magnetic, amazingly written…

3.5 This is a very dark book but it starts with Ellie's return so it's different from the usual kidnapped teen plots. Ellie's POV was heartbreaking. The main character was obsessed to the point where it affected her marriage - seems like every fictional detective does this. I did hate the end but that's probably just me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Ellie Black disappeared in the middle of a late night party 2 years ago, at the opening of the book, she is discovered in the middle of a state park. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is the lead on her case from when she first disappeared and now is picking up the case again, determined to find out what happened to Ellie in the two years that she was missing. Chelsey is not without her own baggage, having lost her sister as a teenager in an apparent murder suicide, and working Ellie's case is bringing up old wounds for her as well, causing a rift in her own life with her new husband. Things get more complicated for Chelsey when Ellie refuses to assist in the investigation.
The book is told in alternating timelines, from the perspective of Chelsey and Ellie's therapist in the present, and then from Ellie's point of view in the past leading up to and after her disappearance, which helps the reader to understand her perspective, conveying the severe emotional, psychological, and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her captor(s). I don't typically enjoy suspense or thrillers, but this book for me was particularly well done. The concept felt creative, and the author's writing style and pacing of the plot were all satisfying and enjoyable. The main criticism I had was that the main plot twist felt unrealistic, and the ending was wrapped up too quickly for my taste. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and rate it a solid 4 stars and would certainly recommend it to others.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

As a debut thriller for this author, I enjoyed the read. Ellie Black goes missing after attending a party in high school, and then mysteriously shows up two years later. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is on the case, and she has some experience with a disappearance, as the same thing happened with her sister years earlier, though her sister was not so lucky to show up alive.

Ellie doesn't want to share much about what happened to her, which makes Chelsey's investigation more difficult to complete. The author weaves in current day with snippets from when Ellie disappeared to give the reader an understanding of Ellie's life when she was gone. From the horrible living conditions to the abuse, it's no wonder she was frightened to share what happened to her. You also learn that she was not the only girl held captive and she and the other girls developed a bond with each other over time.

Chelsey's also haunted by her past. Her sister's disappearance, and her father's subsequent parenting style challenged her. Her father was the police chief, and she followed into his footsteps in becoming a police officer. And she's having a hard time letting go of her past as she still has hope that her sister is out there.

The author does a great job of laying out the story and providing just enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. The ending surprised me which makes for a good thriller.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review.

Wow, what a good one! This is the type of book that I was thinking about while I wasn't reading it. Always excited to get back to it. Very nicely done! Definitely recommending!