4.5 stars rounded up

A teen is discovered in the woods by hikers and says she's Ellie Black, a girl who went missing two years ago. Chelsey is the detective that worked on her case and is now trying to find who abducted Ellie. This also dredges up what happened to Chelsey's sister when they were teenagers, when her sister, Lydia, went missing.

I've read Emiko's other books, but this is her debut thriller and I could not put it down. I absolutely devoured it and needed to know what was happening. In terms of content, be mindful that you get narrative voices that involve violence against women.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the ARC on NetGalley.

A quick-paced, procedural type thriller that kept me interested! I NEVER saw the twist coming and I loved the narrative surrounding women and how men are treated differently in life.

Strong thriller with good fast-paced writing that kept me locked in from the start. I try to be pretty self aware while walking around town or riding the metro but I shamelessly admit carrying my kindle around for all of the one day it took me to read this book. This is definitely a novel where the twist(s) at the end feel pretty wildly out of left field, which is why this book gets 4 stars instead of 5 (would be a 3.7 if Goodreads did decimals but I am generously rounding up) - it’s easy to imagine the writer looking at herself in the mirror and whispering “hell yeah” when she came up with the ending. I didn’t hate the ending but it was definitely a little forced, which took away from what was otherwise an excellent thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for the ARC. This book will sell!

The Return of Ellie Black had so many aspects I absolutely love in a thriller- a fast pace, short chapters, alternate timelines and alternating POV. It’s hard to believe this is the author’s first thriller- it was done so well!

From the first page I was drawn in and had a hard time putting this one down! I felt so invested and was curious where it was going and what had happened. It did end up feeling a little far fetched but that can be fairly typical for a thriller!

I loved how the end tied everything up and you got to see what happened to each character. I would definitely recommend this one to any thriller lover. I can’t wait to see what the author writes next!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Return of Ellie Black.

I love police procedurals featuring a female protagonist so I was excited my request was approved. I was eager to read this!

The premise was intriguing; a girl missing for two years suddenly returns, unable and unwilling to aid in her investigation, the lead detective Chelsey Calhoun soon discovers the clues to the perpetrators lead close to home.

What I did like:

1. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is a decent main character, the adopted daughter of the former police chief, a Japanese woman in a sea of white faces in her small town.

The loss of her older sister, whom she shared a fierce and loyal relationship with, destroyed her family and led her into a career of law enforcement.

2. Ellie Black's former boyfriend, Danny, is supportive, kind, and understanding. Most men, including fathers and husbands in these types of genres are scumbags and/or prone to gaslighting the main characters. Danny is a good guy.

3. The mystery wasn't bad; I was interested in Ellie's POV and how she endured and survived in captivity.

What I didn't like:

The identity of the perps was difficult to suspend disbelief in, as was the reveal of what happened to Chelsey's sister, though I accurately guessed she wasn't deceased.

Recently, it feels as if more and more mystery/thriller writers are throwing in twist after twist to 'shock' readers even if the 'twists' are hard to believe in.

The writing is fine, but the ending was just plain silly.

One more thing, I get understand this is an ARC so there are bound to be errors.

For example, The Goonies is referenced in one chapter but as Goonies. I hope that gets fixed in the final edit.

Young Elizabeth Black returns home after having been missing for two years. You’d think that is the end of it, but it’s not. She’s uncooperative during the investigation, and it’s up to Detective Chelsey Calhoun to find the answers.

TW: kidnapping, rape, murder, suicide, manipulation (gaslighting)

Emiko Jean has become one of my favorite authors, and thriller is one of my favorite genres, so I was more than excited to see that she was in the process of writing one.
Many mystery-thrillers are written about people who go missing and are either never found or are found dead. But this time, the missing person returns. But what really makes this case an interesting one is that it doesn’t stop there.
I loved Chelsey as a main character. This case was very close to her, and it was clear that she was set on cracking it as a way to cope with the regrets of her past. She couldn’t save her sister Lydia, so maybe she could save Ellie and the other girls.
Ellie was definitely a strange and complex character. I knew if the case was going to continue even after she returned home, something had to be up with her. I studied psychology in college, so I was able to see many signs of trauma in Ellie.
What I especially love about thrillers in general are the twists. The events of this book were definitely unexpected, that’s for sure. This book made me wonder if I can really trust certain people.
Like other books I’ve read by this author, she likes to throw out questions to make us think. It was also sad, thinking of those missing girls. What could’ve been.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

The Return of Ellie Black is a uniquely refreshing mystery in that is starts after the teenage girl who disappeared two years ago (when she was only 17) and works its way backwards from there, as the intricate mystery is unwoven, later by delicate layer.

This is one of the most outstanding mysteries I have read in years, with wonderful character development, an evolved plot, and it is extremely well-written. I enjoyed ever minute, and I definitely hope that this is the first in a long series with the primary female investigator in this novel!

Kudos to the author, for her excellent work, and an enthusiastic 5 star rating from this reader.

First of all, this cover is stunning. I would buy this in the store for that alone. What’s inside the cover is fantastic too! The twist blew my mind. Definitely recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. This story had lots of twists and I enjoyed reading it. I would recommend for anyone who likes a good thriller.

Geez! My eyes are going to be puffy for work tomorrow! Whoa! What a book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! It had everything! It had high suspense, intrigue, kidnapping, action, murder, rape, cult, gas lighting, great ending, a great who done it, great police work, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was so very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book!! It was so worth reading!! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Ellie Black disappeared two years. Then she’s found wandering in the woods. Detective Calhoun thinks something’s not quite right about Ellie. This story was engaging, the characters really pull you into their world. You feel their pain. You know their fears. Excellent.

US pub date: 5/7/24
Genre: mystery/thriller
Quick summary: The only thing more puzzling than Ellie Black's disappearance is her reappearance years later - and detective Chelsey Calhoun is determined to figure out this mystery and those of many other missing girls.

There are so many stories about missing girls - but not very many about them coming back. I was hooked on this one early in the book - Emiko Jean did a great job creating a dark and mysterious atmosphere in the story's Washington State location. I enjoyed trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together using Chelsey and Ellie's perspectives. There is a lot of darkness, but it's balanced by Chelsey's hope to stop the cycle of lost girls by catching the culprit. There were a few surprising twists that elevated this one beyond "just another thriller". 4+ stars.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars-“I wish this was not a cautionary tale about what happens to girls who wander off in the dark. Who are made to learn there are bad people everywhere. That the truth is these people aren’t not strangers. They are the men who you sleep with, the men you work with, the men you raise. I wish this wasn’t what it means to be female-it is not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when.”

Ellie hosts a party at a motel, charging admission to earn money for a new phone. She leaves the room in search of a place to pee, when the bathroom is occupied and she can no longer hold it. She is abducted from the field across from the gas station. This story is told from her viewpoint, what happens to her during her kidnapping, and also from the viewpoint of Chelsey, the detective on the hunt for her.

This one definitely held my interest, especially with the multiple POV’s. The quote I started my review with sets a tone of sadness that permeates throughout the book. The characters are all broken in their own ways, and that pain drives their motivations. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review. I will be looking for more books by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, Emiko Jean, and Simon and Schuster for a free ARC of The Return of Ellie Black. This book will be released 5/7/2024.

This is a well written thriller with plenty of surprises along the way. I couldn’t put it down, and I was constantly reading through other characters chapters to get to Ellie’s chapters.

Trigger warnings include kidnapping, rape, captivity, adoption, sibling loss, and abuse.

The book transitions between the viewpoint of Ellie and the lead detective on her case, Chelsea. Chelsea herself lost a teenage sibling which fuels her fire even more to find Ellie. Then one day, Elizabeth Black turns up after being missing for 2 years. She is obviously traumatized, but some things just don’t add up. What is she hiding? Why won’t she help the investigation?

As what happens to her becomes more and more clear, the story also gets darker and more twisted. You feel every single emotion as you walk with both Ellie and Chelsea and their complicated pasts, present, and futures.

This book is hard to put down and will keep you in suspense through the twists and turns.

Captivating! I was all in this story. It was written so well and compar s to other missed my persons story genres it flowed perfectly - the characters were unique and the pace was excellent. I can't wait to see what Jean writes next. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I devoured the The Return of Ellie Black in one sitting. It’s a tough story to read and equally as tough to put down. I was previously only familiar with Jean’s YA books (Tokyo Ever After and Tokyo Dreaming), but the same skill that propelled her books to the top of the New York Times list is evident in every page of this book. Jean slams her readers with one urgent message after another, unwavering in her mission to shine a light on what it means to be a woman.

The character development in this book was top notch - you understand exactly what drives Chelsey in the same way you emphasize with Ellie and the impossible choices she’s faced with. While those characterizations humanize the main characters, Jean makes it clear exactly where the evil lies and how men, while faced with similar circumstances can choose different paths. The differences between Jim and Abbot, Danny and David, Ellie and Lydia could not be made more clear. Situations may break and guide us, but it’s our choices that define us.

The end shocked me and yet it was the perfect missing piece that tied it all together. This was brilliantly written, plotted, and executed. I highly recommend picking it up!

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the copy of The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean. This is my first book by Jean, but it won’t be my last because I loved this book! I was gripped from the first page by the promise of the story and I wasn’t disappointed because I was engaged with it until the end. I loved how the book went in a direction I wasn’t expecting, which made it stand out from other ‘kidnapped girls’ stories. The chapters from Ellie’s POV were tough to read but were much more interesting because I never really warmed up to Chelsey or her story. If you’re looking for a book you won’t want to put down, this is it!

Chelsey Calhoun is a buy detective. She is shocked when a missing girl named Ellie Black returns. Chelsey still holds a bit of hope for what happened to own sister over 20 years ago. Chelsey throws herself head on into the reinvestigation of Ellie's disappearance and tries to unwind the complex web of the past.

Through multiple POVs we are treated to some of the inside story. It isn't pretty and it may not be for everyone. Jean does a great job of recreating the horror as well as many twists that will keep you engaged.

This isn't a happy book and it certainly isn't a feel-good book but I did enjoy it and you may too!

I loved this book and had a hard time putting it down. Lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending. I highly recommend it to lovers of mystery’s.

Wow! There are plenty of books with creative and sometimes unexpected twists, but it is rare that I read a book with a twist so surprising that I would never have fathomed the possibility. “The Return of Ellie Black” is one of those rare books.

Detective Chelsey Calhoun lost her sister as a teenager; Lydia went missing and was found dead two days later, a victim of an apparent murder suicide by her boyfriend. Because of her history, missing persons cases are particularly significant for her. She feels a sense of partial triumph when Elizabeth (Ellie) Black suddenly reappears after being missing for two years. Ellie's disappearance was Chelsey's first case after her promotion to detective, making it more noteworthy and difficult. Not surprisingly, Ellie is reluctant to talk about what happened during her disappearance, and has been traumatized and changed by the experience, struggling to reintegrate to "normal" life. However, as the evaluation of the limited new evidence progresses, it becomes apparent that Ellie's disappearance may be linked to the disappearances of other teenage girls in the area. Ellie is withholding information, but how much does she actually know about any of these girls/young women and is it possible to find and rescue any of them. Interspersed with the investigation prompted by Ellie's mysterious return are chapters that detail what happened to Ellie in the two years. The situation is much stranger than the stereotypical abduction of a child or teenager to be abused or trafficked.