Elizabeth Black, 17, is abducted while being out at a party. Two years later, without any leads and not much hope left to find her, Ellie appears on a trail not very far from home. When the detective in charge, Chelsey Calhoun, starts asking questions, Ellie shuts down and declines to participate in the investigation. Chelsey has her own personal reasons to close the case and make justice.

This book is written in multiple POVs, mostly Ellie's and Chelsey's. The pacing is great, not too fast nor slow. The plot picks up from the very beginning, which made it unputdownable. I finished it in not more than two days. There are some plot twists I would have liked more explanation on, but I feel overall the story was well executed and interesting from start to finish.

When a missing girl is found 2 years after her abduction Detective Chelsey Calhoun is determined to find who took Ellie Black. Chelsey is battling with her own demons, and this is what pushes her. When it seems that Ellie is withholding pertinent information from Chelsey, she begins to wonder what she is missing. As Chelsey continues to dig more of their small town’s secrets come to light.

Please be aware of triggers - child abuse, rape, murder and talk of suicide. The book made me feel all the things, and it was hard to read sometimes. I liked how Ellie’s story was told in her POV while the investigation was going on. Overall it was a solid thriller and kept me intrigued. I was not a huge fan of the ending, definitely had some eye roll moments. But everything did come together.

In this page-turning mystery/thriller, detective Chelsey still hasn’t recovered from her sister being murdered when they were teenagers 20 years before, but channels that passion into her job. Two years ago, she couldn’t solve the case of missing girl Ellie Black, so she is shocked when Ellie is found in a forest and wants to find out what happened to her, even though the traumatized Ellie is not very forthcoming. Chelsey’s investigating is also interspersed with Ellie’s narrative slowly revealing what happened to her in the past, and occasional chapters from the POV of other people in Ellie’s life.

I seriously couldn’t put this one down! A great mystery with creepy atmosphere, good characters, and some good surprises towards the end too! I also can’t believe how different it is from the other books I’ve read by Emiko Jean - two super light and fun YA books and a relatively light adult contemporary fiction - so all the more impressive to me that she can write so well in such a different genre. Can’t wait to see what she’ll write next!

There were some unexpected twists, that I appreciated. However, Chelsey was one dimensional, which made it hard to connect with her. Difficult topics are addressed, but things are not gory. The author weaves things between the past and present. The ending did feel rushed.
Be warned that this is a dark, shocking story.

Possible Trigger Warning: child abuse, abduction, rape, and murder

This is excellent. Fully rounded cast, masterful storytelling. It's not a fast pace thriller, but it will still draw you in. You have to keep turning the pages until you find out what happened.

I kept hearing about this book before it came out and I can see why it’s gotten attention. It has a lot of elements to a good thriller that I look for. The victim is unsettling and you know there’s a lot to piece together. And there’s a bunch of twists, some of which I saw coming, others I did not.

But something kept this from being a 5-star read for me. There was something that I personally couldn’t connect to. I can’t put my finger on it. I couldn’t connect to Chelsey, I think. I wasn’t super emotionally invested in the story.

“Why did no one ever tell Lydia 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.”

If you are craving a thrilling story that delves into the darker corners of human experience, look no further than "The Return of Ellie Black". With its themes of kidnapping, disappearance, and traumatic experiences, this story will take you on an wild ride to find out who is responsible for such intense experiences. With its blend of suspense, mystery, and character-driven storytelling, this thriller from Emiko Jean promises to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

I am beyond impressed with Jean's storytelling. Not only did I love her YA novels, her new adult story was top notch, too. After finishing "The Return of Ellie Black" I found myself thinking, "what can't this writer do?".

Ellie Black has been missing for two years after being abducted. She doesn't really talk much about what happened to her or where she was. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is at a loss. She is determined to get to the truth. We, on the other hand, know where she has been because alternating chapters talk about her time gone and now. Oh but that isn't all.....

Chelsey has held on to the past for so long that it can get in the way. Her sister disappeared when she was a teen for a few days, only to be found killed by her boyfriend, who killed himself. She has blamed herself since. What will make her let go?

There are some really good twist bombs that come out, especially towards the end. Plenty of OH moments.

Just really a fabulous read and one you will not want to put down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy for review.

Emiko Jean is a highly skilled author. The Return of Ellie Black takes us through the days and weeks after a missing girl is returned. Told from several different viewpoints, we get a glimpse into the psyche of all the people affected by her disappearance and return. Chelsey, the main character, is the detective in charge of the investigation. We also see the perspectives of Ellie herself, along with her parents, sister, and boyfriend. While visiting the mindset of each of these characters, the reader is not bogged down in being told exactly what the impact is - the story moves quickly, and we get the waves on the surface of what is happening and you fully understand what the author has flitted over.

This is a well written book, a very well told story, and I really felt the grief, tension, fear, relief, and confusion of having a missing daughter returned. As the story unfolded with the investigation, a multitude of questions was laid out for me, and the answers were parsed out throughout the book, keeping me invested throughout.

I believe this is Jean's first thriller and I really hope to see more from her in the genre. this was a well constructed, unputdownable mystery following detective Chelsey after teenage Ellie Black is found after being missing for 2 years. I really enjoyed Chelsey as a character and although I found part of the reveal pretty obvious, there are some other twists I definitely did not see coming! this is a very easy thriller to widely recommend and I can see this being a popular one this year.

This was my first book by Emiko Jean and I was impressed with how she tied her story together. This kind of had it all within the abduction storyline of Ellie Black. It kept me guessing how it was all going to end and my first initial guess was totally wrong.

The plot was intriguing though a little unoriginal. I liked transracial adoptee representation. Personally, the story freaked me out a little too much to truly enjoy it!

What a f**king book woahhhh! Such a good book couldn’t put it down I needed all the answers as soon as possible and that ending AMAZING

Such a brilliant book! I listened to this one, and I'm so glad I did. The full cast made for an outstanding, immersive listening experience. This was such a gripping psychological thriller.

This was an example of a thriller that had the mystery and suspense executed extremely well. The author did a great job of allowing us into Ellie's mind during and after her captivity. This was a dark subject matter, and the author did a great job weaving the past with the present to give us the full picture and all the details. I was so invested in these characters, the story, and what was going to happen at the end. Emiko Jean wrote a story that made me feel all the feelings and kept me captivated from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I love that Emiko Jean, author of two young adult romance novels that revolve around a young girl who suddenly finds out she’s a princess, changed course completely and wrote The Return of Ellie Black, an adult thriller. And you know what? It’s really good—better than the young adult novels, in my opinion.

Be warned: This story is dark, and for those with kids it might be a tough read.

Our story centers around missing girls and those affected by their disappearances. First is our detective, Chelsey Calhoun. Her sister went missing twenty years before and was never found. It’s her detective origin story: She searches for other lost girls so that other families don’t have to go through what her family did. She’s head detective on the Ellie Black case. Ellie vanished without a trace two years before, but now was found stumbling out of the woods by some hikers. The thing is, Chelsey senses that something isn’t quite right.

For a first foray into thriller writing, I thought the characters were well-developed and the plot complex. I definitely didn’t guess any of the twists, though in retrospect I should have gotten one of them. This is a bit of a slow burn for the first half, but pretty propulsive through the second half. (I read the last 50% in a day.) I do think that the first-person POV sections where Ellie describes the horrors of her confinement to be the most effective in keeping me reading. While dark, they provided the impetus to keep reading because I needed to know that Ellie and the others would be ok.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Available now.

Ellie Black returns after being missing. She is in bad shape and the detective, Chelsey, has personal affinity with the case as her own sister went missing and was believed dead. There are some far out twists to this mystery. Socioeconomic status is examined through the lens of female victims missing. Additionally, abusive fathers are showcased, those who are controlling and domineering. The story is told in real time alternating with the victim's recollection. A lot packed into the story makes it somewhat erratic in delivery but satisfying at the end.

copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

This gripping thriller deserves a perfect 5-star rating! I was captivated from beginning to end, unable to put it down. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is determined to unravel the mystery behind the kidnapping and subsequent reappearance of Ellie Black. However, the haunting memory of her own sister's tragic murder years ago adds another layer of complexity to her pursuit. Prepare yourself for a thrilling rollercoaster ride with twists and turns, culminating in a completely unforeseen conclusion. Without a doubt, this is a must-add to your "To Be Read" list!

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon Schuster for giving me an advanced copy to read and review.

First I’d like to thank the author and publisher for the e-arc I received from NetGalley, all opinions are my own. I am a huge mystery and thriller reader and this one sounded really good but maybe I’ve read too many of them to be wowed now.

I’m going to be an outlier with this book. I’ve seen lots of rave reviews for it everywhere but sadly my opinion differs greatly. Flat, stereotypical characters, cliche predictable story. The author never describes her characters. Maybe I’ve read too much Stephen King but the only description she gave for her main character is that she’s “very Japanese in appearance.” She never described Chelsey’s husband’s appearance when we first met him. I went back to read that section again thinking I’d missed something like height, hair color, eye color…nope. I am my own casting director when I read and Ms Jean gave me nothing with most of the characters in this book. I know she’s written several young adult books and this definitely felt young adult to me. And from the first mention of her sister I made a guess and was correct.

I am sure most people will love this book, all of the many blurbs on the cover are hugely positive. I’d describe it as a summer beach read for sure. It just sadly wasn’t for me.

"𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨."

Elizabeth "Ellie" Black has been found alive in the woods after being missing for two years. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is assigned the case but unfortunately Ellie isn't willing to help much with the investigation, even though it seems she knows a lot more than she's willing to share. The investigation and Ellie's ordeal in captivity and time after being brought home are told via dual perspective.
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I really loved this one at the beginning. It was fast-paced and one of those books that I didn't mind be tired in the morning for because I stayed up too late reading. The plot is unique from other 'missing girl' thrillers I've read and both main characters were interesting. Unfortunately the plot went off the rails a bit toward the end. The twists just kept on twisting, and for me that's not always a good thing. But overall it was a thrilling page-turner that I think many will love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean is about the return of kidnapped teenager Ellie Black after being gone for two years. Once Ellie is back with her family she doesn’t want to share details about her time away which makes Detective Chelsey Calhoun suspicious and pushes to learn more about the circumstances of Ellie’s abduction and return.

Mystery/detective stories are my favorite genre so this was definitely right up my alley. I enjoyed the slightly different take on the typical abduction/kidnapping story. There were also several twists that I didn’t see coming.