Book Review: Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  When I endeavor to break a reading slump I have always gravitated to the easy route. I take out a book that is short, or a book that I have read years before to try to end this debilitating time of year. Last year by this time I had read and reviewed seven novels during the summer. But this year was different. No matter how hard I tried I could not stay focused enough to read a novel from start to finish. Added to that a writing block that was also of frustration.

  Then one day I was online choosing my next Book of the Month Club selection. I saw a recommendation from actress Krysten Ritter (Marvel's Jessica Jones) about a thought-provoking thriller, named Emma in the Night. I decided to order this book and waited patiently for its arrival.

  I was not prepared for the story that would soon play out as I turned the pages.

 Emma in the Night is written by Wendy Walker and is published by St. Martin’s Press. It is a dual narrative that takes the reader into the minds of our two of main characters. Each chapter plays like a game of tennis as each character bounces the narrative back and forth, slowly bringing the reader into a story of psychological terror, harrowing escape, and the thin layers of truth. 

  One night, three years ago teenage sisters, Cass and Emma Tanner, disappeared from their Connecticut home. And for three years Dr. Abby Winter and Special Agent Leo Strauss of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have sifted through the case. After breathing in deep the strange stories, lost memories, and apparent lies, the duo had begun to give up hope that the girls would be found. Then one morning Cass Tanner returns to the doorstep of her mother's home. 

  The media and authorities descend upon the home where Cass is staying with her mother, Judy Martin, and step-father, Jonathan Martin. Cass tells a terrible tale of the two sisters being kidnapped and held against their will on an island. She tells the story of her escape with only one thought on her mind... finding Emma. But as Dr. Winters and Agent Strauss begin to slowly unravel the events of the girls' lives for the past three years, some things do not add up. There is more to the story of the Martins and the strained relationship between the sisters and their step-brother, Hunter. There is more to the tale of their narcissistic mother who always wants to be better than anyone, even her daughters. And what of the girls' captors who held them against their will for three years? If they were found would they release Emma, or would they fight to keep her at any cost?

  Emma in the Night takes the classic tale of kidnap and intrigue and tosses it on its head. This page-turning thriller had me hooked from chapter one. Wendy Walker’s ability to present a mystery and slowly peel back the layers for the final reveal is breathtaking. Just when I began to believe that I had solved the mystery, Walker ambushed me with another truth that sent my theories spinning. Emma in the Night is not only a mystery, but a deep-dive into the psyche of one family's dysfunction that could be used as a text book in a psychology course. Using her resources wisely, Walker has crafted a multi-layer story that had me thinking about how human nature well after I had closed this book.

  I read Emma in the Night in part with the duel narration of actresses, Julia Whelan (NCIS, the Closer) and Therese Plummer (the Good Wife, Law and Order), playing Cass and Abby’s narratives respectively. The team-up of their soothing voices drove the story along like a fine-tuned sports car. Every emotion from fear to desperation was presented flawlessly by these two amazing actresses. If you can read this novel along with the audio book I highly recommend you do so.

  Emma in the Night is a five-star exciting mystery with a multi-layered cast of characters that managed to get me out of my reading slump. And for that I am grateful. Check out this amazing read at your local book shop now!

 Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

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  Because there is always time to read,

   Xepherus3 

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