Emma in the Night ~ Abduction Thriller
by Wendy Walker
2017, Hardcover — psychological thriller, mystery, family, children
Tagline: Teens are unreliable narrators in real life, too!
Once Upon a Time…
Emma in the Night has an engaging start: two teenage sisters disappear in the middle of the night. Then, silence. Until just one of them returns, 3 years later.
Great premise. I mean anything could have happened to them, right? 😉
But the one who came back is the younger girl, now 18. Sigh. I mean is there anyone so self-centered and, frankly, boring, as a teenage girl? Cass tells us right away that she’s lying about some things… I’m so not surprised.
The other writer, who kept me reading, is Dr Abby Winter, a forensic psychiatrist. I had hopes she would shake answers out of Cass, to find Emma!
Cass says that the 2 of them ran away because Emma was pregnant from their stepbrother. They ended up with 2 married adults living on a remote island off of Maine Then the kind couple decided they wanted to keep the baby themselves, so kept them captive…for years!
Cass managed to escape, and tells us her Ancient Mariner story. We, the listeners, must go back to rescue poor Emma and the baby!
Is THIS a Psychological Thriller?
Yuppers.
Unreliable narrator, murder. But no romance sadly, just unsexy sex.
Particulate Matters – Women and their mothers! Omg!
- Perhaps I should have made the subtitle “All About Narcissism”. In mothers. Because that is a main theme.
I know narcissism is a fascinating subject to a lot of people, because I wrote columns for both Psychology Today and PsychCentral, and the most popular article of the day always had at least one narcissism hook!
However, was this really an example of narcissism in Emma in the Night? Mom preferred one sister over the other. Not unusual. Personally, I put Narcissism in the same category as Gluten Intolerance. Rare, but fascinating to those who think they’ve found it. 🙂 - The police have a huge roadblock finding where Cass and Emma were held captive, as there are “so many” islands off the coast of Maine. Curious, I looked it up. I figured, maybe 100, 150? Nope. 4,600 islands! They look ike the tiniest little splinters off the coast! How did that happen to you, Miss Maine?
Ending of Emma in the Night (SPOILERS!)
Hunter must have had quite the sex appeal, to seduce both the mother and the daughter. Ok, but this is pretty icky, right? So it turns out that Emma, good girl, pretends she is pregnant with Hunter’s child, just to get a rise out of her (jealous) mother. They argue, and Emma accidentallyfalls down the stairs. Later, we find out Emma broke her neck. Instead of reporting the accident, the mother and her husband decide to bury the body.
Cass sees the accident and runs away. She’s kept captive on the island (with her baby!) by the weirdo couple. She manages to escape in a boat, and kills the man who helped her escape. That’s nice.
Dr. Abby Winter, the psychiatrist, and the other FBI guy figure out Cass is lying and then they…HELP her by lying to the mother. The FBI announces that (dead and buried) Emma is alive and they are bringing her home. The mother panics and she and her husband run to dig up the body, while the FBI watches and arrests them.
Abby, Abby, Abby. Your lack of morals and ignorance of the law knows no boundaries. The couple could be arrested for hiding how she died, but…not even sure they could be arrested for burying the body. Turns out a family is allowed to bury their own relatives in many states! Plus, remember, Cass was a witness that it was an accident…
Media mentions of
Kirkus ~~ This book aims for the heart and never lets go.
Gah, what a cliche. Yes, the reviewer liked it.
Publisher’s Weekly ~~ Called it a “searing psychological thriller.” She also really liked it, and gave it a star!
Amazon readers: 4.2 stars – very popular
- EMMA IN THE NIGHT has the narcissistic mother and the relationships she is or isn’t able to have with her two daughters as its central theme.
- No spoilers, but this book was full of fluff. I was bored and honestly couldn’t wait to just get to the point. It’s like when a child is telling you a story and adding all these mundane details and in your head you’re thinking “omg what’s the point?!”
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No reading happens in a vacuum
This was one of the first psychological thrillers I’ve read, and I didn’t know anything about the reviews or the author — just grabbed if off the library shelf. I was still renting a room in a very dark condo. My landlady rammed the back of my car with her gigantic truck…and her insurance company finally took responsibility to help me fix it. My Saturn is 30 years old & no longer made, so they had to find the parts in another state to fix it. Then I had to leave my precious car in the body shop for a few days…
This book goes good with…
I can’t imagine being trapped for a year on a freezing cold Maine island in the rain. My favorite soup might warm you up. This smells so good to me, and I even eat it cold. I like to add some diced tomatos!
I don’t realy like the idea of miles of choppy ocean. I like turtle bowls. I guess these are the modern ones — at least it has both the water and a place to sit in the sun. (ESSENTIAL to keep his shell hard and healthy!) I kind of miss the ones with palm trees, though…
Final Book Review of Emma in the Night
I gave it 3 stars. It’s definitely a page-turner, in the race to save Emma, and I really liked the description of the abduction on the wild sea. The dysfunctional family was interesting as well! But I didn’t really like any of the characters, to be honest, and was disappointed in the lackluster analysis of the forensic psychiatrist.
You know who I might have liked ? Emma.
Would this make a good movie?
Pitch: Sly teenage witcher turns witness against her own mother, and the FBI is as corrupt as you thought they were.
No – I don’t think there is any redemption, which you need for a good movie.
Where to find
Your friendly local library. Free!
Lowest Price and maybe free shipping!
ISBN: 9781250141439
Set painter in studio Art Depts. Member Scriptwriters Network, script analyst.
Author, 2 hardcopy books, Barnes & Noble Calendar.
- Emma in the Night ~ Wendy Walker ~ Thriller - May 11, 2023
- Still Alice (2014) ~ Psychology Movie Review ~ Julianne Moore - January 25, 2023
- The Other Emily ~ Dean Koontz - January 23, 2023
