Jack Jordan has done it again. This was another gripping, twisted, dark, and haunting thriller that I couldn’t put down. Last year ‘Before Her Eyes’ blew me away and was one of my top books of the year so I was excited to read his latest novel and thrilled to have the chance to read an advanced copy.
Rose Shaw has been suffering from crippling insomnia for a decade. She lives her life in a haze of exhaustion that leaves her feeling like a failure as a wife and mother. So when she decides to drive her daughters to their football match and try to watch from the sidelines, her intention is to make up to them all the times she stayed at home trying to sleep instead. Her well intentioned decision turns out to be the biggest mistake of her life, results in her whole life falling apart, the death of one of her twin daughters, and rejection by the other and her husband.
Then another seemingly ordinary day results in events that lead to another life-changing decision for Rose when a hooded stranger crashes into her one night and drops a journal. Unable to resist temptation, Rose decides to read the diary before handing it into the police the next day and is unprepared for what is inside: a detailed account of how the author Finn Matthews was stalked and in fear for his life. When the police refuse to investigate, Rose takes matters into her own hands and decides to find out herself what happened to Finn. Her search will lead her to a string of missing and dead men, police failures and corruption, and bring back memories of a time she would rather forget. Will Rose’s investigation be in vain while she is tarnished with the brush of insanity to try and silence her? Or will she finally reveal the truth and stop the stalker before another man is taken?
It isn’t often that I instantly connect with a character, but that is exactly what happened with Rose. I thought she was a great protagonist, and while I understood why some people hated for what she did, I found myself having deep sympathy for her and liking her character immensly. She is flawed, broken, isolated, lost and a shell of her former self. She’s desperate to win the love and forgiveness of her husband and child but doesn’t know what else to try. Finding Finn’s diary gives her a purpose, something to hope and fight for after years mired in the wilderness of her grief. We start to see another side to her: someone tenacious, determined and won’t be intimidated. Her inner monologue at the start of the book was amusing and I could relate to a lot of the thoughts she had while plagued by insomnia. The mysterious stalker was also a fantastic character. He was almost ghostly in his elusiveness, part of the fear he struck in me as a reader was not knowing who he was. I loved the fact that he was so skillfully written that I only realised his identity shortly before it was revealed in a heart-stopping turn of events that were so vivid and terrifying that was holding my breath in anticipation.
Night By Night is a novel brimming with foreboding and suspence. The multilayered plot is well-written, pulling on your heartstrings one minute and scaring you the next. The author makes you feel like you’re living the experience along with Rose, which meant I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack at one point! This is an unforgettable and riveting book perfect for fans of mystery and thrillers. It shows that Mr. Jordan truly deserves to be called a “rising star of crime fiction”.
Rose Shaw has been suffering from crippling insomnia for a decade. She lives her life in a haze of exhaustion that leaves her feeling like a failure as a wife and mother. So when she decides to drive her daughters to their football match and try to watch from the sidelines, her intention is to make up to them all the times she stayed at home trying to sleep instead. Her well intentioned decision turns out to be the biggest mistake of her life, results in her whole life falling apart, the death of one of her twin daughters, and rejection by the other and her husband.
Then another seemingly ordinary day results in events that lead to another life-changing decision for Rose when a hooded stranger crashes into her one night and drops a journal. Unable to resist temptation, Rose decides to read the diary before handing it into the police the next day and is unprepared for what is inside: a detailed account of how the author Finn Matthews was stalked and in fear for his life. When the police refuse to investigate, Rose takes matters into her own hands and decides to find out herself what happened to Finn. Her search will lead her to a string of missing and dead men, police failures and corruption, and bring back memories of a time she would rather forget. Will Rose’s investigation be in vain while she is tarnished with the brush of insanity to try and silence her? Or will she finally reveal the truth and stop the stalker before another man is taken?
It isn’t often that I instantly connect with a character, but that is exactly what happened with Rose. I thought she was a great protagonist, and while I understood why some people hated for what she did, I found myself having deep sympathy for her and liking her character immensly. She is flawed, broken, isolated, lost and a shell of her former self. She’s desperate to win the love and forgiveness of her husband and child but doesn’t know what else to try. Finding Finn’s diary gives her a purpose, something to hope and fight for after years mired in the wilderness of her grief. We start to see another side to her: someone tenacious, determined and won’t be intimidated. Her inner monologue at the start of the book was amusing and I could relate to a lot of the thoughts she had while plagued by insomnia. The mysterious stalker was also a fantastic character. He was almost ghostly in his elusiveness, part of the fear he struck in me as a reader was not knowing who he was. I loved the fact that he was so skillfully written that I only realised his identity shortly before it was revealed in a heart-stopping turn of events that were so vivid and terrifying that was holding my breath in anticipation.
Night By Night is a novel brimming with foreboding and suspence. The multilayered plot is well-written, pulling on your heartstrings one minute and scaring you the next. The author makes you feel like you’re living the experience along with Rose, which meant I honestly thought I was going to have a panic attack at one point! This is an unforgettable and riveting book perfect for fans of mystery and thrillers. It shows that Mr. Jordan truly deserves to be called a “rising star of crime fiction”.