Rose Shaw's life is on a downward spiral. Haunted by events from her past, unwanted by her family and plagued by insomnia, her life is going nowhere. After colliding with a stranger one dark evening, she finds a journal written by newspaper editor, Finn Matthews. When her eye catches the sentence, 'If you're reading this, I'm dead.', she immediately becomes obsessed with trying to trace the missing man. Why did Finn think that someone wanted to kill him and why are the police reluctant to investigate? Refusing to give up on her search, Rose is soon putting her own life and the lives of her loved ones in danger...
From the very beginning of the book, I had nothing but sympathy for Rose. Suffering from debilitating insomnia, the people around her seemed unable to offer her reassurance and, instead, seemed intent on making life difficult for her. When a particularly heart-wrenching incident occurs, her life goes from bad to worse. With nothing else left for her, I could understand why she became so obsessed with the hunt for Finn and as the story progressed, we could see why the search became so personal to her.
There are several sensitive issues in Night by Night, namely police corruption and institutionalised homophobia. With the latest series of BBC's Line of Duty coming to a close, police corruption is a very topical issue and after reading this book, one that leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. As it is revealed that Finn is not the only missing person and that there appears to be no investigations into their disappearance, it poses the question, just who can you trust if you can't trust the police? This is something that Rose comes to learn and soon, she feels that she can't put her faith in anyone for fear of retribution.
I ended the story with as much compassion for Rose as I had at the start, even if her circumstances were now completely different. Leading up to this, as the plot culminated in a thrilling showdown, I found I could not put the book down and raced through the final chapters, desperate to know how it would all end.
This is my second Jack Jordan book (after reading Before Her Eyes) and it will definitely not be my last!
From the very beginning of the book, I had nothing but sympathy for Rose. Suffering from debilitating insomnia, the people around her seemed unable to offer her reassurance and, instead, seemed intent on making life difficult for her. When a particularly heart-wrenching incident occurs, her life goes from bad to worse. With nothing else left for her, I could understand why she became so obsessed with the hunt for Finn and as the story progressed, we could see why the search became so personal to her.
There are several sensitive issues in Night by Night, namely police corruption and institutionalised homophobia. With the latest series of BBC's Line of Duty coming to a close, police corruption is a very topical issue and after reading this book, one that leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. As it is revealed that Finn is not the only missing person and that there appears to be no investigations into their disappearance, it poses the question, just who can you trust if you can't trust the police? This is something that Rose comes to learn and soon, she feels that she can't put her faith in anyone for fear of retribution.
I ended the story with as much compassion for Rose as I had at the start, even if her circumstances were now completely different. Leading up to this, as the plot culminated in a thrilling showdown, I found I could not put the book down and raced through the final chapters, desperate to know how it would all end.
This is my second Jack Jordan book (after reading Before Her Eyes) and it will definitely not be my last!