Emma in the Night
Wendy Walker, 2017
St. Martin's Press
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250141439
Summary
One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma.
Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held.
But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn't add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway.
And where one sister's return might just be the beginning of the crime.
Bestselling author Wendy Walker returns with another winning thriller, Emma in the Night. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1966-67
• Where—Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA
• Education—B.A., Brown University; J.D., Georgetown University
• Currently—lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Wendy Walker was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, where she still lives, practicing law and and writing novels.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Brown Univeristy, spending a year abroad at the London School of Economics, then heading to Georgetown University for her law degree. She has been a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs and is now a family lawyer.
Divorced and the mother of three sons, Walker recalled writing her first novel "on the fly in her minivan," as The New York Times put it—a la J.K. Rowling, without the welfare check."
That first novel was Four Wives (2008), set in the fictional town of Hunting Ridge in wealthy Fairfield County. Walker's next two novels, Social Lives (2009) and All is Not Forgotten (2016), a thriller, are also set in her native Fairfield County. Emma in the Night (2017) is Walker's fourth novel. (Adapted from the author's website and various online sources. Retrieved 7/19/2017.)
Book Reviews
Finally, where's Emma? If this were a better book, we would be on tenterhooks about that question throughout. Instead, there's so much else going on that solving the riddle of her disappearance sometimes shrinks into a minor matter. But Emma is not forgotten. Rest assured that the opportunity for a big, exploitative here-comes-Emma scene does not go to waste.
Janet Maslin - New York Times
(Starred review.) In this searing psychological thriller.…Walker's portrayal of the ways in which a narcissistic, self-involved mother can affect her children deepens the plot as it builds to a shocking finale.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Both twisted and twisty, this smart psychological thriller sets a new standard for unreliable narrators.
Booklist
A tense thriller explores the bond between sisters and family dynamics that give new meaning to the term "dysfunctional."…This thriller aims right for the heart and never lets go.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our GENERIC MYSTERY QUESTIONS to start a discussion for Emma in the Night ... then take off on your own:
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they flat, one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers embed hidden clues in plain sight, slipping them in casually, almost in passing. Did you pick them out, or were you...clueless? Once you've finished the book, go back to locate the clues hidden in plain sight. How skillful was the author in burying them?
4. Good crime writers also tease us with red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray? Does your author try to throw you off track? If so, were you tripped up?
5. Talk about the twists & turns—those surprising plot developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray.
- Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense?
- Are they plausible or implausible?
- Do they feel forced and gratuitous—inserted merely to extend the story?
6. Does the author ratchet up the suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? A what point does the suspense start to build? Where does it climax...then perhaps start rising again?
7. A good ending is essential in any mystery or crime thriller: it should ease up on tension, answer questions, and tidy up loose ends. Does the ending accomplish those goals?
- Is the conclusion probable or believable?
- Is it organic, growing out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 3)?
- Or does the ending come out of the blue, feeling forced or tacked-on?
- Perhaps it's too predictable.
- Can you envision a different or better ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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