Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Simon Books #partner, for the finished copy of The Return of Ellie Black in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster / Simon & Schuster ALC
Published: May 7, 2024
Summary:
Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.
“I stayed up late into the night turning the pages until I learned the truth of what happened to Ellie—and gasped when Jean delivered a truly jaw-dropping twist.” —Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.
Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.
But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.
The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.
My thoughts:
The hype for this one is real! I knew as soon as I had heard about this one, I was going to want to read it & I’m so glad I did. This thriller delivers on so many levels & will certainly make my list of top reads of the year for sure!
This book pulled me in right away & kept me fully engaged from start to finish. I loved how even though it’s a slow-burn, I was mesmerized by all that was happening…the way the author brilliantly builds up the tension, the suspense & the drama to create such a jaw-dropping ending was genius. I never saw that twist coming & I loved every second of the journey to get there.
I loved that while the author did not shy away from writing about the truly awful parts of kidnapping or how race plays a part when it comes to missing persons, she does so with care. There is a thoughtful nature to her writing that makes it all the more powerful.
This is a book that I have not stopped thinking about & will be recommending to everyone!
Audio thoughts:
This is narrated by a full cast & is an amazing listening experience. Each one of the narrators – Mizue Peck, Tessa Albertson, Nicole Lewis, Rebecca Lowman, Joy Osmanski, Angel Pean, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Erin Ruth Walker, and C.J. Wilson – did such a fantastic job in bringing this story to life.
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