The Night She Disappeared: A Novel

As someone who has been a voracious reader for more than 7 decades my interests have ranged from A to Z and from the classics to well-written thrillers. This is why while browsing on Amazon when I came across this 416-page hardcover book (The night she disappeared by Lisa Jewell) I decided to purchase it. I have read quite a few of this author's novels in the past and I found this one to be one of the best thrillers I have read lately. The many twists and turns and the unusual characters made this a page-turning read. I never give away too much information when reviewing any novel, but if you enjoy reading the novels by Lisa Jewell you may want to check out this one. A great read. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: The Samurai Soul: An old warrior's poetic tribute).

This book is definitely one to read. It has it all, slow burn yet page turning, build up and excitement, twists and turns, a murder, a mystery that grows into more than one possibility. The only reason I knocked off a star is bc of the untied strings in the ending. Yet still worthy of a read. This story is impactful & if you’re anything like me, it will sit with you replaying what you read and trying to connect the dots. The story begins about a mother (young grandmother) remembering her missing daughter on the night she disappeared. The mother Kim is left raising her toddler grandson and it’s not going so well. She’s stressed beyond measure living a life she no longer finds joy in bc her sweet 19 year old daughter has been missing for over a year. She doesn’t know much about Tallulah’s social circle as she has always been a quiet more ordinary girl. She became pregnant with her boyfriends baby - that she wasn’t planning on at 18. Decided to keep the baby and still attend college. Her mother is very supportive. Tallulah is a wonderful young mother who takes amazing care of her son. The boyfriend was out of the picture the entire pregnancy bc he wasn’t sure he wanted to be a dad and also wasn’t sure it was his even though Tallulaha and he has been together for so long. Lula realizes she is not in love with Zach but decides to let him back in her life and in their home bc he seems to truly want to be involved with their baby. Lula isn’t one to put her own needs or wants first. Zach full on knows this and takes advantage. Slowly but surely she starts to pull away from him. Her mother is blind to her daughter not wanting Zach anymore. She thinks it’s sweet how much he adores Lula and their baby. She does notice that he is much more affectionate towards her daughter than her daughter is towards him but since Lula doesn’t open up about her true feelings she’s left to believe all is well and soon the three of them will move into their own place. She even finds a ring in Zach’s pocket and knows he’s going to propose to her daughter. The night the two of them go out for a date night - which they never ask for - Kim the mother is more than happy to take care of the baby and let them have a special night. She’s sure her daughter will come home engaged and all will be well……only she and Zach never come home. Lula did call her mother while they were out and let her know she ran into a friend from college & they were going back to her house. But then she wakes up at 4am and realizes the couple never returned. What on earths could’ve happened and who was involved? Her mother knows that Lula never would’ve left the baby as some suggested as he was her whole world. The story goes back and forth of before Lula went missing and to present year of which the mother Kim and others are still trying to find any evidence, clues, answers. SPOILER: On a personal observation in regards to Lula’s “sexual awakening”, I’m not sure I believe she is gay for her attraction to Scarlett. She lived a quit mundane life and had to grow up fast at only 18 after she had a baby. Then she let the ex boyfriend back into her life against her better judgment. An interesting person comes into her life with such force she couldn’t help but be attracted to the light, similar to Dory 😉 She got swept up in a very sticky spider web and didn’t realize it bc at the time it was new, exciting, she felt alive in a way she never had before. Yet it was more proof that she simply hadn’t truly lived yet. I’m not saying she’s not gay nor and I saying it’s bad if she is. I’m only speaking through the lens of someone whose lived enough life at 51 years old to remember those transitional years and witnessing people experiment with different things to find out who they truly are until they find themselves. I’d love an update about Tullulah, her son and her mother. Bravo to this author for such a thought provoking story. I’ll definitely read more by her.

This book kept me going. Wanting to read and I feel sad that it’s over. It’s one of those back and forth between dates, so in the beginning I found myself flipping back to remind myself of the dates. But eventually you just get it and at the end the dates match up and you are in awe how it all comes together. Highly recommend.

This was a really well-constructed thriller. The multiple timelines were easy to follow and built tension in a way that kept me turning pages. I especially appreciated how small details early on ended up mattering later. That kind of payoff always works for me. The emotional stakes felt real, and the ending tied things together in a satisfying way without feeling over the top. One thematic thread didn’t fully land for me, but it was minor compared to how strong the overall story was. Definitely one of the better thrillers I’ve read lately.

It’s been one year since a teen couple disappeared and now police are back searching the woods and interviewing the people from that night. Sophie moved into the place where the teenagers disappeared finding a message that led her to some evidence allowing the detective to reopen the case. It’s weird that half the people left and half the people stayed. Leaving Sophie to wonder who is behind the messages. … Tallulah got pregnant at eighteen. At the time she broke it off with the babies father Dean. After the baby was born Tallulah struggled with going to school and tending to her babies needs. Dean moved in with Tallulah and her mom. Tallulah has become restless wanting to focus just on school and partying. At the same time she adores Noah. She’s a great mom. Lately, she’s feeling trapped with Dean when all she wants is for him to be a father to Noah. … Since Sophie relocated to the place where the couple disappeared she’s brought hope back into Kim’s life. The police did everything they could one year ago, but they ran into dead ends at every turn. Sophie joined her boyfriend hoping to help with her writers block when she found herself immersed in a real crime situation. … Lisa Jewell offers readers two timelines, one year apart from each other, to tell the story of how a young couple with a baby disappeared. The only person concerned is Kim, Tallulah’s mom. Kim does what any parent would do after finding out her daughter has not returned home she starts talking to the people who saw her last. I appreciated the buried secrets of Tallulah’s life, but at the end of the day I needed a steady flow of information to keep me centered to the story. Once it was all explained it was great getting closure. Unfortunately, for me the execution of this well thought out approach was not my style. I very much appreciated the effort.

I like all of LJ's thrillers (especially Watching You, which is a masterpiece) but this might be the best of all. Intricately constructed plot and a real puzzler, a great read. Hats off!

Love Lisa Jewells book, her writing superb, you will be hooked from the very beginning and just can not put the book down, if you enjoy thriller/suspense novels you will love this

From beginning to end, a great mystery that grabs you from page one. I've read many books of Jewell and loved them all, but this one leapt to number one favorite. Don't miss it!

Love her books ❤️👍🏻

Das Buch hatte ich an einem Tag durch. Wahnsinnig spannend!