Three years ago, Cassandra and Emma Tanner disappeared,
leaving behind no trails for the police or their parents
to follow. Now, Cass has returned home, demanding that
they help her find Emma. Cass provides her parents, FBI
Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, and FBI Special
Agent Leo Strauss with a very detailed account of her
captivity and escape from a small, somewhat off-the-grid
island where she claims Emma remains. Can Emma be found
after all these years?
I'm very picky about books featuring mental health
professionals as all too often they are presented in an
unpleasant light. However, Wendy Walker does a beautiful
job at presenting Abby professionally and personally.
Abby isn't blind to her own issues as she tries to
navigate through Cass's rather outlandish story and her
own knowledge of their family dynamics. In fact, Wendy
Walker's portrayal of Abby is one of my favorites of any
psychiatrist I have read- minus the disparaging comment
about professionals with MSW degrees, that is.
Cass is an intriguing narrator for the story. Her tale is
bizarre, even as we know right up front that something is
severely amiss. Her attention to details and her calm
demeanor only accentuate the horror we start to feel
about her family life. I cringed every time she
referenced her mother as Mrs. Martin, but that was only
the tip of the iceberg as Wendy Walker has quite an
emotionally disturbing and yet oh-so-compelling story for
us!
Told through the alternating viewpoints of Abby and Cass,
EMMA IN THE NIGHT draws the reader into the tumultuous
and disturbing world of a narcissistic parent. Wendy
Walker is quickly becoming one of my favorite
suspense/thriller authors as I love her writing style. I
can't wait to see where she takes us with her next book!
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.