'If you're reading this, I'm dead.'Rejected by her family and plagued by insomnia, Rose Shaw is on the brink . But one dark evening she collides with a man running through the streets, who quickly vanishes. The only sign he ever existed - a journal dropped at Rose's feet.
She begins to obsessively dedicate her sleepless nights to discovering what happened to Finn Matthews, the mysterious author of the journal. Why was he convinced someone wanted to kill him? And why, in the midst of a string of murders, won't the police investigate his disappearance?
Rose is determined to uncover the truth. But she has no idea what the truth will cost her...
I'd like to thank Kirsty at Corvus Books for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and for my copy of Night by Night to review.
Having first discovered the writing of Jack Jordan last year, I didn't hesitate when asked to review Night by Night as the premise sounded so intriguing but honestly it was so much more than I was expecting. It truly was a read that had me experiencing so many emotions whilst reading, empathy towards the central character Rose and the pain and suffering she has been through and is still experiencing, disdain towards certain characters, frustration like Rose that she no-one seemed to want to help, but also fearful for how things were going to play out.
From the outset you couldn't help but feel for Rose, she truly was a lost soul who has clearly been through so much and experienced so much loss and pain in her life. The opening chapters were so heartbreaking and gave us an insight to what life has been like for her, I can't even begin to imagine how guilty she felt in that unimaginable situation that she found herself in and the split decision she had to make in that moment and the tragic consequences of her actions. As someone has suffered from regular bouts of insomnia, I know only too well how foggy life can be after days and months of virtually no sleep but fortunately I have never had to deal with anything like the hands that Rose had been dealt.
It's during one of those bouts of insomnia that Rose literally bumps into a mysterious man who appears to be running from something, after he has disappeared into the night she realises that he's dropped something which she picks up. The opening line in the journal has her worried for the safety of the writer Finn and it was like she had a new purpose, she was determined to discover everything she could about Finn and find out what had happened to him. Hitting brick walls with the authorities, she knows she's going to have to go it alone which was frightening.
The narration from Finn's journal documented a man in fear for his life, but also it gave an insight as to what life was like for a gay man in a small town community. It gave Rose a connection to him as the more she read about his struggles with acceptance by others, the more it brings back memories of her own brother who tragically took his own life when he wasn't accepted for who he was. In this day and age you would think that there would be more acceptance as to people's sexuality, lifestyle choices, race or religion but sadly there is still a long way to go.
The more Rose investigates, the more she discovers other men who have mysteriously disappeared and it doesn't look like the authorities are taking it too seriously. Having since discovered that this element of the plot was inspired by true events made it all the more realistic but also scary how easily young men can fall prey to predators and find themselves in these scary situations when all they are looking for is to be loved for who they are.
Nothing about Night by Night was predictable, I had no idea where the plot was going to take us next and I worried for Rose and the situations she was facing, both at home with her estranged family, but also for Finn. An intense, thought provoking read from Jack Jordan, I have no idea how he's going to top this one but I can't wait to find out what he has in store for us next.
This helped me a lot to choose a good book to read. Thanks a lot. :)
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