This was a. Brilliant and tense psychological thriller that kept me on tenter hooks throughout. Once I had started reading I couldnt put it down. It was absolutely gripping and made you hold your breathe at times when Mabel has been discovered missing. It had lots of twists and turns which kept the reader guessing. This was my first book by this author and won't be my last.

"She has no idea that I'm in the park opposite, hiding in plain sight amongst the joggers and dog-walkers, the pram-pushers and duck-feeders. Watching."

It was one night away just for her. A night to refresh and replenish herself from the stress and strain of new motherhood. But when her baby daughter Mabel is snatched from her cot while the babysitter sleeps, every parent's nightmare becomes a reality for Amber.

This book jumps straight into the action as someone watches Amber, judging her parenting and calling her daughter 'my little precious'. There is an immediate air of intrigue and foreboding that fills you with heart-stopping tension as you read helplessly as the mysterious person waits for their chance to strike. The author keeps up that knife-edge tension even after the abduction as we then try to figure out who took Mabel and why.

"Amber has never felt so lonely. She's standing on an island, surrounded by a treacherous sea of secrets. Nobody can reach her."

But this cleverly written book isn't as easy to predict as it first seems. I was confident that I had this figured out early on, only for the author to throw me for a loop with a surprising reveal. But that was ok, I had it with my second guess. I knew the culprit this time. Wrong! With another shocking reveal she pulled the rug from under me. I was left totally clueless and scrambling to figure it out. I loved this as it put me in the same position as Amber, who has no idea who could be behind her daughter's abduction. It is also clear that Amber is keeping some secrets that she's terrified of being revealed. Could these secrets hold the key to her daughter's abduction?

This was my first book by this author and I loved not only the intelligence and tension in her writing, but the emotion too. You feel the raw fear, heartache, anger and desperation radiating from the characters at each turn. I liked that every character was flawed and that they each had something that made you feel for them, even the abductor.

The Night Away is a compelling and twisty thriller that had me hooked from beginning to end. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little anticlimactic after the high tension of the rest of the book.

Amber & George are like many first time parents. Exhausted, stressed, trying to find time for each other, all while tending to the needs of their 7 month old daughter Mabel.

One night they leave Mabel in the care of Amber’s sister, Ruby. Ruby doesn’t realize that while she is with Mabel at the park, someone is watching their every move. Then one night Mabel goes missing; stolen in the middle of the night from her crib.

As they try to find Mabel, Amber and George are faced with the lies they’ve each been living with. We all live with secrets, but now theirs were being uncovered.

There were a couple plot twists I wasn’t anticipating but overall I didn’t feel like this was the ‘page turner’ I thought it would be.

Still, as a mom with three daughters I couldn’t shake the eerie feeling this book brought on of someone stalking a mom at the park playing with her little one. So I guess the writer did her job pretty well in that aspect.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC.

This is a really good read. A story of a missing child, rivalries, blame, secrets and lies. Very well written, and easy to read. I look forward to reading more from this author. Highly recommended.

My Review:

Wow, what a bumpy, twisty ride that book was. I’ve read several of Jess Ryders books and this one tops the cake. She is such an amazing writer and I will continue to read all the books she writes. This was a stand alone book and not part of a series.

This book was about a baby that was taken and trying to find her. Is that all you ask? No, of course not. It really was about secrets and lots of them in order to find the missing child. Do these secrets stay hidden? No, they do not. Does any secret really stay hidden? They all come to the surface eventually?

I want to start by saying how much I enjoyed this book. I loved how the author wrote every character with a secret and when all the secrets came out they were big and juicy. It was like opening up a can that was just shaken and having it spill all over you but in a good way. Let’s talk about that storyline. Who doesn’t like a story involving a missing child? Missing children are very interesting to since they usually don’t run off by themself. They are taken by someone and you have to try and find them quickly or they might disappear forever. My favorite part of this book was the ending. It had so many twists and turns. I never knew what direction i was going in. That’s what makes a great book to me. If the ending shocks me then that book is a winner in my eyes. This is exactly how I felt about this book.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Amber is suffering from post partum depression and decides that she needs some time away with her husband, George. Her sister, Ruby, takes care of Mabel overnight and everything seems to be fine. Amber then decides to go away for a weekend again and this time when Ruby takes care of the baby, she wakes up to an empty crib. Who took the baby and how did Ruby sleep through it? I really enjoyed the book until the end. I felt like it could have a stronger and more surprising ending. Just okay for me.

This emotionally charged thriller is the story of Amber and Ruby, two sister's who find themselves caught up in a living nightmare after Amber's seven month old daughter Mabel is abducted from her cot in the early hours of the morning whilst in Ruby's care. Because Ruby was the only person in the house and there are no signs of a forced entry, she and her boyfriend Lewis find themselves under suspicion and their innocence being questioned by the police, the media, the faceless trolls on social media, Amber's husband George, even Ruby and Amber's mother believes that they know what happened to baby Mabel. I know what it's like to be the black sheep of the family, the one who, no matter how hard you try, can never seem to do anything right, so I felt a lot of empathy for poor Ruby.Her situation wasn't helped by the fact that she appeared to be a bit of a scatter brain but was she? Could that have all been just a act and she really was involved in Mabel's disappearance? The sister's didn't have a close relationship, was she jealous of Amber, the favourite sister with her handsome husband, adorable baby and group of mummy friends?

Amber appeared to be living a charmed life but in reality she was struggling to cope, she had always wanted a baby but had discovered that being a parent is hard work and that the reality is nothing like the happy, smiling babies that we see on television and in magazines.Amber was also harbouring a secret, something that could blow her seemingly perfect life apart, something that she knows is bound to be revealed once the police start digging into her life. As a parent myself, I felt a lot of empathy for Amber because she was the mother of a missing baby but at times, I didn't think that she was a very likeable character. I didn't like George or Lewis very much either. I really liked Sally, the family liaison officer who was assigned to Amber and George.

Interspersed throughout the story was chapters that were voiced from the perspective of the person who had abducted Mabel. This person obviously had some serious issues and there was times when I had serious concerns for Mabel's safety and well being. Who was this person and what was the motives behind the abduction? Sadly, many child abduction cases don't have a happy ending or are never solved, would Amber ever see her baby daughter again?

As reader's have learned to expect from Jess Ryder's thrillers this is a intricately plotted,very well written, gripping story that hooks the reader in from the first page and causes you to experience a wide range of emotions. Her characters are realistic and believable. The twists and turns of the story keep the reader guessing and glued to their kindle, captivated by the drama that is perfectly paced and utterly enthralling. I really love Jess Ryder's books and this one was no exception. A brilliant read and very very highly recommended.

New parents Amber and George take a night away from their daughter, Mabel to reconnect, leaving their daughter with Amber's sister. Little does anyone know, but someone else is watching their family and spends time with Mabel that night. One week later, Mabel is taken from inside their home, with no signs of forced entry and little clues as to who the kidnapper might be. Can they find Mabel before it's too late? Or will the secrets everyone in this story is keeping prevent them from discovering the truth?

This psychological thriller (swipe for synopsis) took me on an emotional ride! The characters Jess developed are deep and complex, and honestly for the most part, deeply unlikeable. You have Amber, the perfect older sister suffering from Post-Partum Depression (not what makes her unlikeable, promise) who is keeping secrets, George, the seemingly too-good-to-be-true husband, Amber's sister, the "perpetual screw-up" and a cast of other side characters. As you get to know them, the more unlikeable they become. The writing is quite good, a few times I thought I knew where things were going, only for us to be twisted away in a completely different direction.

I give this one three stars , but I do so with a caveat: I think I like thrillers and mysteries better when the characters are likeable or redeemable, or the stories are told through the lens of a police procedural, because you're rooting for the good guys to solve the mystery. This book is more in the vein of the Girl on the Train or Gone Girl, which is just maybe too emotionally taxing for me at this moment. I think for someone where that isn't an hang-up, the excellent depth of writing and character development could ratchet this up to a four or five-star read, easily!

The Night Away by Jess Ryder is an edge of your seat psychological thriller. Baby Mabel is kidnapped from her own home while being babysat by her aunt. The characters are all well developed but not very likable due to their personal flaws. I kept guessing throughout who was responsible for what. This was a great book!

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley.

This book is brilliant! Dealing with the incredibly difficult situation of a missing child. How did she get out of a locked house and who would want to take her? This book definitely had echoes of the Madeleine McCann case, particularly with how the media portrayed it.

The multiple infidelities later in the book took me by surprise, probably because I was so focused on who had baby Amber!
I thought I had it sussed but I was wrong.

My favourite quote:
"I soon had motherhood down to a fine art. Or was that a dark art?"

This is a real page turner and will keep you guessing!

First Chapter grabs you and doesn't let go!! A must read for all thriller fans! You'll definitely read this book in one sitting!!

I give this a 3.5. Overall, I enjoyed this book, although there were a lot f very obvious red herrings and the end
came out of nowhere.

The book opens with a chapter from the point of view of someone who is obviously stalking the main character, which is a really creepy (but good) opening. Amber and her husband "Gorgeous" George have been together since high school and have a young infant, Mabel. Amber--who has always been able to control everything--is struggling with postnatal depression. Her younger sister, Ruby, offers to babysit for the first time to give the couple a night away, and Amber reluctantly agrees. The first night goes (relatively) smoothly, so Ruby comes back for a repeat performance the next weekend. Unfortunately, the baby is taken from her crib while Ruby sleeps, and while the reader knows what is going on in the mind of the stalker because of a handful of chapters, we don't actually know who the kidnapper is.

Postnatal depression seems to be an overused trope in many thrillers nowadays, but this one does not base the entire book around it, which is a welcome change. Amber and Ruby were both relatable in some degree, but with how overwhelming it can be to be responsible for an infant (as both a mother and a babysitter) and with their struggle with their life choices more generally.

The men in this book were mostly throwaways, and all of their personalities were wanting. I don't know why any of the women in this book wanted relationships with any of the men since they were all pretty useless excuses for humans. The book was really about the dynamic between the sisters, with the stalker/kidnapper's alternative reality adding some suspense.

I didn't mind the ending -- although it did read like the author was running out of pages -- but I would have liked a final chapter from the kidnapper/stalker since we had gotten their impressions all the way through until then. It would have been better closure.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinon.

Amber and George have a seven month old baby and their life has changed. Amber seems to have postnatal depression and is constantly exhausted. They need some time alone to rebuild their sagging relationship. Amber's sister Ruby offers to stay with Mabel and George books them a luxury hotel with a Michelin restaurant. Amber feels uneasy leaving Mabel with Ruby and it seems she was justified. There is someone who has been watching Amber. Someone sees how desperately unhappy she is and how ungrateful she with her perfect life, perfect husband and perfect daughter. The baby should have been theirs, and she makes plans for her own happy family. Now, someone is watching Ruby. When Ruby forgets the key to the flat in the door, the watcher takes it and now has access to the flat. The next weekend, when Ruby again is staying with Mabel, she disappears. Who is to blame for her disappearance?

This is a suspenseful story. Who took Mabel? There are many suspects and I was sure I had it all figured out. The story is told with three POVs; Amber, Ruby and the kidnapper. We don't know who the kidnapper is, or why Mabel was taken until near the end of the story when it was revealed. I still wasn't completely sure of what was happening at that point, the story was that twisty. This is not just the story of a missing child, there are also secrets, guilt, family issues, and some mental health issues. Almost all of the characters were unlikable. I did like Amber and George at the beginning, but as I got to know them more, that changed. Ruby was likable. She had a lot of baggage, but loved Mabel and wanted to do what she could to help. Ruby's and Mabel's mother was not a very nice person. There is a reason why you are not supposed to have favourite children, and this woman takes it too far. This was an intriguing story that had me quickly flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen next. A well-written thriller with a different twist that certainly entertained. I recommend this one.

This book by Jess Ryder explores themes of manipulation and betrayal.

The Night Away really packed a punch with its clues and twists. New parents Amber and George should be over the moon as they have been through a lot to get their precious baby girl, Mabel. But they are finding parenthood a struggle so when Amber's sister, Ruby, suggests they take a break they agree, albeit rather reluctantly, and only for one night. Ruby babysits and all is apparently in order, so the stressed and harassed couple go away again, this time taking separate breaks, only to find that little Mabel has been snatched from her cot...

In some clever narration between Amber, Ruby and, the abductor, Jess Ryder does a superb job portraying the chilling aspects of the story. I could feel the characters' despair and guilt as I pondered over who might be the couple's stalker. George blamed Ruby, and both Amber and Ruby blamed themselves for Mabel's disappearance. All of the characters had a different set of problems going on and each had their flaws. There were so many secrets within the storyline making The Night Away a full-blown page-turner. I didn't care much for either Amber or George but they suited their roles in this tremendous tale, as did the secondary characters.

Jess Ryder's writing is so compelling and suspenseful making this novel a great reading experience and I continue to be impressed by her. The Night Away is my second book by this immensely talented author and I will be reading more from her. An electrifying psychological thriller that I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Bookouture via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

I flew through this book, lapping up every sentence, development, twist and revelation!
There is a tricksy little voice that tried interrupting my thought processes to say, yes, but there are a lot of books written in this way about similar things, and yet I quelled those statements because when you are enjoying a book, there doesn't always have to be an in depth analysis of why. I just knew from the very beginning that The Night Away was a book that I would sail through because I knew it in my heart. I fell head over heels for the characters, the location (William Morris Terrace in the Lilac Park area of Waltham Green) and the emotion conveyed by a mother, father, sister and grandmother when baby Mabel is abducted from her own home.
The reader is treated to the usual police questioning and because I love learning about what motivates individuals to make the choices they make, no matter how fictional these individuals are, it makes for fascinating reading in my opinion. Who is straightforward in their actions, who is driven by deceit, who is guilty and who is not?
You can feel the horror, the shock, the despair, and the denial but then emotions are multi-layered things and we are soon treated to many more emotions which are obscuring the truth. The reader is kept guessing and in this way the book is riveting. The characters stalk the pages, hiding in a new chapter, lurking at the end of a paragraph and an unknown narrator is eventually given a gender and a motive, but does that necessarily mean we have The Answer?
Ruby, the sister who was babysitting is an especially delightful character and it is her trademark forgetfulness that makes this such a plausible plot. Amber, Mabel's mother, whilst distraught, has also been experiencing many thoughts and feelings, that, as they leak out slowly leave you questioning just what she is capable of.
Is there a happy ending? Will Mabel be found alive? You are only going to find out if you pick up Jess Ryder's latest work and then not put it down until the end! A true page-turner!

A slow paced, predictable book. The story is told for multiple points of view and the characters are not very likeable. And all of them had secrets of their own. Amber and George needed a night out since Mabel was born so they left her with Amber's sister Ruby and Mabel disappears from her crib.

The sinister start of someone following Amber and Mabel had me gripped. They know Amber's routine, they believe they can look after Mabel better, as Amber is struggling and unhappy.

Mabel is taken in the night. Throughout the story secrets and family issues are revealed.

I loved how the story is told from the perspective of Amber, Ruby and the abductor, which keeps the pages turning. I didn't know who had taken Mabel. There are lots of twists and turns. An enjoyable, gripping thriller. Certainly won't be the last book i read by Jess Ryder.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#TheNightAway #Bookouture #Netgalley #JessRyder #thriller

I loved how a single idea sparked Author Jess Ryder’s evil brain to come up with a scary concept of a child being taken from its own home. A thrilling ride was this with my favorite missing child arc.

Mom and Dad had their own weekend go, so aunt came to the rescue of babysitting the child. The darkness of the night hid the footsteps of the intruder who whisked the baby away from its cot.

The story seemed simple in its concept, but the prose took some great dips which had me holding my breath. Some of the twists were expected, others blew me away. Emotions of mother and aunt were bang on, though the grandma was weird. There were a few names drifting on the outskirts that caused me to suspect them. Was I right? Were all of them hiding the truth? Was the child still alive?

The cops were kept plenty busy by the characters. The perp also had a few pages devoted for the reasons of such a abysmal task. Justification was provided, there were some convoluted reasons. All these and more made this a UNPUTDOWNABLE book as there was a need to know the truth as ingrained in the words chosen. The author sure compelled me to read it a bit faster as each page turned to bring out its own thrill.

Overall, the book and the characters kept me busy to read it at one go. My fun breakfast read.

Another one bites the dust on my #tbrpile thanks to #jessryder and #netgalley for allowing me the privilege of spending this #sundayfunday in bed with #thenightaway most of us have been there. Have a baby. You’re exhausted. Quite possibly struggling with #postpartumdepression your #marriage is on the rocks. Husband goes out of town on business for the weekend. And you decided to take a weekend away. To sleep. To unwind. You ask your sister to come stay with the babe. But. The unthinkable happens and your darling girls is gone. How? And who took her? #bookstagram #booklover #bookrecommendations #bookstagrammer #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #booksbooksbooks📚

"It only takes one night to destroy a family"

Okay! So now I have had just about the entire cast of characters locked up and the key thrown away, before the identity of the  abductor eventually became obvious, even to me!!

Never have I manged to put so many names in the frame, for them all to be found innocent - well of the crime which was being investigated at least!

This story is narrated mostly by Amber and her sister Ruby, although the mystery abductor, whose name isn't revealed until very close to the end of the book, is brazen enough to add in the odd chapter or two from their own perspective, which was definitely chilling and more than a little disconcerting.

That very first line of narrative, "I come to Lilac Park every day to look at babies",  sets the nerves on edge and the tension building, and whilst maybe a little formulaic and predictable (although aren't all police investigations), the storyline is built sentence by sentence, towards a satisfying if rather tentative conclusion - perhaps 'Happy Ending' isn't really appropriate just yet! - but that's after the one explosive shock that I wouldn't have seen coming at all, although which did little to challenge my emotions or sympathy!

Jess built a very multi-layered, multi-faceted storyline, which was intense and moved along at a cracking pace, with barely a break in the action. The short chapters switched narrators regularly, which kept me on my toes, mentally making suspect lists and adding new virtual evidence as I went along. This gripping and disturbing, yet strangely compelling storyline, had good depth and range in its fluid narrative and dialogue, with the palpable suspense and sheer desperate intensity of the situation, bubbling away, never too far from the surface.

Whilst the central theme of child abduction obviously made this a strong plot driven story, there were also several sub-plots and reveals, which gave just about all the character cast their moment in the spotlight, so that I got to know them all up close and personal, although I wished I hadn't in some (most) cases!

As if having your child abducted wasn't enough on its own to make a situation tense and nerves frayed, when lives were put under the spotlight, the fragile veneer of normality, respectability and unity, with which these people held their complicated worlds together, cracked and crumbled, leaving behind a rather disgusting mess of lies, deceit, broken promises and lives destroyed - even lost forever.

For a while, Jess had me introduced to a well drawn and developed cast of characters I really wanted to invest in, to sympathise and empathise with. However, she very quickly revealed their selfish and complex layers of deception, to the point where just about the only one of them I had any connection with, was poor baby Mabel and I'm surprised that she wanted any one of them to be her parent!