Just twelve hours to survive...

Hot on the heels of "The Honeymoon" (which is phenomenal, by the way), I dived into this latest offering by Gemma Rogers whose thrillers have always kept me turning the pages in anticipation. And while this one started off as a slow build with not much happening in the first hour or so of Nina's night shift, it certainly picked up pace into the almost ridiculous with a relatively unrealistic game of cat and mouse. I'm not sure how Nina managed to survive under the circumstances when she really should have been dead within the first few minutes. Especially considering some of her poor choices, not to mention the diabetes.

Nina is a uni student in her second year of medical school, her dream to become a doctor and treat others with the often times debilitating diabetes. So when boyfriend Dom tries pleading with her to drop everything and spend six months bumming around travelling, first stop Thailand, she doesn't even consider it. Becoming a doctor is her dream and no way was she jeaopardising it when she was so close to fulfilling her dream. So the couple had a major bust up just moments before Nina was due to start her shift at Storage Queen (funnily enough, we have a Storage King here), thus making her late for her shift.

As manager Stacey bids her a hasty farewell, Nina is looking forward to a quiet stress-free night shift. Until it isn't. When the facility is plunged into darkness, Nina suddenly finds herself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an assailant she cannot see. But she knows this place. She just needs to navigate it stealthily and silently without her pursuer knowing so that she can make her escape and alert authorities as to her discovery. You'd think so, right? Wrong.

Nina makes every stupid decision known to man. Instead of making her escape, she leads him on a merry chase up and down, round and round, whilst never getting very far in the process. I threw my hands up in the air in frustration several times, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. The whole concept was a neverending cycle that even exhausted me by the end.

But there were some aspects of the story that I found totally unbelievable. The security guard, for example. No way could he just disappear without anyone noticing or following it up. He'd have to log every call and every action and response to every call out so that someone would always be aware of where he was should anything go wrong. In reality, his disappearing off the radar with his company should have had them sending someone out to his last call out to investigate. My husband was in security in another life, so I questioned this with him, to which he confirmed my suspicions. And he also worked night shifts though they were never this exciting. But that was just one thing. There are many others which, if I mentioned, would spoil the story and I don't want to do that.

However, I found this one to be rather unrealistic and bordering on ridiculous to the point that Nina irritated me. I couldn't care less what happened to her, she made that many stupid decisions. She made it very difficult to empathise with her and her plight and I'm still dizzy from all the up and down, to-ing and fro-ing she took us on.

The pacing was steady throughout (though I was kept dizzy with all the running about) and while she mostly made stupid decisions, there were a few heroic ones I could cheer her for. Her insulin pen, for one. Ingenious. And despite battling hypoglycaemic attacks, she managed to maintain some level of focus which was to be commended.

Overall, an OK thriller. For 258 pages, it felt a little longer to me but that could be because Nina irritated the crap out of me and I kept wanting to slap her. There were a couple of good twists that I didn't see coming...probably because I was too focused on Nina's stupidity. But they kept the story tight and made it a little worthwhile. And while I don't mind tales that border the unrealistic or OTT, I do like them to entertain me not irritate me. And Nina irriated me more often than not.

I would like to thank #GemmaRogers, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheNightShift in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Nina works the night shift in this tension filled thriller. What starts as a normal start to Nina's shift ends up being a fight for her life. Full of action with good characters this cat and mouse thriller will hook you from the start set in one night this book I read in one sitting. Thanks to Boldwood books and Netgalley for this review ARC.

This was a great locked door thriller which reeled me in right from the beginning! The confined and isolated feeling I experienced right until the end, had me hooked.

Nina is a medical student who has the perfect job. A quiet overnight shift in a storage unit facility where she can study in peace. Working behind a window, she can watch when people come in and out of the unit with little interaction. On this particular shift, however, Nina becomes suspicious when a man comes in dragging a large suitcase. Things seem a little off and her instincts are right. Her shift turns into a deadly case of cat and mouse.

This is a fast paced read which will elevate your heart rate. My eyes couldn't keep up with the speed of the book and I easily devoured it in one sitting. Highly recommend!

What an absolute thrill ride. Lots of twists and turns throughout and I was enjoying this thrill ride the whole time. A definite recommend

Thanks publisher and netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

#GemmaRogers #BoldwoodBooks #TheNightShift

The Night Shift by Gemma Rogers

12 hours of terror!

Nina Is a med student who works the night shift at Storage Queen. She likes the relative silence interrupted with the odd customer popping in to look at their storage units, put things in or take things out. She uses that time to study.

Working alone, she still gets nervous when she has to do her routine checks within the warehouse.

Unfortunately tonight is not going to be a quiet night.
A creepy customer comes in and chaos ensues.

This is where I have to stop giving out details.

This book hooked me from page one. It was a one sitting read.

From feeling sorry for Nina 's heartbreak after she broke up with Dom, to the chaotic scary night.
I was right alongside Nina as she tried to survive that 12 hour night shift.
I was scared for her and with her.
My heart raced and blood pressure rose as I flipped through the story.
I liked how the story showed her struggle with diabetes as the night wore on.

As always the author wrote a taut thriller that the reader will want to gulp down in one sitting.

4**** stars
highly recommended

I will be eagerly anticipating the author's next book.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to review this book.

Short, sharp chapters, intense setting and a character trying to stay alive.

The very best thing about this book was the depiction of T1 diabetes. T2 is in the public consciousness but very little is ever said about T1 so this was a joy to see cat and mouse with a hypo.

Good fun.

Welcome to the Night Shift .
It's gonna be a ride

Overall this was a good read. Quick read & short chapters which I love.
LOTS of drama !!! 🤯
I wasn't a huge fan of really any of the characters tbh but I felt for Nina , Laura, Dom, & even Luca.

I did love how the author incorporated diabetes into the book to get attention. Diabetes is such an epidemic & regardless if you have it or not knowing info on this subject is important & potentially life saving.

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy
#NetGalley #thenightshift

Another great book by Gemma Rogers. Lots of suspense with a gripping narrative. The pace built up gradually, drawing me in to the drama that unfolded.

The plot was intriguing and kept my attention throughout. It has kind of creepy vibes with a cat and mouse style chase.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher & Gemma Rogers for an ARC of this book.

The main plotline in this book takes place over the span of the 12-hour shift of Nina, who is currently attending medical school, and uses her night shift at the 24-hour storage facility to catch up on homework; Nina is diabetic and she must be checking her insulin levels throughout the day. On this particular shift, she had already had a bad start as she had just broken up with her boyfriend; throughout her shift she starts seeing suspicious activity in one of the storage units, and her night goes from bad to worse.

I enjoyed the multiple POVs throughout the book and the twists in the story were unexpected. Loved how the author incorporated a lot of information about the everyday lifestyle/activities of a diabetic person. The author's style of writing is very descriptive and I was able to picture all the events in the book as I was reading.

Thank you Boldwood Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Get ready for a terrifying cat-and-mouse of a thriller! Nina loves the night shift so she can have peace and quiet to study. But then one night a man comes in with a suitcase and the games begin! You will need to keep all the lights on for this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC!

This book kept me on my toes!! So much suspense throughout the whole story line. The ending I NEVER could of guessed. I couldn’t put it down! There is so much detail in this book it felt like I was physically in the book going through the motions with the characters.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me an advance reading copy! 💕

I have loved so many of Gemma Rodger's book and this one was no different. It had me hooked right away and was such a captivating read throughout.

Nina is on a night shift at the warehouse Storage Queen. It's Friday Night and Nina assumed that the work will be slow so she could peacefully study for her university exams. But then her night eventually becomes a nightmare when a man comes into the storage unit carrying a suitcase.

This was a fast paced thriller. The first few parts of the story was great--it was intriguing, intense and with Nina's diabetic condition seems to make the thriller more interesting. However, starting from the middle and towards the end, the story kind of started to get little boring in my opinion. However, you feel like you are watching a horror action packed thriller movie on the TV when you are actually reading this book. The writing was great however and I like how the author managed to keep the reader at the edge with one Nina is going through.

This has great premise in my opinion. However, the execution wasn't so great to this overall great plot and story making the story a bit more unrealistic. Overall, this was a good thriller and worth 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Boldwoods for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

My first read by this author and won't be the last. Described perfectly as a cat and mouse thriller. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what was to happen next. Tense, thrilling and scary , I raced through this book to discover the outcome.

Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
The book introduced the character nicely and the the story started. It was fast and furious as Gemma got chased and ran from floor to floor of the premises. I think it was perhaps a little too long but it certainly made you want to carry on reading. The twist with Stacey was totally unexpected and a great move.
Just felt after all the action the ending was a little fast and the forgiving of Dom a little bit too much.

Gemma Rogers best book to date! This book grabbed me from the first page and kept me up late into the night not wanting to put it down until I found out what was going to happen next! Full of surprises and twists you won't see coming this book will have you on the edge of your seat holding your breath and screaming at the main character to do this or don't do that its awesome! I would absolutely love to see this made into a movie!!! A must read for all thriller fans!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for granting me a copy of The Night Shift to read and review.

I honestly don’t know where to start! I literally found myself holding my breath and feeling my heart race as main character Nina fought for her life all night. Did not want to put this down!

Lots of twists, turns and cat and mouse games included in this brilliant, brilliant thriller. I will remember this one for a long time!

Will definitely make my top 5 books of the year, an absolute winner.

This book grabbed me right at the beginning and never let up! Its definitely a gripping, edge of your seat psychological thriller. Best book I’ve read lately. I recommend it to everyone!

I read this in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. The locked room trope always captures my attention, and this book brilliantly used the perfect setting of a storage facility. It's night time, dark, empty and sinister- what better for a creepy story?

Nina thinks she's going to have another boring, quiet night as the night receptionist at Queen Storage. She's planning on licking her wounds from a recent breakup and studying, but of course, her night shift does not go as planned when a strange man enters the facility lugging a heavy suitcase.

From there, it's a game of cat and mouse that had me completely hooked and unable to stop reading. This is one of Gemma's best books and it's easy to imagine it as a movie. (Netflix are you listening?)

Clear your schedule and settle in with this novel.

I loved the anonymity, flexibility and solitude that working the night shift at Storage Queen gave me. The unsociable hours paid well, helping me fund my university degree and giving me a quiet place to study while the world slept peacefully in their warm cosy beds. It was the perfect job for me. But that Friday night proved to be more than I bargained for when a man walked through the door dragging a large suitcase.

The story takes place over a night shift and it eventually turns into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Told primarily from Nina's perspective, but we do get some input from some of the other characters. It also has an interesting take on the "locked room" trope. Nina has type one diabetes and it was well-portrayed by the character, It starts off slow, but the pace soon picks up. Nina had just split from her boyfriend Dom before her night shift had started, and the rest of her night just goes quickly downhill, spiralling out of control.

Published 6th March 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #GemmaRogers for my ARC of #TheNightShift in exchange for an honest review.