Title: The Return of Ellie Black
Author: Emiko Jean
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Published on: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Ebook (Kindle)
Length: 320 Pages
Goodreads Synopsis:
Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.
Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.
But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.
The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.
My Rating: 3 Stars
I found this book to be very entertaining. Was it perfect? No, but it was good. We get the story from a few different POVs, Detective Chelsea Calhoun and Ellie Black’s primarily. It kept me guessing right until the end and wow what a twist the end had! I didn’t see that coming. I had my suspicions about something, but what it ended up being was not even on my radar. Now I’m wondering if there were clues left by the author I should have picked up on. I’ll be adding this one to my re-read pile at some point to see. It was also a twist that kind of left me going but why? How would this have gone unnoticed for so long?
The pacing of the story was slow but not boring, revealing just enough to keep you flipping page after page to find out what would happen next. What questions would finally get answers. What questions would those answers bring?
Then there are more shadows at Chelsey’s back. A frenzy of missing girls. They do not give answers. They do not speak of what has come to pass. They whisper: Find us. Please. The words becoming a chant, a command. She tilts her head at the map, and silently says, I will. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. As if it is so easy. These childhood vows. Made when girls are young. When they slept under beds with fairy lights, ran through streets after dark, rode their bikes, and it was not dangerous to go far from home. – Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black
There was a lot of commentary throughout the book, like the double standards we have for women/girls and men/boys. For example, girls need to protect themselves from the actions of men and not provoke those actions, but lets not teach boys to behave differently so girls can feel safe no matter what.
“But often, Chelsey wondered if her father, if people in general, should spend less time protecting daughters and more time worrying about sons.” – Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black.
One other thing that bothered me is that Chelsey works alone. She barely interacts with her co-workers. We are told they don’t get along, so she sticks to herself. I don’t see how this would work in reality, I don’t know if I just watch too much tv and cop shows, where they are always working with a partner, which makes sense to me, in case trouble comes up, so someone can call for back up or whatever. The only time she’s seen working directly with any other law enforcement is when they go to arrest a potential suspect, where they think Ellie might have been held. Sometimes we have to work with people we don’t like. It would have been interesting to see actual conversations between her and her coworkers to maybe justify this need for her to work alone, or just having to deal with having a partner that she doesn’t get along with.
Overall, the story was entertaining and captured the feelings of the characters well. I am interested in reading other books this author has written. This was her debut into Mystery/Thriller books, so if she decides to write another book in this genre I hope it will be better.
Have you read this book? What were your thoughts on it? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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