Overall, I enjoyed The Night Away, although there were a lot of 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 (in a good way) 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 previous chapters from their point of view, 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 are both relatable in some degree, both with how overwhelming it can be to be responsible for an infant (as both a mother and a babysitter) and with their struggles with their life choices more generally.
The men in this book were mostly throwaways, though, 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. The closure to that character would have been appreciated.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.