The Night Shift

The Night Shift

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Ella is in the bathroom after working The Night Shift at a New Jersey Blockbuster Video store. When she comes out, the rest of the staff is dead. She is left for dead but recovers.

Fifteen years later, a similar event occurs as an ice cream shop is closing for the night. Another girl, Jesse, leaves the bathroom during the killing but somehow survives. Jesse won’t talk to the police. Ella, now a therapist, is called in. The pair have a lot in common and bond. Jesse, a senior in high school, is an inspiring journalist. The two survivors try to figure out if their crimes are connected.

In the meantime, both the local police and the FBI are investigating. FBI Agent Sarah Keller is two weeks from her due date with twins. She is committed to solving the older crime. The suspect, Vince, was arrested but then released. He was never seen again.

Vince’s father, Rusty, beats up both Vince and his younger brother, Chris, nightly. When Vince runs off, Chris is placed in foster care. He is adopted by his foster parents, changes his name, and graduates from law school. However, he is still looking for his brother. He works for the public defender’s office in the county where both crimes occurred.

As you can see, there are a whole lot of different plot lines. Luckily, they all work seamlessly together. The three narrators; Ella, Chris, and Agent Keller; each tell their own tale. The characters are so well-written and realistic it was easy to keep them, and the people they meet, straight. The multiple plot twists are unveiled at the perfect times to keep the reader reading well into the night.

Unfortunately, the clues to the killer or killers were too obvious. After guessing the answer early on, I was waiting for a Christie-type twist revealing why it couldn’t be that easy. That twist never arrived. However, there were several other surprising twists in the last half of the book.

If you like twisty tales of violent murders, The Night Shift will keep you reading way past your bedtime. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

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