Title: The Night Visitor
Author: Dianne Emley
Publisher: Alibi (Random House)
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
In bestselling author Dianne Emley’s chilling new paranormal thriller, a beautiful woman’s romantic past comes back to haunt her in the form of an otherworldly visitor seeking justice.
Gorgeous and successful, Rory Langtry seemed to have it all. Daughter of a movie star and sister of a supermodel, Rory was engaged to sexy artist, Junior Lara. But her bright future went dark one terrible, bloody night that left her sister dead and the accused murderer—Junior—in an extended coma.
Now, five years later, Rory appears to have put the past behind her. She has a wonderful new fiancé and heads a successful cosmetics company. Yet dark secrets threaten. Across town, Junior lies close to death but before he departs he seeks to clear his name.
It starts with a feeling. It turns into a vision. Soon Rory is having sensations that only Junior could experience—from the horrifying to the erotic. Then she learns details about the awful night that only Junior could know, newfound knowledge with potentially fatal consequences. When another act of violence rocks her family, Rory plunges deeper into the unsolved mystery, led by an inexplicable visitor to a dangerous time and place where all will be revealed at last. But until then, Junior will not let her go.
My Review
I chose The Night Visitor because I thought it was going to be a creepy paranormal mystery given the name and the synopsis. I thought that there was going to be a ghost that showed up at night in Rory's dreams, which would have been creepy and spooky. After I realized that there would be no ghost stories, I was disappointed.
5 years ago, Rory's sister is murdered and Rory's fiancé (Junior) is put into a coma. The theory is that he committed murder suicide, but his family and Rory never believe this. In the present, Rory has moved on, has a new fiancé, and is generally happy with life. Before Junior passes away, he "contacts" his brother, then when that plan goes to hell in a handbasket, he "contacts" Rory. Through this, Rory is able to sleuth out what happened the night of the murder.
Mostly The Night Visitor is a contemporary thriller with some family drama. There is only a little bit of paranormal. I think that it would have been better had all the paranormal been removed, or if there would have been a lot more paranormal elements (yes, I really wanted a ghost!). What little paranormal there was in the story, just made the story hard to believe. Either, we should have found out about the details of the murder through Junior's journal or some other device. Or, Junior should have been a ghost. Also the paranormal needed to be explained more fully. We were never given details on how and why Junior was able to make "contact" with both his brother and Rory.
I liked that the "contact" with Junior made Rory seem like she was going crazy. At points, it was hard to tell if Rory had made contact with Junior or if she was just having hallucinations. This unreliable narrator plot should have been more fully explored. It was definitely the best part of The Night Visitor to me.
If you like mystery/thrillers, you might like The Night Visitor. If paranormal really isn't your thing, don't let it scare you away. The paranormal doesn't overshadow the mystery aspect.
Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
About the Author
Dianne Emley gained critical acclaim for the previous books in the Nan Vining series, The First Cut, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, and Cut to the Quick. Her newest novel featuring Nan Vining is Love Kills. She lives in Pasadena, California, with her husband, Charlie.
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Follow the Tour
The Night Visitor Tour Schedule
Monday, September 8th
From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, September 9th
Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, September 10th
No More Grumpy Bookseller
Thursday, September 11th
Peeking Between the Pages
Friday, September 12th
Bibliophilia, Please
Monday, September 15th
Saints and Sinners Books
Tuesday, September 16th
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Wednesday, September 17th
Sara’s Organized Chaos
Thursday, September 18th
Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Monday, September 22nd
Back Porchervations
Monday, September 22nd
Lovely Reads
Tuesday, September 23rd
Booked on a Feeling
Wednesday, September 24th
Bound By Words
Wednesday, September 24th
Supernatural Snark
Thursday, September 25th
Stitch Read Cook
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Ends at 12:01am on September 25th
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To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an advance copy of the book from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
ReplyDeleteI wish more had been said about how Junior was able to connect with his brother and Rory too. I liked the way the author went about it--just wish there was more.
ReplyDelete