The Empty Nest by Sue Watson
Today I am pleased to be on the book tour for The Empty Nest by Sue Watson.
‘Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us, Kat. Everyone has secrets, even the people we love, the people we live with…’
Kat remembers the days when her only daughter Amy wouldn’t leave her side. Amy was the baby who cried when you walked out of the room, the toddler who was too shy to speak to strangers, the small child who clung to Kat’s legs in the school playground.
But now Amy is grown up, and Amy is gone – to university in a town several hours away. Kat’s house – which once felt too full, too noisy, too busy – is deathly quiet, and Kat awaits the daily phone call to tell her that her beloved daughter is thriving and happy.
Until the day Amy doesn’t call, sending Kat into a panic. Her husband and friends say she’s being paranoid – surely Amy is just out, having fun? But Kat feels sure something is very wrong – she knows her daughter, and she would never just disappear.
As the hours turn into days, her fears are confirmed: Amy is missing. But there are secrets about her daughter that Kat doesn’t know about yet. And the truth about Amy’s whereabouts may be closer to home than Kat could ever imagine…
A gripping and suspenseful psychological thriller with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster and an ending that will blow readers’ minds. Fans of The Wife Between Us, The Girl Before and Gone Girl will be gripped by this unputdownable story about a mother’s obsessive love for her child.
My Thoughts
Kat feels bereft when her only daughter moves to Wales to attend Aberystwyth University. The mother and daughter have a close bond and Kat wishes her days away waiting for a phone call, a brief text or most of all, a visit home.
So, when Kat’s daughter Amy doesn’t turn up as expected she knows there is something amiss. Her husband Richard and best friend try to reassure her but Kat knows her daughter better than anyone and she knows that something is not right.
I raced through The Empty Nest desperate to find out what happened to the teenager. Sue Watson has a talent for building up suspense and sending the reader down dark alleyways and dead ends, then producing a shock when you are least expecting it. Most of the characters (especially Kat) grated on me (as I am sure they were meant to) but it didn’t matter to me, as long as I found out what happened.
The overbearing mother, flaky stepdad and bossy best friend were all frustrating and irritating in their own way, but people like that do exist. As a mother myself, I was deeply affected bt Kat’s anguish which kept building and building. The maternal instinct is a powerful emotion and Sue Watson demonstrates this perfectly. This is a clever, tense thriller … everyone has a secret, many are lying…and finally, the epilogue had my head spinning!
Many thanks to the author and Sarah from Bookouture for a copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly.
Author Bio:
Sue Watson was a TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.
USA Today bestselling author, Sue has written fifteen novels – many involving cake – which have been translated into several languages and involved tough ‘cake research.’ Sue is now exploring the darker side of life with her thrillers OUR LITTLE LIES, THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR and THE EMPTY NEST. Writing in this new genre doesn’t involve the deep research of baked goods and Sue’s hoping the change in direction will be reflected on the weighing scales.
Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent procrastinating, eating and watching ‘My 600lb Life,’ on the sofa.
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