‘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 … 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.
Readers are loving The Empty Nest:
‘OMG… I couldn’t believe the ending and what truly happened to Kat’s daughter. There were so many twists and turns in this book but the ending blew my mind.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wow I never saw that ending!… A huge rollercoaster of events that will keep you enthralled right to the end!… Great read.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A full on, straight into it thriller, with a banging twist and a satisfying end! A quickfire ever changing story of who has done what and why… It had me foxed and I got it completely wrong… So well written, full of drama and just a perfect read. 10/10.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘What an amazing book. I couldn’t put it down. Had my attention from start to finish… Just when I thought I had it figured out I was proven wrong.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A compulsively readable mystery that kept me fully engrossed and turning pages long into the night. This is a twisty thriller that kept me guessing right up until the final page… Brilliantly executed… Thoroughly addictive.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I was so gobsmacked… The Empty Nest is a story steeped in secrets and lies. The suspense and tension surrounding Amy’s disappearance builds up wonderfully and had me totally hooked, tearing through the pages to see just what had happened to her.’ By the Letter Book Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘An addictive, suspenseful thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish… This story is filled with lies, betrayal, and shocking secrets. The author does a wonderful job building the tension and the ending was clever and satisfying. I highly recommend this twisty thriller.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start. I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Sue Watson is an amazing storyteller… She perfectly wove together a web of lies, paranoia, deceit, and friendship that created a rollercoaster of a ride from start to finish. This really is such a compulsive read, building the tension and a brilliant ending… A real unputdownable book.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐more
What a book! I felt as though the drama was playing out in almost real-time as I read it. At first, main character, Kat, was portrayed as a classic helicopter mother – an annoyance to her husband with her smothering ways and maybe even her daughter, who’d managed to escape to university. Before long, my suspicions were bouncing all over the place. Helicopter mum knows something isn’t right, but is it something she’s done that’s to blame?
Everyone became a suspect and this novel made me question how I’d react in similar circumstances. If something so scary happened to me, my mind would be everywhere, just like it was while reading this book. I also felt it to be realistic. It’s easy to see how these type of events in real life can tear families and friendships apart – this book explores that fantastically.
If you love drama with large helpings of mystery, this is the book for you. It holds back, teasing the reader with the ‘who did it’ question. Not only that, the ‘why did they do it’ seemed to drive me to hurry to the end. I read the first half of the book over a couple of the days but snatched every moment on day three to race to the finale. I had to know what happened to Amy, and what a shocker it was!
Kat and her eighteen-year-old daughter Amy are the best of friends. They share secrets and tell each other everything. When Amy goes away to college, Kat is devastated and is finding it very hard to cope with her absence. The only thing keeping her from falling apart is Amy’s promise to come home for the weekend. But she never shows up. She’s not answering her phone, and no one has heard from her. Everyone is convinced that Amy is just taking advantage of her new freedom and is off somewhere enjoying herself. But Kat knows something is seriously wrong and is willing to do whatever it takes to prove it. The Empty Nest is an addictive, suspenseful thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. We follow Kat’s heart-wrenching journey as she tries to piece together what really happened to her daughter and is forced to confront the fact that maybe she doesn’t know her daughter as well as she thought she did. This story is filled with lies, betrayal, and shocking secrets. The author does a wonderful job building the tension and the ending was clever and satisfying. I highly recommend this twisty thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts with a huge bang and then kind of sizzles. The premise is a good one; Kat has left her only daughter at a distant university and is desperately missing Amy. Then, when Amy is supposed to be coming home for a holiday, she disappears. No texts, no calls and no online presence at all. Kat is understandably frantic, casting aspersions on everyone she can in order to get them to admit that they know where Amy could be. That is where the interest kind of slowed down for me, just as the momentum of the book did. The rest of the book is a slow burn, a slow revelation of where Amy is and who is responsible for her disappearance. The author did a good. job of including some twists, but I must say that I had guessed most of them by the time she got there. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not the psychological thriller that I was prepared to enjoy. Fans who enjoy a slow and well-written suspense will enjoy this book as long as their expectations for surprises are low.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
3.5 Stars!
The title of this book sold me! Since I’m facing my own Empty Nest in August, I thought I’d be able to relate to Kat and her situation. Oh Lord, I so hope not and know not on so many levels!
Kat and Amy are close, Kat brings helicopter parenting to a whole new level. After a bad first marriage and an health scare for Amy, things seem to be sunny and happy when Kat marries Richard. She and Amy are BFFs with another mother-daughter duo, Zoe and Jodie. Tragedy soon strikes again when Amy turns up missing. Kat follows her mother’s instinct and calls police immediately. The story follows the search for Amy.
So much is going on in this book. A missing child, scary ex-husband, false acquisitions, friendships exposed, overbearing parents, teenagers! I found most of the characters very annoying (to the point I wanted to slap most) and situations extreme with no major surprises. But, the writing spins the tale quickly and sucks you in for a fast read especially good on a crisp fall day with a hot apple cider and blanket. First book by this author and would definitely read her again.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone!
I have to say that it was a bit of a struggle to get through this story. The fact that the first 15% of the story entails one – yes, one – conversation was not a good sign. I seriously wanted to strangle the main character almost right from the start. So much repetition. I understand that’s the point, that the main character, Kat, is obsessed with keeping her daughter, Amy, safe and knowing where she is almost all of the time, especially now that Amy has gone off to university. But really, did we need SO MANY pages of the characters saying the exact same thing over and over and over?
Kat: “Where is Amy, oh my God something’s happened to her, oh no, oh no”
Any other character she interacts with: “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.”
Literally, this is like the entire first 50% of the book. Empty nest syndrome is tough, but Kat alludes to there being more to her helicopter parenting than that, so we know there’s more to be revealed. I kept thinking, come on, get on with it already! I don’t know, it seems to be just me, as the other reviewers surprisingly love this type of writing. I think if the plot had actually progressed a bit earlier than I wouldn’t have been so frustrated. Once the action started and revelations started popping up, the story definitely started moving along. If readers make it to the end they will be rewarded, but I fear that like myself, they’ll wish it had arrived much sooner.
It feels like this book was written in two parts. The first part was more inside the thoughts of the main character (Kat) – there was a lot of exposition. In spite of spending a lot of time in her head, or maybe because of it, I did not connect to Kat as I would have liked. She was overbearing and unlikeable. The second part contained more interaction between characters, and there were more than a few twists that kept the plot moving. The result is a decent psych thriller that examines mother/daughter relationships as the daughter grows up. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a complimentary, pre-release, digital ARC of this book.
Amy is 18-years-old and off to University. Kat, Amy’s mother, is living in memories of when Amy was a child and never left mom’s side. Kat always says that she and Amy are not only close-knit, but they are best friends.
Amy’s been gone a few weeks and she and Kat have spoken on the phone every single day without fail. That is, until now.
It’s been 2 days and Amy has not called .. has not answered her phone … has not sent or received any text messages. Kat is beside herself with worry.
Kat’s husband just tells her to calm down, Amy is fine .. just having a good time at school. She’s becoming independent and doesn’t need to talk to mommy every day. Even Kat’s best friend, herself the mom of a teenager, tells her this is a normal thing.
But Kat knows right away that something is very wrong. Her daughter would never forget to call. She would never just disappear… After all, Amy has nothing to run from. Or does she?
This is a family with a lot of secrets. Kat can’t even tell her husband about her past. Amy has been keeping secrets, too. And Kat’s husband is hiding something .. but what? This is a mother who is obsessive about her daughter ….. with good cause? Who can she turn to when those around her keep telling her this is normal behavior for a teenage on her own?
The Empty Nest is a highly suspenseful psychological thriller with twists and turns that never quit until the final explosive unpredictable ending. There is a feeling of loss when a child leaves home to make their own way in the world. I feel Kat’s rising fear and angst as the story progresses. The characters are finely crafted and memorable.
Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
4.5 stars
I did not care for this book. Amy goes off to uni and helicopter mom Kat nearly goes out of her mind when Amy fails to call her. I got really tired of Kat’s nonstop whining and telephoning/texting trying to find out where Amy was. I really had to struggle to finish this one. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It is hard to know who to believe in this latest from Sue Watson. From a smother-mother to her bratty teenaged daughter to the best friends – another mother-daughter duo and close neighbors, to the biological abusive father or could it possibly be the step-father, possibly “Professor Perv”? What happens when your child is two hours away for the first time and cracks are appearing in your relationship. When Amy goes missing, Kat just “knows” something’s wrong – but is he just being her ever overprotective self or…. Another really great read from Sue Watson!
So many feels! 5 ! I was literally tearing up towards the end, on the verge of calling my own mom. I did not see that ending coming! What a twist, and trust me, this story was full of them!
As a mother, this book spoke to me on so many levels! Sue Watson, the author of The Empty Nest, put it best quite nicely in her ending letter to the reader, “Just like that first day at school, the sense of loss and the shock at how quickly our children grow and leave us hit me hard.” Luckily my children are still young, but I can only imagine how I’ll feel when it’s my turn to experience an empty nest.
Kat’s daughter is missing, but no one is taking her concerns seriously. Everyone has her pegged as the obsessive, overly protective mother who just won’t stop. She’ll turn up, she’s probably just hungover or got caught up in university life and forgot to mention her change of plans. Maybe. Kat knows better though, she’s Amy’s mother. A mother knows. Besides, Amy would never go this long without some type of communication because Kat and Amy are more than a typical mother and daughter, they are best friends. Right?
Everyone has a secret in The Empty Nest. What worked quite well was how these secrets and lies were revealed throughout the story, little by little. That gradual release of information makes the final twist that much more enjoyable. Character-wise, while some would find Kat’s mothering a little too much, a little extra.. I found it to be just right. Maybe because I’m a little overprotective myself. I wasn’t too fond of the husband or the best friend though, their characters were written well enough for this story, I just felt for Kat.. she craved so much for that support system, but it never really felt like she had it. No matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise.
If you’re sitting there trying to figure out if The Empty Nest should be your next read, stop. No need to look any further because Sue Watson is giving you everything you need right here. The feels are real, the feels are raw and on point. This five-star rating of a story was delivered, just as advertised… “an unputdownably gripping psychological thriller.”
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and the author Sue Watson for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
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