Chevy Stevens has a great way to let the reader participate not only in their search for the real evil here but also how they manage to pull their life together again. Her tone is steady but very haunting and she shows the small-town life to its fullest. Her way of building up the tension chapter by chapter is just fantastic and at some point, the reader gets kind of a clue who the real bad guy is in this brilliant thriller.
That Night*
by Chevy StevensPublisher St. Martin´s Press on June 17, 2014
Genre Thriller
Pages 462
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
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They said she was a murderer. They said she killed her sister. But they lied. As a teenager, Toni Murphy had a life full of typical adolescent complications: a boyfriend she adored, a younger sister she couldn´t relate to, a strained relationship with her parents, and classmates who seemed hell-bent on making her life miserable. Things weren´t easy, but Toni could never have predicted how horrific they would become until her younger sister was brutally murdered one summer night. Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were convicted of the murder and sent to prison. Now thirty-four, Toni is out on parole and back in her hometown, struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Prison changed her, hardened her, and she´s doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back. This means having absolutely no contact with Ryan, avoiding fellow parolees looking to pick fights, and steering clear of trouble in all its forms. But nothing is making that easy – not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who doubts Toni´s innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni´s life hell in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. No matter how hard she tries, ignoring her old life to start a new one is impossible. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out what really happened that night. But the truth might be the most terrifying thing of all.
Story
Toni and her boyfriend Ryan are convicted of murder and struggle with the fact, that someone hates them both so much, that he or she doesn´t hesitate to do everything to put them behind bars for a very long time.
Style
Chevy Stevens shows their story in a very emotional plot. Her language is simple but very effective. The reader gets to know what happened before that horrific night, during Toni´s prison time and what happened after she´s been released. The author shows in a very thrilling way how the two main figures fight to prove their innocence, what huge impact that bloody night had on Toni´s family, and the social life of her and her boyfriend. But not everything is going smoothly when they both get out of prison. Someone does everything to get them into trouble again and it becomes very clear that Toni and Ryan have an enemy for life.
The reader gets not only involved in a great story where a psychological finesse takes place in a very brilliant way but also meets characters who have to fight their way back into a small town they both call their home. Toni wants nothing more but to live her life as normal and as under the police radar as possible. But when she has to realize that someone does everything to bring her behind bars again, she stands up and fights. The way how she does that shows a lot of emotions and what it can mean when you come across the plans of others only because you´ve got something, they never will: Love.
Characters
The author has put a great mix of opposed characters together which are so profound and here and there are very evil. Chevy Stevens digs deep into the psychological bag of tricks. Her figures persuade the reader, appear very real, and play together in a great way. Racking jealousy, overwhelming hate, passion, fear, sadness, enviousness, and chill throw the different characters together; create a lot of pain and a story that gives the reader not only the creeps but also fantastic reading time.
Chevy Stevens hasn´t only written her thriller in a great way, she also knows how to create characters that are profound in their hate as well as in their actions. Her figures show incredible inner strength and from time to time you´re asking yourself who the one is who is still imprisoned. `Cause after a while you´ll get the impression, that Toni and Ryan aren´t the ones anymore. Even on parole, they seem to be freer than anyone else - one figure in particular. Every page of this book shows how deep and dark a soul can become and that sometimes the real prison lays within a person itself.
Conclusion
That Night is one hell of a thriller and offers the reader not only great entertainment but also a magnificent thrill. Unexpected twists and surprising conclusions make this thriller a great reading experience. You have to read this, that´s for sure!
Happy reading
Chevy Stevens
Chevy Stevens is the author of Still Missing and Never Knowing. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a realtor. When she held open houses, she had a lot of time waiting by herself between potential buyers, and Stevens would spend this time scaring herself with all the things that could happen to her. The most terrifying scenario she thought up became the story behind Still Missing. Stevens grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island, and she still calls the island home. When she´s not writing, she´s hiking with her husband and her dog in the local mountains.
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