Sunday, January 7, 2024

The Night Island


 The Night Island (Lost Night Files 2)- Jayne Ann Krentz

Berkley Publishing

Release: January 9, 2024

Rating: ðŸ“šðŸ“šðŸ“šðŸ“š

Synopsis: Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers, bonded by a night they all have no memory of, are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago—an experience that brought out innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier, and that there are more people like them—all they have to do is find the list. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio’s podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished.

Talia isn’t the only one looking for Phoebe, however. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place. It’s clear he has his own agenda, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list. 
 
The rocky investigation leads Talia and Luke to a rustic, remote retreat on Night Island in the Pacific Northwest. The retreat promises to rejuvenate guests with the Unplugged Experience. Upon their arrival, Talia and Luke discover guests are quite literally cut off from the outside world because none of their high-tech devices work on the island. It soon becomes clear that Phoebe is not the first person to disappear into the strange gardens that surround the Unplugged Experience retreat. And then the first mysterious death occurs…
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In Book 2 of the Lost Night Files, podcaster Talia March is looking for an informant who promised to sell her a very important list. The list contains names Talia and her friends believe are people who all "lost nights", people kidnapped and experimented on to try and enhance their psychic abilities. They believe this because they are sure they are on that list. But Talia isn't the only one trying to buy the list and when she arrives at the meeting place she discovers Luke Rand was also trying to buy the list, and the buyer has been kidnapped. With no choice but to work together, Talia and Luke need to find Phoebe before she is killed. Fortunately, Talia's enhanced ability makes her very good at finding things- and people. 

Unfortunately, the trail takes them to Night Island, a rocky island cut off from the outside world but with a high amount of violent psychic energy, weird fellow guests, and possibly carnivorous plants. It soon becomes clear there is also at least one killer on the island. 

I really enjoyed the chemistry between Luke and Talia. From their first interaction when they don't think they can trust each other, to when they have no choice but to trust each other on the island, their banter and sniping back and forth are highly entertaining. By the time we know they've fallen for each other (even if they haven't entirely worked it out) their chemistry is sizzling and the trust is solid. Separately they are enjoyable characters, together they are fantastic. The fast pacing and energy of the book overall keeps things going at a fast clip, and I found it a very satisfying read overall. Though I'm not sure I'll ever look at plants quite the same way again.

While you don't have to read Sleep No More, book 1 in the series (each can act as a stand-alone), to enjoy this book, I would probably recommend reading the series in order to get the most out of the "lost night" aspect. The end here builds on the end of the previous book, which is clearly building up to whatever the big showdown will be in book 3, and I think reading them in order might prove most satisfying to most readers. 

received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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