The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.

Paperwork, 320 pages

Published May 7, 2024 by

by Simon & Schuster

4.5/5 stars

This is one of those books that was hyped up on social media and this reader did the only thing one can do and did an impulse purchase. The author is new to me, but the story sounded intriguing.

Eli Block disappeared when she was 17 years old and two years later she comes stumbling out of the forest.  As to where she was and what happened she is very tight lipped about. The story came from her point of view and also that of the detective assigned her case.

This was such a captivating story, it was frustrating not knowing what happened to Ellie, not just for this reader but the detective as well.  The story alternated with Ellie reliving her years in captivity and present day.  It is somewhat of a slow burn but that didn't hinder my reading at all.  The author had great pacing and the ending was something that threw me for a curve.  Well done Emiko Jean!!

This is the author's debut, I can't wait to see what she is working on next.

This book was part of my 2024 reading off my shelf challenge.