A USA Today Bestseller | One of The Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books in May 2024
“Haunting and evocative, with magnetic prose and shocking twists, I was locked in through the very last page.” –Entertainment Weekly
“The Return of Ellie Black is a gripping, psychological thriller illustrating the all too common violence women face and the perseverance required to carry on when all odds are stacked against them.” —The Seattle Times
“The Return of Ellie Black is well-written, full of convincing characterizations and sharp insights. Ms. Jean’s novel is at its exciting best when forensics and other police techniques are at the fore.” —The Washington Street Journal
“Worth it for the jaw-dropping twist alone.”—People
“Jean's fresh approach upends expectations as the story unfolds from both Chelsey's and Ellie's points of view, revealing the ordeals that have shaped them. Jean's experience as a young adult novelist makes her insight into these troubled young women especially acute. Add that to a plot that takes a number of agile and surprising swoops toward the end and we have a strong new voice in the mournful choir that defines this genre.” —Airmail
“Like Jessica Knoll, whose crime novels also revolve around missing girls, Jean focuses less on sensationalizing predators and more on the tragedy of a ‘frenzy of missing girls. They do not give answers. They do not speak of what has come to pass. They whisper: Find us. Please.’ Jean has written an impressive crime novel here.... An unexpected ending and a cadre of heroic female characters make Jean a crime writer to watch.” —Kirkus
“The complex plot and well-drawn characters will keep readers engaged until they arrive at the surprising conclusion. Jean successfully pivots from romantic-relationship fiction (Mika in Real Life, 2022) to crime thriller here.”—Booklist
“The narrative twists, turns and deepens as Jean uses the thriller as a vehicle to reflect on the state of women and how they are treated in the workplace, by the people who say they love them and by men.... "Ellie Black" is a decidedly assured debut in the genre. Hopefully, it's just the beginning for Emiko Jean.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“YA bestseller Jean makes a smooth transition to adult fiction with this atmospheric and surprise-packed thriller...Jean deftly alternates Chelsey and Ellie’s perspectives from one cliffhanger to the next, keeping the pages flying. With shocking twists and style to spare, this confirms Jean as a writer worth seeking out.”—Publishers Weekly
“The Return of Ellie Black is a page-turning suspense novel, a shrewd character study, and a captivating mystery, all at the same time. The last 50 pages are magnetic. I couldn’t put it down until I’d experienced every last twist and turn.”—STEPHEN KING
"The Return of Ellie Black features one of my all-time favorite characters: an unreliable narrator who evokes both sympathy and suspicion as the mystery continues to deepen. I stayed up late into the night turning the pages until I learned the truth of what happened to Ellie on the day she went missing—and I audibly gasped when Jean delivered a truly jaw dropping twist."—JESSICA KNOLL, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women
“Brooding and atmospheric with lifelike characters and a truly gripping plot, THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK is an immersive experience. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough; I had to know how it would end.”—MARY KUBICA, New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing and Just the Nicest Couple
“Dark, twisted, elegantly plotted, and beautifully written, Jean's debut kept me up late at night racing through chapter after thrilling chapter. But The Return of Ellie Black is so much more than just a page-turner; it's also a thoughtful exploration of trauma, female rage, the violence women face, and the roles we're allowed to play. I loved it.” —ANDREA BARTZ, New York Times bestselling author of The Spare Room
“Suspenseful and scary, The Return of Ellie Black is both a twisty, one-more-chapter-before-bed psychological thriller, and a haunting portrait of women fighting for justice, survival, and one another.”—FLYNN BERRY, author of New York Times bestseller Northern Spy
“Pulse-pounding and exquisitely written, The Return of Ellie Black delves deep into how the world treats, and sometimes discards, its girls and women. Emiko Jean investigates the aftermath of trauma and the long reach of the past with empathy and sensitivity, balancing a propulsive plot with the complex, multilayered inner lives of her characters. At once a powerful, nuanced social commentary and a jaw-dropping thriller with twists you won’t see coming. This story, and the girls at its core, will stay with readers for a very long time.”—LAURIE ELIZABETH FLYNN, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here
“Emiko Jean has penned an irresistibly suspenseful novel—one that also brims with heart and empathy. The Return of Ellie Black is an intelligent exploration of trauma and its devastating aftermath. It kept me hooked until the very end.” – CLÉMENCE MICHALLON, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant
“An emotional gut punch of a thriller, Emiko Jean had me enthralled with her pitch-perfect pacing, elegant prose, and twists I never saw coming. I was glued to this book until the last page.” —SAMANTHA DOWNING, bestselling author of My Lovely Wife
2024-02-17
A detective suspects subterfuge when a kidnapped teen returns home after two years and refuses to talk about her abductor.
Missing girls are a common trope in crime fiction, but Jean freshens the genre with an intriguing story about secrets and dysfunctional families. Ellie Black, emaciated and traumatized, is found in a Washington state forest two years after she was taken from a parking lot near her hometown. Who took her and how she escaped confound police detective Chelsey Calhoun because Ellie is evading her questions. The case is an emotional investment for the haunted Chelsey, whose teenage sister Lydia went missing 15 years before. Jean’s novel is told from multiple perspectives, which gives her story emotional heft. The time readers spend with Ellie during her captivity is told with such devastating detail that it borders on a horror story. The toll her disappearance takes on her parents and high school boyfriend is acutely painted with heartbreak and the anguish that comes with not knowing whether Ellie is alive. Chelsey, who is of Japanese heritage, carries a double load of challenges as she fends off sexism and racism on the job and in her community. She’s an intriguing character; more details about her early life and adoption into a white family would have enriched her backstory. Like Jessica Knoll, whose crime novels also revolve around missing girls, Jean focuses less on sensationalizing predators and more on the tragedy of a “frenzy of missing girls. They do not give answers. They do not speak of what has come to pass. They whisper: Find us. Please.” Jean, who has written young adult fiction and the novel Mika in Real Life (2022), has written an impressive crime novel here.
An unexpected ending and a cadre of heroic female characters make Jean a crime writer to watch.
