The Night Sister: A Novel

I recently reviewed another of Ms. McMahon's books which I did NOT enjoy as much as this one. Its characters, particularly the lead character, lacked something (I could not empathize).Not the case with this book.We have the story of two sisters - in the present and in the past. The story takes place in three distinct time periods. Now: there's been a horrific murder/suicide. A woman (Amy) killed all of her family, except her daughter, and herself. This woman was, when they were kids, really good friends of our modern two sisters.That's the second setting. When the three girls were kids, they hung out at Amy's family home: a motel that closed when the interstate bypassed their hometown of London. Amy is being raised by her grandmother. Her mother, a drunk, rarely comes around. When they are playing that summer, they learn things about Amy's aunt (Sylvie, the second pair of sisters) that make them question the truth of what happened to her.And then there's the third setting - told from Sylvie's point of view, mostly in letters to her hero, Alfred Hitchcock. If that doesn't indicate the mood of this story, I'm not sure what will.This was a really, really good ride with lots of twists that I will not mention for fear of giving away plot.

I started this book thinking I'd just read for a while before I went to bed. It's 11:51pm now. I couldn't put it down. It's beautifully structured. Various pasts and presents flow into each other seamlessly, and everything is revealed at exactly the right moment. The characters are convincing even when they're becoming something terrible. Usually I can figure out "whodunit" within a few chapters, but McMahon kept me guessing to the last possible moment. Read this book! (fyi -- I'm thinking about putting a rifle under the bed . . . )

This is the 5th Jennifer McMahon book I have read and other than "The Winter People" I have loved them all. I believe "The Night Sisters" is my new favorite. I have to call it unputdownable though when I read that on a book's cover I am more likely than not to pass it by, (unless it is an author I read without regard to other reviews or accolades). This book provided that magic combination of reading joys: I was often too scared to read what came next, and I was always too eager to know what happened to leave the book sit for long. The story deftly revolves through three time-frames: 1955/61 and 1989 and 2013. This technique can ruin a book for me if poorly managed. It is easy to get lost in time -- I hate feeling I have to write everything down to keep track of how the details and characters in one time period relate to the others. Jennifer McMahon does the things needed to make this work. She keeps her characters to a minimum and subtly reminds the reader of how everyone is related across the different time-frames. She also drops in frequent trivia pertinent to each decade. And most importantly, she never loses the core story; she leaves a trail of bread crumbs from one decade to the next and back again. This is a wonderfully creepy and unpredictable trail that I happily followed to the end.

The Night SisterOnce the Tower Motel was a huge and mysterious club house for Amy, Piper, Margot and Jay. That was until the children discovered a dark secret that destroyed their friendship. As adults, they’ve all tried to put it behind them. Piper fled while Jay married Margot and tried to forget about the crush he had on Amy. It almost worked, and then Amy and her family were murdered, forcing the remaining friends to re-examine the motel’s past.I liked the way the story flipped from the present into the past and back, so that the mystery could be explored from its inception. The characters were as rich and complex as the whodunnit questions.The supernatural elements were fascinating and really added to the overall intrigue in the plot. This was one of those novels I couldn’t put down. I read it in a couple days and I’ll probably read it again. If you like complex mysteries that involve things that go bump in the night and well-written prose, you’ll appreciate this tale.

I really enjoy McMahon’s novels. I find she often brings a nice balance of realism versus what could be a character’s inner mental breakdown. In other words, is what this character experiencing and narrating happening or is this character unreliable because they are truly unstable?I appreciate that approach to horror because it does keep me feeling more suspicious and tense throughout the read.However, in this particular book I wish McMahon had spent a bit more time exploring the mythos of the “monster.” She had placed in this novel. Or at least, given us better insight into Amy’s catalyst that convinced her. She spent so much time belaboring the incident that led Piper back home and yet didn’t really spend any time addressing Amy’s change of heart and belief system.I would have enjoyed exploring that more. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed the book even though I found it a bit slow at times. 4 stars.

This book had me hooked from the very first page with Amy's heart hammering and saying "Don't think about the thing in the tower". Friends Amy, Piper, and Margot go through many emotions, and scary experiences trying to find out who is the one responsible for the terror that started years ago and is wrapped in mystery. They seek to find out who the "mare" or, night goblin is and what happened to Sylvie who warned of the evil lurking and wrote letters about it to Alfred Hitchcock in 1955 hoping to be in one of his movies. There are alternating chapters giving clues from childhood years, stories from someone who no one believes is sane. What transforms will chill you and as secrets are revealed the trust erodes among the friends.. The ending races to a dramatic conclusion, you don't see coming and leaving one breathless. Definitely a scary thriller with lots of twists.

Could not put this book down

Another excellent book from Jennifer McMahon!I really enjoyed every page of the book!I would recomnend this book to everyone!

Very good book well worth the money

Good read

Am Ende des Buches, in den "Acknowledgements", gesteht Jennifer McMahon, dass dies nicht zu den Büchern gehörte, die ihr besonders leicht von der Hand gingen, und dass eine Menge Leute ihr geholfen haben, das Puzzle, das "The Night Sister" war, zu einem befriedigenden Ganzen zusammenzufügen.Man merkt dies dem Buch auch an.Dass offenbar die Autorin anfangs nicht so recht wusste, wohin die Reise gehen würde, ist allerdings über weite Strecken durchaus vorteilhaft für die Spannung, denn dieses "Was ist denn da bloß los" vermag McMahon durch viele kleine Cliffhanger am Ende der einzelen, oft kurzen, Kapitel, an den Leser weiter zu geben. Die Erzählung um zwei Schwestern, die in der seltsamen Umgebung eines ländlichen Motels mit einem vom Vater erbauten "mittelalterlichen" Turm in Vermont aufwachsen und sich gegenseitig mit wachsendem Misstrauen beobachten, wechselt zwischen drei Zeitebenen und drei Generationen (den fünfziger Jahren, in denen die von allen umschwärmte Sylvie und ihre unscheinbare Schwester Rose Kinder sind, dem Jahr 1989, in dem Rose's Tochter Amy und ihre Freundinnen Piper und deren Schwester Margot ein schreckliches Geheimnis entdecken, und der Jetztzeit (2013 im Roman), in der Piper und Margot von der Vergangenheit eingeholt werden, die sie so gerne vergessen hätten. Erzählt wird außerdem aus der Perspektive von Rose, Piper und Margrets Mann Jason, der als Teenager den drei Mädchen, vor allem Amy, hinterherlief, ohne in ihren Kreis aufgenommen zu werden. Dieser Zeit- und Perspektivenwechsel trägt sicherlich zur Spannung,und zum gelungenen "pacing" des Buches bei, verlangt dem Leser aber auch einiges an Konzentration ab. Nicht nur Amys Großmutter Charlotte verwechselt da manches Mal etwas.Zum Ende hin lässt leider die Spannung nach. Man ahnt schon lange vorher, wie sich die Dinge wirklich verhalten und ereignet haben, und es wirkt ein bisschen unbeholfen, wenn dies dann durch eine lange und sachlich wirkende Erzählung einer der Personen "aufgedeckt" wird. Von da an ist alles Weitere leider eine Antklimax, die den Eindruck erweckt, die Autorin hätte jetzt schnell zum Schluss kommen wollen, nachdem sie noch einmal kurz die Spannungskurve nach oben gedrückt hat.Ich war vom Ende dermaßen unbeeindruckt, dass ich dem Buch an sich erst nur drei Sterne geben wolllte. Zugunsten der wirklich spannenden ersten Dreiviertel - und einer gehörigen Portion Lokalkolorit - vier Sterne.