Book Review: The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

After reading a recommendation of this book by Laila at Big Reading Life, I knew I had to pick up The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean. It was already on my shelf anyway having been sent to me by the publisher, so it was an easy decision of what to read next (a decision I can be paralyzed by at times!). It’s a thriller and quite dark, so it won’t be for everybody, but for those who can stomach the psychological weight of multiple kidnappings in a story, it’s a great page-turner.

Plot Summary

Detective Chelsey Calhoun has a personal interest in finding missing girls. Her sister Lydia went missing when they were teens, then pieces of her were found in a car with her dead boyfriend, an apparent murder suicide, a discovery which irrevocably altered their family forever. Chelsey’s father was a police chief, so after Lydia’s gruesome discovery he shifted his focus to Chelsey, turning her into a hunter and fighter who could always protect herself, no matter the circumstance. Following in her father’s footsteps Chelsey became a detective herself, hoping to prevent the tragedy she experienced as a girl. The book begins with the reappearance of Ellie Black, a teen who went missing when she was 18, now returned home at 20. But Ellie isn’t willing to speak about her time away, instead, she’s simply processing the obvious trauma she went through, and trying to get through each day while people around her are desperate for answers, including Chelsey, who is assigned to the case. But the reader is given insight that Chelsey isn’t; some of the chapters are from Ellie’s perspective, and as the narrative progresses, we slowly witness what Ellie experienced in her two years in captivity. This gradual reveal begins to explain Ellie’s strange behaviors in the present day, and then a few twists are thrown in which amp up the suspense even more, turning the plot into an action-packed story that concludes in a shocking ending.

My Thoughts

The changes in perspective are a common, but effective technique at building suspense, which works well in this book. Ellie’s behaviour is strange (even for someone who is obviously suffering from severe PTSD) so this slow introduction into why she is acting like she is helps the reader integrate themselves in the story, but also root for Chelsea to push deeper into the case to help find Ellie’s captor(s). There are many ways to create villains in stories, but I can’t think of a more villainous person than one who captures and tortures young girls for years on end. I don’t want to ruin any twists, so I’ll just say that the layering of these twists were not unbelievable (until maybe the very end, that’s when I rolled my eyes a bit), and they created a time sensitive conflict that amped up the action to an impressive level, that it was difficult for me to put the book down at night before bed – I could have stayed up way later and finished it, had I not had a 5am wake up call.

A major theme in this book (and it’s one that appears in many thrillers like this with female detectives) is the focus on violence against women, and the public’s tendency to blame women and their choices when kidnapped. What were they doing at the time? Were they drunk? What were they wearing? Were they in a bad part of town? And on it goes. Chelsea’s father, out of fear of losing his other daughter, becomes hyper-focused on arming Chelsea with the tools to protect herself:

“Instead, Chief Calhoun drove his last daughter to the woods Friday through Sunday, someplace Chelsey could stay out of trouble, and if trouble did find her, she’d know how to handle herself. The first time he lectured Chelsey, his mouth was full of shoulds.

Lydia should not have gone out that night…

But often, Chelsey wondered if her father, if people in general, should spend less time protecting daughters and more time worrying about sons.”

-The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean, p. 147, ARC Edition

When the plot twists come, you’ll realize how poignant Chelsey’s point of view really is. Patriarchal culture is toxic in a lot of different ways, and the victims of it are both men and women; caught up in society’s ‘shoulds’ has ripple effects for everyone.