Next up in Jack Jordan’s back catalogue … it’s Night by Night. I know I’ve mentioned before that Jordan doesn’t avoid tough topics and has zero qualms about using being as confrontational and gritty as possible, but in this one he ups the ante even more. As much as I’ve enjoyed absorbing myself in all of his previous books, I found this one to be the most complex, layered one so far.
Blurb:
If you’re reading this, I’m dead.
Rejected by her family and plagued by insomnia, Rose Shaw is on the brink. But one dark evening she collides with a man running through the streets, who quickly vanishes. The only sign he ever existed – a journal dropped at Rose’s feet.
She begins to obsessively dedicate her sleepless nights to discovering what happened to Finn Matthews, the mysterious author of the journal. Why was he convinced someone wanted to kill him? And why, in the midst of a string of murders, won’t the police investigate his disappearance?
Rose is determined to uncover the truth. But she has no idea what the truth will cost her…
My Review:
Rose is a haunted, desperate and deeply flawed woman and for good reason. She has lost everything, so has nothing to lose by pursuing exactly what she’s told not to. When she sets out to discover exactly who and what is behind the journal that has been (quite literally) dropped at her feet, she has no idea of the dark path she is opening up for herself, nor of the disturbing parts of her past that will be brought to the surface, revealing truths that will change so much of what she’d previously believed.
At times I wanted to weep for Rose and her very real and raw vulnerability. The fact that she is (and was) left to deal with so many of her issues on her own, when she could have, and should have been supported, possibly avoiding so many of the risky decisions and actions she made and took, made me both sad and angry at the same time, knowing that many women face the same lack of support on a daily basis.
But this books also highlights the fear, shame and dread experienced by far too many who identify as “other”, particularly when living in smaller, more insulated communities. The narrow-minded, narcissistic misogyny that manages to strong-arm everyone into their way of thinking seems to prevail and thrive in environments like these, even when it’s in the minority! If this story shows us anything, it should be that more of us need to be Upstanders. More of us need to speak out when we see those who are vulnerable being treated in a way that makes them feel “less”. It is up to all of us to be the voice for those who feel that they have no voice, and to ensure that they are treated with the same dignity and respect as every single other individual.
This is an emotionally charged book. It’s tense and deeply unsettling. Jack Jordan has an uncanny ability to be able to blend psychological suspense with human drama, and reading these back catalogue novels is like reading the map that he’s charted through his writing journey. It’s truly incredible to see how he just improves with each book that he writes: in complexity, characterisation, layering, pacing and balance.
Thank you once again to Compulsive Readers and Simon and Schuster for this Jack Jordan Blogathon.
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