The Empty Nest: An unputdownably gripping psychological thriller Kindle Edition

Kat remembers the days when her only daughter Amy wouldn’t leave her side. Amy was the baby who cried when you walked out of the room, the toddler who was too shy to speak to strangers, the small child who clung to Kat’s legs in the school playground. But now Amy is grown up, and Amy is gone—to university in a town several hours away. Kat’s house—which once felt too full, too noisy, too busy—is deathly quiet, and Kat awaits the daily phone call to tell her that her beloved daughter is thriving and happy. Until the day Amy doesn’t call, sending Kat into a panic. Her husband and friends say she’s being paranoid—surely Amy is just out, having fun? But Kat feels sure something is very wrong—she knows her daughter, and she would never just disappear. As the hours turn into days, her fears are confirmed: Amy is missing. But there are secrets about her daughter that Kat doesn’t know about yet. And the truth about Amy’s whereabouts may be closer to home than Kat could ever imagine…My Thoughts: Kat Ellis is the first-person narrator of The Empty Nest, and she is clearly overly involved in her daughter’s life, so much so that Amy’s choice to attend a university in Wales might just be a way to finally create her own life.But then Amy goes missing. For a while, nobody believes she is really gone, blaming Kat’s overly obsessive need to control her life.Kat’s husband Richard, best friend Zoe, and even Jodie, who is Zoe’s daughter, all seem to bend over backwards to help Kat search for Amy—once they convince themselves that she is truly gone. All along, however, there are clues, red flags, and little pieces that don’t add up.So many red herrings kept me off track, making me suspicious of everyone. Even Richard and Amy’s biological dad Tony are persons of interest. Every time I turned another page, there were more suspects.Then we finally learn what happened to Amy…and I didn’t see it coming. I rapidly turned pages until the hidden truth was revealed. A twisty story that earned 4.5 stars.

I gave this 3 stars because while I didn’t guess the ending I didn’t like the main character. Richard should have had her in therapy years ago. I thought it was well written and worth the read

This book starts with a huge bang and then kind of sizzles. The premise is a good one; Kat has left her only daughter at a distant university and is desperately missing Amy. Then, when Amy is supposed to be coming home for a holiday, she disappears. No texts, no calls and no online presence at all. Kat is understandably frantic, casting aspersions on everyone she can in order to get them to admit that they know where Amy could be. That is where the interest kind of slowed down for me, just as the momentum of the book did. The rest of the book is a slow burn, a slow revelation of where Amy is and who is responsible for her disappearance. The author did a good. job of including some twists, but I must say that I had guessed most of them by the time she got there. I enjoyed reading the book, but it was not the psychological thriller that I was prepared to enjoy. Fans who enjoy a slow and well-written suspense will enjoy this book as long as their expectations for surprises are low.DisclaimerDisclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I just couldn't.Amy has gone off to uni, and her mother, Kat, is obsessed about her being gone. And I do mean obsessed. She cries when she hears music that they used to sing together. She expects a phone call every day and panics when Amy doesn't call. She sits in Amy's room every day. She repeatedly folds the clothes in her dresser. She won't go anywhere because Amy might call or want to come home.I read 4 chapters, and it was nothing but Kat obsessing to her husband and best friend that Amy was supposed to come home for the weekend and she hadn't heard from her. Kat kept asking them if she was over reacting. Then she got angry when they gently told her that she needed to stop worrying and get on with her life.And this went on and on and on for 4 chapters.Obviously something did happen to Amy, but at that point I didn't care. I figured that she probably ran away from her crazy mother.I feel like the author was just using all of this as filler to make the book longer.For me, it was putdownable. I didn't finish it, and can't recommend it

Definitely not a guy book, but full of lots of ups and downs. Like a roller coaster ride. You're never sure what's around the corner. Don't want to give away the ending. Be ready to be surprised.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I'm at the empty nesting stage of life, so I really could identify with Kat and her anxiety about Amy being away at college. I get it, I do. and the premise of this book is fascinating--daughter who communicates daily with mother ghosts her and seemingly disappears off the face of the earth. The delivery is just soooo sloooow.The first HALF of the book is all about Kat fretting about Amy, trying to get people to believe her that Amy is missing. I didn't like Kat at all, I thought she was awful and I think that the author did that on purpose, but things aren't exactly as they seem on the surface. There are secrets everywhere, which actually made this book better once things finally got going. The ending few chapters were exciting and flowed well, it was just getting there in the first place that was a chore for me. In the end, the wrap-up was great, so a decent read overall.

Storyline was just ok. Plot could have been told in just a few chapters. The first 60-70 pages were just the same words, over and over. Found myself scanning through and skipping pages. Usually a fan of Sue Watson, but this one was a no for me.

I’ve loved Sue Watson’s books in the past so I was excited to read this one, but I was so, SO disappointed. For a start it’s really badly written. I don’t understand this as like I say I’ve read all her other books, it reads more like someone’s first ever attempt at writing a novel. The prose is all over the place and the sentences are long and disjointed.I could put up with a badly written book if it was interesting. But literally nothing happens during the first three quarters of this book.We know Kat’s daughter Amy has gone missing and that’s it. Other than that it’s just a long, dull steam of consciousness from Kat. She regularly flits back to memories from the past but with no real structure. She can also weirdly remember word for word conversations that took place many years before and these are just plonked in next to her thoughts on what is happening now. She’s also incredibly annoying as a character and given that it’s told from her perspective, that really grates on you after a while.The storyline itself could be interesting if it was written properly but it is just so drawn out and focused on one character.I say nothing happened during the first three quarters of the book, I can’t make a judgement on the last quarter as I gave up. It really was that terminally dull, annoying, and badly written.It feels as if the book was written in a hurry and that a lot of the words were added in purely as a filler to bulk up the numbers. If you’ve not yet read a book from Sue Watson I recommend all others apart from this one.

If I had Kat for a mum I’d have done a runner. Kat was just not normal in my opinion and obsessed about her daughter to an uncomfortable degree. The dialogue was just wrong with Kats best friend calling her ‘love’ in every sentence uttered which just felt wrong. Sweetie was another term that didn’t sit well. 34per cent in on Kindle and still nothing has happened. OK we get the relationship is ‘close’ but this was like being battered round the head with the same theme. I stuck with it to the end but belligerently and I seldom give up on a book. Didn’t like the characters, didn’t believe in the relationships and thought ‘plot’ was weak.

Read the reviews and was expecting a good read. The book went on and on about obsessive thoughts of a mum whose daughter had gone missing. Ok we had to have some of this but chapters and chapters were boring and just too much. Skipped most of it to the end which was quite good but not a book I would recommend. Sorry just didn’t work for me .Alice pearson

I’m glad I read this book whilst I was on holiday because I literally couldn’t put it down until I found out what had happened to Kat’s daughter Amy!This novel taps into some of our darkest fears as parents, there were times when my stomach twisted in fear, others when I cried in recognition of the feelings of loss Kat experienced at letting go of her daughter as she left for university.Sue Watson cleverly weaves a cast of potential suspects into this story which ensures you never know how it will end.Absolutely loved it.

I read it right through to the end just to find out if Amy was in fact the monster that having a mother like this would have made her. And she was.Completely unlikeable characters . Such weeping and wailing …. there aren't that many tears in the world but they've all been cried in the space of a week or so by Kat her murderous mate and even the police liaison officer shed a few tears.Aberystwyth is well rid of such people. Definitely wouldn't recommend this book .