The Empty Nest by Sue Watson

☆☆1/2
Kindle Edition, 319 pages
Published November 1st 2019 by Bookouture
About the Book:
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. But one day Amy doesn’t call. Kat’s husband and friends think she is being paranoid – surely Amy is just out, having fun with her friends. But Kat knows right away that something is very wrong. Her daughter would never forget to call. She would never just disappear... After all, Amy has nothing to run from. Or does she?

This was my first book by Sue Watson and I was really looking forward to reading it since she has written quite a few books and has a great fan base. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time with this story. I was expecting a thriller and this was definitely more of a suspense with a tad of mystery without any real thrills. The first six chapters were just Kat staring at her phone and rambling on and on.

To be fair, I want to say there were some interesting turns and the writing was good but sometimes the story just became boring and somewhat disjointed...the Kat character simply exhausted me. She was so neurotic and aggressive that I couldn't sympathize with her dilemma because she became such an unlikable, hot mess.

I thought there would be a big redeeming twist at the end, and the author tried, but sadly it just fell flat. I'm not quite sure what the author wanted with this story. The blurb was exciting and sounded suspenseful with the story-line sounding like "Every Mother's Nightmare" but it became...This Mother was a Nightmare. I want to say that I may be in the minority with my opinions and maybe this book just wasn't for me, and the ending was a BIG let- down.

Thank you NetGalley, Sue Watson and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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