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Some people like to spend their summers reading light, fluffy novels. But if you prefer to balance out the bright summer sun with a dark and dramatic read, you can’t go wrong with author Chevy Stevens—or her latest thriller, That Night.
That Night is the story of Toni Murphy, a troubled teen turned even more troubled adult. At 18, Toni couldn’t wait to move on with her grown-up life. Her parents didn’t understand her, always favoring her perfect little sister, Nicole, instead. The only bright spot was her boyfriend, Ryan.
That summer, it seemed as though Toni and Ryan had their whole lives ahead of them. But then Nicole was brutally murdered, and Toni and Ryan were sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit.
Now 34, Toni is on parole, struggling to stay out of trouble and get her life back on track. But memories of that night still haunt her—as do the witnesses who lied at her trial—and she becomes more and more determined to find out what really happened to Nicole.
With her latest thriller, Stevens may stray a bit from her usual storytelling style, but the effect is still the same. Toni isn’t the type to open up to a therapist—as previous characters have done. Instead, her story is simply a first-person narrative, skipping back and forth through time to explore Toni’s teen years, her life in prison, and her struggle to reclaim her life as an adult.
From the beginning—with Toni’s release from prison—That Night is a captivating story, blending mystery and suspense with elements of teen angst, sibling rivalry, and prison drama into a dark and haunting and often emotional read. Like Stevens’s earlier novels, it’s strong on atmosphere. It’s tense and foreboding, giving readers an undeniable sense that, in spite of Toni’s release from prison, it’ll be a while before she can put her troubled past behind her.
But it’s not all about the atmosphere. The story also benefits from a strong—and well-developed—main character. Misunderstood as a teenager and bullied by her peers, Toni’s rough facade is mostly a cover for disappointment and insecurity. As an adult, it’s much the same, with Toni’s hardened exterior little more than a defense mechanism—the result of more than a decade in prison. Though Stevens sometimes struggles to capture a consistent voice for the character, readers will grow to care about her. And as she tries to dig for answers without landing back in prison, you’ll hold your breath and hope for the best until you reach her story’s appropriately messy conclusion.
With its chilling set-up, its haunting tone, and its conflicted main character, That Night is another thoughtful story by a must-read author. As with Stevens’s earlier novels, the character and her story are sure to linger in your memory after you’ve finished reading the last page.
Listen to the audio review on Shelf Discovery:
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