After Closing

A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist

She never stopped searching, and the buried secrets led to a disturbing final twist.

My sister Audrie disappeared from Nightfall Commons Mall fifteen years ago.
She was eight years old. She vanished from the play area while I was supposed to be watching her.

The police gave up.
My parents gave up.
Everyone moved on.

Everyone except me.

Now I work nights in the same dying mall where she vanished, patrolling empty corridors lit by flickering fluorescents and haunted by unanswered questions. I can’t leave. I can’t stop looking. I can’t outrun the guilt that’s been rotting inside me since I was seventeen.

The mall isn’t as empty as it should be.

With the help of a security guard named Jeremy, I start reviewing old footage—and that’s when we see it. Missing time. Gaps in the recordings. Hours that simply don’t exist. The same hours tied to the night my sister disappeared.

As we dig deeper into the mall’s sealed-off wings and forgotten service tunnels, the truth feels closer than ever. But someone else knows we’re getting close.

The killer has been watching all along.
And they didn’t stay hidden for fifteen years by accident.

Tropes:
🧩 Cold Case Disappearance
🏬 Abandoned Mall Setting
👁️ Watched Protagonist
🕰️ Missing Time & Corrupted Footage
🧠 Guilt-Driven Obsession
🔍 Amateur Investigation
🚪 Sealed Rooms & Hidden Corridors
📼 Surveillance Horror
🕳️ Buried Secrets
🔥 Disturbing Final Twist

After Closing is a chilling psychological thriller that explores control, perception, and how easily reality can be manipulated. With mounting tension, unreliable truths, and relentless twists, it delivers an ending that refuses to let go.

Content Warning: This book involves the disappearance and deaths of children. While not graphically depicted, these themes are central to the story and may be disturbing to some readers.

Great story with nice twists

I don't care for the ai reading of the book it doesn't allow for the inflection or any emotion in emotional points in the book

enjoyed the story

I didn't like the virtual voice reading the book. the voice was to monotone.

Ottery is the new Jane

I found myself having to narrate the story in my own voice to let some emotion into the story and make it more interesting - I’ve never aspired to be an audio book narrator. The story mirrored the narrator and I found myself thinking of multiple ways the story could have unfolded. The characters could use more development and the story ended rather abruptly and too nicely buttoned up. I finished it because I had already started it, was curious about the ending, and was as committed to my house cleaning.

Good story but didn't care for narration

This is a good story but could have been better without the virtual voice narration.

meh

It's was good enough to finish listening, but not great. The AI voiced was distracting. I think the sister's name was Audrey, but was pronounced Otter-y throughout. And there was an inconsistency at the end where an object was put in a grave in one chapter, but was then next to an urn in the next chapter.