The Night of the Storm

A Novel

By: Nishita Parekh

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From debut author Nishita Parekh, a fresh take on the classic locked-room thriller, about a multigenerational Indian American family marooned in a house with a murderer during Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey is about to hit Houston. Meanwhile, single mom Jia Shah is already having a rough week: her twelve-year-old son, Ishaan, has just been suspended from school for getting in a fight. Still reeling from the fallout of her divorce—their move to Houston, her family’s disapproval, the struggle to make ends meet on her own—now Jia is worried about Ishaan’s future, too. Will her solo parenting be enough? Doesn’t a boy need a father?

And now their apartment complex is under a mandatory evacuation order. Jia’s sister, Seema, has invited them to hunker down in her fancy house in Sugar Land, and despite Jia’s misgivings—Seema’s husband, Vipul, has been just a little too friendly with her lately—Jia concedes it’s probably the best place to keep Ishaan safe during the hurricane. With Jia’s philandering ex scrutinizing her every move, all too eager to snatch back custody of Ishaan, she can’t afford to make a mistake.

When Vipul’s brother and his wife show up on Seema’s doorstep, too, it’s a recipe for disaster. Grandma, the family matriarch, has never been shy about playing favorites among her sons and their wives. As the storm escalates, tensions rise quickly, and soon someone’s dead. Was it a horrible accident or is there a murderer in their midst?

With no help available until the floodwaters recede in the morning, Jia must protect her son and identify the culprit before she goes down for a crime she didn’t commit—or becomes the next victim. . . .

all about Jia's insides

Fun premise, twisty story, exciting climax. Yet I myself wanted to murder the main character by a few chapters in. (Mom-guilt and shame do not make up the entirety of anyone's inner life--I don't care how divorced they are.) Add to that weird transitions, confusing event descriptions, abrupt conversational shifts, improbable reactions and motivations--this book has the basics of structure down pat, but everything else is just weird, sloppy writing. The very worst thing, though, was the author's descriptions of the physical manifestations of Jia's negative emotions--so repetitive! We get it! Sensations are occurring in her stomach! You can't keep a character's feelings dialed up to 11 constantly without sacrificing the reader's suspension of disbelief and stomping all over their patience. So glad to be done with this book! I only regret that I couldn't find a plot summary to save myself the slog of the second half.