For those who read a lot of crime and thrillers, Just Like the Night is a little different from the usual murder, investigation and big reveal.
Sera Olin is a former con artist who has spent more than eight years in prison and is now trying to stay out of trouble and rebuild a relationship with her daughter.
In wanting to reconnect with her daughter, Lena, Sera is being pulled back into a world she knows far too well as Lena has managed to get herself mixed up with some fairly dangerous people.
What I liked about Sera is that she isn’t particularly easy to judge. She has made plenty of bad decisions and, even when she is trying to do the right thing, you can see how easily she could make another one.
But when it comes to Lena, you understand why she keeps getting involved.
The story moves between Sera’s past and what is happening now, and that worked for me because you gradually understand how she ended up where she did. It isn’t a whodunnit, and there isn’t really a mystery to solve. The tension comes from watching Sera get herself deeper and deeper into a situation that doesn’t look as though it is going to end well.
There is plenty of crime in it, but I thought the more interesting part was the relationship between Sera and her daughter, and the question of how much responsibility you carry for the choices your family makes.
It is dark, and there are not many straightforward good guys, which I liked. Sera isn’t suddenly transformed because she has been to prison either. She still has all the instincts and habits that got her into trouble in the first place.
I enjoyed this. It had enough going on to keep me reading, but it was really Sera I wanted to know more about.
If you normally read crime and thrillers, don’t go into it looking for a detective story. It is more about what happens when someone genuinely wants a different life, but keeps finding that the old one isn’t quite finished with them.
OUR RATING – 4/5
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