Emiko Jean On The Role Of Hope In Her Riveting New Thriller

It’s been two years since high schooler Ellie Black disappeared from a motel party in her coastal Washington state hometown. When she reemerges on a hiking trail, it seems like a miracle. Yet her reappearance elicits more questions than answers. Ellie refuses to talk about where she’s been or who took her to either her family or the police. Meanwhile, the detective working Ellie’s case, Chelsey Calhoun, finds that delving into Ellie’s kidnapping resurfaces memories of her sister’s murder nearly twenty years earlier. With The Return of Ellie Black, Emiko Jean has crafted a page-turning thriller that honestly examines trauma and full of characters struggling to do the right thing. Jean spoke to us about keeping the pace moving, her influences, and the function of hope in her terrifying thriller.