In a small town on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s, Toni Murphy can't wait to graduate from high school. Her parents disapprove of her boyfriend, Ryan, and her perfect little sister, Nicole, has started hanging around with a group of popular girls determined to make Toni's life miserable. Toni and Ryan have a plan to get away from everything, and they're so close....
Then, one night, Nicole is killed. Toni and Ryan are imprisoned and found guilty of her murder. Nicole's killer--or killers--not only took the life of their victim, but effectively Toni's and Ryan's as well, and the young love they shared: even when out on parole, they will be denied contact.
Seventeen years later, Toni is being processed out of prison when we meet her in the opening lines of That Night, the fourth novel by Chevy Stevens (Still Missing). The narrative shifts back and forth between the events of 1996, when Toni's teenaged world fell apart, and the present, with Toni newly released from prison and struggling to rebuild her life. Ryan is intent upon solving the crime they've been convicted of, but as he gets closer to the truth, Toni may be in danger--and she may not be the only one.
Stevens matches the success of her previous novels with character-driven drama and a clear commitment to the particular nuances of her Canadian setting. Readers will want to keep all the lights on as That Night moves into its final acceleration. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia