The Night of The Storm by Nishita Parekh (Hardcover)

Fiction - Mystery & Detective 

RELEASE DATE: 1/16/2024 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE)

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 at 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. . . .

AUTHOR  BIO: 

Nishita Parekh was born and raised in Mumbai and now lives in Texas with her husband and toddler. She is a software programmer but a writer at heart and loves writing about her experiences as a woman and an immigrant. She is an active member of International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Color, and Sisters in Crime, and is a #RevPit contest winner. The Night of the Storm is her first novel.

"Parekh's impressive debut combines a variation on the locked-room mystery with social commentary on the immigrant experience and the role of women in Indian culture.” —Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)

“The Night of the Storm opens with a hurricane and grows tenser with every page as a single mother and her child find themselves sheltering in place with a killer. Parekh augments this pulse-pounding premise with brilliantly drawn characters who must navigate family secrets, betrayals, and the cultural complexities of being an immigrant in America. I was riveted the whole way through!” —Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines

“A story of natural--and unnatural--disaster that simmers with dread from start to pulse-pounding finish. Nishita Parekh breathes fresh life into the locked-room mystery with beautifully rendered single mom Jia Shah, her ferocious love for her son, and her sharp exploration of the pressures faced by immigrant women and mothers. Atmospheric, gripping, and satisfying--a debut thriller not to be missed.” —Katie Gutierrez, nationally bestselling author of More Than You'll Ever Know

“This dazzling and multilayered thriller has everything: a brilliantly twisty plot laced with intelligent social commentary, a stormy and claustrophobic setting, and characters who leap off the page and into your heart.  It's a thoughtful story of sisterhood, the ups and downs of single parenting, and the complexities of starting fresh in a new place...and at the same time, a wildly entertaining thriller filled with secrets and mayhem that will keep you guessing until the final page.  I loved it and I can't wait to see what Nishita will write next!” —Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl with the Louding Voice

“Nishita Parekh's debut deftly blends suspense and family dynamics in a way I've never read before. I was immediately hooked from the first pages and flew through the story in a single sitting. Readers everywhere will root for Jia on her journey of motherhood, survival, and identity. I can't wait to read what Parekh writes next. The Night of the Storm is a fresh and gripping story that shows Parekh is a talent to watch!” —Saumya Dave, author of What a Happy Family and Well-Behaved Indian Women