Book Review: The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Pages: 320

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: September 17, 2024

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: The Last Thing He Told Me

and Hello, Sunshine

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "Estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal...

Liam Noone was many things to many people. To the public, he was an exacting, self-
made hotel magnate fleeing his past. To his three ex-wives, he was a loving albeit distant family man who kept his finances flush and his families carefully separated. To Nora, he was a father who often loved her from afar – notably a cliffside cottage perched on the California coast from which he fell to his death.   

The authorities rule the death accidental, but Nora and her estranged brother Sam have other ideas. As Nora and Sam form an uneasy alliance to unravel the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past—and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s trademark combination of soulful suspense and evocative family drama, The Night We Lost Him is a riveting page-turner with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.

 

Nora is an architect working in Brooklyn and her life seems to be going well, that is until her half-sibling, Sam, shows up at her work. She doesn't have real relationships with any of her half-siblings, so this is alarming. Recently their father, a hotelier, has died at his California home. It was deemed an accident involving the steep cliffs on the property. Sam has come to tell Nora that the "accident" wasn't an accident at all. He has reasons to believe that Liam, their father, was pushed. So, Sam and Nora try to unravel the mystery independently as the police have already closed the case. Meanwhile, there is a parallel narrative that takes readers back to fifty years ago when Liam was in a relationship with a woman named Cory, who is not one of his three ex-wives. Laura Dave's The Night We Lost Him is part family drama with a mystery mixed in and while it had a lot of potential, ultimately, it fell flat.

Nora's life is turned upside down with Sam's arrival in The Night We Lost Him. At first, I thought there was no way these two could work together as they barely get along, but slowly, they started to figure out the mystery surrounding Liam's death. Readers try to piece together the clues as well and try to figure out who the mysterious Cory featured in the flashbacks to fifty years ago is and how she relates to the bigger story. As more time goes by and Nora and Sam do a little more digging and family secrets are revealed, which is to be expected as Liam had three ex-wives.

I had high hopes for The Night We Lost Him as I really enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me, but this novel was missing that special something. While it kept me somewhat entertained, I found I didn't care about the characters or their issues. The character development was missing something extra and in turn, it felt like a "meh" read to me. I was also expecting this one to be a bit more thrilling than it was; instead, it read like a soapy family drama.

So, are you a fan of Laura Dave? Have you read The Night We Lost Him? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.