#lost night files

[bookwyrmshoard]

The Night Island, by Jayne Ann Krentz

Fast-paced, high-octane paranormal romantic suspense

(Note: This review contains spoilers for book #1 in the series, Sleep No More.)

I've been a fan of Jayne Ann Krentz's fast-paced, high-octane romantic suspense thrillers for years now, so I always look forward to the next one. The Night Island did not disappoint. In fact, the pacing is smoother than in the previous book in this series (Sleep No More), and the plot is easier to follow.

In Sleep No More, we learned that months earlier, three women (Pallas, Talia, and Amelia) had woken together, strapped to gurneys in a burning building, with no memories of the previous night... and with enhanced psychic abilities. Determined to find out what happened to them, they joined together to start The Lost Night Files podcast. Sleep No More recounts Pallas's investigation of someone else's missing night; she and the subject, Ambrose, eventually figure out that they both took the same psych evaluation test years before, and suspect that whoever experimented on the four of them may be working from a list based on that test.

After a prologue to introduce the hero, The Night Island begins with Talia March headed to a meeting with an unknown informant with information about the list. But when she shows up at the rendezvous, the informant is missing, and another interested party, hero Luke Rand, is also there. The pair warily exchange information, discovering that they are both looking for the same list, and for the same reasons: Luke, too, experienced a lost night and a significant boost to his psychic powers. Talia knows he's not telling her everything, but based on a clue found in the missing informant's house, they agree to join forces to investigate the Night Island and search for the informant using Talia's enhanced talent for finding things. Outwardly the home of a tech-free meditation retreat, the Night Island has a decidedly creepy vibe, with unusual vegetation, a mysterious conservatory, and a very weird gardener. When people on the island start turning up dead, it will take all of Luke's and Talia's skills to keep themselves alive and solve the puzzles of the Night Island.

If you're thinking this sounds somewhat familiar, you're not wrong. There were hints in Sleep No More that the Lost Night Files trilogy might eventually tie into the Fogg Lake trilogy, with its mysterious Foundation and secret, lost government labs where experiments in psychic abilities and weapons took place. Those hints grow stronger in The Night Island, which has me excited for the third book (presumably featuring the third member of the podcast team, Amelia, and probably releasing in January 2025.) And since there were hints in the Fogg Lake books that the Foundation may exist in the same "universe" as the Arcane Society novels, though independent and unaware of the Arcane Society... well, this Krentz fan is definitely hooked.

One of the things I love about the Arcane Society series is how the Society offers structure and organization to the paranormal world and to the various types of "talent." Most of the characters are aware of and operate within that known structure; it helps ground them. Their own talents may be off the charts, but most of them exist within a community that recognizes and acknowledges the existence of the paranormal. In a more nebulous way, the Foundation serves a similar purpose in the Fogg Lake books.

That's not true for the Lost Night Files characters, who went from having slightly-better-than-normal intuition or abilities to having a strong psychic talent. Not only are they dealing with the impacts of, and learning the extent of, their enhanced abilities, there's all the disorientation of not knowing what happened to them and who was responsible. And they have to cope with all this without the benefit of any support other than each other, in a world which doesn't believe at all in paranormal abilities. It makes all the Lost Night Files characters less confident, less trusting, and less open about their abilities than most of the Arcane Society characters... but equally determined to survive and thrive. Talia and Luke are no exception.

In fact, Talia and Luke are typical of Krentz's main characters—smart, capable, and emotionally strong—though both are on the edgier, less communicative side of the Krentz hero/heroine spectrum for the reasons I mentioned above. I'm still not entirely sure why Talia is so drawn to the deeply taciturn Luke. Then again, she's not exactly open about her own thoughts and feelings, and clearly recognizes and (to some extent) accepts Luke's reticence. As a long-time fan, I have accepted that sometimes, I just have to accept the attraction between Krentz's hero and heroine as a given, and that's what I did in this case. Krentz does a good job of showing how their relationship develops from wariness to reluctant-and-limited partnership to deep-seated trust as they learn more about one another. The progression feels slow, but since the book takes place over the course of four days, it's actually quite fast.

It's hard to say any more about the plot of The Night Island without revealing spoilers, so I won't. I'll just say that for me, it hangs together better than the plot of Sleep No More —which I nonetheless enjoyed—and that I liked The Night Island as much or more on a second reading (to refresh my memory for this review) than I did the first time through. If you are already a Krentz fan, I think you'll have fun with this book. If you are new to her work, or to her paranormal-themed romantic suspense, I recommend starting with either Second Sight (the first Arcane Society novel, written under her Amanda Quick pen name), or The Vanishing (the first Fogg Lake book.)

[thereadingcafe]

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[rainbow-neko-artblog]

V suggested they go on a date and wanted to get very dressed up, it works like a charm!~

(they could never make me hate you mirror shipping. I've been really into Vlan/FlanV because my friend is REALLY GOOD at convincing me that its the most perfect ship in the world. (their art is scrumptious) so have some more doodles i already posted to twitter BELOW!)

[toonishtragedy]

🏳️‍⚧️

[mybabysitterisntavampire]

I am so mad that this game is technically lost media I want to play it so bad

[123pinkaddison]

morbid idea i got at like 1:30 am (couldnt sleep) anyways somethings wrong w/ my copy of deltarune guys

[riverfighter]

Thank you for 100, have your food because I have been working on this for a long while actually, this is like a au where it's like a fighting game and yeah it's heavily inspired by dragon ball z fighters so teehee new hyperfixation with this one and which the au is called funkin Boss Rush, more will come out soon

[astoldbychae]

God-sisters, Besties, Fine Ass Gworls. 💕

Fun fact: Aura, Monet, and Bess (yes, scamming as EcoLifestyle ass Bess) are all best friends. Monet & Bess were roommates in college. Bess messed around with Dre (Aura's older brother) for a little bit during their 1st year in college (until He decided to go into the Military). Fast forward to Monet's post grad life, Aura came to stay with her during her internship in San Myshuno and that's when She met Bess (since she lived across town in Evergreen Harbor). These 3 would go out damn near every weekend and that's how Bess & Aura grew closer together. Bess was actually the one who told Aura about the job opportunity at Sollitto Enterprises (Moe was looking for a new Assistant and that's how Aura and Moe met and later on started dating).

[pridewishes]

happy pride month!!! is it okay if i request FLAnimal with trans and bisexual? he's a character from an FNF mod called FNF: The lost Files, his song is titled "SET ME FREE"!!! its okay if not, though but thank you in advance!! ^^

[drawsdenfiles]

Yaaas!

[hexdoodlez]

Meet Flanguard, your personal virtual assistant and guardian of your computer! 💙🛡️

[bookwyrmshoard]

Sleep No More, by Jayne Ann Krentz

Sleep No More kicks off the Lost Night Files, a trilogy of books about three women whose psychic talents were apparently enhanced after a mysterious night none of them can remember.

Ambrose Drake is convinced he witnessed a murder while a patient at a sleep clinic. Or at least, he witnessed the cleanup. But without evidence, he can’t be sure. When a member of the clinic’s staff goes missing after contacting Ambrose, he contacts the Lost Night Files podcasters to investigate. The one who shows up is Pallas Llewellyn, an interior designer whose career has been derailed by her need to find out what happened on her “lost night.”

It turns out that Ambrose, like Pallas and her friends, also experienced an increase in his talent (in his case, reading auras) after a similar lost night… which has been affecting his sleep, as well as his writing career. The pair set out to solve the mystery of the missing man and uncover a lot more than they anticipated.

I really debated how to rate Sleep No More. It’s a fun, quick read, and I enjoyed it on the whole. However, the typically convoluted plot doesn’t hang together quite as well as in most of Krentz’s books, the banter is not as witty or sharp, and much of the novel felt like a rehash of various plot and character elements from previous books. For instance, if you are familiar with Krentz’s books, particularly the Arcane Society and Fogg Lake series, you’ll immediately see parallels with the Nightshade organization and their talent-enhancing formula. I suspect the series may tie in with the Arcane novels eventually, if only tangentially. (There’s even a Jones in the book, albeit briefly and in flashback.)

Another problem I had is that while the prologue does a good job of setting up Ambrose’s backstory and motivation, the same isn’t true of Pallas. In her case, Krentz keeps dropping hints about a similar experience in Pallas’s past, but for too long, I felt I was in the dark regarding the traumautic experience Pallas shared with her fellow podcasters — her main motivation throughout the book. (Note that the publisher’s synopsis leads with that incident, but the reader shouldn’t have to rely on a blurb to figure out what’s going on.)Structurally, I think the book might work better with two prologues, one from each main character’s POV. I do understand why Krentz didn’t lead with Pallas’s lost night; it may be her motivation, but it’s not the central plot of Sleep No More, although it will probably turn out to be the main focus of the overall series arc. But it would have helped to have the information sooner.

So all in all, a fun entry in the Krentz canon, but not one of her best. Still, I’m looking forward to the next installment!

Review originally published on The Bookwyrm’s Hoard blog.

[rtcolorsans]

FNF THe LoSt FileS

(BF EXE)

smartphone screen

⚠️Please don't forget about the size⚠️

Ilove this BF EXE and song too.

(Im not lieing)

https://x.com/color_sans/status/1747202467610411411?s=46&t=LIpsZSk_ZUAdzM5XBqI-9Q

[rainbow-neko-artblog]

Kicks my lil feet and giggles.

[toonishtragedy]

🩻

more versions undercut

[reignsan]

Fate series timeline from Type-Moon Ace magazine volume 15. Nothing new here but cool to visualize.