Q: In many ways, a detective, like Harriet, and a scientist, like the Ashas, have a similar job description. What interested you about these two jobs and made you want to explore them via these characters and this plot? Hamdy, James Patterson,Adam. "Private Moscow". www.penguin.co.uk . Retrieved 13 October 2020. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ( link) The Other Side of Nightbegins with a man named David Asha writing about his biggest regret: his sudden separation from his son, Elliot. In his grief, David tells a story. Then we start reading Harriet Kealty’s story from third person narration accompanied by transcripts of court records, diaries, video records from 11 years later. And we realize the writer of the story: David Asha is presumed dead after his wife lost his battle against cancer. He’s just seen at the edge of the cliff and later he vanished into thin air. They never found his body. So we think he is alive from the beginning to write this story but something tremendously tragic happened to his son Elliot he left behind.

Next, we step into the life of Harriet Kealty, a police officer trying to clear her name after a lapse of judgment. She discovers a curious inscription in a secondhand book—a plea: Help me, he’s trying to kill me. Who wrote this note? Who is “he”? Following the deaths of his close friends, Ben became an adoptive father to their orphaned son Elliot. But Harriet suspects that Ben knows more about these deaths than he’s willing to say…The publisher has requested not to spoil the surprises in this book. That immediately intrigued me. With that in mind, here is a super brief synopsis: In the end, I found comfort from this story. Thanks again to Atria for putting this book in my hands, and to Adam Hamdy for being inspired to write it. The Other Side of Night tells the story of Harriet Kealty, a former police detective who begins to investigate a man she briefly dated, Ben Elmys. Ben was recently given custody of a 10-year-old boy named Elliot Asha after Elliot’s parents, David and Elizabeth, both passed away. But there are mysteries surrounding both David’s and Elizabeth’s deaths, and Harriet begins to wonder if Ben was somehow involved.

Since a lot of the book involved David philosophizing about his life, the narrator seemed perfect for that aspect of the story. His storytelling fit t This is such a strange book to try to review, and I mean that. I went into it expecting a mystery/thriller with a big twist...and then basically had to sit on my hands and hang in there for about 80% of the read waiting for that twist to happen. An intricate, exhilarating mystery that makes it feel as though the ground is shifting beneath your feet. * Crime Reads *Overall, this is an excellent blend of themes, it’s a go with the flow read for a better experience and oddly, I find I can buy into what I’ve just read because it is so well written. At 80% into this book I was prepared to give it 2 stars. It was very slow and had so much telling, I was starting to glaze over and get so very bored. Then came the big twist and it morphed into an even bigger twist and I was sold. The narrative alternates between Hari, a former police officer under investigation, who finds herself investigating her former boyfriend, Ben Elmys. There is also the story of David Asha, an author suspected of suicide, who left his young son behind, Elliot.

A fantastic read. Mind bending, gut wrenchingly tense and one of the most original stories I've read in years. It was an absolute treat' - John Marrs, author of The Vacation A: Scientists make the impossible happen. The computer I’m typing on, the phone beside me, the medicine that keeps a loved one alive, the plane passing overhead, all exist because a scientist set out to solve a problem. They share qualities with detectives because both try to get to the truth. The scientist uses truth to improve our understanding of the world, something that might have practical significance as per the examples above. The detective uses the truth to deliver justice. Both are extremely powerful motivators. There’s a purity to scientific inquiry and an inherent impurity to judicial inquiry, and both fascinate me, and I think make for interesting reading.Ben Elmys: once the love of her life. A surrogate father to Elliot Asha and trusted friend to the Ashas.

A: The main reason I write is to entertain people, and so I hope THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT is an entertaining read. I know full well it’s an emotional book, because it still gets to me and not only did I write it, I must have read it more than fifty times. I hope people take something from the emotional experience that helps them, either in catharsis or reflection. I get messages from readers who say the book has changed them or the way they perceive the world, which is extremely gratifying. I truly believe it’s important to ask questions about life, even if one doesn’t get satisfactory answers, and I think THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT prompts people to do that. A strange, compelling, and ultimately moving head-spinner of a novel’ – John Connolly, author of The Furies Q: You also work as a screenwriter. What elements of screenwriting and film helped you write THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT? A: Novelists are outsiders. We spend most of our time living in pretend worlds, engaging with real life to observe and pilfer. I have mixed feelings about some novels that feature novelists because they can seem introspective or contrived, but in this case, it made sense. What would you do if you found yourself in a strange world without any relevant skills or expertise? Becoming an author seemed a sensible career choice for a man in a very unusual situation.

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Harriet Kealty is a key to this story. In an impulsive moment during her job as a police officer, she makes a mistake and loses her job in disgrace. She didn't do what she's been accused of doing and she wants to clear her name. During this time she meets Ben Elmys and knows he's the one after just two dates. Her heart is broken when he breaks up with her on the third date. Is it Harri that is the problem? Is her thinking so far off that she can't make any right decisions? To start, the publisher has asked to keep things on the hush-hush side in terms of plot, but to set the stage at least...We begin by meeting David Asha, who is reeling from the loss of his son Elliot. He warns the tale he is about to tell will sound like fiction, but is entirely true. After this initial intro, we meet Harriet "Harri" Kealty, a former police officer who has had to leave the profession after a tragic mistake during her time on the force. This blow leaves her without purpose, but things seem to take a turn for the better when she meets Ben Elmys, a stranger with a poetic soul who sparks her attention immediately. They begin a courtship, but Harri is devastated when Ben breaks it off and is left puzzling as to what she did wrong. I remained on the edge of my seat with a lump in my throat until the last chapter where one sentence had me crying rivers of tears. I read it over and over, and cried again. I read it a few times because it was philosophical and beautiful and heartrending, and I wanted to make sure I understood and truly soaked up every word of its brilliance.