Some Shall Break (Book #2 None Shall Sleep Sequence) by Ellie Marney

Title: Some Shall Break (Book #2 None Shall Sleep Sequence)

Author: Ellie Marney

Genre: Crime

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 6^th June 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 400

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: From the author of The Killing Code comes the electrifying sequel to New York Times bestselling YA thriller None Shall Sleep. Junior FBI consultants Travis Bell and Emma Lewis are swept into a compelling and dangerous new case that may unravel everything they’ve been working for.

September 1982: Three months after the showdown with Simon Gutmunsson in St Elizabeth’s Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Emma Lewis has retreated to college life in Ohio, and the support of her family and her therapist. But Emma has a unique gift for hunting killers, and the FBI wants her back…

Travis Bell is on track to make a career in law enforcement. But the FBI unit’s latest case is testing all his skills, and in Emma’s absence, Travis has accepted help from Kristin Gutmunsson, Simon’s eccentric twin sister, to track a dangerous new target.

When evidence points to the traumatic Daniel Huxton case from Emma’s past, the FBI decides to put her into protective custody. Compelled to prevent more tragedy, Emma reaches out once more to Simon Gutmunsson to save the copycat’s next victims – but as always, Simon knows more than he’s telling…

Can Emma and Travis conquer a killer in the most horrifying situation they’ve ever faced?

~*~

Three months after Travis Bell and Emma Lewis helped the FBI interview juvenile offenders and were caught in a dramatic showdown with Simon Gutmunsson, one of the worst serial killers ever at St Elizabeth’s Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Emma wants nothing more to do with the FBI. She’s trying to stay away from it all, back home in Apple Creek. Travis Bell has started his career in law enforcement, but the FBI has a new case that is eerily similar to the Huxton case – the man that Emma escaped three years ago. In Emma’s absence and reluctance to join in at first, Travis joins forces with Simon’s eccentric twin sister, Kristin – but now Emma has been drawn back into the folds of the people who let her down to find this new killer, dubbed the College Killer. And to find him, Emma has to get back in contact with Simon, who knows more than he is telling, and when push comes to shove, who can Travis and Emma trust as threads begin to unravel?

The second book in the Some Shall Break sequence starts off with a bang – a dark moment, quite unlike the first book, where we had a gentler entry into this world. And from the first page, as a reader, I was catapulted back into the early days of the then-Behavioural Science Unit, where the analogue world meant delays and frustration. In September of 1982, Emma wants nothing more to do with the FBI, but a Daniel Huxton copycat, who is killing college-aged girls and posing them as brides – everything is like the Daniel Huxton case, with a few differences and the FBI needs to keep Emma safe.

As the case goes back and forth between the new victims, Emma’s interactions with Simon, and Kristin’s interest in the case and Emma, there are carefully placed layers that at first, seem like they could be unrelated, but let’s be real here – we are dealing with an Ellie Marney book and nothing about what she does with her plots and characters is accidental. This is what I love about her books – they are compelling, scary, and books that I simply cannot put down, because once I get to the climax, I need to get to the end especially as the chapters get short and choppy, and change perspective a lot more than the previous ones. Throughout the book, because it is written in third person, we are able to see the world through Emma, Travis, Simon, and Kristin’s perspectives, which are all cleverly used to create the story and ensure the constant evolution of the characters as we get a better understanding of them – or in some cases, develop a healthy and very warranted fear of some, who were just as terrifying in the first book. If it is at all possible, I think Simon got worse, but he’s the kind of villain you want to follow – to find out what will happen to him and how he will finally be defeated. I have also always felt a touch off about Kristin – something about her eagerness to be Emma’s friend and to be involved in the case made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up – she was one of those characters who never had my trust. Again, there were moments during the climax where I wanted to scram at the characters to not do the Thing, but then they went and did the Thing anyway – typical!  This book had my heart pounding throughout and wanting to help Emma throughout the novel too – she was hurting and all I wanted to do was be there for her – I felt that Kristin’s friendship was not quite so genuine at times – she used a different kind of manipulation than her twin, and perhaps that was what made her a bit more insidious and kept having me on high alert with her throughout.

Ellie has crafted a range of characters with all sorts of motivations, and she knows how to hook her readers in – and I know there has to be another book coming because I felt like there were a few loose ends that needed to be wrapped up, answers that we need – and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next – Simon is a character who will not let his creator rest until his story is done – and he is the stuff of nightmares – I would not like to meet him or his twin in a dark alley, because despite appearances, they are capable of much more than they let on, and much more than everyone knows about. This is what made them truly chilling to me – that they had all these layers and that they knew things and hid them from everyone for their own means. Travis and Emma have also changed – Emma is still dealing with her trauma and her friend Travis, is determined to protect her, keep her safe, and all while trying to ensure he can stay in his job. The FBI are determined to catch this new killer – and make sure that they keep their junior consultant safe as the stakes are raised – and the climax reaches its heart-pounding and terrifying conclusion – where we have no idea who will survive or who will end up where – and that is what kept me reading. The crime kept this one moving, and whenever Ellie held back, I always knew there was more to come as she cleverly revealed everything we needed to know at the precise moment we needed to know. This ensured that the story moved along well and kept the pace up – and I liked that it was slow when it needed to be and faster when necessary as well. I found this a wonderful way to experience the book, much like the first one. I am very eager to read the next one and to see how Emma and Travis finally deal with Simon and Kristin. I hope it won’t be too long to wait for the next one – but then, perhaps the fun in that will be being able to re-read the first two books in anticipation for the next one.