The Day He Never Came Home is characterized by excellent writing and a unique storytelling mode that makes it stand out from other domestic suspense novels. While its main character, Regan Peters, is a lemon, it’s not necessary to like her–after all, American Psycho is a literary masterpiece, and the narrator is, literally, a psycho.
Regan Peter’s financial advisor husband John has risen from nothing to be able to provide a very comfortable living situation for the family. On Regan’s birthday, he takes her to a lake house he proclaims is hers in all senses of the word–most notably, legally, as he watches her sign the papers to complete the transaction that very day. Oh, happy day for Regan–she is receiving yet another possession she hasn’t earned herself; and it doesn’t strike her as odd that breadwinner John isn’t co-signing the documents.
The day following this blissful celebration, John doesn’t come home after work. When the FBI shows up on Regan’s doorstop, it’s discovered that the financial empire John has built is really a house of cards, and the day of wind has come.
Although Regan insists that she has no clue as to what John has been up to–she doesn’t, not really–she finds herself in the public spotlight and under the FBI’s gaze as she attempts to piece together what has happened, find John, and finagle enough money to allow her and her small children to survive (Hopefully, without having to work. Working is hard for Regan).
Regan’s narrative ends on a cliffhanger to switch to John-the-Financial-Advisor’s origin story, and this is where the book is truly absorbing. In Regan’s narrative, the reader gets glimpses of and anecdotes into the couple’s relationship. John’s perspective is the more fleshed-out version, one that tells a cautionary tale about how, once morally compromised, it’s easy for that snowball to keep on rolling, and rolling, until–BAM! Tree. It’s also interesting in that, while John is the money launderer, he’s far more likable than Regan. At least he has some sense of self-awareness.
This segment of The Day He Never Came Home raises questions related to the adage that “the past always catches up to you” and how circumstances can affect culpability. If John’s past self had no future, should the fact that he had to create his own earn him any reprieve from the consequences of what he’s done?
Regan’s and John’s stories marry up in present day, with the FBI (and others) hot on the couple’s trail and seemingly nowhere for them to go. But there may be no “them” any longer, after all the years of lies.
Well-crafted and with an excellent sense of setting, this one is a page-turner well worth the read.
Sarah Reida is a writer of dark comedy thrillers. Her Kirkus-starred adult debut, Neighborhood Watch, is Desperate Housewives meets Agatha Christie, and it was recently honored as an Amazon editorial pick as one of the Best Books of the Year So Far 2024. If you’re interested in reading a locked room thriller (i.e., a neighborhood) about terrible people getting murdered, click here. And join Sarah’s elite group of Instagram followers here.
