Take Back the Night

by Heather Gudenkauf, Kaira Rouda, Kimberly Belle

Three friends. One unfinished story. A killer back from the depths to write his own ending—the bestselling authors and cohosts of the Killer Author Club join forces in this mind-bending thriller.

Fifteen years ago, a group of college girls known as the “Dead Air Five” exposed a campus predator on live radio, ending his reign of terror one dark, unforgettable night. When Jake vanished into the lake’s black water, the world called it justice. The girls called it freedom.
They were wrong.

Now, Meg, Leah and Wren are settled into the ordinary lives they worked hard to build. But their quiet normalcy is shattered when strange things begin happening–things only Jake would know. As chilling patterns begin to emerge, the three friends realize that the darkness they buried may have returned—against all logic and possibly the very limits of science. Threatening messages and impossible events compel the women to reunite, only to uncover a truth more dangerous than they imagined.

Some monsters don’t drown. They wait.

Genres: Thriller, Adult, Mystery, Suspense

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 12, 2027

About the author

Heather Gudenkauf is the Edgar Award nominated, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of ten novels, including The Overnight Guest and her most recent thriller Everyone is Watching. Her debut novel, The Weight of Silence, was an instant NYT bestseller and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Gudenkauf’s critically acclaimed novels have been published in over 25 countries and have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. Her books have been featured on many Best Of roundups including lists by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Amazon, Apple Books, GoodReads, and more. Her eleventh novel, The Perfect Hosts will be released on November 4, 2025. Heather lives in Iowa with her family.

Reviews

[Victoria Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you love thrillers but always wished that they could include a heavy dose of A Wrinkle in Time light sci-fi, then this book might be for you! Alas, it was not for me. Which was a little heartbreaking because I usually adore Heather Gudenkauf's books. I looked up her coauthors to see if one is a sci-fi author, but it looks like they also write thrillers. So now I'm not sure if I disliked it because it was sci-fi or because it was poorly written sci-fi. Both?

Anyway. The first two thirds felt much like a typical thriller. You have a group of friends who stood together and named the campus rapist on radio. In an altercation afterward, they thought that they killed him accidentally ... but did they really? Fifteen years later, there's a new documentary on the man's disappearance being filmed and the women start receiving eerie reminders from the past. While I didn't love the actual story so much here, I did enjoy the writing and I was interested enough in the characters to keep reading.

Throughout they mention that one of the women is a physics teacher who was very interested in wormhole research in college. Okay. Not my cup of tea, but it's a unique backstory. But then they actually seriously started looking for the wormhole that this dude escaped into and that's where this book totally went off the rails. If all this faux-physics nonsense weren't bad enough, the YA ending where two lovers are reunited made me roll my eyes so hard.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC. I'll definitely still be eager to read Heather Gudenkauf's books, but maybe not with these co-authors.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is tough to rate for me...I was, for the most part, entertained enough to keep reading. I definitely enjoyed the thriller aspects of this book, and truthfully I thought I'd be getting thriller the whole way through. But what I ended up getting was thriller, with a heavy dose of sci-fi, which has never really been my thing. I've read all three of these authors before and genuinely enjoyed their work. And perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't believe any of them have written any sci-fi before. This book ended up being not what I expected at all. It started out pretty good, but as the sci-fi stuff became more prevalent, I found myself losing interest. Like I said earlier, I was entertained enough to want to see it through and see how it all turned out. But ultimately, I was left unsatisfied. My three star rating is perhaps a bit generous, but it did have some redeeming factors, so I'm sticking with it. I'm sure this book will have an audience that loves it. And if you happen to like sci - fi thrillers then give this one a go! But this one fell a bit short and won't be a memorable favourite of mine.

[Bonnie Traymore · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens when you push five strong, smart women against the wall and try to take away their power? Jake Higgins is about to find out, and it won’t be pretty. Back in college, these women used their voices to try and take down a vicious predator, only to have it backfire when Higgins “vanished” and nobody believed them. Fifteen years later, it feels as if he’s back from the dead. But that’s not possible, is it? Only three of them are left standing, and they team up to find him. This time, they vow, he won’t get out of it alive. This is a mind-bending, twisty paranormal thriller about resilience, revenge, and the bonds of true friendship that is impossible to put down. A must-read! Thanks to the Killer Author Club, Park Row, and NetGalley for this advance copy.

[Stacey Caldarone · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ wow I’m sorta speechless with this read. Thriller mixed with sci fi is my JAM. I really enjoyed this one. I didn’t expect the sci fi stuff which was a nice surprise. This story follows three friends (since college) Meg, Wren, and Leah who used to be a group of 5. Two have since been killed. They are forced to reunite when a documentary is being released about their work in college if outing a rapist, narcissist named Jake who then disappeared never to be seen again. New evidence arises and his car is found as well is incriminating items that might prove the girls had something to do with his death. They begin getting strange and threatening messages and deliveries and believe Jake may be back to finish the job. They have to work together to figure out the science as well as how to get rid of Jake forever before anyone else get hurts This book will be released January 12. Make sure to pre order if it you like thriller and science :)

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my most anticipated books of 2027! I adore The Killer Author Club and so I’m thrilled that they’ve come together to write a book together. When I tell you my cortisol levels have been up since chapter one…oh my goodness this book had me on the edge of my seat desperately rooting for these women.

I loved that this was such a cohesive ( and seriously dark) thriller, but I could really hear the unique voices of each author throughout, too.

And the sprinkling in of sci-fi elements made this a very unique read, beyond just being super well written with a story that hooked me from the jump.

I seriously hope this isn’t the last book The Killer Author Club writes together. I loved it. Thank you NetGalley and Park Row for my advanced reader copy!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a bit bamboozled with the description for this one. If they had just included the word ‘wormholes’ I would have skipped it. I didn’t realize they’d have issues catching the bad guy because he’s off time-traveling through wormholes. Idk if that’s considered a spoiler or even the right terminology. Do you time travel through wormholes? I have no idea because once they started the science talk I skipped ahead. Good thing is, it made the book shorter so I finished it fairly quickly.