In The Air Tonight is a powerful and emotionally intense novel that will please readers of women’s fiction, fast-paced thrillers, and romantic suspense stories. Marie Force has crafted a powerful story about the serious repercussions of the actions of a few individuals in a small town. The romantic subplot of the story features some popular romance tropes, including forced proximity, opposites attract, and instalove. The book also includes serious content warnings that readers should be aware of, including sexual abuse, rape, unresolved trauma, family conflict, and mental health issues.

The book is rich in characterization and character development, and the story is told from many interesting perspectives. As the story progresses, the perspective switches more frequently, and readers get to hear the inner workings of almost every single notable character, including witness to the rape crime and protagonist Blaise, the victim herself, the predator, and even the investigating police chief. Blaise is the most developed character, and her self-growth is enormous by the end. Despite there being so many POVs, Marie Force does an excellent job expressing the inner workings of each, presenting them all as unique, flawed, and unlikeable in some way. By also including the perspective of the story’s predator, years after the crime was committed, readers get an additional glimpse into his mindset as a married man with children. Overall, Marie Force allows her readers to view all her characters from a multidimensional lens!

The book also contains some powerful messages and themes. Not only can one person’s crime have devastating effects on an entire community, but the inaction of a witness to speak up right away can have even more lasting effects. Blaise submits to enormous peer pressure and keeps the secret of the crime she witnessed for 14 years. In fact, she only decides to come forward when the perpetrator is running for Congress, which proves too much for her to maintain her silence. Many readers may find Blaise an unlikeable character who deserves her own punishment in the end. Her decision-making is very questionable, and despite the toll the whole ordeal takes on her mental health throughout the story, she is redeemed at the end without much consequence compared to others. Another central theme in the book is the lengths that people will go to in order to protect the reputation of a family member or beloved community member. There are several instances in the story where friends and family members of the culprit are willing to lie and do unspeakable things for their own selfish motives. Consequently, the victim’s credibility becomes compromised, and their lies can become distorted truths. As dramatic as the events in the story are, scenarios are common occurrences in our society.

In summary, this book is a highly emotional, suspenseful story from beginning to end. Marie Force masterfully weaves together multiple captivating perspectives to create a multi-layered, emotionally charged tale that readers will find difficult to put down. If you enjoy suspenseful women’s fiction or romantic dramas, then you’ll very likely devour this book. With exceptional performances by Emily Ellet and Christian Leatherman, who create the feel of a multi-cast listening experience, the audiobook is highly recommended for enjoying this story. Whatever format you choose, you’ll likely be eager to read more of Marie’s work afterwards!