AUDIOBOOK REVIEW - You Know Why

  

“We know what you did.”

“The surprise. The trip. The leaving. The email. The stranger. The secret.”

TitleYOU KNOW WHY

AuthorJ. T. Ellison

PublisherBrilliance Audio

GenreMystery & Thrillers

FormatALC

NarratorBrittany Pressley, et al

Length

  12 hrs 18 mins

Pages428

Pub. DateAugust 25, 2026

Rating

4 Stars

DESCRIPTION

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a suspenseful domestic thriller about identity, revenge, and the dangerous secrets kept hidden from the ones we love most.

It’s the holidays, and photographer Brooklyn Locke is bound for Italy with her husband, Trey, and their two children. But when Trey vanishes from the airport, missing their connecting flight, their impromptu vacation—and life as she knows it—begins to unravel.

Desperate to find her husband, Brooklyn accepts help from a stranger on the same flight, Eden Barrow. But Eden soon makes a shocking claim. She is the sister of Trey’s first wife, and ten years ago he was the main suspect in her murder.

Struggling to comprehend these accusations, fate delivers one more a violent accident that leaves Brooklyn fighting for her life. With nowhere else to turn, Brooklyn leans on Eden for support. But each kindness feels too rehearsed, feeding her doubts about Eden’s motives and Trey’s true past.

Brooklyn has her own dark history she’d rather forget and confronts an unsettling possibility. Her life is not what it seems, and the truth is a trap—laid by someone waiting for the perfect time to strike.

MY THOUGHTS

Food blogger and formerly sought-after food photographer Brooklyn Locke is married to Trey, and together they have two children. With Christmas just around the corner, Trey has a surprise for Brooklyn: a three-week, all-expenses-paid trip to Italy. He tells her that he is taking his boss’s place on a business trip, but that most of their time will be devoted to the family. Although Brooklyn is more than a little unsure about the sudden change of plans, she agrees to go.

The next morning, the family boards a plane bound for Italy. But when Trey looks at the monitor, his expression suddenly changes. The flight is being diverted, and their travel plans have been completely rearranged. They have to board another plane. Even more unsettling, another passenger, Eden Barrow, recognizes him - but she calls him by a different name. Trey panics, makes an excuse, and leaves the plane. What else can Brooklyn do but follow, except Trey has completely disappeared. Now she is left stranded with her children. With little choice, Brooklyn is forced to accept Eden’s eagerly offered assistance.

The book is told through dual perspectives - Brooklyn’s and Eden’s. It is through Eden’s narration that readers discover she is the twin sister of Trey’s first wife, and she is convinced that Trey murdered her sister. Although he was cleared of the crime, Trey disappeared and started a new life. Eventually, he met Brooklyn, seemingly leaving that traumatic chapter of his life far behind.

There is more. So much more. Brooklyn begins to question whether she ever really knew her husband. Before she can sort through everything she is learning, she is involved in a terrible accident that leaves her fighting for her life. This makes her even more dependent on Eden, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Brooklyn has secrets of her own.

This is a multi-layered story built on deception, secrets, revenge, mental illness, and ultimately, danger. It is a story where the ghosts of the past can suddenly catch up with you when you least expect it.

The pacing is excellent, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me invested from beginning to end. I also found this to be a particularly thrilling audiobook experience. With several narrators bringing the characters and their perspectives to life, it was easy to follow the different voices and added another layer to the suspense.

Many thanks to Brilliance Audio and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

J.T. Ellison is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of more than 20 novels, and the EMMY-award winning co-host of A WORD ON WORDS, Nashville's premier literary show. With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim, prestigious awards, and has been published in 26 countries. Ellison lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens.

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