I love it. Lucy Clarke is just getting better and better. Her characters are plotted excellently. Although I liked the ending of this book very much.

Rating: 4.2/5

The official description of this book is somewhat misleading and had me expecting a "locked room" style murder mystery. That is certainly not the premise of this at all and, if anything, it does the writer an injustice. This novel has far more in common with William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" than it does with a murder mystery.

Erin and Lori are sisters. The cards that life has dealt them has led them to have a particularly close bond. Following a traumatic event, the two sisters decide to get away from it all and jet off on a paradisiacal holiday to Fiji - but events do not quite turn out as planned.

The story operates across dual timelines - the present day and the time of the holiday, a couple of years earlier - and the narrative alternates between the POVs of the two sisters.

I don't want to go into great detail here, as I have no wish to ruin your enjoyment by disclosing too much of the plot or by giving away spoilers. However, this does make for an absorbing read. It felt considerably shorter than its 416 pages, as I found myself eagerly devouring chapter after chapter and wondering which of the possible avenues the plotline was going to take.

The pacing of the story is excellent and Lucy Clarke captures the atmosphere of the setting extremely well. The result is not just a compelling mystery, complete with some quality characterisation, but also a piece of fiction that is, by turns, tense and emotional.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

#TheCastaways #NetGalley
Electrifying, Chilling and Atmospheric.
If you have loved And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Sleep by C L Taylor, The House Guest by Abbie Frost and The Guest List by Lucy Foley then you must love this psychological thriller from the author of Sea Sisters.
It should be like any other holiday.
Beautiful beaches.
Golden sunsets.
Nothing for miles.
All characters were good. Narration was outstanding and setting was atmospheric.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advanced copy.

The description for this doesn't give much away but it did sound right up my street - I'm a sucker for thrillers set abroad.

I was pulled in right from the start and enjoyed switching between past and present. Most chapters ended on a cliffhanger so I could never resist 'just one more chapter.' All of the main characters were well fleshed out and interaction and dialogue between characters was realistic. I loved the setting of the remote island and could picture it vividly.

The blurb does make it sound like the 'seven strangers' on the plane would all be relevant and all have secrets to discover so for half of them to be killed off immediately was a bit of a shock, I would have liked to have got to know them more, especially the American couple. Luckily, the remaining characters were all fascinating enough to make up for a small cast.

I would definitely recommend this book.

A really good read. From about halfway I could not put this book down. I just had to know how it finished and the ending was not disappointing. It had a gentle pace to start, as we engaged with each of the sisters separately and as we moved through their journeys the pace altered accordingly. A good plot, original characters and well written to boot .A perfect form of escapism..

I love a Lucy Clarke book and this has to be my absolute favourite one of her books so far, they way Lucy writes the end of a chapter leaves you hanging, so you feel as though you just have to keep reading on within a couple of hours I had finished the book. I found it tense and unsettling and I didn't know who to trust. I imagined all sorts of things happening, but what does happen will shock you to the core. There are plenty of twists and turns that make for a truly gripping read, one that you will not want to put down until the very end.