SM Thomas's "Long Weekend" delivers a pulse-pounding tale of deception and danger set against the backdrop of a luxurious island resort. From the moment Emma sets foot on Hotel Horizen, readers are drawn into a world of opulence and intrigue that quickly takes a sinister turn.

Emma's quest to uncover the secrets of the elite guests thrusts her into a dangerous game where she must navigate treacherous waters to survive. Thomas skillfully weaves a web of suspense, keeping readers guessing until the very end.
With its atmospheric setting and twisty plot, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

As someone who loves a good mystery, I was captivated by the intricate plot and relentless suspense of "Long Weekend." Thomas's ability to keep me guessing kept me turning the pages late into the night. This is a thriller you won't want to miss! 📚✨

What should have been a weekend of luxury and relaxing became a nightmare and intense / suspensful time.

A fabulous Summer thriller read. Set in a luxurious island hideaway. Enjoyable storyline which kept me reading until late into the night.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This book was absolutely incredible. I cannot wait for it to come out so that I can recommend it to everyone. The story instantly grabs your attention and the way that the book is set up is really interesting. Emma is the main character and is sent by her boss on a weekend getaway to a private island. Emma went and met Fiona, Penny, Robert, Michael and Lucas. The story follows Emma and the events that she and the other characters endure in their time on the island. There are so many twists and surprises in this story that I never saw coming! I think that this would be the perfect book club book to read but if you do this try to have a discussion before reading the epilogue and see if you can figure out who did it!

A luxurious trip to a beautiful resort on a private island and did I mention there are celebrities. sounds perfect right? I mean, what could possibly go wrong? 😬🫣
This book was so much fun! It’s hard to put down and has you hooked immediately. I thought I had it figured out multiple times but spoiler alert, I did not.
That ending! 😱
This book is the perfect summer thriller read, just maybe don’t read it while on a private island 🙃
This was my first read by S.M. Thomas and will not be my last!
Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this arc. All opinions are my own.

The description of this book sounded excellent. Emma takes her boss’s place at the weekend opening of an exclusive hotel. The rest of the guests are rich celebrities and business people. The weekend turns from a fun-filled vacation quickly as the guests start dying.

I thought the book started off strong but then it fell apart for me. Good idea in theory but poor execution. The plot just felt rushed and around halfway through, it was hard to read.

2.0 stars

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced ecopy for an honest review.

I was first hesitant when reading this book, but it was actually really fun to read. Fast paced, you wanted to just love the main character, and it was also well written.

I loved the ending! I couldn’t get enough! I didn’t want the book to end, I want more! I will definitely have SM Thomas on my radar for future books.

This was a pretty short thriller, but I think it was the perfect length for what the author wanted to do.

I loved the authors idea on how to start the book. I think this was a very unique device that hooks the reader into thinking they’re reading a true crime story. It definitely intrigued me.

I did enjoy the characters and the feeling that you love to hate and hate to love them. They make you feel a wide range of emotions. I actually think Emma was my least favourite character because I found her personality a bit lack lustre to everyone else.

One of my favourite books as a child was “And then there were none” and this book reminds me of a modern take on that book. Everyone is brought to an island, there is a red herring and the Epilogue is what answers a lot of the questions we have.

The only thing I would change is throwing in a few clues along the way to make us see glimpses of the killers work or glimpses of things that could make other characters appear guilty! This would add a lot of depth to the story.

Overall, it was an enjoyable story and I would recommend it! Very happy this was my first ever ARC read!

Alluring Premise..
A luxurious island hideaway, an exclusive invitation and an elite group of individuals. What could possibly go wrong? Emma has been gifted her invitation to the opening of the Hotel Horizen and, whilst she has her own agenda, she has no idea what nightmares this weekend will really hold. Enjoyable and suspenseful with a nicely drawn cast of diverse characters and an alluring premise.

Wow. This kept me on pins and needles and guessing until the end! A perfect locked room thriller with a beautiful scene. I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Bingable book with a whodunnit twist. I liked the character development of each 'celebrity,' which felt like a loose term for this group. I did feel like there was some holes in the story but overall a good quick read.

This book sounded really good, but it just was kind of odd. Lots of characters thrown at you right away. Emma seemed very immature and childish. Lots of detail about annoying things that did not matter. There wasn't enough there for me to be invested. Interesting ending. Seems more amateurish writing.

Emma Jones, a personal assistant is headed to the luxurious Hotel Horizen, a resort with only six apartments, for their grand opening weekend. It’s a gift from her boss Rebecca in lieu of a raise. While there, Emma plans to strike out on her own by writing an article about the rich and famous guests staying there, but her plans are for naught when someone is murdered on their first night on the island. Then everyone is at risk, not knowing what is happening or who might be next.

This…..no. The writing was OK, it was just, were these supposed to be actual grown people? Emma was thirty two years old and didn’t know you couldn’t drink seawater? People are getting murdered but she thought she might hook up? As the old saying goes, some people are just too stupid to live and that goes for Emma, and really for everyone on this island, some of whom are supposedly rich and successful, but are clearly morons and probably couldn’t make it through the day without getting hit by a truck. And there’s a fairly big plot hole that, no surprise, goes unaddressed by everyone, including the author. I usually enjoy this type of setup but this was a great big miss for me.

Long Weekend by S.M. Thomas, S.M. Thomas

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
5.0

I decided to read this on a long weekend, it only seemed right. When I tell you that after I finished reading this book, I sat up and said “oh my god” no less than 5 times. Down. To. The. Last. Line. This book had me engrossed.

Normally I spoil a thriller for myself because I can guess who did it or what the outcome is going to be but with this one, with this one I was second guessing myself the whole way. It definitely is a psychological thriller/horror because let me just say, this storyline is messed up! But I am still reeling from it!

Do yourself a favour, on publication day run out and buy this book- you won’t regret it.

WOW


A big thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Long Weekend was disturbing and proactive! Emma is given a perk to her very unrewarding job by taking her boss’s place on an exclusive trip to a private island hotel. But of the 5 other VIPs attending, one has an agenda that puts everyone at risk. This played around with the idea of resentment at the 1% and was incredibly creepy. While I didn’t love Emma (she seems very shallow emotionally / immature), I love the concept and the mystery!

What I liked:
- The idea that the whole story is told from finding a notebook from Emma
- It was really just happen stance that Emma ended up on the trip. I was kinda expecting it to turn out her boss knew something was going to happen and thats why she sent Emma on the trip in the first place.

What I disliked:
- I think it was pretty obvious who the killer was. Not really an option for it to be anyone else.
- I didn’t really care for how fast Emma decided to trust people. She went in completely judgmental about everyone going on the trip but pretty quickly started trusting some people
- Emma lied about having money and the only person that figured it out died pretty quickly then it was never brought up again. Little disappointing, I thought it was going to be a bigger point of conflict.
- I don’t understand why Fiona was so upset about Emma having her camera.
- There was a lot of info dumping to introduce all of the Characters in the beginning. Was a little hard to get through at the beginning.
- The ending was very ‘hahaha evil villain’ info dumping at the end to tel everything. Felt rushed and was kinda lame after all of the chaos that happened.

2 out of 5 stars, it took me a few days to get through all of the long paragraphs. I still wanted to know what happened so thats plus.

Publication date: April 16th, 2024
Page count: 229
Genre: thriller
Setting: Hotel Horizon- remote island
POV: Emma

Emma’s boss gives her invitation to the opening of Hotel Horizon. A island hotel for the ultra rich. Emma plans to spend the weekend writing an expose of the wealthy to jump start her journalism career. When she and the other guests get there, the locked in murder mystery begins…

The characters had limited depth and it was difficult to be invested with them. It was fast paced though and had some twists and turns.


Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Long Weekend is an interesting — but not completely unforgettable — take on the locked-door trope. The author does a good job of keeping the pace up and the character list tight, so it's easy to get pulled into the story. However, the majority of the plot is simply the characters reacting. I wish there was more grounding the story so that readers could try to give context to what's happening.

With thrillers such as this one, I expect there's going to be a lot of confusion leading up to a rewarding twist. Unfortunately, the readers do a lot of work and they payoff isn't totally there. It's an interesting concept, but not one big enough to differentiate this book from others who fall under the trope.

All of that said, I still enjoyed the book and will absolutely keep an eye out for what the author releases next.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
A luxury weekend on a private island is given to Emma by her boss and she's thrilled, especially when she meets the other guests which include her teenage movie crush and a couple of women she idolizes. She can't believe her luck!
Unfortunately this turns into a nightmare of epic proportions, as one by one the guests are murdered.
A great beach read (but not on a private island...) that's impossible to put down. I definitely recommend it.

Well, I didn't see that coming.

If you always guess the ending of a book and are genuinely happy and excited when you DON'T "see it coming, " then read this book!
Long Weekend by S.M. Thomas tells the tale of a luxury holiday weekend turned murderous nightmare. We follow the characters through the weekend as victims multiply, and the suspect list shrinks. Anticipation is built until the last possible moment when the motives, and true mastermind behind the peril, are revealed.

Thanks #NetGalley for the ARC read of Long Weekend!