Deep Water

Deep Water by Emma Bamford
5/31/22; 320 pages
Gallery/Scout Press

Deep Water by Emma Bamford is a recommended tale of a newlyweds trip gone disastrously awry.

When a yacht is sending out a distress signal in the Indian Ocean, Royal Malaysian Navy Captain Danial Tengku orders his crew to aid the boat. On board is a British couple, Virginie Durand and her gravely injured husband Jake Selkirk. As Jake is rushed to receive medical help, Virginie tells their story to Captain Tengku and confesses that what happened was all her fault and she killed them. After this foreshadowing, the novel jumps back in time when newlyweds Virginie and Jake bought their yacht and were planning to travel to Thailand. Then they heard about Amarante, a tiny, remote island with unspoiled beaches, and decide to change their plans.

The couple arrives on Amarante, and finds there are already visitors there. Pete and Stella are a Canadian couple, and Roly is from Australia. They’re soon joined by the wealthy, enigmatic Vitor and his girlfriend, Teresa. At first things go well, but then Virginie and Jake have engine problems, and tensions begin to rise between couples.

The synopsis written for this book does not do it justice and is misleading. There is no dark spell of the island with creeping evil. There are human failings and frailties. If you enter the novel with the perspective that it is a trip that has taken a terrible turn it will help your appreciation of the novel and result in less disappointments.

Virginie is telling us what happened on the island that lead to the distress signal. Captain Danial Tengku is listening to Virginie's recount of what happened before she tells the full story and then afterward, once they are found. His own internal monologue and reactions are added to the opening and concluding chapters. Her account of their time on the island moves too slowly for any real tension or suspense to build as it mostly feels like normal disagreements and tension that could be found among any group of people.

The writing is very good, enough that I kept reading, experiencing vicariously life on a remote tropical island. It is not quite good enough to make this slow paced novel a thriller. By the time action/suspense does pick up, the novel is basically over. This will appeal to fans of novels that feature remote islands where the people provide the danger, or the guilt. 

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

The Daughters

The Daughters by Julia Crouch
5/26/22; 324 pages
Bookouture

The Daughters by Julia Crouch is a highly recommended thriller featuring a highly dysfunctional family.

First, lets look at the basics of this blended family. Carys has been married to Bill for 12 years, is 25 years younger than him, and the two have a daughter, Binnie. Bill's first wife Alice died by suicide. Bill and Alice had two daughters, Sara and Lucy. Lucy was only 6 when her mother died so Carys has been a step-mother to her while Sara, 5 years younger than Carys, has been off living in Australia during their marriage.

Now Sara is coming home for a long visit. She has evidence that her mother's body was never found and the casket was empty at her funeral. She blames Carys for controlling everyone since she and Bill married shortly after Alice's death and she's going to confront Carys. She also knows she needs to come back to help Lucy.

At the same time, Lucy has been suffering from various struggles with her mental and emotional health. Carys has tried to help her, so when she meets a hypnotherapist who is sure he can get to the root of Lucy's trauma, Carys takes Lucy to him without telling Bill. Lucy's sessions bring out all kinds of hidden secrets and thoughts from her childhood. She is sure she saw someone killed... and maybe more than one person. And she thinks she knows who the killer is.

There is a whole lot going on in the plot, so you have to pay attention while following all the various twists, turns, and new revelations. None of the characters are particularly likable and all of them have some aspersions cast their direction. You won't know who to believe or if anyone can be trusted, which is what makes The Daughters so entertaining. You have to set some disbelief aside as you sit back, enjoy reading, follow the clues left in the narrative, and see if you figured it all out by the end.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Bookouture via NetGalley.

Glitterati

Glitterati by Oliver K. Langmead
5/17/22; 288 pages
Titan Books

Glitterati by Oliver K. Langmead is a highly recommended satirical, allegorical dystopian novel.

Simone is one of the beautiful people, the Glitterati. The Glitterati are at the top echelon of society, the extremely wealthy leisure class who all closely follow the rules of fashion. They ardently follow the daily couture magazines on trends, the rules of what to wear on each day of the week, and how to act in every situation. No one wants to be one of the unfashionable or ugly people. The pinnacle of the top of the Glitterati would be to set a new fashion trend.

Then several disconcerting events happen to Simone and his wife Georgie. Simone has, shudder, a nosebleed at fellow fashionista Justine's party and he asks her to make sure there are no pictures of it. Justine instead takes this incident and steals it, using it to set a new trend. The second event was when Georgie and Simone find a child in their garden. The creature, as they are unsure exactly what this is, is dressed in another shudder, denim. They shoo it into their greenhouse for the time being but have to deal with her more later.

The vapid Glitterati are living in a weird dystopian world of their own choosing and their concerns are so removed from any reality it is farcical. This is actually a humorous novel throughout the majority of the plot and you will find yourself laughing at the absurdity. Within the narrative Glitterati is also a satire which becomes allegorical as it exposes uncomfortable truths about a wealthy ruling leisure class that is disconnected with all reality, like children, and are totally consumed with themselves, fashion, and appearances.

Character development is present, as Simone goes through a drastic change which is a major part of the denouement. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel by the end. The introduction to the Glitterati and their obsessions was interesting and funny, but I did wonder where the plot was going to go as their lives were too silly and tedious to hold your attention throughout a novel. Readers should keep reading until they reach the event that changes things and results in real depth to the character of Simone; it will be obvious.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Titan Books.

Never Coming Home

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon
5/24/22; 368 pages
MIRA Books

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a highly recommended, entertaining psychological thriller.

Lucas Forester loves his mother-in-law and deeply cares for her as she battles cancer. He cares for Roger, a stray dog he adopted. He is also a con man who has been planning the hit on his wife for years. Lucas met his wealthy wife Michelle Ward at a London gallery opening. He quickly fell in love with her trust fund, the two married, and moved to the wealthy enclave of Chelmswood to be near her family.

Biding his time for years, Lucas plans the perfect demise for his wife so he can get his hands on her money. He takes out a hit on her, she disappears, presumed kidnapped for a ransom, and Lucas publicly grieves for her. It looks like he is going to get his hands on her money, until it appears that someone may know his secret plan and are now playing mind games with him.

Lucas is a funny, charming, witty, likeable scoundrel that you will adore and dislike at the same time. As the narrator of Never Coming Home you are privy to Lucas's every thought. You'll know everything he has done, know he is a devious liar, crook and murderer, but still find him a sympathetic character and even be conflicted about whether or not he should be held accountable for what he has done. This is an accomplishment - making a scoundrel so appealing and compelling that you support him.

The writing is wonderful and entertaining with a plot that will hold your attention right from the start and a pace that moves along quickly. The humorous, entertaining crook narrating the action is irresistible and despicable at the same time. The ending is predictable and not quite as enjoyable as the rest of the novel, but on the whole this is a wildly entertaining novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA Books.

Poison Lilies

Poison Lilies by Katie Tallo
5/24/22; 368 pages
HarperCollins
Augusta Monet #2

Poison Lilies by Katie Tallo is a highly recommended thriller about family secrets set in Ottawa, Canada.

Augusta "Gus" Monet and her dog Levi have moved to The Ambassador Court, an art-deco apartment building with cheap rent. When she finds a cat, Gish, and looks for the owner, Gus makes friends with, her elderly upstairs neighbor, blind, reclusive Poppy Honeywell. Soon the two are sharing dinner together every night and Gus learns that Poppy is a descendant of the Mutchmores, one of the city's founding families. When a body is found in the pond at a neighborhood park, Poppy says she knows who it was, a lost lover. Gus is drawn to the story and begins investigating, a dangerous decision.

This is a direct sequel to Dark August, so it helps to have read the first book before this outing of Gus. You can read this as a stand alone novel, but I think it helps to have read the first novel. The novel is broke up into four segments: first trimester, second trimester, third trimester and birth. Obviously, Gus is pregnant in Poison Lilies and will give birth. We know from the opening that she is locked in a sub basement with no way out and about to give birth.

Gus is a well developed character as an amateur PI, so her skills and interests seamlessly continue in this second novel. She can be sassy and funny as well as serious and doggedly determined. Poppy hires Gus to uncover the truth in her investigation of events from Poppy's past and the Mutchmore family. She is assisted by a journalist she meets, Howard, who is an interesting character and a nice assistant for her. The investigation is full of suspense and secrets that some want to keep buried in the past. You'll have to suspend disbelief, but this is another entertaining investigation by Gus Monet.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley

Two Nights in Lisbon

Two Nights in Lisbon Chris Pavone
5/24/22; 448 pages
MCD

Two Nights in Lisbon Chris Pavone is a highly recommended domestic political thriller.

Ariel Pryce is accompanying her husband John Wright on a business trip to Lisbon, so when she wakes up in their hotel room and John is gone, she assumes he is having coffee and will be meeting her for breakfast. Soon it becomes clear that John is gone. He left no note and is not answering his phone. Ariel talks to the hotel staff and then goes to the police, followed by the American Embassy. She is sure something has happened to John. The CIA gets involved; John was in the CIA years ago.

Then Ariel receives a ransom demand for 3 million euros to be delivered within 48 hours for John’s safe release by unknown captors, which just increases the questions investigators have. Why did both Ariel and John change their names years ago? The CIA knows that John changed his name. Why would anyone kidnap John? Ariel is not wealthy, why would someone assume she could come up with a large ransom? Ariel is desperate and knows one man who could come up with the money, but it requires contact with someone from her past that she doesn't want contact with ever again.

There is no question that this is suspenseful, tense, well-written layered thriller that will hold your attention throughout. I was engrossed beginning to end. This is a complicated plot that is structured to allow tension to build and rise incrementally as the timeline clicks down. Between the officials doubting and questioning her motives to the reporter who was given a tip to investigate, readers will also be questioning along with officials, "Why John?" There are clues that will open readers up to speculating the answer to the question, but Pavone has plenty of twists to keep you guessing. Sympathies will be with Ariel as there appears to be no obvious course of action for her to take beyond what she chooses to do.

The narrative alternates between events in the present and flashbacks to Ariels's past. She is a well developed character, but the only one. Two Nights in Lisbon does require you to accept that events have happened in Ariel's past which have shaped and molded her into the person she is today. Occasionally I wanted her to have experienced healing from them and move on rather than dwell on the events, but I also have a lot of sympathy, compassion and understanding for her.

The final denouement was suspected, but still a surprise leading up to an unanticipated final disclosure. Two Nights in Lisbon is a lengthy novel, but it is also quite entertaining

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian.

The Island

The Island by Adrian McKinty
5/17/22; 384 pages
Little, Brown and Company

The Island by Adrian McKinty is a highly recommended survival thriller set in Australia.

After the death of his wife, surgeon Tom Baxter married 24-year-old massage therapist Heather. His two children, 14-year-old Olivia and 12-year-old Owen aren't thrilled with now having Heather taking over caring for them and view her as too young to be a real mom. Tom is the keynote speaker at a medical conference in Melbourne, Australia, and the whole family has accompanied him, making the trip a short vacation. When the kids keep demanding to go see kangaroos and koalas, Tom rents a car and they go in search of wildlife.

While taking a break and eating at a roadside stand, they meet two members of the O'Neil family who say that the private island they live on has plenty of Koalas. The kids want to go, and Tom, along with a Danish couple, end up paying a large sum of money to take their private ferry to the island. The Baxter's realize that something is wrong on the island, and after a horrible accident they are taken prisoner by the O'Neil family and brought before Ma, who will decide their fate. Suddenly circumstances leave them fighting for their lives. Both Heather and the kids must work together to use all their skills and intelligence if they want to survive and get off the island.

The first thing I though while reading was that this was Deliverance set in the outback. It is an uncivilized, frightening, harsh plot that moves at a rapid tumultuous pace with brutality at every turn. The danger can come from both human and nature. Neither the hunters nor the hunted will accept failure. McKinty includes intermingled among the attention grabbing action some earnest thoughts about human existence, spirituality and meditation.

There is no doubt that this is an intense, compelling, hard-to-put-down thriller that will hold your complete attention throughout the novel, however you also need to set aside some disbelief to fully enjoy the experience. Sometimes setting aside your incredulity and going with the action is the best way to appreciate a novel and that approach will work well with The Island.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.