Review: The Search Party

Title: The Search Party

Author: Hannah Richell

Publisher: 3rd January 2024 by Simon & Schuster Australia

Pages: 352 pages

Genre: mystery, thriller, suspense

Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

Five old friends reunite for an idyllic glamping holiday on the rugged Cornwall coast, but tensions rise when a storm leaves them stranded and someone goes missing. Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. 

Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion and a relaxing weekend. But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears.  

Moving between a police investigation, a hospital room and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children.

My Thoughts

I have read and loved Hannah’s previous books, so it was with great anticipation that I opened The Search Party and I was not disappointed. Such a well written and atmospheric story that will have you frantically turning pages to a most fitting and suspenseful ending. 

‘She keeps asking herself, how could one weekend spiral so dreadfully out of control?’

Basically this is a glamping trip that goes horribly wrong! Told from multiple points of view and moving back and forth in time, Hannah is very clear on character voice and timelines (she even includes a list of names) and pay attention to chapter dates so as never to be confused. The two timelines are the weekend away itself and then interspersed with police interviews in the aftermath. This is such an extremely clever technique in drip feeding character and plot clues along the way. 

‘Maybe their reunion weekend had brought the wildest, truest sides out in all of them  - one way or another.’

Three families are partaking in this glamping experience for the weekend and the various dynamics between the characters and has much to do with how events play out. There are disagreements, past histories, missing campers all played against a raging storm on the Cornwall coast. Tension builds, tempers fray, friendships are strained and it all comes to a raging and violent conclusion inline with the storm. 

‘It was as if the elemental wildness of the place had got under his skin, altered him. All his emotions rising to the surface.’

The Search Party is such a suspenseful and entertaining read you will find it hard to put down. There are many dramas and unfolding layers that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing to a fitting conclusion. 

‘In that moment, twenty years of friendship, of camaraderie, of pints in pubs and late-night bonding over music, of toasting each other’s weddings and children, of standing shoulder-to-shoulder through life’s ups and downs went skittering away on the wind.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: East of Alice

Title: East of Alice

Author: Annie Seaton

Publisher: 3rd November 2022 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 340 pages

Genre: romance, contemporary, mystery, suspense

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A gem-fossicking discovery echoes through time and leads to a dangerous journey through the red dust outback. A gripping mystery from Australian author Annie Seaton.

Gemma Hayden has returned to her hometown of Alice Springs for a new job as a primary school teacher. It's been six years since her family broke apart following the disappearance of her twin brother. And the scars still run deep.

Hard on the heels of her homecoming, Saul Pearce, the man she once loved, is reposted from Parks and Wildlife in Darwin back to Alice. When an old car wreck is uncovered, washed down the river to Ruby Gap, Saul investigates only to find that the wreck belonged to Ethan, Gemma's twin - and there's a coded note for her in the glovebox.

Joining forces, they trek through the rugged outback, piecing together clues that not only bring them to the attention of a criminal organisation, but lead them to uncover an even older puzzle ... One now lost to the history books.

With targets on their backs, will they unearth the truth in time?

My Thoughts

Having read Annie’s previous books I came in with high expectations as she is renowned for writing a great mystery. East of Alice makes it ‘three for three’ for me and I am now a fully fledged Annie Seaton fan. Having a dual timeline - turn of the century (1900s) and contemporary - the story unfolds from two main perspectives of the same family. I enjoyed this book so much as both stories are well told with a list of engaging aspects - mystery, action, adventure, danger, romance - all set in one of the most isolated locations in Australia. 

‘It’s not all for nothing,’ he murmured quietly as she clung to him, his khaki shirt bunched in her fists. ‘We’ve come this far, Gem. And we won’t give up until we search every bit of this ground. If that tin’s here, we’ll find it.’

Annie has once again completed faultless research in her endeavor to transport her readers. Ruby Gap and its history had me running off to Google and tied in with a sensational thriller/mystery made this a highly compelling read. There was so much to learn from not only the history of settlement in the area but also, as in Annie’s previous books, the contemporary storyline. The story itself is a good one! It is a slow build up but once it gets going the escalating tension will easily see you flying through the pages to a satisfying end. The two main characters, Gemma and Saul, are on their own journeys and I was really glad of the way Annie laid out their romantic relationship. Romance is not the sole focus here and the way the storylines plays out is most realistic. I also appreciated the minor step back in time with another mystery from last century which unfolded alongside the present day one. It added a nice touch with a fitting conclusion for closure. 

‘Gemma closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Total and absolute quiet. The encompassing silence of the outback cocooned her; she was home in the place she loved.’

East of Alice is certainly a book worth looking into on a number of levels. Annie takes the reader in directions they certainly would not be expecting. This is an another great read with its gripping tale, detailed descriptions of the Australian outback and relatable characters. If you haven’t read a book by Annie I highly recommend you do so - you won’t be disappointed. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Only Child

Title: The Only Child

Author: Kayte Nunn

Publisher: 31st August 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 353 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre:  historical fiction, suspense, crime thriller

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

A decades-old crime threatens to tear apart three generations of women in this unputdownable mystery that will keep you gripped until its last heart-wrenching page.

Almost every graduating class had a girl who disappeared.

1949 It is the coldest winter Orcades Island has ever known, when a pregnant sixteen-year-old arrives at Fairmile, a home for 'fallen women' run by the Catholic Church. She and her baby will disappear before the snow melts.

2013 Frankie Gray has come to the island for the summer, hoping for one last shot at reconnecting with her teenage daughter, Izzy, before starting a job as a deputy sheriff. They are staying with her mother, Diana, at The Fairmile Inn, soon to be a boutique hotel, but when an elderly nun is found dead in suspicious circumstances, and then a tiny skeleton is discovered in the grounds of the house, Frankie is desperate for answers.

At once an evocative, unsettling tale of past misdeeds and a crime thriller that will have you reading with your heart in your mouth, The Only Child is compulsively addictive storytelling from the international bestselling author of The Silk House.

My Thoughts

With her latest offering, The Only Child, Kayte delivers the perfect dual crime narrative. This style is an evolution from Kayte’s previous books and I enjoyed it. I am a fan of her work and was looking forward to this historical story with the promise of an engaging mystery. 

Kayte writes a tightly suspenseful tale about a crime from the past. Part historical fiction, part crime suspense, part family connections, Kayte gives her readers, at times, a horrific yet hopeful tale. From the shame of a pregnancy out of wedlock in the 1950s, to the current day parallel of single motherhood, all woven together with a mystery from the past that has returned to haunt the people from this small island. 

This book could not be more topical given the current fight for women’s reproductive rights especially in the USA. In her Acknowledgements, Kayte notes the number of adoptions in that country between the years 1945-1973 - 1.5 million. Whilst much has been written from the perspective of the adopted child, Kayte chose to focus on the women who had to heartbreakingly give away their babies. 

The Only Child moves between Frankie’s story in 2013, and the story of Brigid, a pregnant 16-year-old in 1949. It moves along at a solid pace and as connections may become apparent to readers, it is still a compelling journey to the conclusion. An intricate plotted tale that shines a light on how reproductive rights were handled seventy years ago. What a timely tale to remind us of what happens to women when they lose the right to decide what happens to their bodies. 

‘Perspective. That's what had brought Frankie to this place. ‘The island feels tiny. And we're nothing but dots on it. Like sugar sprinkles on a cupcake.' Izzy's voice returned Frankie to the present. 'It's not a bad thing to feel like that,' she replied with a smile. 'Sometimes it helps you work out what's important, and what can be let go of.'

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Portrait of a Thief

Title: Portrait of a Thief

Author: Grace D. Li

Publisher: 12th April 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 369 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: suspense, contemporary, art history

My Rating:  4.5 cups

Synopsis:

This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of 23 pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in this back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise. 

Will Chen, a Chinese American art history student at Harvard, has spent most of his life learning about the West – its art, its culture, all that it has taken and called its own. He believes art belongs with its creators, so when a Chinese corporation offers him a (highly illegal) chance to reclaim five priceless sculptures, it’s surprisingly easy to say yes.

Will’s crew, fellow students chosen out of his boundless optimism for their skills and loyalty, aren’t exactly experienced criminals. Irene is a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything; Daniel is pre-med with steady hands and dreams of being a surgeon. Lily is an engineering student who races cars in her spare time; and Will is relying on Alex, an MIT dropout turned software engineer, to hack her way in and out of each museum they must rob.

Each student has their own complicated relationship with China and the identities they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but one thing soon becomes certain: they won’t say no.

Because if they succeed? They earn an unfathomable ten million each, and a chance to make history. If they fail, they lose everything . . . and the West wins again.

My Thoughts

When you have multiple quotes highlighted and you are only at page 30, well, I think that is testament to good writing. Portrait of a Thief is a book that includes great writing covering some major themes with Grace having done an amazing job on each of them. This debut novel presents an unlikely mix of heists and friendships, exploration of colonialism through art and setting up discussions on Chinese-American identity. 

I went into this novel intrigued by the above themes, unsure what to expect. Many readers are not happy with perhaps the lack of energy surrounding the heists, or had set expectations regarding the clash of cultures. I, on the other hand having no set ideas, was open minded and just loved what Grace offered. 

‘All of Beijing was reflected in the blaze of her eyes. “I want you to take back what the West stole.”

The heists drew inspiration from classic old movies or even the modern day offerings of Ocean’s Eleven or Fast and Furious and parallels were sure to be drawn. Whilst an entertaining aspect, for me, it was not the main draw card and I just enjoyed the logistics of setting up such an endeavour. 

‘Who could determine what counted as theft when museums and countries and civilizations saw the spoils of conquest as rightfully earned?’

What did draw me in fully was the history surrounding museums acquiring and keeping objects that rightfully don't belong to them. Matters are complicated with an argument surrounding how morally and unethically items were obtained. Fascinating to consider: did they have a right to steal them back, returning them to their country of origin?

‘China and its art, its history, would always be a story of greatness. It would always be a story of loss.’

The five main characters themselves presented a selection of young Chinese America college students and covered a range of dilemmas. The strongest of course concerned how it felt to be a part of two cultures - to which did you belong? Delving deeper and understanding the heavy weight of family and cultural expectations not only affected the past but could also possibly be allowed to affect the future? 

‘How could he explain how it felt to know, with a terrible and unflinching certainty, that you were not enough for your dreams? There was so much he wanted, so much that would always be out of reach.’

Then there is the writing - I found Grace’s prose to be eloquent and on point especially given there are some heavy topics under the microscope. I could go on about certain passages that totally gave me pause for reflection, however, where I think Grace was truly successful was aligning the characters struggles with the history of Asian art and hoping it would all fall into place. Superb. 

‘… he thought of the Old Summer Palace burning, of all the ways history was retold, made easier and softer and less true. So much had been taken that museums would not even acknowledge. Tonight they would take something back.’

I found Portrait of a Thief to be an honest and unique story that holds much appeal. Aside from the heist aspect, the consideration of the lasting effects of colonialisation, museum ethics and the plight of immigrant populations was vividly and successfully brought to light. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Verity

Title: Verity

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publisher: 25th January 2022 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 314 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: thriller, mystery, suspense

My Rating:  4 cups

Synopsis:

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

My Thoughts

‘The clever and talented Verity is no longer in there. Was her body the only thing that survived that wreck? It’s as if she were an egg, cracked open and poured out, and all that’s left are the tiny fragments of hard shell.’

There has been so much written about Colleen Hoover - her books are everywhere! This particular novel is not her usual style or genre, therefore demonstrating her obvious ability as a writer. Verity ranges from the suspense, thriller, intrigue right up to the very dark and disturbing. It is creepy, sinister and psychologically unsettling.

The writing and story is of a level where you are unsure if you truly love it or hate it, if you side with the characters or are opposed to them. It is certainly a disturbing story that enthralls readers as it totally messes with their minds. Is that a good or a bad thing? There will be moments where you might forgive yourself for thinking you were reading a Stephen King novel. Is this the same Colleen Hoover famous for her romance books? Well, she certainly stepped outside of the box for this one. For sure there is romance and plenty of sex scenes but more of the psychological thriller type.

So if this is a genre that appeals to you, a read that is equally disturbing and thrilling because it’s clever, then be sure to check out Verity. 

‘No matter which way I look at it, it’s clear that Verity was a master at manipulating the truth. The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Apples Never Fall

Title: Apples Never Fall

Author: Liane Moriarty

Publisher: 14th September 2021 by Pan Macmillan Australia

Pages: 460 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fiction, mystery, thriller, suspense 

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.

My Thoughts

‘Everyone had secrets.’

I really wanted to ‘love’ this book given my association with tennis and Liane’s reputation, and whilst it had some fantastic elements, it was not the blockbuster I had hoped for. Liane is Australian writing royalty and this latest offering has been highly anticipated by her huge fan base. Apples Never Fall is a suburban mystery tale that sees complex, tension filled,  family issues come under Liane’s unique microscope of satire and clever observations. 

Liane is the master of layering a story with lots of small, seemingly insignificant details and moments, that give you pause to ponder what is really going on behind closed doors. This is a book where a copious amount of effort has been put into the background story and character analytics of all those involved. Here you will find Liane’s trademark blend of wit, humour, especially in relation to domestic issues and a gentle mystery is added to this complex family drama. The problem is that it is super long in some sections that I feel could have been better edited t0 pack that real punch that I was looking for in the mystery aspect.

At its heart, this is the story of family, a look at the dynamics and everyday life of its members. This is where Liane truly shines and people are sure to relate. So whilst the mystery is not what many were expecting, I cannot help but feel she was striving for something more than the classic thriller. It’s clever, it’s thought provoking and it is most entertaining. 

‘Once your mother has momentum no-one can beat her,’ Stan always said, and he was talking about tennis but every single thing Logan’s dad said about tennis could also be applied to life.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.