English former movie star Lana invited her friends to her private Greek island each year to escape the long, dark British Winter. Elliot, our narrator and her closest friend, tells the story of the last trip to the island, where a murder takes place during a furious gale that cuts them off from civilization. He tells us that while there is a mystery to be solved in the pages of the book, more importantly, there is a love story. The book is a story of the rich and famous, their cat and mouse game that year, and all the malice and secrets hidden behind perfect, photogenic smiles.

Alex Michaelides is the author of the very popular The Silent Patient and The Maidens, both of which have been optioned to be made into films or mini series. His books often contain a murder story in them, but they’re really more character study style psychological thrillers. This is his latest foray in the genre, and a little mention at the end of the book lets us know that this book, while not really connected to the others, does take place in the same story world. All of this authors books have a reference or theme of Ancient Greek mythology or literature. In this book, set in the world of actors and writers, the Furies and the story of Clytemnestra are referenced as well as other plays from that era.

In line with the theme of the theatre, the book is broken into sections like acts, and the story moves backwards in time, to some extent, to reveal a bit more. I think this structure is done really well and used to create a dramatic scene, and then go a layer deeper with each act. It’s a little different and makes for a dramatic, layered read, especially as foreshadowing is used to nice effect throughout. Elliot is a writer for the theatre, and the other characters are actors and hangers on in that world, and this time Michaelides uses a voice or tone that’s a bit more breathless and slightly gossipy, which I thought was a nice touch to give Elliot and to the world of the story. Sometimes I did find Elliot’s maniacal asides to the reader a little it cheesey and on the nose.

There’s always a lot of hype around this authors books, and I can kind of see why. They’re good fun. They start out quickly with an interesting premise, and they’re fast reads with twists and turns that make for an entertaining story. I think the themes of Ancient Greek lit and often his books have a rarified, academic location or air to them, lend these stories a sense that they’re a bit smarter than the average psychological thriller out there. I think they’re more entertaining that most, but I don’t think his books have ever had a twist that I didn’t guess or see coming. They’re not as clever as they think they’re being. They can also have a few tropes that are over used, like here we have an unreliable narrator and an island location cut off by a storm. Not new concepts. (In fact, the author acknowledges a debt to Agatha Christie here in his opening pages)

I enjoyed this book more than some other books in the same genre that I’ve read recently. It’s a fun ride, a fast read, the location and characters are fun. If you read and loved the authors previous books, I think you will be happy with this one. If you like psychological thrillers, it’s a fun one with some theatrical flair. As I said above, I did guess the ending and the twists in this one really early on. I did with his other books too. I think if you didn’t like his previous books or if you read a lot in this genre, you may not love this one.

Read It If: On the whole, this is one of those books that gives you what it advertises, a twisting story, a fast plot and a fun ride. I enjoyed reading it, even if I did find it a little less clever than it wanted to be.

Thank you to the publisher for the copy of this book for review.