3.5/5
I have to start by saying that since I read Alex Michaelides THE MAIDENS; I was a big fan of his work and when I heard that his next book, THE FURY was coming out, I did everything I could to get my hands on a physical arc- which thanks to the publisher, I did!
The fury is a book told my a narrator that witnessed the murder of one of his friends on a secluded island in greece. Told in Five acts, the story follows a group of actor friends on an Easter getaway to Lana Farrar's private island. The retired movie star invites her new husband, her son, her best friend and sometimes rival Kate and her odd friend Elliot Chase- a quirky if not unreliable narrator. During the weekend Lana ends up dead, but who killed her and why is the bigger premise of the story. Through Elliot we are told all about Lana and the rest of the group to try and figure out who and why did this event occur until we get to the inevitable climax (which not so spoiler, is revealed in the first two pages).
What I liked: Though it was a pretty easy to figure out murder mystery, I enjoyed the setting of the story- some of it in London and the rest on the sunny private island in Greece. The characters were also well developed and if you can think of a twist for a book- it was definitely in this one. The story was pretty easy to follow and made for a quick read. The cover was also super eye-catching.
Cons: It all felt like too much. Given that the end result was presented right away it was hard to first get into it, and once I did the twists though they kept happening were a bit predictable. The culprit was very easy to figure out and even the ending was a bit of a given (at least for me). There were some parts in the middle that I had to push through because they weren't that interesting.
That being said, I still read the entire thing in two sittings and though it definitely wasn't the strongest of his three books; lets face its- with a debut like THE SILENT PATIENT I can't imagine how hard it must be to try to compete with that. Read this if you enjoy Michaelides other work or if you want a quick, breezy, not too wild thriller
OUT 1/16/2024 Thank you CELADON for the ARC
I have to start by saying that since I read Alex Michaelides THE MAIDENS; I was a big fan of his work and when I heard that his next book, THE FURY was coming out, I did everything I could to get my hands on a physical arc- which thanks to the publisher, I did!
The fury is a book told my a narrator that witnessed the murder of one of his friends on a secluded island in greece. Told in Five acts, the story follows a group of actor friends on an Easter getaway to Lana Farrar's private island. The retired movie star invites her new husband, her son, her best friend and sometimes rival Kate and her odd friend Elliot Chase- a quirky if not unreliable narrator. During the weekend Lana ends up dead, but who killed her and why is the bigger premise of the story. Through Elliot we are told all about Lana and the rest of the group to try and figure out who and why did this event occur until we get to the inevitable climax (which not so spoiler, is revealed in the first two pages).
What I liked: Though it was a pretty easy to figure out murder mystery, I enjoyed the setting of the story- some of it in London and the rest on the sunny private island in Greece. The characters were also well developed and if you can think of a twist for a book- it was definitely in this one. The story was pretty easy to follow and made for a quick read. The cover was also super eye-catching.
Cons: It all felt like too much. Given that the end result was presented right away it was hard to first get into it, and once I did the twists though they kept happening were a bit predictable. The culprit was very easy to figure out and even the ending was a bit of a given (at least for me). There were some parts in the middle that I had to push through because they weren't that interesting.
That being said, I still read the entire thing in two sittings and though it definitely wasn't the strongest of his three books; lets face its- with a debut like THE SILENT PATIENT I can't imagine how hard it must be to try to compete with that. Read this if you enjoy Michaelides other work or if you want a quick, breezy, not too wild thriller
OUT 1/16/2024 Thank you CELADON for the ARC