Oh my goodness! Hold on to your hats, people, clear your diaries…and check your doors and windows are locked, too…
An over-the-top heading but wow, this is another peach so if you’re heading anywhere, I’d pack this and Hostage for starters…
This is one of these books I’m reticent about revealing too much about, plot-wise – simply because you want all other readers to enjoy the unfolding of events as much as possible!
So what can you tell us about The Retreat without taking us into spoiler territory?
Pearse brings back her detective, Elin, who appeared in The Sanatorium, and who has technically been put on less serious cases after the events of that book. But the fact that she’s close by, coupled with a shortage of staff, means she’s sent to the island to investigate a death which initially looks like an accident – so it’s looking like a box-ticking exercise. Note I said initially there…
I can sense a but coming…
Well, let me change tack here. The family who are featured most in the book consists of three sisters, a cousin, and two of the sisters’ partners. However, one of the sister has cancelled at short notice, citing a work trip – although her partner still comes. It’s a freebie, as one of the sisters is an “influencer,” and is meant as a chance for the family to reconnect. But the holiday starts to collapse as petty resentments from the past are brought up, and secrets revealed that add to the poisonous atmosphere. And meanwhile, around them the island’s malevolent past is revealing itself, both to it’s new occupiers, and to us readers…
I’ve got to say, I’m struggling to write more about the plot. But I’ve got to say, read this book! It’s phenomenal!
Give us some reasons to read it! (Apart from the rollocking plot, obviously…)
Pearse has a way of unveiling information, in a steady and satisfying drip, drip, drip that is guaranteed to keep you turning pages. And I don’t think I’ve ever changed my mind about who’s good and who is not so good so many times in one book – because her characters, like most people, are a mixture of good and bad. The past of the island also keeps rearing it’s head in a highly satisfying way, and the supernatural elements are wound through the book like the ivy in the forest that still covers much of the island. It all works in a splendidly atmospheric way that leaves you feeling like looking over your shoulder as you’re reading…if that isn’t enough reasons, I don’t know what else I can say! Suffice to say, I loved it…but you’ve figured that out, I think!
Absolutely dynamite! A five-star read!
With thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the blog tour invitation, and Bantam Press for the ARC. This is my honest opinion and is an unbiased review.
Author Sarah Pearse
Check out the other fantastic bloggers in this blog tour!
BLURB: Most are here to recharge and refresh. But someone’s here for revenge. . .
An eco-wellness retreat has opened on an island off the English coast, promising rest and relaxation—but the island itself, known locally as Reaper’s Rock, has a dark past. Once the playground of a serial killer, it’s rumored to be cursed.
Detective Elin Warner is called to the retreat when a young woman’s body is found on the rocks below the yoga pavilion in what seems to be a tragic fall. But the victim wasn’t a guest—she wasn’t meant to be on the island at all.
When a guest drowns in a diving incident the following day, Elin starts to suspect that there’s nothing accidental about these deaths. But why would someone target the guests, and who else is in danger?
Elin must find the killer—before the island’s history starts to repeat itself . . .
crimeworm 