The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis
| The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
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| Summary: A cleverly crafted thriller that immediately grabs the reader and keeps them guessing throughout, but the final twist might be one step too far... | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: June 2017 |
| Publisher: Penguin | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1405917971 | |
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For as long as she can remember, Jemma has been planning the perfect honeymoon. A fortnight's retreat to a five-star resort in the Maldives, complete with luxury villas, personal butlers and absolute privacy. It should be paradise. But it's turned into a nightmare. Because the man Jemma married a week ago has just disappeared from the island without a trace. And now her perfect new life is vanishing just as quickly before her eyes. After everything they've been through together, how can this be happening? Is there anyone on the island who Jemma can trust? And above all - where has her husband gone?
Tina Seskis is a London based author whom I've been a fan of for years – she's written two novels previously, and both are clever, intricately plotted thrillers that allow strong characters to shine through suspense filled plots. Both One Step Too Far – the tale of a woman walking out of her life and starting a new one, and When We Were Friends (previously published as A Serpentine Affair, a story of University friends whose reunion contains jealousy, betrayal, and a murder, are well worth a read. As such, I was very much looking forward to The Honeymoon and, for the most part, it doesn't disappoint.
The Honeymoon features Jemma as a lead character, and follows her both in the aftermath of her husband's disappearance on honeymoon, but also through flashbacks – exploring in some depth the events that brought the characters to the point at which we first meet them. Jemma is an interesting lead – flawed and difficult, she makes some truly terrible decisions throughout the course of the story, but Seskis imbues her with so much life and personality that, whilst she's not always relatable, she's certainly a magnetic and compelling force who is intriguing enough that the reader is more than happy to accompany her through the shocking situations that she finds herself in. In fact, Seskis is very good at creating real, three dimensional characters here, and the main thrust of the plot contains reactions and moments that feel incredibly genuine and true to life.
In terms of structure, Seskis has been extremely clever here, and weaves a strong plot together through aspects both in the present and in the past. Clues and hints are steadily seeded throughout, along with twists and red herrings that never truly allow the reader to know exactly what's going on. In fact, given how much I enjoyed this book I would have been tempted to give it another half a star – but unfortunately wasn't blown away by the final twist, as it was rapidly revealed with little room to delve into the real meaning behind it. I completely appreciate that this is just my opinion though – and I'm planning on giving the book a reread in the future in order to see if I missed out on more clues pointing to it. In part, it could well be that I'm just rather annoyed that my own suspicions for the truth behind this mystery turned out to be so far of course! Overall though, this is a book by a thriller writer who is at the top of her game – and I'll be looking forward to the next suspense filled rollercoaster she chooses to take her readers on. Many thanks to the publishers for the copy.
For further reading, I recommend the writers first book, One Step Too Far. Much like The Honeymoon, it's a thriller that will keep you reading well into the early hours, set around a compellingly magnetic lead character.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis at Amazon.com.
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