There’s a Foley double bill on Book Social today as we ask you to #GetInvolved with The Hunting Party whilst we join the blog tour for Lucy’s new book, The Guest List.
The Guest List – the blurb
On an island off the windswept Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater.
Old friends.
Past grudges.
Happy families.
Hidden jealousies.
Thirteen guests.
One body.
The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. And as a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped.
All have a secret. All have a motive.
One guest won’t leave this wedding alive . . .
As the drink kicked in and the gloves came off
The Guest List has all the hallmarks of The Hunting Party. A group of long standing friends, underlying tensions, a deserted location. Yet Foley takes all these and elevates them. The characters are more rounded. More relate-able. I loved ‘plus one’ Hannah and thought Foley spot on in her descriptions of long term marriage and kids. Olivia was brilliantly written, the slightly unstrung teenager seemed very believable and provoked empathy, which The Hunting Party could have done with more of. I also thought Jules was well written, yes she was a bitch but there were cracks, enough to let you in and see underneath. Everyone present on the island had a dark side, and as the drink kicked in and the gloves came off, anything became possible.
All the emojis
As with Hunting Party the plot is spot on – tight as a pulled hamstring! Every little throw away sentence has a purpose. There were shocks along the way, I genuinely had my mouth open at one point and didn’t see the multiple twists Foley delivered. I love how the victim isn’t revealed straight away, I was even wondering if there was a victim at all at one point. By the half way point everyone in theory wants to kill someone which must be so hard to write. I don’t know how Foley pulls it off. Bravo emoji, clap emoji and any others I am too old to know
Doesn’t end there
I also loved the style of the book. The short snappy chapters when the lights cut out were just superb. BUT THEN there is the ending!!! And about that I will say no more.
The Hunting Party was really good, but whilst not taking anything away from that, The Guest List is better. I want to watch ‘Survive the night’ (anyone else imagine Bear Grylls?) I even want to see the wedding picture in Hello magazine. God knows how they would report that. All I know is I’m watching with interest to see what Foley brings to the table next.
Thanks
My thanks go to Harper Collins via The Random Things Blog Tours for a copy of the book in an exchange for an honest review. It was an absolute thrilling pleasure to read this and I will be recommending it to everyone who walks in to the book shop where I work.