What can I say, except: this is a blogger’s dream
When I started writing reviews of books in what was essentially a 2020 lockdown project, it was entirely for my own entertainment. I never dreamed that any authors would be interested in a word that I had to say, never mind invite me to write about their books.
So the first time it happened, I had to pinch myself to make sure it was for real. Since then, it’s happened several more times and let me be clear: the pinches don’t get any less hard. I’m flattered and humbled that any author, whether this is their first book or their twentieth, has taken the time to ask me if I’ll read their work and tell everyone what I think. It’s something that I hope I’ll never take for granted and if any of my readers think that this is happening: please, don’t ask questions. Just shoot me.
The only trouble is that, as I’ve said before, it’s something of a double-edged sword. If an author sends me a book and I love it, it’s one of the best feelings in the world to be able to write that and share the author’s moment of joy as they read what I’ve had to say. But if an author sends me a book that I didn’t enjoy, well, that’s one of the worst feelings in the world. Not only does it feel unkind to criticise a free gift, but it also feels a bit hypocritical because the very fact that they’ve written a book means they’ve achieved something that I probably never will.
I mention this because that feeling of a double-edged sword is one that continued as I started to read Long Weekend, which is a book that – as you may have guessed – was gifted to me by the author. And in the beginning it instantly reminded me of two other books: Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which I read whilst recovering from Covid and loved very much, and The Last Passenger by Will Dean, which I didn’t. The reason, I think, is that the former is not only a fast-paced whodunnit, but the psychology is also well and truly nailed. The reader shares everything that the characters are going through. But in the latter – for me, anyway – the psychology wasn’t brought to the fore simply because I found the whole thing too mad to be believable.
That, as I say, was my thought at the beginning. But I’m writing this review having finished the book, and I have no difficulty at all answering the question that I’m sure the author, at least, is longing to ask. So – drum roll – did Long Weekend work for me?
You bet your life it did.
Imagine And Then There Were None, brought bang up to date and made personal, and you’re about there. Like in the Agatha Christie novel, the setting is a remote island. Only this time, the guests are high-profile celebrities and the island offers a life of more luxury, at a higher price than most people who aren’t high-profile celebrities could only dream of. So the protagonist Emma – a fledgling journalist who has been gifted the holiday by her boss in lieu of the pay rise she really needs – is the classic underdog, but her situation allows the reader to instantly empathise. And when we then learn that she plans to launch her career by writing an expose on the rich and famous guests, we’re backing her all the way before the story has even begun.
It also means that when the veneer slips and things start to go horribly wrong, we absolutely share Emma’s feelings of initial shock, then fear, then horror, then terror. But we also watch in a sort of horribly delighted fascination. Because, all of a sudden, celebrity status counts for nothing when lives are at stake. In a matter of life or death, everyone is equal. And that human need to be able to trust someone, but feeling unable to trust anyone, is wonderfully conveyed. As is the good old entertainment factor of characters – and I hope it’s not a spoiler if I say this – dropping like flies.
I really have just one criticism to make of the book, which is the way that the other characters are introduced. It all happens in a single chapter, and it was simply too quick for me to be able to remember one from another. For several of the subsequent chapters, I found myself having to pause, go back and remind myself: who is he/she again?
Ultimately, however, I didn’t care because … that ending. It’s fabulous. We’re led to think the worst has happened and then given the truth, which is a relief in one sense and yet terrifying, because it’s almost worse than we feared in another. I loved it.
I should make it clear though that, despite my multiple comparisons to And Then There Were None, Long Weekend never felt like an imitation. It felt a bit more like going to see a new up-and-coming band. Think of that one chapter of the book in which a whole host of new characters are introduced as the band initially playing three or four songs from a forthcoming album that had yet to be released. A little confusing. But everything from then on is like that same band paying tribute to one of your favourite artists and absolutely rocking all of the hits you know and love. By the end of the show, the slight blip at the start is nothing more than a distant memory.
That’s just how I felt about Long Weekend. And why it’s thoroughly deserving of five stars.
My thanks to the author for the gifted copy of the book, which I have read voluntarily and honestly. I will post my review on Goodreads, Amazon and my social media pages.
My rating: ★★★★★
16th April 2024
The blurb
Emma is an ordinary girl given an extraordinary opportunity.
Her boss, Rebecca, gifts her a ticket to the exclusive event opening of Hotel Horizen – an ultra private villa complex on a remote island. Four days of relaxation and indulgence await her.
But Emma has an ulterior motive when she accepts the ticket, she views this weekend as her chance to write an expose on the rich and famous in attendance. A way to kick start her journalism career.
What she hadn’t banked on though, was that this weekend would become the most terrifying story of her life.
About the author
S M Thomas; or Steph as she’s more commonly known, has been writing since she could hold a pencil.
When she isn’t writing twisty worlds for her readers to escape into she can be found either with her nose in a book or dancing around her living room to Beyoncé.
To hear Steph talk about herself more in third person please see her website at: www.smthomas.co.uk.
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