by Ande Pliego
Bantam, 2025. 371 pages. Thriller.
When renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance — particularly since she has an ax to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem. Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two — the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead — and it’s not the murder she planned — Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether. With a storm cutting off the island, and the body count rising, Mila must outwit a killer who knows literally every trick in the book.
It's been a minute since I've read a good thriller, and this definitely scratched the itch. This locked-room mystery reminded me of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None plus a few unexpected twists and a sprinkling of the board game Cluedo. The audiobook used different narrators to identify the various perspectives, but even still I got a little confused sometimes, especially by the second-person passages. Also, the several intertwining plotlines were a touch on the overwrought side (bordering on convoluted) for my personal liking. However, this brilliant and complex work was well executed and enjoyable, and the biggest twist was not identifying the bad guy, as that revelation was rather underwhelming.