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Sunday, January 10, 2021

A Great "Bully Revenge" Novel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                          Interconnected characters figure in Lucy Foley's novel "The Guest List," which is loads of fun,  if not as satisfying  on a literary level. It is just plain "fun."


                                           Foley follows a classic Agatha Christie conceit.  A group of folk in  their mid-thirties, or thereabouts, are invited  to a private,  remote island, off  the coast  of  Ireland,  to  a couple's wedding.   What  becomes apparent,  as the novel progresses, is that many of the characters have past connections to one  another, and when things congeal, blood literally boils over.


                                             I  will  say both those  who  turned  out to  be  the murderer  and  the  victim  surprised me.  Though, in  retrospect, I personally would call it justifiable homicide.


                                               Foley delivers.  Her characters are wonderfully likable or despicable, she is great with conjuring up the macabre atmosphere of  the island, and  contrasting it with the romantic goings  on  inside the mansion,  regarding the wedding.


                                                It was actually better than expected,  and I look  forward to reading the next  Lucy Foley as avidly as  I do the next Shari Lapena novel.


                                                 "The Guest List"  may not reach the iconic status as Stephen King's "Carrie," which was as much a "bully revenge"  novel, as it was  horror,  but it is exhilirating  the way it delivers  reader satisfaction.


                                                      This  is one  wedding, darlings,  I was  glad  not to have been  invited  to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 comments:

Victoria said...

Strong writing and plot. Kept me guessing!
Did you like the different POVs?

The Raving Queen said...


Victoria,
Yes, I liked the different POV's.
And the killer and mastermind was
a complete surprise to me! This is
a gemre writer to watch for.