Happy publication day to ‘The Island’ by Catherine Cooper. Thanks to NetGalley for my opportunity to read this book ahead of publication – opinions are entirely my own.
I’ve loved Catherine Cooper’s previous novels – tight and twisty psychological thrillers set in such great locations as a French chateau, a fancy ski resort or on board a luxury cruise ship. With that in mind, I was very keen to visit (from my armchair, obviously!) the latest high-end setting, a sumptuous and exclusive Maldives resort in ‘The Island’.
This is a dual timeline novel told from multiple perspectives – we spend the majority of the novel on a press junket to the posh resort set up by high-society twins Henry and Ophelia. A range of journalists and influencers have been invited to enjoy the resort before the main launch – but bad luck seems to plague the party from the start. When the island is cut off due to a storm and a little internet outage, the danger levels rise as the group realise that there could be a killer among them.
The second timeline takes us back to Henry and Ophelia’s earlier entrepreneurial endeavours when they were at school in 1990, running debauched parties for teens. As with Cooper’s other novels, the seeds of present-day disasters lie in the past, but (as usual) I totally failed to pick up many of the clues and the denouement was a surprise to me – just as it should be!
I thought that the characters were more sympathetic in this novel than in some of the previous ones. There are always going to be some horrors, but I found a few of the main characters to be genuinely likeable. I especially liked Malia, the least experienced of the influencer/journalist group and one of the main narrators – her awe at the luxury of the resort but determination to play it cool was just how I imagine I’d feel!
The setting is beautifully written – the resort sounds like an absolute dream, even if the itinerary would strike fear into my heart – scuba diving, quad biking, eating risky fugu sushi…I think I’d be passing up opportunities, although hopefully with more grace than some of the less polite journalists in the book!
If you’ve enjoyed Cooper’s previous novels, there’s lots more to enjoy here. If you’re a keen armchair traveller, ditto. This is a page-turner that will keep you reading right until the end – the twists come thick and fast and there are some real surprises along the way.
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Header photo by Mohamed Thasneem on Unsplash.
