The Vacation: A Novel
Longlisted for the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, The Vacation is a compulsive, holiday-set thriller from John Marrs, bestselling author of The One, now a Netflix Original Series.
"John Marrs's creative, high-concept thrillers never fail to keep me furiously turning the pages."--Sarah Pearse
"John Marrs can do no wrong." --Jack Jordan
"John Marrs is a master of suspense." --Jeneva Rose
How far would you run to escape your past?
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they'd kill to keep...
Don't miss other suspenseful reads from John Marrs (you'll never see the twists coming!):
"John Marrs's creative, high-concept thrillers never fail to keep me furiously turning the pages."--Sarah Pearse
"John Marrs can do no wrong." --Jack Jordan
"John Marrs is a master of suspense." --Jeneva Rose
How far would you run to escape your past?
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they'd kill to keep...
Don't miss other suspenseful reads from John Marrs (you'll never see the twists coming!):
- The One
- The Marriage Act
- The Family Experiment (coming soon!)
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
The Vacation unfolds in a beautiful setting. Four college friends -- Kate, Jennifer, Rowan, and Izzy -- are overdue for a get-together. When they score a stay at an exquisite private estate in the south of France none of them could afford independently, they decide to bring their families along for a one-week vacation of a lifetime. They have just arrived when Kate discovers damning text messages on Sean's phone that suggest he is involved in an extramarital affair, which may explain why he has been secretive of late. Worse, the sender suggests that they make decisions while they are together at the villa. Kate concludes that Sean, a network security manager with a medium-sized IT company who feels that he has not achieved the success he should have by this point in his life, is cheating on her with one of her best friends. But which one? And how should she approach the situation? Should she confront Sean immediately? She rejects that option, instead waiting and observing Sean's interactions with her friends, hoping she will be able to determine which one of them has betrayed her. After all, she has been a crime analyst with the Metropolitan Police for thirteen years, collecting and collating data, and analyzing patterns, so her investigative skills are above average.
The four friends have a lengthy history, and Kate alludes to issues they have overcome throughout the years. Rowan and her husband, Russ, have one daughter, aged five, who regularly throws tantrums that they prove unable to effectively manage. Jennifer is an overprotective mother to two sneaky and sarcastic teenage boys, Jake and Ethan, who seem to constantly be getting into trouble. They attend school with Lucy who is demonstrably upset about something, but will not share the details with her mother. Izzy is the only one of the four women who is still single and childless. However, as the story progresses, Logan reveals the reason she has never married and has been spending her time far away from home.
As the story unfolds at a steady pace, Logan reveals salient details about the group's long and somewhat troubled past. Kate harbors guilt about two traumatic events and, for that reason, among others, is reluctant to confront either of the women she suspects. Instead, she spends a great deal of time observing Sean's activities and attempting to catch him engaging in inappropriate behavior with the other woman in his life, her lack of self-esteem fueling her belief that she is inferior to and cannot compete with her friends for Sean's affection. But she does want to save their marriage and not only for the sake of Lucy and Daniel. Until they arrived at the villa, she believed they were a happy couple. Meanwhile, Sean is also experiencing guilt in the present. He is indeed keeping a secret from Kate, but are her suspicions accurate?
The estate is fraught with danger. It is surrounded by sloping vineyards and a wall, but there is also a gorge at the end of a path that leads to a rock face with pools below. A clearing at the edge of a cliff looks out over the rocky promontory and the water far below.
Logan takes full advantage of the lush setting where he places his characters as scenes play out throughout the estate. But none is as terrifying as the cliff from which the water can be seen rushing below. His characters' secrets and concealed agendas motivate them to engage in behaviors that could be either innocent or deadly, and Logan keeps readers guessing which. He deftly injects clues and revelations into the story, compelling the action forward and accelerating the suspense leading up to a major development that will keep readers frantically turning the pages to see what else will be revealed and who will survive.
Once all of the characters' secrets are revealed, Logan's protagonists, Kate and Sean, face a moral conundrum that will spur readers to question what they would do if faced with a similar choice. How far should parents go to protect their child's future?
Although the The Vacation's storyline is primarily plot, rather than character-driven, Logan has nonetheless crafted an eclectic and intriguing group of players, most of whom are thoroughly unlikable, starting with Kate and her insecurities. She is devoted to her family and career, and wants to preserve both. Rowan is a driven businesswoman on the brink of launching her public relations firm to greater success, and Russ is committed to enjoying it with her. Jennifer, the athletic beauty that Sean dated before Kate, has devoted her life to raising her two boys with Alistair, her therapist husband. Readers do not get to know Izzy as well as the others, but the teenagers in the story are each fascinating in their own right, if also repugnant. Little Daniel is innocent and endearing, and will have readers cheering for him.
The Vacation is an entertaining look at long-time friendships, the destructive power of secrets, and the lengths to which parents will go to secure their child's future.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
The four friends have a lengthy history, and Kate alludes to issues they have overcome throughout the years. Rowan and her husband, Russ, have one daughter, aged five, who regularly throws tantrums that they prove unable to effectively manage. Jennifer is an overprotective mother to two sneaky and sarcastic teenage boys, Jake and Ethan, who seem to constantly be getting into trouble. They attend school with Lucy who is demonstrably upset about something, but will not share the details with her mother. Izzy is the only one of the four women who is still single and childless. However, as the story progresses, Logan reveals the reason she has never married and has been spending her time far away from home.
As the story unfolds at a steady pace, Logan reveals salient details about the group's long and somewhat troubled past. Kate harbors guilt about two traumatic events and, for that reason, among others, is reluctant to confront either of the women she suspects. Instead, she spends a great deal of time observing Sean's activities and attempting to catch him engaging in inappropriate behavior with the other woman in his life, her lack of self-esteem fueling her belief that she is inferior to and cannot compete with her friends for Sean's affection. But she does want to save their marriage and not only for the sake of Lucy and Daniel. Until they arrived at the villa, she believed they were a happy couple. Meanwhile, Sean is also experiencing guilt in the present. He is indeed keeping a secret from Kate, but are her suspicions accurate?
The estate is fraught with danger. It is surrounded by sloping vineyards and a wall, but there is also a gorge at the end of a path that leads to a rock face with pools below. A clearing at the edge of a cliff looks out over the rocky promontory and the water far below.
Logan takes full advantage of the lush setting where he places his characters as scenes play out throughout the estate. But none is as terrifying as the cliff from which the water can be seen rushing below. His characters' secrets and concealed agendas motivate them to engage in behaviors that could be either innocent or deadly, and Logan keeps readers guessing which. He deftly injects clues and revelations into the story, compelling the action forward and accelerating the suspense leading up to a major development that will keep readers frantically turning the pages to see what else will be revealed and who will survive.
Once all of the characters' secrets are revealed, Logan's protagonists, Kate and Sean, face a moral conundrum that will spur readers to question what they would do if faced with a similar choice. How far should parents go to protect their child's future?
Although the The Vacation's storyline is primarily plot, rather than character-driven, Logan has nonetheless crafted an eclectic and intriguing group of players, most of whom are thoroughly unlikable, starting with Kate and her insecurities. She is devoted to her family and career, and wants to preserve both. Rowan is a driven businesswoman on the brink of launching her public relations firm to greater success, and Russ is committed to enjoying it with her. Jennifer, the athletic beauty that Sean dated before Kate, has devoted her life to raising her two boys with Alistair, her therapist husband. Readers do not get to know Izzy as well as the others, but the teenagers in the story are each fascinating in their own right, if also repugnant. Little Daniel is innocent and endearing, and will have readers cheering for him.
The Vacation is an entertaining look at long-time friendships, the destructive power of secrets, and the lengths to which parents will go to secure their child's future.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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