E]ntertaining if uneven ... Foley defers disclosing the murder victim’s identity until quite late, but she undercuts the suspense with obvious indications of who it is.… [Still,] readers seeking thrills will find plenty. Lyall, Sarah (10 December 2020). "The Best Thrillers of 2020". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Part psychological suspense part classic crime written in Agatha Christie style, The Hunting Party, is a great read appealing on many levels.

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. So I put on my detective hat and get ready to puzzle this out, with much glee. But here is the first problem: not only do we not know the murderer, we don't know who the victim is either. So right off the bat, some of the fun is taken out of the whole thing. is one of the better thrillers I read this year and will be enjoyable to some extent for every adult. There is no need to impugn the originality of this novel due to the heavy influence by William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies and Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None as the author herself admits it indirectly in multiple parts in this novel. There is also a high chance that this book will be the winner for the best mystery and thriller category in the Goodreads choice award this year. I didn’t enjoy The Guest List as much as The Hunting Party, which I’ll get into more. Don’t get me wrong—I read the story in one sitting so I was very engaged. But I had a couple issues with it. First the synopsisThis story is told from multiple perspectives over the course of the weekend, with the body and the killer only being revealed at the very end. Afterwards, Hannah talks with Olivia. (Olivia was upset because the truth was that she'd actually gotten pregnant by Steven and had an abortion, but she's too ashamed to tell.) Hannah encourages Olivia to get whatever it is off her chest. Hannah talks about her sister, Alice, who had an ex-boyfriend that passed around an explicit video of her after she dumped him. Alice was too ashamed to tell them, but Hannah wishes she would have, since she loved her regardless. (Hannah leaves out that Alice killed herself 17 years ago.) Did Will really not know that he had been involved with both sisters? Olivia used Jules’s apartment as a spot for her trysts with Will. Had Will never been to Jules’s apartment? Did Johnno deserve what happened to him? And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why? ( From the publisher.)

The setting was extremely atmospheric, channeling a gothic vibe by incorporating some of the island's earlier history and lore into the tale. CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Longlists Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Are you willing to kiss all your spare cash goodbye? Are you easily distracted by independent bookshops, bi Are you searching for the NEXT best book? But that’s not the only person Will harmed. He did an act of revenge porn on Hannah’s sister and she eventually killed herself. Let’s talk about this reveal. He’s a longtime friend (and former crush) of the bride. Something dark happened to him at the stag party. He seems to have a history of drinking too much.

Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not? The wedding of the year is about to take place on an exclusive island. Bridezilla is about to marry a smarmy D list celebrity who has many skeletons in his closet. The members of the Wedding Party hold the cards that could destroy their marriage and their lives. The Guest List is a fun, fast-paced, guessing game of a read; perfect for fans of Dame Agatha Christie, or Ruth Ware. These are all the characters we follow so quite a lot! I have to say, I did not love the big focus on the boarding school men (there’s more of them in the story; we just don’t read their perspectives). I just didn’t think those guys were very intriguing. There is a reason we follow Johnno’s perspective throughout but some of his actions just didn’t make sense and not in a “suspicious way” but in a head scratcher move from the author. If you’ve read the story, message me and I’ll tell you what I mean.