By Cathryn Grant
They planned a dream vacation. They got a trip to hell.
Maggie and Brad are on vacation at Lake Tahoe when they meet another couple, Skye and Joe. The four hit it off so well that Maggie invites their new friends to share her beautiful lakeside rental.
What she doesn’t realize is Skye and Joe aren’t just some random couple. They have been watching Maggie and Brad, have noticed their wealth, and are planning to squeeze them for everything they can get.
So when they discover that Maggie has been keeping a secret that could destroy her marriage, they start turning the screws. But have they chosen their victim wisely? Or does Maggie also have a dark side?
As the pressure builds, what should have been a dream vacation begins to look more like the inner circle of hell. Before it’s over, all four will be changed forever – and at least one of them will be dead…
Official Summary
I found it extremely difficult to write this review without any spoilers! Please get in touch with me as soon as you have read this book – I am itching to discuss this title in more detail with someone who has read it! (Lynnie, if you are out there – read this book!)
Sit back and get ready to analyse your marriage as you turn the pages of this book. A story based on marriage, on what it takes to have a good marriage and the effects of deception and the lack of open communication. This book explores what happens when a couple becomes wrapped up in the routines of life and turns things upside by adding extreme circumstances and just for fun the author adds a dead body to the mix.
The book is narrated by all four characters and each chapter allows you to see the event unfold from their different perspectives. This allows you to get to know all of them intimately. I enjoyed that. It allowed me to make my own decisions about the characters and not only seeing them from one narrator’s point of view.
Maggie and Brad realise their marriage is in trouble and decide to visit Lake Tahoe to escape their daily routines, spend some quality time together and reconnect with each other. On the first night of their getaway, they meet a younger couple in a restaurant – Joe and Skye. When Maggie discovers that the couples holiday plans have fallen apart, she invites them to share their holiday house. Brad, who was looking forward to some alone time with his wife, is not happy with the change of plans. Soon secrets are uncovered that lead to disastrous events and when one of them dies, everything is turned upside down.
This book has you quickly forming your own opinion about the characters. I found myself completely entangled in this tale, desperate to share my opinion with the various characters and needing to point out details they seemed to be oblivious too.
The book is narrated by the four lead characters and you have a chance to creep into each one’s head from one chapter to the next. Joe is the arrogant, full of himself guy who you end up disliking straight away. Skye tries awfully hard to play the role of the sweet naïve young woman, but she is extremely annoying, and I found myself wanted to reach into the book and slap her more often than not. As for Brad, he starts out being the perfect husband, the guy we all wish we married. As I turned the pages I found I liked him less and less. The man has a serious superiority complex, he considers himself without any blame, making him my least favourite character by the end of the book. Then there is Maggie – she is real. She messed up in the worst way possible but I found myself feeling sorry for her. She allows things to get completely out of control and when she finally decides to fix her mistakes it is too late. I absolutely loved her. The author did an amazing job with the characters – you get into each one’s head and either love or hate them. They are realistic and easy to relate to.
The Other Couple is a very realistic piece of fiction that draws you into the drama of other people’s lives while at the same time encouraging you to take a look at yourself. I absolutely loved this book!
Thriller and mystery fans will find themselves drawn into this tale very quickly.
Author: Cathryn Grant – ISBN: 4698705986601 – Publisher: Inkubator Books – Source: ARC NetGalley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author bio from Amazon Profile
Cathryn is the author of the Alexandra Mallory series, featuring a sociopath you can’t help but love. She is also the author of ten psychological thrillers, including THE GOOD NEIGHBOR and THE GUEST, published by Inkubator Books. View the complete list at her website.
Cathryn Grant’s fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines, The Shroud Quarterly Journal, and been anthologized in The Best of Every Day Fiction and You, Me & A Bit of We. Her short story, “I Was Young Once”, received an honourable mention in the 2007 Zoetrope All-story Short Fiction contest.
Her psychological suspense fiction reveals the motives and desires that lead to suburban crime. She’s obsessed with the “why” behind human behaviour. In real crime, too many times, the why is left unanswered. Cathryn’s fiction tells the stories of ordinary people driven to commit crimes, especially homicide.
Cathryn also writes ghost stories–The Haunted Ship Trilogy and the Madison Keith series of novellas.
When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading fiction, walking on the beach, or playing golf, trying desperately to avoid hitting her ball in the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California Coast with her husband and two cats.
Thank you to Cathryn Grant and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. This was one of those books that surprised me and kept me entertained from start to finish. Have you read any Cathryn Grant books? Leave a comment below. Until next time…..Happy Reading!
I may just try this one next!
Thanks, this one is different!