MY REVIEW
The book begins with the prologue from the memoir of Julian Griggs and details how his wife Helen (42) was murdered at home in Edinburgh. The murder is still unsolved. He explains how his life changed ten years before, when they had a car accident. Helen was injured, with paralysis of her lower body and brain damage. Julian became her carer until her death.
The story then moves to the present day. It’s four years after Helen’s death. Julian is 49 and with wife Olivia Pearson on her 54th birthday at his wife’s gorgeous home, Villa Soledad in Mallorca.
The novel starts off quite slowly after the prologue, as it follows Julian and Olivia’s days in Mallorca, and we learn more about them. Then a young man called Gabriel turns up on the beach, who knows Julian from years ago.
The book is marketed as a thriller, but there is very little tension initially. In fact, it is quite slow-paced throughout. It’s like queuing up to go on a rollercoaster, only to find you’re on the galloping horses. You still enjoy the ride, but it’s not quite what you were expecting. It’s not a bad story at all, I did enjoy it and wanted to find out what happened, I just felt the pacing was off. There are also some quite graphic sex scenes.
BLURB
The Perfect Holiday
Would you kill to be here?
Olivia and Julian are enjoying lazy days in their Spanish villa, a well deserved break from their busy lives. Especially for Julian, who after a lifetime as a carer was thrust into the public eye following the tragic murder of his first wife.
The languid heat and peace of the villa is broken only by clifftop walks, sun drenched lunches and cooling swims. Until a chance encounter with Gabriel – an attractive man, many years their junior – changes everything.
Soon their idyllic break turns into a dangerous, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. Will any of them get out alive?
Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3GHeugH
Author Bio –
T.J. Emerson’s debut psychological thriller was published by Legend Press and received brilliant reviews. Her short stories and features have been widely published in anthologies and magazines, and she works as a literary consultant and writing tutor. Her latest psychological thriller, The Perfect Holiday, will be published by Boldwood Books in April 2022. She lives in Scotland.
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