This book came to me via an ARC program, and I chose it because the synopsis was intriguing.

The Premise

While on a much-needed vacation from her job as a reporter for Wealthy magazine, Maddie meets a preteen girl and her mother on a ferry in Greece. The girl Ruby’s — or Doris’ — and her mother’s stories don’t seem to match up as to why they’re there, which triggers Maddie’s investigative instinct. Her own trauma still haunts her, and she sees similarities in Ruby. But is the girl’s “uncle”, the eccentric and reclusive billionaire Dexter Hunt, hiding a dark and illegal secret on his private neighbouring island? Faced with the opportunity to escape the debt and insecurity that has plagued her and her mother in the past, Ruby is eager to please her host. But is she being exploited? As Maddie’s and Ruby’s paths continue to cross as Maddie digs deeper to get to the story, the secrets she uncovers are even more disturbing than she ever imagined.

The Pros

This was a genre mash-up with elements of drama, thriller, women’s fiction, a wee bit of romance, and even a sprinkle of sci-fi. The plot yanks you back and forth, diving into entirely unexpected places. I loved that it was entirely unique — it’s not often that you get something these days that you can genuinely say that you never saw coming… but this was it. I absolutely loved the author’s way of building a story — dropping all the clues pointing to one thing, and then going somewhere entirely different. She has a way with words that draws you in and takes you along for the ride — and this ride was a doozy!

I felt like I was part of Maddie’s character, triumphing in her wins and cringing in embarrassment along with her as she haplessly chooses the wrong person to trust over and over again. The setting of Greece is also expertly crafted, taking you right there to the stunning views and architecture — and the sumptuous men like Elias, of course! I loved how he was portrayed, as well as the other male interest Logan, and as an avid reader I really appreciated that — for once! — the men were not one-dimensional; all of them, even the creepy billionaire Dexter Hunt, had both good and bad sides that resonated with the reader and made us trust and doubt them in equal measure as the plot unfolds.

The Cons

I enjoyed this book a lot, but I must admit that the uniqueness of the plot did make me feel unsettled when it ended. Firstly (and this may be my own personal pet peeve), when authors choose to go with multiple points of view, I prefer (1) they stick to the same kind of POV e.g. both first-person or both third person, and (2) keep it balanced. In this case we get a LOT of Maddie in third person and a minuscule amount of Ruby in first person (not to mention yet another POV much later). My editor’s hat was twitching to chop out some of Maddie and insert more Ruby!

Without giving away too much, I wished that Maddie following up on her past trauma wasn’t included, because I was unhappy with how she dealt with it, so that plot point I would’ve loved to reduce greatly in favour of including more of Ruby. The author’s writing style is excellent and demonstrates great talent and delicacy in portraying sensitive matters, and I could see that being an entirely separate (and terrific) story in its own right, but I just didn’t need quite so much of it inside of *this* story. Finally, I also felt like the motive of the eventual antagonist wasn’t sufficient; the twist was shocking, but I wished for more back story.

I know that my “cons” seem really long here, but I am a picky reader, and mind you: all of this only made me dock one star! So you know the book was pretty damn amazing despite all of this!

Conclusion

Despite the issues I pointed out, I must say this was a stupendous book as my first novel by this author. It manages to take a lot of genres and build a winding story that drops you off a cliff, and I loved that I — an oft-jaded reader/reviewer/author — am still able to get such a huge jolt to my system. There’s a lot to love here, and I am thrilled to recommend this book to others, and I’m also pretty sure that my own issues would be incredibly minor to the average reader! This was a great read, and I look forward to many more from this author.

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