The setting of this story is intriguing enough, without the added mystery surrounding each of the main characters. The families and friends of handsome and charming Will Slater (up and coming television star) and beautiful and intelligent Jules Keegan (magazine publisher) gather together on a remote Irish island to celebrate Will & Jules' wedding. The island itself is "spooky", with an old graveyard front and center, the dangerous peat bogs surrounding the property, the cliffs, and the icy cold surf crashing against the rocks. Then, throw in a furocious storm and you have a setting that I would not want to be a part of, especially at night when the power goes out.
Each of the main characters has a secret. None of them feel safe sharing their secret with their loved ones, since it would reflect badly on them. (So they believe). The author does a nice job of telling everyone's story while weaving all of the individual stories into one big one. There are feelings of arrogance, shame, disgust, love, pride, distrust - but the underlying characteristic that most of the characters feel is insecurity. Most of the characters' actions, or lack of action, comes down to feelings of insecurity. They are not good enough; they are a disappointment; they are not smart enough, or attractive enough. This is a story of all the different ways people handle themselves to make them "feel better".
Most of the characters were difficult to like. Some I felt sorry for, like Olivia and Hannah, and they are the two I probably liked the most. Will & Johnno's school friends were a bunch of obnoxious jerks, and their deeds were painful to read about at times. They were a bunch of overgrown schoolboys acting incredibly immature, even though in their own private lives they all had accomplished careers. Which makes their actions even worse, in my opinion.
So, someone dies after the wedding ceremony, in the darkness of the stormy night, outside the Marquee where the wedding festivities are going on. By the end of the book, all the secrets have been revealed and there are plenty of suspects that seem ready to commit murder. I don't want to spoil this journey, so I won't say anything more except I was surprised by the ending. That's all you can ask for.
Wendy's Rating: ****
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