Ruth Ware is very readable! This is the 4th or 5th novel I have read by her, and they are all really good. When I get nervous about what's going to happen in a book, I start reading really fast. That happened toward the end of this one. I had to stop myself from jumping ahead.
The setting of this story is a ski chalet in the French Alps. I was definitely not familiar with some of the French names of things or French terminology, but I could infer what she meant by the context. And I learned some things!
The chalet is rented out for a week for a company retreat, so it was basically a work trip. The attendees consisted of the co-founders of a tech company called Snoop and eight others that either worked for Snoop and/or had voting shares in the company. The co-founders, Eva and Topher, were best friends but were in conflict about the next steps for Snoop. Eva wanted to sell it, profit handsomely (along with the other share holders), and move on. Topher wanted to keep it going (even though they were struggling financially) because the tech guy, Elliot, had developed a way to track the users, which Topher figured would attract more subscribers. The company was basically a music streaming service. People could "follow" users of Snoop and listen to the music the user was currently listening to. Meaning, at the same time. They would be listening "together". With Elliot's new contribution, Snoop would become a tracking device.
There were five people who had voting shares in the company (Topher, Eva, Elliot, Rik and Liz) and the idea was that after Eva and Topher each presented their plans for Snoop there would be a vote, with the majority ruling. Liz was caught in the middle. She no longer worked for Snoop, but she owned 2% of the voting shares of the company. Since Topher & Elliot were a team and Eva & Rik were a team, Liz's vote would be the deciding vote and she felt a sense of loyalty to both Topher and Eva for different reasons.
The other two people in the chalet were Erin and Danny, basically the "hosts" of the chalet. Danny was the chef and Erin took care of the guests' needs and desires.
Since this is a suspense novel, things heat up when people start dying and/or disappearing. Then the chalet is hit by an avalanche, which knocks out all power, all service, and all ways of communicating with anyone outside the chalet. So, no way to call for help.
A fast-paced read which I enjoyed very much!
Wendy's Rating: ****
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