Synopsis
It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
Six authors.
One private island.
Seventy-two hours to write the ending.
*
World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won’t write itself.
When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch’s private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars.
Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?
They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write…
Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.
Review
A mystery thriller written by VE Schwab and Cat Clarke.
When a famous, reclusive author dies before finishing his final book, 5 mid-list authors from different genres (thriller, romance, YA, sci fi, and horror) are invited to secretly spend 72 hours on the author’s isolated island, with no access the outside world. They must finish his manuscript, competing against each other to get a million pounds deal.
This doesn’t start off as a mystery or thriller. Rather, it is an insider’s look at the publishing industry. This is a common motif throughout. Similar to RF Kuang’s Yellowface, this is a cutting portrayal of the glamour and facade of being an author.
With the variety of genres present, this also comments on the perceptions of genres too. From editing, to marketing, to readers, to other authors. There is a snobbery and hostility towards genres that exists. This has been made clearer with the rise of booktok and the rising hate against romantasy – or faerie porn.
Each character has a reason to pursue the prize. Anyone not in the industry, not an author or hopeful, may never know how brutal publishing is. Becoming a published author is not ‘dream accomplished’. Getting that job in a publishing house does not mean you can glide through life on a high.
I do wish this touched more on the diversity aspect of publishing which it breezed through despite having a black romance author and editor.
I liked how each perspective changed depending on the genre each character wrote in. I especially enjoyed the horror author’s drier, wittier outlook.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the plot twist. I guessed it as an option, but quickly disregarded it as being too cheap and completely against the commentary in this book.
However, the epilogue slightly redeemed this.
Fast-paced and biting, this thriller kept me hooked.
Leave a Reply