Review By Veronica
The Search Party is a gritty, dark reunion thriller that you will not be able to put down.
Favourite Quote:
She tries to distract herself with details around her. The roar of the ocean. The gusting wind ripping at the bracken. The small, white flowers growing at her feet. The loud, too-fast thump of her heart. Only it’s impossible to focus; she can’t seem to fix anything in her mind. Nothing can compete with his voice– all his ugly words bearing down on her. “Do it,” he says/ “ What are you waiting for?”
Goodreads Synopsis:
Five old friends. One glamping weekend. A storm that will change everything.
Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion. But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears.
Moving between the police investigation, a hospital room, and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive and twisty destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children.
If you are looking for a gritty and dark escapist read, then you should pick up The Search Party by Hannah Richell. The prologue of this book is gripping and so shocking that you can’t help but want to continue reading it because you need to know what happened before and after the event in the prologue. I enjoyed this book. It is told by multiple POVs and timelines, which I’m not usually a fan of. I really don’t enjoy bouncing around from one POV to another POV. I find it a bit jarring reading experience. But that is just a pet peeve that I have, and I believe most bookworms don’t care about the constantly changing POVs. The one thing I liked about how the story was told was that a few of the POVs were from the kids’/teens’ perspectives. This was the first time I read a thriller and got to see what was going on in the kids’/teens’ heads and how they were interacting with the events unfolding in front of them. All of these characters are complex and real. They all have secrets, which trigger many of the events in this book. I always love peeling back those layers and uncovering what characters are hiding. Hannah weaves these themes of parental responsibility, adoption, and the lengths parents are willing to go to protect their kids.
The location was great. It creates this sense of isolation and really sets the mood for this thriller. I love the story. Hannah does a great job taking her readers on this tension-filled journey filled with unexpected twists and turns. Hannah also builds this sense of suspense that climaxes beautifully with shock and action. Everything connected to the plot was well thought out and came together perfectly.
The Search Party is a must for any bookworm who loves thriller books.
Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
