This review is written with thanks to the TBC Reviewers Group for my copy of The Last Resort.

Blurb:

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One perfect crime.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear.

Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat—it’s a trap they can’t get out of.

As the clock counts down to the lavish end-of-day party they’ve been promised, injuries and in-fighting split the group. But with no escape from the island—or the other guests’ most shocking secrets—Amelia begins to suspect that her only hope for survival is to be the last one standing. Can she confront her own dark past to uncover the truth—before it’s too late to get out?

Review:

I’ve read a few books by this author now and each one is completely different but still equally gripping as the last. The Last Resort is no exception to this pattern. This novel uses the increasing technological advances in the world to allow us to think about a very thought provoking issue: memory. It feels very current and I think this makes it even more intriguing, as the developments we see may be even more realistic than we’d like to admit! I was concerned that the scientific elements would make it difficult for me to get my head around the plot, but this is not the case at all – it makes it even more engaging.

The novel begins in 2000 before moving forward in time. The intrigue is planted from the very beginning as I wondered how the events of the past are connected to those in the main body of the novel. We revisit the past at intervals throughout the book, and this helps Holliday to build the tension and keep the reader guessing.

Each chapter in The Last Resort is told from the perspective of one of the seven central characters. It’s clear they all have secrets, some of which are very dark, and the different perspectives help us to see into each person’s mindset. The characters are very well drawn and with several of them working in the “celebrity” world, this increases the feeling that they are products of the modern world and makes it quite easy to relate to them, even though they all have moments where they are unlikeable.

The setting in The Last Resort is described really vividly, and I could picture what was happening really easily. The novel is incredibly atmospheric and I loved how the setting contributed to this.

The tension continues to build until the very end and I was often reading on the edge of my seat, desperate to know how the ending would play out.

The Last Resort is available from Amazon.