The Lodge by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 28th July 2023
Published: 26th July 2023
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
It’s so quiet at the lodge. But if you listen very hard, you can hear the screams.
Anna has rebuilt her life after a toxic relationship with her obsessive, controlling ex, Clayton. She's finally found happiness with her fiancé, Joel, a veterinarian in the running for a dream job on a game reserve in South Africa.
When Joel is asked to interview at the luxurious safari lodge, Anna is delighted to be invited too. But her exotic holiday takes a sinister turn when she discovers that toxic ex Clayton is also a guest at the lodge.
Clayton seems happy with his new girlfriend, but Anna isn’t buying it. She doesn't believe in coincidences, and her gut tells her that Clayton is here for all the wrong reasons.
And she’s right. Because what Clayton has planned is beyond her worst nightmare. She escaped him once before – but this time he’s prepared the perfect trap.
The Lodge – the shocking psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and What She Knew.
MY THOUGHTS:
It’s so quiet at the lodge...but if you listen very hard, you can hear the screams...
Could a thriller get any more atmospheric? Any more claustrophobic? Any more creepier than THE LODGE? Maybe so, but in a place where the wild animals are not the only predators it certainly made it one very thrilling read. I've lost count of the amount of Rijks thrillers I have devoured but this one has to be one of the most chilling. It brings to mind the movie with Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas "The Ghost and the Darkness" - and that same sense of isolation tinged with danger.
I was drawn in from the very first page and was soon so absorbed that nothing and no one was going to stop me until the I swiped the very last page. The entire read was filled with tense moments that I was wondering how it was all going to pan out. And while the story was largely predictable there was still some part of it that wasn't...and that made the tension doubly palpable. I'm not sure I could have stayed sane in Anna's shoes while at the same time I was frantically waving my flashing baton to warn her of what I could clearly see coming from a mile off.
Two years ago, Anna was in a toxic relationship with suave and handsome charmer Clayton who was also controlling to the point of obsession. After she broke off their engagement, he would not take no for an answer and popped up everywhere she was. Outside her flat, her work, her mother's house, even following her in his car. He would send her flowers, order gifts, make dinner arrangements, make nuisance phone calls from an unlisted number. Anna was at her wit's end that she ended up moving abroad.
Now she has rebuilt her life and found happiness with Joel. Although he proposed after three months, she made him wait six months before she gave him her answer after the train wreck of her last relationship as she didn't want to find herself in the same situation again. But Joel is nothing like Clayton. He is kind and compassionate, a vet who specialises in large animals. And they are busy saving for their wedding.
All that is about to change when Joel excitedly informs Anna that he has been headhunted for a veterinary position at a game reserve in South Africa - a secret dream of his. They have been given an all-expenses paid trip for the unique experience and for Joel to be interviewed for his dream job. But Anna is hesitant. She hates flying and it's so far away...from everything. A fact that is only reinforced when they step off one plane only to step onto a smaller five seater plane that flies them another hour away. They are greeted by Ntando, a tracker who works at the reserve, who then drives them another half an hour to the reserve and the lodge where they will be staying. The absolute middle of nowhere.
But Anna has to admit...the lodge and its surrounds are stunning. The luxurious tents with the subtle privacies of a hidden shower and free standing bath. The cooling swimming pool. And those stunning views. And then they meet the other guests - two other couples staying to help launch this new game reserve ready for paying guests. And Anna's heart stops. No. It can't be. But it is. Clayton. But he's supposed to be dead. What is he doing here? Could it just all be a coincidence or a sinister plot to get her back?
But Anna doesn't believe in coincidence. She knows Clayton...and she knows he is there for a reason and that it cannot be anything good.
I remember reading on Miranda's instagram some time back when she was in South Africa and her pondering about it being the perfect setting for a thriller. I was like...um, yeah...not a fan. But oh em gee!! Did it work?! The setting of the game reserve really gave the reader that sense of isolation. And in a real "locked room" sense despite being out in the open. I mean, how could she leave? She had arrived by air and didn't know how to escape. Not only that, she was surrounded by predators but despite the lions, snakes and other wild animals that could tear you to shreds should you cross their path, it seemed that the human kind proved to be the most dangerous of all.
The story unfolds predominantly through Anna's narrative both in the past and the present as we are lead through step by step of her train wreck of a relationship with Clayton in which he pretty much railroaded her into. As the twists started, so too does the necessary suspension of belief for it to work. And crazily enough, it kind of does in a weird way. But then our villain is just a little bit loopy and the setting merely adds to the delusional factor. But then despite this, it just works so well. Rijks has that knack of making it work even when it seems ludicrous.
I honestly didn't think I would enjoy a book set in the wilds of Africa, but boy did I enjoy it! I devoured it in five hours in one sitting! No way was I stopping for sleep or anything. I was seeing it through the bitter end. It was a wild ride, a little predictable but sometimes not. The chapters are also relatively short and snappy, keeping the pace moving along nicely.
Overall, it was an atmospheric, fun and fast read that was also claustrophobic and chilling and oh so addictive. A thoroughly entertaining outing with Rijks once again.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheLodge in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
.jpg)
After a degree in Law, Miranda worked in marketing in London and Eastern Europe before setting up businesses in the horticultural, leisure and retail sectors. Along the way, she got a masters in writing and wrote the self-help book, ‘How Compatible Are You?’ and biography, ‘The Eccentric Entrepreneur’. In 2018, Miranda wrote ‘Don’t Call Me Brave’, a novel very loosely drawing upon her experiences of having a rare bone cancer.
She feels extremely lucky to be living the dream, writing psychological thrillers full time!
Miranda loves connecting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
Social Media Links:
Thank you so much for taking part in the tour and for sharing this fab review! x
ReplyDelete