The Holiday by John Nicholl
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 22nd February 2024
Published: 21st February 2024
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
It was meant to be the perfect getaway…
As I board the plane, all I can feel is hope and excitement. One whole week away. Just me and the man I have promised to be with forever.
Time to repair what has been broken. Maybe even try for another baby, and pray that this time it doesn’t end heartbreakingly.
I just need to not think about what George has done. He’s my husband. And this is the holiday where we make things right.
But then I realise he can’t take his eyes off the beautiful woman who’s just boarded the plane in front of me…
In that moment, everything changes.
And nobody is safe.
A gripping, twisty, breathtaking psychological thriller that will keep you reading late into the night. If you loved The Housemaid, The Girl on the Train and The Couple at No.9, you’ll be addicted to The Holiday.
MY THOUGHTS:
It was meant to be the perfect getaway...
...but this holiday is anything BUT a holiday! What I wouldn't give for a week in Tenerife, sipping pina coladas by the pool, walking on the sand at sunset, swimming in the pristine waters. But I haven't even got a passport so the closest I can get is to dream.
Firstly, Suzie and George. Has anyone ever met a more unlikely couple? Suzie is in love with George (more's the pity) but George is too busy being in love with himself (and Suzie's money). Although the sum of which is never disclosed, it is hinted at being a tidy sum that could mean he could chuck in his job at the gym and buy a luxurious home on the coast and never have to worry about money again. But George doesn't have access to Suzie's wealth, which she had won on a premium bond, and he spends the week in Tenerife and then back home trying to convince her to let him have even just a taster. A joint account. Shared assets. Paying off his debts. And new wills leaving all their worldly goods to each other.
But Suzie has a problem. She can't get past George's wandering eye, convinced that he has been unfaithful though she has yet to prove it. And under her father's guidance, she has cut off all access to her wealth and handing her husband out tidbits like he was a child. In some ways, he is. Like a teenager he thinks with only one part of his anatomy and lets that lead his life. George hates her that her father has so much influence over a grown woman's life. And he kind of has a point. I'm all for respecting your elders but reallty, Suzie's father is a bully who demands obedience and justifies it as God's law. Of course, Suzie is a strict Catholic so divorce was never going to be an option for her. As she says on more than one occasion, George is her cross to bear.
And then while they are on holiday in Tenerife, the holiday that is to be a new start for them both, Suzie strikes up an unlikely friendship with Amelia after the woman witnessed George's drunken tantrum poolside one afternoon. It's a friendship that continues when they return to Wales and one that Suzie is thankful for. But Amelia is stunningly gorgeous and she knows that George would ogle the woman given half the chance.
Howver, once they return to Wales Suzie gives George an ultimatum. Try for another baby and once she gives birth to a healthy child (after suffering two miscarriages) only then will she give him access to her wealth.
But this holiday, that was meant to be the perfect getaway and a new start for them both, turns out to be a nightmare...where nobody is safe...
This psychological thriller is so entertaining like a car crash from which you can't look away, with completely despicable characters who were as hateful as each other, and even with its oh-so predictable plot I had to stick around to see it through. Even to the very last line of the very last page...I was rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it and how gullible they all were.
I love John Nicholl's books and as much as the characters were cringeworthy, it was so skillfully written that it was entertaining from start to finish. And I enjoyed the ride.
I would like to thank #JohnNicholl, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheHoliday in exchange for an honest review.
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