An exhilarating, gripping new psychological thriller from the author behind the record-breaking, multimillion-copy bestseller, The Silent Patient.
This is a tale of murder.
Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?
One spring morning, reclusive ex-movie star Lana Farrar invites a small group of her closest friends for a weekend away, on her small private island, just off the coast of Mykonos.
Beneath the surface, old friendships conceal violent passions and resentments. And in forty-eight hours, one of them will be dead.
But that was just the beginning…
You may think you know this story. Think again.
Alex Michaelides is back with another utterly original, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Previously a screenwriter, Michaelides burst onto the literary scene with his debut novel, The Silent Patient, which broke records by selling in 50 countries around the world. He followed it up with The Maidens, and now he’s done it again with The Fury. I can already tell this is going to be another runaway blockbuster.
There are so many mind-bending twists and turns in this complex psychological thriller – which makes it difficult to say much without giving anything away. Suffice to say: expect the unexpected. As our narrator informs us early on, this is less a ‘whodunnit’ than a ‘whydunnit’. Though we’re grappling with plenty of question marks around a central crime the whole way through, what really propels this compulsive page-turner is the psychology behind the characters’ actions. It’s ultimately a book about human nature: about our desire to love and be loved, and the stories we tell ourselves, and others, in order to fulfill – and justify – those desires.
Fans of The Silent Patient will know what they’re in for, but for readers new to Michaelides: prepare yourself for some seriously complex characters. If you think a weekend spent with a movie star on a Greek island sounds aspirational… think again. These are not people you’d want to holiday with! Every single character is grappling with demons – and they’re all the more compelling for it.
The Fury is also a cracking study in unreliable narration. Our faith in our narrator’s recount of events only deteriorates as we circle back, again and again, to the events of the disastrous weekend in question. What we think is the climax is repeatedly usurped by one terrible revelation after the next. This meandering narrative voice is endearing one minute and infuriating the next – which of course keeps the pages flying. It also makes every single shocking twist feel completely and utterly convincing.
I expected The Fury to have a cinematic, blockbuster feel, which it certainly delivers. But somewhat more surprising, for me, is the depth of its literary qualities. Michaelides is acutely aware of his craft and place in history as a genre writer, drawing from the greats – like Agatha Christie – who paved the way. The result is a gripping and twisted novel that wears its form on its sleeve, delving deep into themes of storytelling with fascinating explorations of plot and character as manipulative devices, both in fiction and reality.
The Fury is the kind of book you read in one greedy gulp… and then sit pondering what just happened, and how you feel about it, for a good while after. It would be a great one to read and then unpack with a buddy or a book group. For fans of mind-bending thrillers, this is a must-read.
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