The Vacation is the newest domestic thriller by T.M Logan, dealing with infidelity against the backdrop of a scenic French villa.
While described as a thriller, it seems more proper to describe it as a mystery for the first two thirds. The plot concerns Kate, a now middle-aged forensic investigator, getting together with her lifelong friends for an idyllic holiday with each other’s families. Kate has felt there is something wrong in her marriage when her husband Sean begins acting cagey, and a glance at his text messages confirm her suspicions. Worse yet, it seems one of her best friends is the other woman. While the premise is intriguing enough, Logan excels at putting the reader in Kate’s mindset. Her paranoia feels utterly contagious, as we feel just as anxious and desperate to find out who has betrayed her. Each revelation in the unwinding enigma only adds more to our fascination. It's honestly a difficult book to put down, and I consumed it in three intense sessions.
Even though we spend the majority of the book seeing events through Kate’s eyes, Logan makes sure we empathize with every one of the principal characters through brief POV chapters. In other stories this method can seem like abrupt pauses in the overall plot, but Logan is skilled enough that these chapters never break the flow and actually feel very illuminating. It’s only by the end of the story that we realize just how important these chapters were, making us look back at events for all the subtle bread crumbs Logan left behind. It’s always the mark of a good mystery when you feel yourself so drawn in that the ending feels like a surprise yet utterly perfect for what was set up.
If there are any flaws, and I would say there are barely any, it’s that sometimes Logan can take too much time putting all the pieces in place for the mystery. The first half of the book can seem somewhat bloated in comparison to the second half, when everyone is barreling toward the climax. I understand it’s the basic structure of a mystery for the first half to set up all the suspense, but there are moments where it feels like Logan is adding unnecessary details when he’s already grabbed our interest. Maybe a personal quibble, but it was at least noticeable to me.
The Vacation is a gripping, tightly wound thriller that is sure to captivate its readers. Those who are new to Logan’s bibliography will become fans after only a few chapters.
In The Vacation, a captivating thriller from T. M. Logan, the bestselling author of Lies and 29 Seconds, four best friends on a dream vacation come face-to-face with an explosive secret.
It was supposed to be the perfect getaway: Kate and her three best friends, spending a week with their families in a luxurious villa in the south of France. Through the decades they’ve stayed closer than ever, and seven days of drinking crisp French wine and laying out under the dazzling Mediterranean sun is the perfect celebration of their friendship. But soon after arriving, Kate discovers an incriminating text on her husband’s cell phone.
A text revealing that he’s having an affair.
And that the other woman is one of her best friends.
But which one?
Trapped in paradise with no one to trust, Kate is determined to find out who has put her marriage--and a lifelong friendship--in jeopardy. But as she closes in on the truth, she realizes that the stakes are higher than she ever imagined. Everyone on the trip has secrets…and someone may be prepared to kill to keep theirs hidden.
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