The Fury by Alex Michaelides – Review

Published: January 16, 2024

Publisher: Celadon Books

Series: N/A

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 298 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 2 Stars

Synopsis:
A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder ― from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 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?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.

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What in the HELL did I just read? This started out as a straightforward contemporary, dramatic mystery following a movie star, her immediate family, and her two friends on a private island and someone is murdered. The ending was just… a mess.

It’s narrated by Elliot, a playwright who is friends with a retired movie star named Lana Farrar and was invited to her Greek island along with Lana’s husband Jason, her son Leo, and her friend Kate. While it starts off as a straightforward narrative style, about halfway through things start to get a bit weird. It jumps around, Elliott confesses that he’s been leaving out information, and there are even some segments that are purely how he wanted things to play out, followed by how they actually happened.  I found this far more frustrating than confusing and quite frankly, it did not appeal to me. While I like a good twist, this one had TOO MANY twists and gave me plot whiplash!

I enjoyed the first part because it was a straightforward mystery, but even then it was so clear that Elliot was a desperate social climber who was madly in love with Lana. She clearly and firmly friendzoned him, but still he persisted. And then he began to manipulate. Or manipulate MORE, anyway. Because of his obsession, Lana is definitely the most fleshed out of the cast of characters aside from Elliot himself. Kate is portrayed largely in a negative light because she suspects him,  while Jason and Leo are quite shallow. The setting, while intended to be pleasant, is also glossed over in favor of Elliot’s tale so if  you’re reading it for the setting, this won’t be for you.

I admit, I wasn’t hoping for an amazing book because I do look at average ratings and this one is on the low side for what I pick up. I was, however, curious about this author and the audiobook was a short one so I decided to give it a go. I really can’t recommend this. It annoyed me and I hated Elliot, which I’m quite sure was the point, but the twists just fell flat and by the end I just wanted to be done with this.