The Engagement Party by Darby Kane

 

My thoughts

By the author of Pretty Little Wife which I absolutely loved. This is another edge of your seat thriller with lots of twists and turns. 

When a group of college friends go to a private island in Maine to celebrate a friend's engagement a nightmare begins. Almost from the very first minute. There are six people. Four went to college together.  One was engaged to Will, Ruthie. One was there as a friend of Mitch, Sierra. The only married couple was Cassie and Alex, married since graduating. Who do you trust? Who should you fear?

This story is told in alternating povs. Alex, Sierra, Ruthie, and book notes. I didn't like any of these characters except Sierra. I also liked Mitch. They both seemed sincere and caring. I detested Cassie. She was so self-centered and very hateful to all. Even to Alex, her husband. I didn't like him because he came across as so weak. 

Then you meet Dylan.... Who is Dylan and what does he have to do with this? Many years ago there was a death on the campus where the four went to college. One of their own drowned and it was presumed that someone killed her. Dylan was trying to clear his friend's name. A young man accused of killing Emily Hunt. But it is way more than that. Who exactly is this person and what is he really after. Who in this group has something to hid? What length will they go to? 

I did figure out about halfway in who was pretty much responsible for Emily's death. Who had the most to lose? I had my ideas of what and why but never really got clarity on that. Yes someone was blamed but I still do not trust the person who finally told the "truth." I will forever believe my version of why.... 

I enjoyed this book and had a few gasps while reading it. Held my breath in places. It was good but not great. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #DarbyKane, #WilliamMorrow, #HarperCollinsPublishers, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4/5 stars. It's a good one. 

About

And Then There Were None meets I Know What You Did Last Summer in #1 international bestseller Darby Kane’s latest gripping and twisty thriller set on a private island in Maine where secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend.

Emily Hunt went missing from her affluent liberal arts school on graduation weekend. Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner who most people on campus really didn’t know committed suicide. A tenuous link—one text—bound the two dead students together and was enough for law enforcement to close the case. But they got it wrong and now someone is determined to set it right.

Twelve years later, college friends gather to celebrate an engagement over a long overdue getaway on a swanky private island in Maine—with only one way in and one way out. Sierra Prescott, invited as a guest and unconnected to past events, is the only person who soon senses not all is what it seems.

The tension in the air is ignited when they find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: time to tell the truth. And things only get worse. As a torrential storm strands them together, the group’s buried stories begin to surface and secrets are bartered. To survive this deadly party, they’ll need to stop a killer before they become prey.