fate and the fury

Elliot Chase was transformed the first time he saw Lana Farrar in a film. He found her on-screen presence fascinating and watched all of her movies. Years later, when he had made friends with wealthy and influential people, he was at a party where she made an appearance, and he got the chance to meet her. They became fast friends, and eventually Elliot found himself in her inner circle. So when Lana decided to go to her private Greek island over Easter, Elliot was invited.

Years passed, their friendship cemented through Elliot becoming a successful playwright and Lana getting married. And once again, Elliot finds himself invited to Lana’s island for Easter along with Lana’s husband and son and her best friend Kate, who is taking a break from rehearsals for the latest play she is starring in.

They get settled in on the island, surrounded by beauty, delicious food, and plenty of alcohol. They relax and enjoy themselves, leaving their troubles behind. But Elliot knows the truth about the weekend. Lana has an agenda, a wrong she wants to make right. And there is something he is hoping for as well. But that’s only if everything goes perfectly.

And life rarely goes perfectly.

Before the weekend is over, there will be secrets, betrayals, relationships torn apart, a windstorm so strong that keeps them trapped on the island, and a killer. Who will survive?

Told by Elliot, The Fury goes back and forth through time, the narrative winding through the years of their lives, as the master storyteller slowly doles out just the information he wants his readers to know, when he wants them to know it. Author Alex Michaelides masterfully lets his narrator control the story, giving away more clues than he realizes as he crafts his story.

I listened to The Fury on audio, narrated to perfection by Alex Jennings. Jennings brought Elliot to life, his thoughts, his feelings, his disdain, his arrogance. It all comes through as you listen to Jennings’s pitch-perfect reading of the story. I thought it was the perfect way to enjoy the book.

I was so excited for a new book by Michaelides, because his previous books were so amazing. And I spent much of The Fury being excited and wanting to hear more. However, I was disappointed at the ending. I had figured out who was not going to make it off the island, and I had figured out who the killer was. But I found the specifics of the crime to be disappointing and not as elegant as the rest of the story. It fit with the rest of the book, but after seeing how beautifully Michaelides can write, I thought he could have found a better way to wrap this one up. It’s still a lovely thriller, with ups and downs, twists and turns. It’s just not up to his usual standards.

An early copy of the audio Book for The Fury was provided by Macmillan Audio through NetGalley, with many thanks.