Review by Booklist Review
When Category 5 Hurricane Celeste hits the Florida coast, Marlowe and Lee Davies decide to stay put with their children instead of evacuating; their grand house has been fortified against storms. Moments before they secure themselves inside though, a boat carrying three strangers appears. Against their better judgment, the Davieses invite the strangers to wait out the storm with them. While initially everything seems fine, the atmosphere soon turns hostile, and the real intention of the strangers is revealed. Out of options, the Davies family must fight for their lives, both inside and outside their home. Hunt (Lovely Girls, 2023) spins a phenomenal thriller that will keep readers on their toes. Changing points of view keep the plot moving at a brisk pace and allow for backstory to filter in, adding context. The tension is palpable throughout, perpetuated by the unknown consequences that the hurricane's eventual end will bring. Recommended for readers who enjoy thrillers with family elements, such as books by Sally Hepworth, Lisa Jewell, and Stacy Willingham.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Hunt (Lovely Girls) reinvigorates a familiar setup in this devilishly twisty survival thriller. As a category five hurricane approaches southeastern Florida, Lee and Marlowe Davies, their teenage twins, and three family friends are preparing to shelter in place at the Davieses' beachside home. Moments before Marlowe puts the final shutter in place, a boat in distress heads for a dock near the house, carrying three strangers--Jason, Bo, and Bo's girlfriend, Darcy--seeking refuge from the storm. Reluctantly, the Davies family agree to take them in. As the night wears on and the storm worsens, tensions rise slowly, until the Davieses realize that Jason, Bo, and Darcy have come to claim much more than a warm place to stay. Within hours, someone is missing, several people are dead, and an additional uninvited guest makes their presence felt, casting doubt on nearly everybody's motives. Hunt's skillful sleight of hand and well-drawn characters create palpable menace, placing this a cut above standard-issue locked-room thrillers. It will leave readers breathless. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In the latest thriller from Hunt (Lovely Girls), the wealthy Davies family and a few of their friends are waiting out a category 5 hurricane in their mansion on the water. When they take in some stranded boaters, a violent evening to unfolds. The story is fast-paced, with each chapter told from the perspective of a different character. Hunt uses flashbacks judiciously to guide the mystery and explain the motivations for the crime, initially laid out as the theft of a Cézanne sketch. There is suspense caused not only by the invaders in the home but also by the danger of the approaching storm. The crime hinges on multiple moving pieces, and for readers it is better not to think about how it all could have been set up, instead enjoying the suspense over who will survive the night. The novel's main character, whose perspective is shared the most, is unfortunately boring, and an epilogue detailing events from one year later feels unnecessary. VERDICT Readers who enjoy James Patterson novels or fast-paced thrillers will enjoy.--Julie Feighery
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A South Florida household battening down the hatches in preparation for a hurricane is infiltrated by some even more dangerous guests. As Marlowe Davies and her assistant pack up the extensive collection of artwork her wealthy parents had assembled before their deaths in a car crash six months ago, she keeps checking weather reports for updates on Hurricane Celeste. The news isn't good: Celeste has lingered long enough in the Atlantic to jump from a Category 3 to a Category 5 storm. Attorney Lee Davies assures his wife that their waterfront home, which has already survived several lesser storms without damage, will be fine, but Marlowe is still anxious. She'd be even more concerned if she could see that while her son, Tom, and his best friend, Zack, are securing the shutters to the windows, Tom's twin sister, June, is secretly entertaining her childhood friend Felix, who's been barred from the premises, in her bedroom. An accident that knocks out handyman Mick Byrne brings three new people into the Davies house when they carry him indoors, away from the storm. One of the latest arrivals, Darcy, is just dazed from the storm, but the other two, brothers Bo and Jason Connor, pose serious trouble. The new guests, as they expose and exploit the fault lines in Marlowe's perfect family with surgical precision, turn out to be just as violent as Celeste, and a lot more sharply focused on harming the family who's taken them in. A fleet, one-dimensional, yet irresistible way to kill the hours while you wait for the power to come back on. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
