IT'S THE PERFECT ESCAPE... UNTIL THERE IS NO ESCAPE
Welcome to Turtle Cove.
A luxury resort surrounded by pristine sea and the dense beauty of the jungle, it is the perfect escape from the stresses of life and work. For couples Lou and Adam, Eliza and Noah, a few days spent relaxing on the beach, while their kids are happily distracted, is exactly what they need.
But appearances can be deceiving.
There's a strange tension brewing at the resort, with relations between the hotel and the locals threatening to spill over into violence. This is nothing though compared to the strained atmosphere between the two families. They haven't been friends for long and they are starting to realise they don't really know each other at all.
Except for one of them. One of them knows another very well…
And they have a score to settle.
I'd like to thank Raven Books for my copy of The Cove to review via NetGalley.
The Cove is the ultimate 'locked room' story in so much as it's set on a remote tropical island where two couples and their families have gone away for a long weekend together. Both families are ex-pats from London who now live and work in Singapore but we the reader are privy that everything is not as rosy as it seems.
Mainly told through alternating chapters from the viewpoints of Lou and Eliza, although we do get occasional chapters Noah and Adam, we get an insight as to who they all are, how they react to what's happening around them and also see the tensions that are brewing between each of the relationships. They are all flawed and dealing with their own issues and this weekend away was supposed to be a relaxing break but it soon turns out to be anything but.
Personally I found it strange that two couples who weren't really that close would go away together and bring their young children, including a baby, with them especially to a resort which is totally cut off from civilisation, accessible only by boat and has no wi-fi connection to contact anyone in case of emergency.
I have to confess I didn't really connect to any of them, normally when reading books I can relate to or find myself rooting for one of the characters, even an unlikeable character has some sort of appeal but that wasn't the case here. They each had flaws and were dealing with their own issues. Adam came across as arrogant with a wandering eye, Lou seemed to be zoned out constantly as she was using medication as a way with dealing with her post-natal depression, Noah was a workaholic who used alcohol as his crutch and as for Eliza, I just found her to be a bit of a wet blanket.
But even though I couldn't stand Adam, I still wanted to know what had happened to him when he goes missing late at night after a drunken argument. It's at this point that the story finally got going and we get to know a little more about what is actually going on on the island, see the tensions between the locals and the tourist and conservation industries but also discover that there's more going on behind the scenes than at first thought.
Overall I found The Cove to be a book of two halves. I'm glad that I read it but not my favourite read by this author.
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