This is a decent thriller book but quite predictable and not very original. The twists were not unexpected but still I enjoyed the writing style and would give this author another try.

This is an entertaining enjoyable book. The isolation of the setting builds up the tension. I loved the atmosphere and the writing. A good book

My Top 5 things from this book:

•Trapped by the tide 🌊
•Red Herrings ❌
•Whodunnit 🕵🏻‍♂️
•Multiple POV 👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏼
•Surprise Pregnancy 🤰🏼

I tried, I really tried and managed to read this on the third attempt.
I had difficulty with the storyline but once I got into it it was okay - not amazing.

I couldn’t get into this book at all, sadly. I really wanted to like it, as I love a thriller and a multi character narrative. I just found it a little too predictable and the language was really frustrating in parts.

This is a great read by a new author to me.

I found it quite wordy but it was engaging. There was tension and twist galore which kept me hooked

Great book and will read from author again

I felt like i was reading The Guest List to a degree again. And the writing was just off. I couldnt really get through it.

A proper whodunit style story, this was a first from this author for me, but I hope it isn’t the last. A very interesting read.

This is a new author to me. The book was very intriguing. It had a very Agatha Christie type vibe to it.
Highly recommend@ Thank you to Netgalley gor an advanced copy to read and review.

This is an excellent whodunit mystery on the par of Agatha Christie. It's reminiscent of "And Then There Were None", but fortunately not all of them die. Each chapter shifts the point of view to a different character. It kept me guessing right up the end and there are also a few twists I didn't see coming. Rachel is a great character. This would be a terrific movie!!! I highly recommend this book!!

In The Invitation, wealthy Rachel invites her old uni friends Vicky, Jane, Gita, and their families to the island castle she now owns thanks to her marriage to a much older man. In total, there are thriteen people on the island, which has no cell service, and which is cut off from the world each time the tide comes in, and further isolated from civilization when a storm rolls in on their first night. The book opens with a murder, and one of the remaining twelve has to be responsible.

I love the idea of this plot, although it has been done many times before, but unfortunately the delivery of this story came up very short for me. The murder at the beginning is mentioned almost in passing, and then the whole of the book focuses on the different characters' issues from various viewpoints.

Rachel had planned for thirteen people on the island to be some sort of eerie reminder of a Halloween party gone wrong from her university years, and it seems that Rachel is intent on revealing terrible secrets about each of the adult friends she has invited.

We certainly get to know each character well enough, and they all have secrets that get blurted out unceremoniously as the story unfolds. Without revealing the secrets here, I can give a brief description of each of the three women: Vicky is an alcoholic who says terrible things but doesn't remember saying them, and whose son doesn't like her very much. Jane writes books about mice but really longs for a child of her own and keeps secrets from her husband. Gita knows her husband is unfaithful and just puts up with it and has no idea what two of her three daughters are into. The spouses and children all have secrets and issues of their own. In fact, each character is unlikeable, with some being downright terrible - but not in that "villian I love to hate" way; simply in an "I don't like these people" way.

To me, the book was too wordy with too much time spent on the characters' thoughts and terrible interactions as we flitted from one narrator to the next, with not enough action or continuity. The setting, however, was wonderful, with detailed descriptions of the island, castle, and the storm that rolls in and traps everyone with the killer (and the dead body). But, by the end, I just wanted to know who the killer was so we could be done with it. I didn't experience any feeling of satisfaction that the killer had been found out, but rather just a sense of relief that I made it through the book.

Reader warning: excessive talk about abortion and miscarriage

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. Other readers may enjoy it more, but I could not get into it and ultimately did not finish it.

This is the perfect "who dun it" book! Just when you thought you knew what was going on there was another twist revealed. I would recommend this for any mystery lover!

I love, love, love locked room mystery whodunnit! For that reason and the great way it was written, this is a fav read of mine! Well written, with superb character development! Lots of fun twisty turns, chilling chills, thrilling thrills, and gasp worthy shocks makes this one heck of a ride! Highly, highly recommend, especially to those who love locked room type settings! Will surely blow you away!

They say that 13 to dinner is unlucky, the first to get up from the table with die.

But Rachel has a game to play, and she believes luck is in her favour.

Her Halloween party weekend is going just as planned; the costumes are perfect; the seeds have been planted and the secrets are spilling out.

But then the lights go out and someone ends up dead.

Now there are 12 live suspects sitting at a table, one of them is a murderer.

Nothing is as what it seems; 20 years of friendship with each one holding a dark secret

Everyone is a suspect. Everyone has a motive; even as young as nine.

Castle keeps us guessing by allowing each chapter to be told by a specific character and it was brilliantly done; each character is unique and each has their own flaw.

Castle even drops a massive bombshell that isn't even possible to see coming, I had to read the line twice.

This is very much an Agatha Christie style novel and an author I wouldn't hesitate to pick up or recommend.

I enjoyed the short chapters of this book, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy much else.
There were too many point of view characters to keep track of, and too many characters in general - most of whom were quite insignificant to the plot. I found most of them very boring with nothing compelling about them, and found it hard to muster up enthusiasm about their lives and 'problems.' I found a lot of the issues very cliche and predictable.
In terms of pacing, it was very, very slow, and I found the big reveal to be unsatisfactory and a little unbelievable. In fact a lot of the wrap up at the end wasn't very realistic but also just not very entertaining.
Overall a disappointment.

I love a locked room mystery so was very happy to be able to read 'The Invitation'. 13 guests; one killer - Im in! A gripping read, I loved the clues scattered throughout but didnt guess all of the twists and secrets, though I was trying.
It felt a bit odd that we didn't know who had died until half way through the story so there was a lot of build up to the big reveal, but it was well handled and the mystery elements were well written.
Would recommend.

The Invitation by A.M. Castle is a mystery/thriller about thirteen guests that are stuck on an island due to storm. One of the guests is murdered, and the remaining guests are frightened about who might be killed next. This book did remind me of my favorite Agatha Christie book, And Then There Were None. However, these characters were all very selfish and unlikable. This story also needs trigger warnings with regards to fertility and abortion. While this book was entertaining, and I wanted to know who the killer was, I think there are plenty of other mysteries of this style that are much better. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this book, it had everything I need in a good murder mystery but it just didn’t grab me at all.
I found it so slow when it had all the ingredients for such an amazing thriller. A great location, a group of old friends gathering all with secrets and all with grudges yet it turned out so bland. Such a shame…….
#NetGalley
#TheInvitation

Thirteen friends arrive at a remote castle in Cornwall to attend a special Halloween party. The next evening, only twelve are alive. The killer is one of the twelve but who is it?

From the first page, I knew this was going to be my kind of phycological thriller.

Immediately, I got pulled into the story as the tension and suspense continued to build.

This book is told from the point of view of various characters including Rachel, the rich hostess who has planned this special night down to the last detail. Vicky who is fighting a drinking problem and a breakdown in the relationship with her son. Gita and her husband Tom whose marriage isn’t as happy as she’d like it to appear.

All of them have secrets which means they all have motive. This made it especially hard to figure out who the killer was. Just when I thought I had an idea, something else would happen. I didn’t know who to believe and I didn’t know whether to dislike these characters or have sympathy for them. Nothing was black and white where any of these people were concerned. This was one of the things that made this book so interesting for me.

A.M. Castle builds such an atmospheric setting and the plot is developed well. I really devoured this book reading well after my bedtime as I simply couldn’t put it down. I had to know what was coming next.

As usual, I don’t want to say much else as I don’t want to end up spoiling it.

In conclusion, The Invitation is a tale full of twists and turns with unexpected events which all come together for one brilliant read. I really hope this is one thriller you’ll be adding to your book pile.

I look forward to seeing what A.M. Castle does next.