I loved this locked-room mystery! It's a fun, juicy read filled with glam and celebrity shenanigans that turns into a twisty whodunit. It kept me guessing until the very end. This would make the perfect beach read!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper for the advanced copy of this intriguing murder mystery, The Cub.

The thought of having an elite club for only the wealthiest and more popular stars/celebs is not surprising; in fact I think this aspect of a whole island just for them is believable. What wasn't believable were the numerous narrative perspectives this book gave in terms of telling the events, clues and potential motives. While the murder(s) themselves are not elaborated on throughout the novel in a more organized plot line leaves a lot to be desired. At first I found myself interested in who may have been murder, thinking I know exactly why and then getting told new info that makes no sense because there are too many characters and their storylines to keep up with.

I do think that the novel could have benefited more from a one to two person perspective, this would have narrowed down the various side storylines and gave a direct line of insight into who or who may not be a murderer. Unfortunately as I read on the novel did not rise but only dropped my expectations, in the end I felt unsatisfied by the reasoning for 2/3 murders and even wondered if the author just rushed through to an ending that looked more appeal than it actually sounded when read.

Other than the tabloid inserts giving the scandalous 411 on who's who in the star world and what interest they could have had in the gruesome deaths, nothing else stood out to me in the end besides the message that the more power one has the more responsibility or lack there of they actually have; everyone has a choice, a voice and the human flaws of greed, envy, and hatred are always present.

3/5 stars

This book was honestly not for me. The multiple POV were very overwhelming and some of the secondary characters were unnecessary so they took away from the main story for me. This book felt like it was just trying to do too much and the ending was really sacrificed to make that happen. This book was not satisfying in the least, and that is so disappointing because it had so much potential.

Once this book got going, it did not stop. It did not have to go that hard, but I'm glad it did. I found myself hating the characters in the best way when you love a book. Rooting for the characters' demise. I did, I'll admit it.

Home is a luxury club only for the cream of the crop celebrities. Run by Ned Groom, The Home Group has celebrity clubs in the biggest cities in the world and they are ready to launch their newest location on an island off the English coast with a party that is the most coveted invite of the year. Of course things don't all work at so smoothly and everyone doesn't make it off the island. The story is told from multiple points of view and there are many characters aside from our narrators, so it was a little hard to keep everyone straight at first. It felt like there was a lot of slow build up, but the end was definitely a speed read to find out what was going to happen next. Overall a decent thriller, that will keep you entertained.

Excellent book. Quick read that kept me on the edge of my seat. It was gritty and suspenseful, keeping me wanting more each time I set the book down. I certainly wasn't able to predict what would occur, nor who would be at fault. Loved the set up of different pov.

I was looking forward to reading The Club by Ellery Lloyd. I love to read all the Reece Book Club picks. This book is about a highly exclusive club, owned by two brothers, where everyone wants to join. I was so hooked in the beginning. There was a murder and I wanted to find out who was dead and who had done it. There were too many characters. It was slow and I was lost towards the end of the book. This was not my favorite book, even though there was mystery and suspense. I would probably not recommend this book to my book club or purchase for my library. Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of the book for my opinion.

The setting is Island Home—a closely-guarded, ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast—and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade. This is somewhat of a locked room mystery that opens with a bang but then as the story evolved it lost steam for me. There were a lot of characters but they all fell flat. I didn't really care about the mystery either. I did enjoy the glitz and glam of the setting and those details but this isn't a story I will remember

Welcome to Island Home the newest luxury resort from Home Group. Over the years, the properties that comprise Home Group have garnered a reputation for being the pinnacle of opulence and discretion. It should come as no surprise then that the rich and famous flock to spend time at the resorts, willing to pay exuberant membership fees just to get a taste of what Home Group has to offer. It has been a few years since a new location was added to the exclusive collection of locales, but the wait is almost over. Island Home is set to debut in just a few short days. Everyone who's anyone is eager to attend the exclusive, three-day grand opening.

Behind the scenes, each person working for Home Group is racing against dwindling time and money to make the dream of Island Home a reality. We meet Ned, the CEO of the company whose extravagant taste and cut-throat business practices isolate him from everyone but his closest inner circle. That circle includes his brother/business partner Adam, assistant Nikki, and manager of membership Annie. There's also the perspective of Jess, a newly hired housekeeper who is eager to build a career with the elusive company. As each POV begins to come together, we see that tiny cracks have begun to creep beneath the pristine facade of the company, threatening to bring the entire empire crumbling down.

In The Club, Ellery Lloyd (pseudonym of co-authors Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos) conjures an intriguing web of corporate affairs, personal affronts, and delectably twisted secrets. The novel opens with a high-speed prologue that instantly drew me in. That quick pace gives way to a more meticulous crawl as each of the main players is introduced. The use of shifting perspectives amongst those characters allows Lloyd to slowly reveal the intricate plot in a way that is organic and easy to follow. The tradeoff to this tactic is that the first half of the novel takes a bit of effort to get through. By the second act, however, the suspense reaches its peak, allowing for the remainder of the narrative to unwind to a much breezier conclusion. The Club manages to play as both a popcorn thriller and an in-depth commentary on wealth and corruption. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of the novel to read and review.

This one makes me so sad because this has so much potential! I really thought I was going to love it based off that synopsis. The whole idea of a island and these A-list celebrity’s is such a fun concept that I haven’t really seen done much but I felt like it was missing something. I wanted so much more than what I got unfortunately.

The Club is an exclusive, member-only establishment, with locations in well known cities across the globe. It's a place where the top echelon of a-list celebrities and those of extreme wealth can vacation and let loose, without the eyes of the public watching and the paparazzi catching their every move. Owners Ned and Adam are on the verge of opening their most glamorous location yet, the Island Home. Guests arrive for an exclusive three day grand opening party, although some won't make it off the island alive.

The premise of The Club had me hooked - juicy celeb gossip at an exclusive resort where you find out what happens when these a-listers think no one is watching. The story is told through multiple view points, one of the owners and three of the employees. Overall, it fell flat for me. I didn't care about any of the characters, which made it hard to feel a connection to the story, The plot was hard to follow as there were too many irrelevant details. There were some twists and turns, and it did pick up at the end, but even after discovering how the weekend unfolded - I just didn't care. Good storyline in theory, did not live up to the hype..

I tried to read The Club on two different occasions-the first time, I put it aside because I was sick and thought that's why I couldn't get into it so I gave the book another try and finally read it over the course of 3 weeks, which is crazy since I generally can read I book that I like within 2 to 3 days. I found The Club to be boring, the characters to be unengaging, tedious and while the premise sounded fantastic, it didn't live up to its potential partially because the authors wasted so much time and space with overly descriptive writing (if they'd been students in my graduate course creative writing class, I would have taken a red pen and marked ALL over the page!), and there was barely any suspense to speak of. Reese's book picks are hit or miss with me, and this one was definitely a miss...a mind-numbing, slow, struggle to get through.

Ellery Lloyd's The Club invites the readers to impresario Ned Groom's ultra exclusive and secluded Island Home. Island Home offers state of the art spas, world renown cuisine and stunning vistas to delight the glitterati, while The Island offers intrigue, blackmail and murder to delight the readers. The narration alternates between multiple club employees including Ned Groom's PA, membership director and brother, all of whom have something to hide,, as well as a tabloid account as it chronicles the opening weekend of Island Home, which will prove to be deadly. Lloyd's propulsive plot made me race through the book while their knowing, well drawn-depiction of the famous and the people who enable them to be famous made me me sardonically smile. Pick up The Club for a thriller served with a dollop of social commentary sprinkled with the lifestyles of the rich and famous-- a concoction that the denizens of Island Home would no doubt devour.

I received an ARC of “The Club” by Ellery Lloyd from Netgalley. This book was a page turner but it took a while for the story to take off. I found the story flow to be a bit confusing and there were a lot of characters to keep track of. The story was interesting and had lots of twists and turns but I was ultimately kind of meh about it. I didn’t care about any of the characters and I didn’t like any of them.

I read Ms. Lloyd’s earlier book that came out last year and found it to be solid, so I was anxious to read her latest, “The Club”. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one. The premise sounded super interesting, but the book moved slowly and it became a bit boring and convoluted to get through. 2 stars ⭐️. Thank you however to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this book for review.

This was such a fun and escapist book that I got lost in! Immediately I was hooked into the story and I couldn't stop reading it. I loved how we got to get an inside look in the lives of the rich and famous, and I loved all the glitz and glamour of it. Slowey seeing all the secrets and mystery unravel was so cool and I was on the edge of my seat! I loved putting together all the pieces and I just wanted to find out what was happening. The ending totally shocked me and blew me away, and I was really satisfied with how it all ended up. This was a really awesome thriller that I will be recommending to all my friends!

The premise of this book was intriguing, and the twists were well done. There was just something missing from the way the book was written - I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but it’s what I’m rating it 3 stars. Also, I didn’t like a single character… but that’s not always a bad thing.

This book caught my eye when I first heard it was coming out because the premise sounded interesting. I wasn't the biggest fan of the authors' previous release, however, this one sounded interesting and I was looking for a quick thriller/mystery to read. I really liked the multiple character POVs. At first, I was a little confused about how it was all going to come together with so many characters in a short time, but I liked how the plot was revealed incrementally instead of all at once. I thought the pacing of this book was well done even though the events of the novel took place over only a couple days. I wasn't really attached to any of the characters and none of them were particularly likable, but I think that made sense for this book. I liked this book overall and though the mystery was well done. I liked the multiple POVs and the overall mystery. I'd recommend this one to thriller and mystery fans!

The Club unravels mysterious deaths that occur at a grand opening of an exclusive, elite resort as told by several narrators. The mysteries are twisty, with some of them obvious from the start, but a few kept me guessing towards the end. It is slow to start and some descriptions a bit repetitive, but once the story begins rolling, it was engaging. The large cast of characters was a bit confusing in the beginning, but became clear as the story progressed. The ending was satisfying too! Highly enjoyable! A great beach or summer read!

It's not unfathomable to think that in today's world, like in the book, there might actually be clubs all over the world that are exclusive to the world's elite, where they can do anything and everything they would like with no repercussions. I thought that the writing between lots of different view points and locations made it a bit hard to follow, but that is part of what made it a good thriller!

Overall this was a solid 4 star read, and obviously if its. good enough to make it on Reese's list, then it's good enough for everyone to take a shot at!
Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for a review!