The mills of the gods grind slowly

For six university graduates, what is supposed to be a celebratory two weeks of fun-filled paradise at a family-owned Mallorcan clifftop villa, soon turns into a nightmare. The longstanding frienship of the three girls and three young men is shattered by one fateful night‘s consequences in 1989. Forward 33 years to now, even though they have so far succeeded to keep the terrible havoc they caused in many peoples‘ lives secret, none of them has been able to overcome their guilt. Then, out of the blue, each of the former friends gets an existence-threatening e-mail …Brilliant plot full of twists and utterly unputdownable!

This book tells the story of 6 friends who all travel to Mallorca to celebrate university graduation. The story is set in both 1989 and the present day when they are forced to return to the villa to face up to the events that happened on the holiday. A night at a beach party goes horribly wrong and not everyone escapes with their lives.
I enjoyed this book and the karma which occurs in the present day. Would read this author again.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow, this book is brilliant, it kept me gripped from the start right up to the last page. I blame Nikki Smith for not getting enough sleep as I kept thinking just one more chapter, then it had to be another chapter and then another until it was 2am. This is the first book I have read by this author but it won't be the last.

The Beach Party was a book I read without reading any blurb first and went with the cover, I have to say this time it worked out.
It’s 1989 and six friends are jetting off for a holiday in Mallorca before they all go their separate ways after finishing uni. An amazing villa that one of their parents own is their base. Life is filled with swimming, eating and drinking and lots more drinking. They get invited to a beach party and decide to arrive by boat which is kept below the villa. They have a loud drunken night, each one of them experiencing something different. They come together at the end of the night and go back to the villa but a shocking accident happens. Who is to blame and what do each of them remember?
This is a book I enjoyed, it was a little slow in the past chapters but I can overlook that as I feel as though I followed the groups journey back in 1989 with good understanding of the groups dynamics. The storyline was good, packed with secrets, regret and blame. I liked the twists that eventually came and the ending couldn’t have been any better I didn’t think. I haven’t read anything by this author before but will look out in the future for more.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin General UK, Viking for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This is a new author for me and I read under the Spanish sun which was appropriate! A well written, dual timeline, multiple POV thriller. The secrets and lies, toxic and manipulative friendships and twists and turns build to an unexpected (for me) climax. It’s a gripping story which kept me enthralled and I wholeheartedly recommend this as fantastic summer read.

My first Nikki Smith as I liked the sound of the storyline. Unfortunately it was just average for me. It took a while to get into the flow on the narrative due to the chopping and changing between characters. The story was a slow burner but did have a few twists and turns towards the end. I'm not put off trying another from this author as it was satisfying overall. And there was a good summer party theme if you like that vibe!

The Beach Party Nikki Smith
5 stars

What a plot!

I read this book on holiday and finished it in 2 days, what a brilliant book for a holiday read although the characters own holiday fast turned into a nightmare!

The story begins in 1989 when a group of friends go for a fun-filled week in the villa of Nina’s parents. Nina is the ringleader of the group and the week is to be one full of drugs, drinks and debauchery. However things go wrong very quickly when after a party they all decide to go out on Nina’s parents’ boat and completely high they crash into another boat killing at least one person.

The book jumps to 30 years later where just when they think the past is finally behind them the wreckage of the boat is found. There are 6 main characters all of whom have their own problems both in the past and currently and the plot jumps backwards and forwards between the various stories. I just could not put this book down, I became totally engrossed in what had happened and what was finally going to happen to all of the characters. A perfect holiday book.


Karen Deborah
Net Galley

There has been a lot of thrillers lately about holidays and toxic friendships but this one really works. A holiday to celebrate friendship and the start of adulthood in Nina's parents luxury villa. A wonderful, nostalgic look at the eighties - all cliches included - scrunchies, walkmans - the list continues. An accident, lies, secrets and very toxic frindships are revealed.

A thrilling page-turner. There is intrigue at every turn.
A group of Uni friends take a holiday together at their rich mate’s villa in Mallorca. It’s a tale of drinking games, parties and hidden secrets, until they get caught up in a terrible accident. At this point the story turns into a race against time and a fight against one person who wants to retain control at any cost..
The thrills carry on right up to the end of the book, when the sorry mess catches up with them again.

Highly recommended. Ideally to be read on the beach or by the pool!

This is a dual timeline mystery thriller bouncing back and forward from the almost hedonistic late 80’s Majorca and modern times.
For the nostalgic element alone this is a fab Summer, holiday read.
This book has it all, fabulous setting, toxic friendships, twists, turns, betrayal and murder.

Six friends from university stay at a villa in Spain belonging to the father of one of them. After an unfortunate accident they are all involved in a cover up as well as each having secrets in their pasts.
Interesting characters, although not all likeable, and a fast paced storyline makes this a compulsive read.

In 1989 6 friends go on holiday to a villa and whilst at a Beach Party things go wrong and they cover it up. Fast forward to now and someone has found out.

The plot of this is what you would expect for the type of book. Personally I struggled with character differentiation between the 6 friends. I think this is because when they are all introduced at the start a lot of information is given about each in quick succession. Chapters also chop and change between the different character’s perspectives and further into the book these changes in perspective start happening mid chapter as well which confused things even further.

When 6 friends go to a family villa in Majorca, it is sure to be a holiday to remember. Unfortunately it is, but for all the wrong reasons. When coming home from the beach party in Nina’s parent’s boat, drunk and high, the boat crashes with catastrophic effects.
Set mainly in the 80s, there are a few chapters in the present, inviting everyone back to the villa - everyone who can go, that is.
This is a great book of toxic friendships, where secrets are everywhere with everyone having some sort of control over someone else, especially Nina, who seems to pull everyone’s strings. There are some very gory bits, relating to the aftermath of the crash, and it was hard to remember all of the details about the boys - the girls were more straightforward. Overall, a really good read.

In 1989, six friends take a villa holiday in Mallorca - with deadly consequences. Their secrets and lies come out in the present day, when Nina receives a message threatening to expose "what she did that summer". Oooh. For me, this is the ideal holiday read: zippy, twisty plot, horrible characters, glamorous sunny setting, 80s nostalgia... Just let the plot carry you along while you sip your sangria this summer!

Really enjoyed this. Kept me on the edge of my seat. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A group of friends on holiday, sun, sea, parties, tragedy and so much 80's stuff...what is not to love!
well plotted and extremely well written this is a great summer holiday beach/poolside read!

This is a mystery thriller with a dual timeline, 1989 and the present day and sadly the dual timeline did not work for me, I felt it dragged the pacing down. Also, too many characters and hard to distinguish them! Really struggled to keep the focus and quite often had to go back and reread. Unfortunately the writing style and the plot, especially towards the end, was not that great. Not a bad read, but not the best either.

Well that opening prologue !!! You know when ,you instantly know you’re in for an absolute treat . The writing style, the descriptions that dance off the page and transport you to the scene? This did that and did it to perfection! Beautiful and horrifying all at the same time! Brilliant.

I was so excited I couldn’t wait to read on …

Nikki smith perfectly conjured up those heady days of youth, searing hot sunshine, alcohol and wild abandon as her group of friends visit Ninas parents luxury villa perched cliff side overlooking the lush aquamarine sea. I love being transpired abroad and she described to perfection the baking hot sunshine, the chirruping cicadas and the excitement as the group of friends head to the neighbouring cove to join a local festival to dance and party in the carnival atmosphere.

High of drugs and alcohol the return journey aboard Ninas parents luxury boat ends in tragedy and the events of that night changes the group dynamic and the lives of those involved, the ripple effects reaching right down the years into the present day 33 years later.

Told in two timelines 1989 and now the repercussions of that fateful night come to rest when each member of the group starts to receive emails. Someone knows what happened but who and what do they want allthese years later?

Invited back to the villa by this unknown communicator the true events that took place not only that night but all the secrets, lies and toxicity within the friendship group come to light with even more shocking and devastating effects.

I was addicted to this book from the first incredibly engaging few pages and was completely engrossed to the last. The friendship dynamic, the loyalties and the struggle to fit in and to keep pace made for an interesting read and the sultry setting made the read atmospheric and added an escapist element that made reading this thriller so entertaining. I loved how the pace ramps up and how long buried secrets and twists are revealed in such rapid fire succession you’re left shocked and breathless as everything falls into place.

I also loved the late 80’s nostalgia , the mention of the handheld game Donkey Kong a firm childhood fave of mine before tech really took off was a real blast from the past along with some old school pop anthems which made me smile as they took me down memory lane.

Nikki smith is an accomplished writer, The beach party is well written, well paced and perfectly plotted. This author is firmly on my radar and I would highly recommend this as a fast entertaining thriller to enjoy poolside or as a great way to escape from the sofa to warmer climes.

You will love this if –

🎥 🕶️love 80’s nostalgia

🏝️ 🐠You enjoy reads that whisk you away to tropical locations

👩🏼‍🦰👨🏼‍🦰 Toxic friendship thrillers

🤯 🤔Twisty plot that keep you guessing

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ Fast paced plots that keep the story moving .

📖📆Dual timelines that build up the full picture using last and present events

Huge Thankyou to NetGalley and Penguin books for the arc review copy. This book is available to pre order now and is out in the wild on 20 th July 2023

This is my last review for June and what a way to finish. I really enjoyed this book. The story pulled me in, making it difficult to put down. I finished it in two days, sometimes a little annoyed that I had to set it to one side to deal with other more essential things.
The premise of the story concerns six university friends who share an idyllic two week break in Majorca which goes terribly wrong. Years later several of them receive an anonymous e-mail asking them to return to the villa. It comes with a threat – to expose them over what happened that summer if they choose to ignore the invitation.
The book moves between 1989, when the six stayed on the island, and present day, where it reveals the group's differing fortunes over the years since that fateful holiday. Nina, whose parents owned the villa where the group stayed, is an arrogant and ruthless individual. Currently a London based highflyer in the financial sector, she has married well and thinks nothing of bending rules and stepping on people if it suits her purpose. This was also the case during their time in Majorca where she took control of the group. She delighted in pointing the finger of blame at others when things went wrong, making sure she was never in the firing line. Now, however, she knows she has no choice, she will have to return to the island. She suspects one of the others is responsible for the e-mail? But who, and what do they want? But more importantly, why have they waited all this time?

Excellent character driven drama with multiple twists and turns. A gripping read, well deserving of five stars and proof that revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Nikki Smith and Viking for an ARC of The Beach Party in exchange for an honest review.

Nikki Smith's latest thriller conjures up those heady nights of drinking all night and relaxing by the pool all day, on holiday with your best mates. You can almost smell the Ambre Soleil and imagine you're sipping those cocktails. But hopefully most holidays don't end up in the same way as this one does.....

Its 1989 and a close group of uni friends head to Mallorca for a fortnight's partying, staying in Nina's luxurious family villa which sits high above the sea. The friends hear about a local fire festival in the next cove and sail across to join the fun and carnival atmosphere, partying with the locals as the sun goes down. As the sun sets, and everyone has drunk more than they should have; tragedy strikes. What happens changes the group for ever, with repercussions of the events spiralling out ever further.

30 years later, no-one has spoken about what happened, though they are all living with the fallout. Anonymous emails are sent as someone is out to spill the beans -who is it, and what do they know about the events of that night?

The group dynamics were very well portrayed, the divided loyalties and buried secrets that threaten to tear the group apart, the sense of trying to fit in with everyone, even when you feel so out of place, - it felt very real.

A tense thriller full of foreboding,, I really enjoyed reading 'The Beach Party' and look forward to seeing it on being read on the beach soon!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC!