“‘All I’ve ever wanted was love,’ she once admitted to me, with a shrug. ‘Everything else is just… incidental.’”

Elliott Chase desires love. He covets it. He obsesses over it. And it destroys him, just as it did when it didn’t exist for him.

In The Fury, we hear the full story of a murder from the perspective of Elliott Chase — and Elliott is the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator. So much so that I’m not sure I believed a word that came out of his mouth.

Elliott tells us this story as if we’re sitting in a pub. As if maybe we’re a bit bored as the night winds down, we’re a few pints (or shots) in, and we’re the ones looking for a one-night stand of camaraderie in the tales of Elliott Chase.

Where this third novel by Alex Michaelides falls flat is that, at no point, was I on Elliott’s side. He comes off more used car salesman than worldly misanthrope and, when coupled with a very obvious fame obsession, I don’t see how anyone would follow the breadcrumbs Elliott leaves behind. I simply don’t care about his side of the story and that’s a problem when he tells the WHOLE story.

Fans of Michaelides’ other works may be happy to discover this novel takes place in the same universe as those stories. To me, it serves as a reminder that this isn’t his best piece of fiction when compared to The Silent Patient and The Maidens.

If you’re a diehard fan, you’ll probably still have a bit of fun. If you’re a passive one, like me, feel free to skip.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books (Macmillan) for the chance to read this early via eARC.

I’m having a hard time rating this one. To get it out of the way: not as good as The Silent Patient, but a better mystery than The Maidens. My one big complaint was the narration style and the narrator themselves. It was an interesting gimmick, but it’s hard to be surprised by anything when you already know the narrator is unreliable.

It took me a little bit to get invested in this thriller but after that I was hooked! I stayed up all night to finish it. I just had to know the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon books for this ARC.

A murder took place on a Greek Island named Aura, which means breeze named after a Greek goddess. Menos means fury.

Act 1: This is an introduction to all of the characters and arriving on the island. We learn about the famous ex movie star Lana, Kate the theatre actress, Elliot the play writer, Lana’s son Leo, Lana’s husband Jason, the employees Nikos and Agathi. The cracks in Lana and Kate’s friendship surface for an unknown reason so far. Kate insinuates Elliot was always watching and asks what his next ploy was going to be. This act ends with finding out who was murdered.

Act 2: The complicated love story begins! This act is about deception and who can really be trusted. The characters intertwine in this act as the first red herring appears in relation to the murder.

Act 3: Elliot shares the rich details of his childhood that was very moving. He describes the impact of Barbara West on his life, which puts the multiple references he makes about her into context. He talks about how he met Lana and the evolution of their relationship over time.

Act 4: Another big twist about the murder; yet, one of the most frustrating acts as the story kept changing and left you on a constant cliffhanger.

Act 5: The final twist of the book and a complete reversal of what I thought to be true. I wish the ending wasn’t so complicated.

After reading The Silent Patient, I was excited for this book to live up to the same hype, but unfortunately the story fell a bit flat for me after act 3 and I wasn’t as interested anymore. It seemed like I was going in circles and a do over type scenario was playing out. The characters of Jason, Leo, and Nikos could have been better developed.

I enjoyed the psychological aspect of how unresolved trauma and abuse from the past carries into adulthood as the themes of obsession, manipulation, and psychopathic tendencies emerge.

After spending a week in the Greek isles last summer, we were ready to go back. And The Fury certainly did that. We both found this to be a great read with some memorable characters and touches of Greek tragedy. In a time of thrillers with unreliable narrators, Elliot certainly is up there with the most memorable in any book we’ve read in recent memory. The author did an excellent job ensuring that you both empathized with the narrator, while, just a few pages later, being repulsed by him and his actions. It was quite the ride. As with some other books of late, there are some elements of the plot that are perhaps a bit unrealistic, but overall, this is an enjoyable, quick read, with characters that will stick with you long past the final page. 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books, and the author for providing us with a digital reviewer copy of this book in exchange for our honest thoughts.

I finished this book within a day, much like the first book I read from the same author, The Silent Patient.
This story was very different but I loved how it all came together. There were several twists that kept me intrigued and I really enjoyed the angle of the narrator as well. The story telling of the narrator was very thorough and kept my attention. I couldn’t decide if I liked Elliott or despised him, and that feeling went back and forth through the whole book. This is not a thriller every page kind of thriller, but my jaw still hit the ground plenty. The twists though, they just get me every time. Great book, and I can’t wait to read more from Alex in the future.

Such a fun and unique murder mystery. I loved the writing style of this book and found it hard to put down. It did get a little too twisty/complicated at the end but it was a very good read!

Ok wow! That was quite the adventure! Without giving much away, I will say that Alex Michaelides did it again! I loved this book! Not as much as The Silent Patient, but still enjoyed it.

The beginning starts off slow, which was weird for me. It was a slow paced thriller, at first. But then it hit a point where it picked up! I did not want to put the book down.

The narrator is clearly unreliable. And honestly, I was here for it. It was an interesting way to narrate the story, which others may not like, but I enjoyed how it was written.

I'm excited to keep reading Alex's books throughout the years! And I got tickets to his upcoming book tour. So also excited to meet him as well!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

this was... quite disappointing honestly. i think this story and the setting had great potential to be a great murder mystery type thriller but it was so slow. not only was it slow, I found it to be predictable and I honestly think the writing style was so confusing. if it were written in a different way, I think it definitely had the potential to be great. for those who maybe like a slower thriller, this is for you. I recieved an arc from netgalley.

When I first started reading this I was worried I wasn't going to like it because the plot felt very similar to my most recent read, The Hunting Party. However, I was way wrong. The only thing these two books had in common was a murder taking place in a remote location involving a group of friends. Aside from this, everything about The Fury was unique. I absolutely fell in love with the narrative style of this book. I felt that I was inside the head of the narrator and enjoyed his side remarks and self-reflection. Also, I love an untrustworthy narrator.

The story of the murder was told in "acts," which was a wonderful connection to the acting themes throughout the book. Each "act" looked at the murder in a different light, expanding further on information gained throughout the previous "act." It felt almost that everything I thought I knew was constantly being disassembled while simultaneously having all the pieces put back together perfectly. Additionally, I could never have predicted the twists.

Overall, I loved every second of it... and the subtle reference to The Silent Patient at the end was *chefs kiss*

5 stars doesn’t do this book justice. OMG doesn’t do this book justice. Alex Michaelides does it again. Gives us a thrilling, heart gripping, mystery story that has so many twists and turns you never know where you’re headed.
Elliot Chase was able to keep me interested the entire time with his narrative. To get a glimpse and telling of each character from his narration was very interesting.
I absolutely loved the little glimpse of The Silent Patient we get in the epilogue. Very well done!!

Thank you Celadon Books, Alex Michaelides, and NetGalley for this eARC of The Fury.

If there ever was an Edgar Allen Poe-esque book, this would be it. An unreliable narrator, a dark, mysterious setting, unlikeable characters, and so many unanswered questions, but yet, it sort of works.

I wish there was one likeable character in this book, but I ended up hating them all at various points of the story.

This novel is probably in the middle of the other Michaelides novels in my opinion.

So many twists & turns!! I had no clue what the twist was, because they just kept coming. Was shocked by the ending & loved the little Easter egg he threw in there from a previous book! Definitely a binge-able book!

I didn’t love this one like I did The Silent Patient. I found it to be incredibly slow moving and anticlimactic. I also didnt care for the writing style where the narrator breaks down the fourth wall and is talking directly to the reader. It felt like he kept dangling a carrot, tempting us with this murder plot but then kept putting it off. Lastly, I was excited that this was in Greece as I thought it would be a really picturesque setting. Didn’t really get that though so I would have liked more descriptive imagery to really feel like I was on the island.

Super interesting story! especially for the lovers of constant twists. I will say the only thing that would comment on was the narrator. I thought the story would have been punchy-ier from outside view point. Will say loved the island and cast of characters though. Just wish we got to see those dynamics shine a bit brighter.

I found this book difficult to start. It jumped around too much in my opinion. Also, if you’ve read anything by this author before - it’s pretty easy to guess the ending. The main character isn’t very likable. Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with this book - but it’s not the worst that I’ve read.

I will admit… even though I enjoyed The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, it wasn’t my absolute favourite thriller as it was for many others. I’m not quite sure what the reason for this was, but I just found it a bit lacking.
However. The Fury is a whole different ball game. Perhaps it was the theatre connections that interested me given my time acting on stage. Maybe it was the variety of characters and story jumping that peaked my interest. But truthfully, I think it was the plot twists.
If you’re someone who feels like you’re never shocked by stories OR absolutely love realizing you have no idea what’s going on, this book is for you.
Is the concept a bit basic? Of course. Picture a cross between Agatha Christie (as acknowledged in the novel), Glass Onion, and Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong, and you pretty much have the premise for this book. And yet…
5 stars. Easily.

I loved this one!!!!!! I couldn’t figure out who the killer is, what was going on, who I could trust! Ah! SOOO SOOOO goood 10/10. I read Silent Patient last year and loveddddd it so knew I had to read this one and am so thankful I got to. Literally couldn’t put it down!

Wow! This book is incredible and so entertaining! I loved it!

The story is told in 5 different acts.
Lana Farrar is an ex- movie star. She invites her closet friends to her private Greek island. She invited Elliot, Her son Leo, Her husband Jason, Her best friend Kate, her assistant Agathi and the island caregiver Nicola.

Elliot is the narrator of the story. He invites the reader to pull up a barstool, pour yourself a drink, and settle in. Elliot used to be so idealistic when he was young, romantic even. He used to believe that love lasted forever. Now, he doesn't He knows this for sure, the first half of life is pure selfishness; the second half, all grief.
Elliot continues to tell his story. In the end, it is a tale of beautiful, well-intentioned failure- ending in death.

Before act 5, the truth is, none of it played out the way Elliot just described. Once the police arrived, the identity of the murderer was well known. By then, there was chaos. Refill your glass and Elliot will tell you. The truth, as they say, is often stranger than fiction.

Addictive, Amazing Twist, and Secrets! 5 stars and a top book for 2024!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This wonderful book is set to release 1/16/24

Lana Farrar is an ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape their lives and spend time on her private Greek island. This trip however, ends in MURDER.
The Fury is a thriller that twists on itself to the point of boredom and confusion. The main characters are all unlikeable except maybe Lana. The story doesn’t exactly make complete sense and I was disappointed in the end. Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for giving me an ARC copy in return for an honest review.