I wanted to love this book so bad. Silent Patient is my all time #1 book I recommend to others. However, this book was way to hard to follow for me. I had trouble keeping up and staying interested.

Interesting tlae of a murder told by an unreliable narrator. Lana Farrar was a movie goddess at the top of her career when she quit. She chose to step away and lead a quiet life. She has spent the last years raising her son, having a satisfying marriage and enjoying a few close friends. But is all really as rosy as it seems? While on a trip to a private Greek island with her close circle things begin to crumble.
Thanks to NetGalley for an eGalley of this title.

Michaelides has done it again. Not only is he the master of well paced thrillers but he also has an uncanny ability to get the reader's heart racing. This book is no different. A brilliant mystery and a touch of a love story will have you flying through this memoir style novel trying to figure it out. I couldn’t put this down, it was that good! Welcome to the Island, enjoy the sunny weather, warm salty air and be prepared for a murder.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this because I enjoyed The Silent Patient and The Maidens, and while I appreciate the unconventional approach, it just didn’t work for me.

This book is about a murder, which isn’t a spoiler, as it’s right there in the blurb. Our narrator Elliot tells us he’s presenting less of a whodunnit and more of a whydunnit, which I was initially on board for. But…it’s not really either of those things. It ultimately ends up being a fairly navel-gazing character study of a very irritating protagonist, with a murder thrown in for flavor. I think we would have benefitted from multiple narrators here - in fact, I was sort of unclear if, when we did get insight into other characters’ heads, if we were hearing their *actual* thoughts, or just what *Elliot* believed they were thinking. There’s so much double- triple- and quadruple-crossing going on, that I had whiplash trying to keep up. The whodunnit ends up being anticlimactic (as promised), but I wasn’t really all that sold on the why either.

I loved the “reclusive movie star takes fabulous vacation to a Grecian island, closed loop mystery ensues” angle. And there's actually a point where Elliot teases out how that would go in, say a Hercule Poroit mystery. And while I know he’s exaggerating for effect, that was the moment I realized I’d rather be reading THAT book instead of this one. I also wanted to hear more from Kate - I found her sort of one-dimensional. Maybe that’s because we’re trapped in Elliot’s head and HE doesn’t find Kate all that interesting in comparison to Lana.

The setting is great, and I really wanted to like this one, but too many elements just didn’t land for me.

I didn’t care for the Fury. For one, I’m tired of beginning chapters going on and on about unreliable narrators. I didn’t care for Michaelides book structure and I found all the characters without any redeeming characteristics. I know fans will enjoy the book but I found it to be a weak version of a suspense/mystery novel with an over abundance of cliches including movie stars, weird caretaker, and murder on an island. ,

3.5 rounded up. I've read & enjoyed the author's previous books, and while I don't think "the Fury" tops his "Silent Patient", I did enjoy it more than "the Maidens", so... This one has an unreliable narrator & is set over 7 acts with 7 murders... I felt this was a real slow burner, but it did keep me invested - it's also less of a who-did-it than a "WHY", which is different angle. I'm sure it will be very popular next year. My thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, opinions my own...

The Fury
Alex Michaelides
Jan.16, 2024
Celadon
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
First of all let me say I read and loved The Silent Patient and recommended that one to many.
The Fury is a story of murder, glamour and psychological suspense. It will be a successful installment on every thriller Reader’s TBR. It is an immersive read broken into five acts. The Fury is slow paced and it just didn’t grab me like the first novel did. I was disappointed with the ending as well.
4 stars

A solid mystery title for all patrons. Strong characters and fast moving plot will appeal to everyone.

Wow, wow, wow!!! Another brilliant masterpiece by Alex Michaelides! This book was a slow burn, perhaps slower than his other books, but then the end has so many twists and turns it will blow your mind. Even down to the last sentence! I do not hesitate one bit to give The Fury 5/5*s!

I had a fun time following this continually unfolding plot and was entertained all the way through the end of the epilogue. The male narrator is a hoot and wildly unreliable, but that’s what holds your interest. I encourage readers who enjoy a twisting story to grab this one right away.

I liked this book, as I will, as I've mentioned before, consume literally any take on And Then They Were None. This book isn't that, exactly, but it has that feel in that the real story keeps changing. We suspect one person and then another, eliminating each from the list. In the end, though, this story was just missing something for me to make it truly stick the landing.

Retired movie star Lana has grown weary of the never ending dreariness of the London winter so she invites her best friends, actress Kate and playwright Elliot to join her, her husband and son Leo on a trip to her private Greek island. Also in residence are her longtime housekeeper/confidant and their caretaker. The group is there for two fractious days and evenings, then one member of the party is shot to death. Who dies? Who did the killing and why?

I was so looking forward to this book and I expected to love it. Instead I just liked it. There was a little too much that you see coming, but, still, enough unexpected that the book was still enjoyable. I would have found the book better without the totally expected subplot, but I still would recommend.

Holy crap, you guys. That was, like, really good.

The Fury isn't exactly what you'd call a fast-paced novel. It meanders back and forth in time and Elliot (the narrator) deviates from the main story over and over. There's a lot of backstory about the various characters and how they met each other, and also about the events that led to the fateful night on the island. But that's kind of what makes it so great, I think? You're getting little snippets of relevant information in each and every chapter, but you have no idea how it all fits together until the end. The action really happens in just a few chapters – and not necessarily consecutive chapters, because Elliot digresses quite a bit between the climatic bits.

Elliot is not exactly the most reliable narrator, either, so the significance of certain events and actions change as he reveals more and more of the truth with each chapter. Often you get one version of events as Elliot is narrating in the first person, and then a more complete version of events later on from another character's point of view. And he certainly withholds some very important details.

Oh, and if it's important to you, the chapters are short. This makes the story seem a bit more fast-paced than it actually is, in my opinion.

The twists at the end were fantastic and I totally did not see any of it coming. I thought I knew who the murderer was at the very beginning, and while it turns out that I was right, it was not at all in the way that I was expecting. I mean, perhaps it wasn't the most plausible sequence of events, but it was tremendously entertaining.

Overall, this was a twisty-turny, suspenseful, riveting novel with a delightfully unreliable narrator. This is the first novel I've read by Alex Michaelides, but if all of his writing is this good, it definitely won't be the last.

4.75 stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

This is the third book that I have read by Alex Michaelides and I think this is my absolute favorite of his. This was well written and you don't know who the actual bad guy is or what is going to happen. I absolutely enjoyed this book by him.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of this book.

The Fury, Michaelides' 3rd book was an interesting exploration into the unreliable narrator, which seems to be his thing. This was an easy read, but fell a little flatter than his hit book The Silent Patient. While it wasn't quite as suspenseful and twisty as that book, I would still recommend this to readers looking for a fast and entertaining locked room mystery.

The Fury is another fabulous book from Michaelides, author of Silent Patient.
This book is basically a Greek tragedy told in five acts.
The narrator tells the story of the ex-movie star who owns the island and her invited guests. A murder takes place and killer is revealed but how and why did it come to that?

A story that could be told in any comfy setting, the gifted story teller keeps the reader engaged from first page to last. Easy to read in one sitting.

The Fury deserves credit for its unique take on a murder mystery where nothing is as it seems. The ending took me by surprise, but the middle acts left me somewhat lost. While not reaching the brilliance of 'The Silent Patient,' it's still a book worth considering for fans of unconventional mysteries. I’ll definitely recommend this book. Kept me entertained and happpy to say the least.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
I just reviewed The Fury by Alex Michaelides. #TheFury #NetGalley

This was great! I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded through the (very) unreliable narrator, as well as the setting on a private Greek island. I think this is Alex Michaelides' best yet. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a uniquely written character-study/suspense. The author’s glimpse into the narrator’s thought processes were stellar and very similar to the Silent Patient. Lots of twist kept the plot interesting. This will appeal to many.

Elliot Chase sets out to tell the tale of murder. Set on a private, Greek island, Lana Farrar hides away from her life with those closest to her. Once a movie star at the top of the charts, she now lives a quiet life with her son, Leo, and husband #2. Arriving on their private island, Lana and her family are joined by her two closest friends, Elliot and Kate. When someone winds up dead, a game of whodunit ensues.

I feel that I'm going to have an unpopular opinion here. This book did not do it for me. I went in with high hopes having loved Alex Michaelides' previous books. I felt it started off okay but then slowly I lost interest. Someone's dead, someone murdered them, the gun keeps pointing as someone else. It felt like opening a door to find a smaller door, then it happening again. I will say, I absolutely loved the setting. If we could have talked about the island the whole book that would have been fine by me. Unfortunately, this one does not dethrone his previous work.

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon for the advanced copy. I'll still read any book he comes out with next!