"The Vacation" by John Marrs is a gripping and thrilling novel that takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of suspense and intrigue. The story follows a group of strangers who are chosen to participate in a luxury vacation that quickly turns into a nightmare. As secrets are revealed and tensions rise, the characters must navigate a dangerous game of survival. Marrs' writing is sharp and engaging, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the very end. Overall, "The Vacation" is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers.

This book was almost a DNF. It took everything in me to finish because I don’t like to leave books unfinished. There was way too much going on. It follows 8 people staying in a hostel, and it switches between all of their storylines. Not only each of their storylines but also different timelines within there. This book was way too confusing with everything going on.

This book was written in such a clever format that made it hard to put down because you knew your questions would soon be answered. So many characters and stories of lies, deception and revenge but easy to follow. So many unexpected twists. One of my favorite books so far!

***How far would you run to escape your past?

Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep…***

Thank you netGalley for an ARC!

WOW John Marrs is such an amazing writer, So many twists for these characters that left me with my mouth open in shock!!
There are quite a few characters to get to know and remember which i found difficult at the start of the book, but the more you get to know their crazy back stories and why they're at the hostel the more I didn't want to stop reading!
Ruth's story was particularly insane! Eric and Nicole's story I didn't see coming! Unfortunately not every character has a happy ending but then not all of them deserved it!!

I have read 2 others by Marrs - The Passengers and the One and I have highly enjoyed them, I will definitely be reading his other books soon. They are fast paced. crazy and so well thought out!

The book seemed very convoluted, much unlike most of his other work. This one is not my favorite, although the plot was interesting.

3.50 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my second book by John Marrs and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one. This could be due to the book following 8 separate characters. Each character had a separate story line that by the end of the book connected or intertwined with each other. The timeline also gets changed frequently too.

Layered and twisty, with intricate character development and overlapping twists. Couldn’t put it down!

I really enjoy books by John Marrs. Unfortunately this one didn’t hold my attention as much. Some parts were better than others, maybe it was too much of the jumping around timelines wise. I would recommend this to anyone that’ enjoys a more slower paced build up. Don’t get me wrong his writing is phenomenal just not my favorite on this book.

#netgalley #thevacation

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mildly entertaining story with The Beach as its inspiration - loosely. Here we follow the stories of multiple people staying at a sketchy hostel near LA. A lot of this is completely unbelievable, but it passed the time.

A great John Marrs thriller. I love the way he writes and how it always keeps me on my toes and makes me constantly think until the very end

I really enjoy John Marrs work, but for me this missed the mark. I find his work to be incredibly intricate and well thought out but this book didn’t give me that.

I love me some John Marrs but was disappointed in this one. I understand it was a repackaging of a previously published work and it shows. I did not love it--I like his books set in our near future world much better than his one-off thrillers like this. A bit of a disappointment but it won't stop me from reading his books going forward! I am enjoying The Family Experiment right now--it just shows how much he grew as a writer!

Eight strangers end up in a hostel in Venice, CA. At first, you get a sense of each person's story - why they are traveling, where they are going, etc. but as your read further, some of the stories intersect in an interesting way. This is completely unbelievable, but it does make for some twists and turns that are enjoyable. It isn't my favorite book by John Marrs, but it's perfectly fine for a day at the beach.

3.5/5 Rounded Up

For me, The Vacation was a departure from John Marrs' norm, and while I liked the idea behind it, I didn't necessarily love the execution. My biggest issue with this one was that there was almost TOO much going on, and there were a lot of moving parts and characters to keep track of. It also had an extremely slow start and didn't pick up for me until I was already 3/4 of the way through the book. Listening to the audiobook helped with this but I wish the real action had started a bit sooner, and I think this could have been shorter than 450 pages. I'm also not entirely sure where the title comes into play here since none of these characters are on what I would call much of a vacation, although it is definitely a shift from their normal lives.

The audiobook for The Vacation was fine for me, and while it wasn't my favorite, it still did the trick and didn't annoy me or anything like that. Peter Noble's narration was good although I did struggle to find the sweet spot speed-wise. I was at a 3x for most of the book but did lower it at times. He was also a little quiet (unless that is just me and my poor hearing) so I had to keep the volume up and couldn't eat anything crunchy while listening. The thing that really made this book for me was all of the twists, and while the reveals start slowly, Marrs really ups the ante in the last quarter of the book and my mind was blown more than once. After all this what I'm trying to say is that while it won't go down as being a favorite of all time for this author, The Vacation is good if you like slow burns, can handle triggers, and don't get confused easily.

Note: After reading the acknowledgments and finding out this was originally a self-published novel that Marrs went back to edit and rerelease, it does make a bit more sense to me why it felt so different from his later releases. Also, the acknowledgments were very enlightening, so if you don't normally read them, I would consider doing that for The Vacation. 😉

John Mars doesn’t disappoint. Every book he writes has a great twist. This one was amazing

I have read all h9me books and the one tops the cake. Read it you will not be disappointed. Great read for the upcoming summer months. Take it on your vacation but read with the lights on!

This was my first read by John Marrs... the book started slow with 8 different characters landing in the same hostel on Venice Beach, each with their own secrets. As unique as the cast of characters was, that's what they felt like to me - a cast of actors. I don't know why I couldn't quite get invested in them. Having said that, it was still a fun and evocative read, which all came together nicely in the end. I'm looking forward to reading more books by John Marrs.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

John Marrs has done it again! This was such a compelling, propulsive, and twisty ride!

Eight strangers from around the world find themselves staying in a hostel in Venice Beach, California. They're all there for different reasons, but they have one thing in common: they all have secrets.

Despite there being so many characters, I found them really easy to keep track of. They all had distinct personalities and detailed backgrounds that were revealed to us throughout the course of the novel. I found myself really caring for some of them and I was invested in learning each of their outcomes.

I absolutely loved the structure of this book. The Vacation consists of many short chapters, most revealing an important piece of information and ending on some sort of cliffhanger that kept me wanting to read more. I enjoyed having information gradually revealed over time. This is also a book that doesn't have one big twist but numerous twists throughout. It was such an exciting story.

This is a perfect beach read! Although this can obviously be enjoyed any time of the year, with summer quickly approaching I would recommend picking it up sooner rather than later!

Many thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I tried a few times to get into this but unfortunately, it was not for me. I really enjoy the author but this fell short of my expectations. I encourage others to try it for themselves!

Venice Beach International Hotel welcomes you to come and stay! Complete with dilapidated doors on its rundown facade and host of eccentric guests from all walks of life. This story is full of mystery and the wide ranging host of characters which really plays into that theme. While this could easily make this book hard to follow the author does a good job of keeping track of the characters and plot and is told with present day action and flashbacks for character background.

This book had many twists, surprises, and amazing characters. The only drawback was the slow, tension building plot really took its time getting to the action. While it added to the atmosphere of the story I found it to drag a bit at times and was ready to get back to the action. If you want suspense, colorful characters, and a slow build - this is the book for you.

John Marrs is one of my favorite thriller authors. I love his narrative structures and unique premises, especially when they have a sci-fi twist. Yet, this left me unsatisfied with the mystery and the characters, and I never connected with the story. I found myself putting the story down for days. I will continue to read everything he writes, but this one wasn't for me.