Oh boy. Have you heard writing is dangerous? Just ask the characters in You Are Fatally Invited. It was such a good read.

Truly spectacular story! Part Clue, part And Then There Were None, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I had no idea what was going to happen next and each twist had me shocked and going "wait what??" which is my favorite reaction when reading a thriller. It was atmospheric, it was spooky, it was so good.

Release February 2025

Over-the-Moon ecstatic about YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED!!! This debut novel from super-accomplished Ande Pliego is by far one of THE MOST TWISTED, UPSIDE DOWN, INSIDE OUT, Convolutions Galore! psychological thriller + murder mysteries + revenge narrative + insight into writing's creative process that this devouring, 100%-engrossed reader has ever encountered! [It's great Aversion self-therapy for a number of phobias too.]

Congratulations, author Ande Pliego! Your debut has knocked the ball out of any number of ballparks, and this reader is on tenterhooks anticipating what you can possibly bring for your sophomore Thriller! Can YOU ARE FATALLY INVITED be surpassed??

Oh I so so so love this book. It's meta, it's locked room, it's all the tropes, it's stupendous!

J. R. Alastor hosts a writing retreat on his private island in Maine. Alastor is famous author, but also anonymous and well known authors jump the chance to attend. However once they arrive they meet with a hired host instead of Alastor. The host seems to be in one the game - a game in which all of the authors are tasked with confessing their great crime in order to win the game. No one knows who to trust or what to believe and suddenly authors start dying.

Pilego has set up the chapters with chapters from the famous author Alastor discussing horror and mystery tropes. Each author's most famous book depicts a murder. The intricacy of the plot and the descriptions is just sublime. If you love a locked room story, Clue, Agathe. Christie, Hitchcock or any tropey tale, this is the book for you!

#randomhouse #andepilego #horrortropes #mysterytropes #metafiction #youarefatallyinvited #murdermystery #lockedroom

What an exhilarating, adrenaline-fueled roller coaster of a book! I jumped at the chance for this ARC after seeing that it combined some of my favorite tropes—an And Then There Were None-style isolation thriller, and a murder mystery featuring murder mystery authors. And from the end of the first chapter on, the story barrels full steam ahead, barely giving you a chance to catch your breath.

What sets this book apart from other isolation thrillers is all the layers to it. There are JR Alastor’s puzzles and mind games. There’s Mila’s revenge plan. There are the slow revelations regarding the secrets of Alastor’s guests. There’s the tension of shifting allegiances and mutual suspicion. Just when you think you know what the murderer is up to, the book throws a curveball. There is some truly excellent misdirection here. I also loved the snippets from Alastor’s writing guide and from the guests’ novels.

The pacing is so fast that—and this is something I almost never say—I almost wished it slowed down just a bit. In an alternate universe, I could see a different version of this book that spent more time building up the suspense of Alastor’s creepy games and establishing the guests’ backstories before people started dropping dead. I also felt like the book was a bit light on clues as to JR Alastor’s identity, as well as how he was able to hide his identity for so long.

But all in all, I really enjoyed my time with You Are Fatally Invited!