“In all my years as manager for the most exclusive and expensive safari in Southern Africa, I have not witnessed a single truly happy family for decades. I’ve watched our guests parade through with their diamonds and their demons…the most dangerous predators are not the animals on the savannah.”

Leopard Sands in South Africa was a property consisting of five luxury suites surrounded by electric fencing, the vacation paradise of Odelia Babel, CEO of Circ, a sustainable fashion empire. Odelia had provided family members with an all expense paid trip to Leopard Sands after her sudden, surprise announcement that she would wed Asher Bach, the designer of her luxury clothing line who was 25 years her junior. Count on betrayal, deceit and murder in this locked-room mystery thriller.

Odelia was a demanding powerhouse who micromanaged every aspect of her business. Her children were expected to pursue jobs within the framework of the business, no exceptions! In alternate chapters, the reader is introduced to eldest son, Joshua, perhaps not the right child to eventually take the reins of the empire. The twins, Bailey and Sam, constantly butted heads with Odelia. Bailey wanted to explore veterinary medicine but was being forced to work in conservation for her mother. Sam had become highly religious, in part to deal with his drug dependency and Odelia's unwillingness to allow him to embrace his passion for photography. Many key players had a chapter of their own to express their opinions and qualms. What emerged were deep secrets and plots of revenge. Meet the bridegroom, Asher Bach. He seemed to truly love Odelia and even signed a pre-nup. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner.

“There is something strange, something eerily human and hideously familiar about the dead shape on which the vultures are feeding.” Odelia had been murdered. Her best friend, Gwen, tried to recover her locket. Why did Odelia constantly fidget with it and never take it off?

The flavor of South Africa played a prominent role as the “untamed nature and exotic, expensive feel” of the savannah was viewed through the panorama of the bush. Bailey, Odelia’s daughter, felt a bond with all of the animals but was boxed into the path chosen for her. A planned safari would provide animal encounters including a mother elephant using twigs to build a memorial to mourn the loss of her newborn. The threat of poaching was ever present. The contrast between the haves and the have-nots was palpable. As Jabulani, an Afrikaner, prepared house-made, homemade milk to Odelia’s specifications he laments, “my family had always been the poorest of the lot [in Graskop]...now that I make decent money, my grandmother’s been able to replace the windows, shore up the roof…”.

The pre-wedding celebration had ended. Tomorrow Odelia would marry Asher. Anxiety runs high. How could she have arrived at Leopard Sands, announce the nuptials stunning her children and leaving them speechless and resentful? Mayhem, murder and unspeakable events unfold as the dysfunction within the family comes to light in this multi-layered thriller.

Highly recommended.

Thank you Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Odelia Babel, a CEO of a sustainable clothing line, is getting remarried at her family’s favorite spot in South Africa. It should be a happy occasion, but dark secrets and harbored resentments are bubbling beneath the surface. When Odelia is found murdered, anyone could be to blame in this entertaining nod to classic Agatha Christie.

Told from multiple viewpoints with an abundance of unreliable narrators, the story is compelling, albeit completely insane. The Safari setting adds to the setting, and the characters have a good balance of being likable and terrible. The beginning is much stronger than the second half of the novel, as it veers towards being too sensational near the end. All in all, it is a fun read and perfect for a vacation read.

The Safari is a murder mystery set in South Africa. The setting makes this book special. The setting is at a safari resort and the characters go on a couple Safari trips that are described in great detail. The family dynamics are interesting and clues are slowly dropped culminating in a fantastic ending.

The first 40% of this book was a lot of character studies and trying to figure out the dynamics of this honestly damaged family. The Babel family is enjoying their luxurious trip to South Africa where their family owns a resort like Safari thing and their mother is about to marry a significantly younger man. Everybody is extremely tense and nobody seems to get along, and the mother seems more obsessed with her boy toy, and clothing than her family’s emotional needs. Not exactly a great way to start. The remainder of the book is a lot of really out there of revelations and honestly it kind of destroyed the whole book, especially after surprise reveal number five?!?!? I stopped keeping track because it was so convoluted. It didn’t even make sense anymore. Even until the very last page, there were random revelations that didn’t make sense or weren’t really necessary to mention.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this atmospheric suspense. The safari background was a perfect metaphor for the savagery of this domestic/ family suspense battle was very much in the Agatha Christie vein where everyone is a suspect.

Jaclyn Goldis’ *Safari* is a wild mix of family drama, shiny excess, and nail-biting suspense set in a luxurious South African safari. The story revolves around the Babel family, a wealthy clan where secrets and betrayals run deep.

At the heart of it all is Odelia Babel, a strong businesswoman about to marry a younger guy, throwing a huge party at Leopard Sands—a place full of family memories. But things take a dark turn when Odelia turns up dead right before her wedding, and her son Sam is the main suspect while his twin sister Bailey mysteriously disappears.

Goldis does a great job of creating characters with plenty of secrets, and the safari backdrop adds an exciting twist with its stunning beauty hiding serious dangers. The pacing is spot on, with different viewpoints that keep the tension high, and just when you think you’ve cracked it, the plot throws in unexpected twists.

With its blend of luxury and deception, *Safari* is a gripping ride that you won't want to put down—perfect for fans of *The White Lotus* and *Big Little Lies* who crave a fresh thriller with tons of drama.

I've always wanted to go on a safari. Everyone I know that has been on a trip like that tells me how grand it is. Reading The Safari was wild. I'm not so sure this adventure is for me. The book is intense and twisty. I was drawn in right away. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The very wealthy Babel family heads to their compound in South Africa. Joshua, Sam, and Bailey are Odelia’s grown children and at least one of them is not happy. Their mother is getting remarried to a man, Asher, 25 years younger than Odelia. Could he really love her, or does he just love her money? (I distrusted Asher at least as much as Sam did).
When Joshua finds Odelia’s body the morning of her wedding, chaos ensues. There are only so many suspects, her family or it must be someone on the staff. Tensions flare as they realize Bailey is missing. Is it related to her mother’s death or could she be guilty of murder?
Lots of secrets in this family. I guessed some but missed others. The location came to life on the pages and bumped going on Safari up a few places on my bucket list. You would think that the biggest mystery would be uncovering Odelia's killer, right, but I found the amount of skeletons hiding in this family’s luggage, amazing. The setting was incredible..

Thank you Atria Books and Net Galley for a copy of this ARC!
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I just feel like slow burn mysteries are not for me. The beginning was a little confusing with all the POVs and it was also very wordy if that makes any sense. But it did get better as it went on and things started to make sense. While I would’ve liked it to be faster a paced, this was a solid one overall!

Wow, what a great thriller. The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis was one that kept me up all night guessing what was coming next.

First thank you to the author, Simon & Schuster’s Atria books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the book. I thought the author did an excellent job of creating tension and suspense among the characters – all of whom seemed to have something to hide. The main character, Odelia Babel, a widow, is head of a fashion empire founded by her former husband, Aba. Odelia is having a relationship with and is now engaged to, Asher Bach, the company’s clothing designer who is 25 years younger than she. Everyone, especially her children, suspects the obvious – that he’s in it for the money but she has made it clear there is currently no provision in her will for the soon to be husband….yet.

The entire family troops off to South Africa for a safari vacation at the family-owned luxury resort (bought by the father years ago) and to celebrate the pending nuptials. When Odelia is found murdered, everyone is a suspect. Joshua – the oldest child, Bailey and Sam, the twins. Or perhaps it is Davina, Joshua’s wife? Markus the game drive coordinator, Violett, the resort manager, Gwen, Odelia’s best friend or Asher – the soon to be young husband. As the book proceeds, it is clear that every one of them could be suspected of the murder. At first, anyway.

Without spoilers, it would be difficult to describe more except to say that the plot twists and ultimate surprises – for which you must wait a long time as the author deftly drops clues as to who and why until the book is almost at the end. Even then there are more surprises.

Regrettably, I found it difficult to like any of the characters in the book, but did feel some empathy for Bailey. Bailey puts everyone else in the family before her own needs and desires, sacrificing her own dreams to be the family cheerleader. The first half of the book ambles along; but the second half kicks up the action towards the conclusion

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Safari.
The story centers on a very rich woman who’s marrying a younger man. The wedding will take place in the wild.
This book starts a bit slow introducing the characters and this is helpful as this book is epically inspired.
There is family drama with mystery and suspense included. I found the novel very good once you know the plot and characters.
This is well written and suspenseful. 3.5 stats

This one is a mixed bag. The beginning starts out with a bang. Then the first 50% is an introduction of all the characters with a ton of family drama. There is little thrill during the first half. However, I did enjoy the safari description and it brought me back to the time I was on a safari in South Africa. Around the 50% mark the book changes up and becomes the thriller I was hoping for. There’s less safari description in this half, but the stage has already been set. Things really vamped up around the 75% mark with multiple satisfying and unexpected twists. Overall, I enjoyed this thriller, but getting through the first half was a bit difficult. I could appreciate the deep background on the characters and the slow character development once the twists started coming.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Multiple povs whodunits usually make my head hurt, but this one deserves a pass as South Africa played a major character as well. The family dynamics surrounding the rich matriarch marrying her younger lover was enough to lure me in to this mystery. I wish the pacing was more even because after the climax murder the plot falls into a lull that only picks up to reveal the killer and then the last parts of the book felt like an extended epilogue. Entertaining read nonetheless.

2 stars. DNF at 20%

I was sent this by Atria books and I was so intrigued at first and I did enjoy the wildlife scenes and Safari vibes of the wild. I thought this would grip me as it is about a woman who gets remarried and her grown children don't agree and there ends up being a mystery but it just didn't interest me at all with the characters and the talk of the wildlife and there is poachers involved in this too so that really made me put it down but the writing is great very descriptive, just not for me.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: May 20, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

We have a storyline with so many twists and turns and gripping moments. I spent an amazing weekend living in this book. Multiple POV, amazing characters and such a beautiful backdrop. Turn after turn of mystery, secrets and who done it. If you love a fast paced twisty murder mystery—you’ll love this!!!

Huge thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Murder Mystery, Multiple POV, Twisty, Secrets

This had a little of everything. Family drama, love, a safari, a wedding, and a ton of secrets. Definitely worth the read.

2.75 stars rounded up

Odelia is newly engaged to a man over two decades her junior and brings her family to their Safari resort to celebrate her impending marriage. Unbeknownst to her, it's the last place any of them will see her alive. Twists and turns follow to uncover who had it out for her and why.

*****

This was a genuinely difficult book to get through. The multiple view points of unreliable narrators should have been interesting, but they all were such unlikeable characters. We got constant diatribes about the issues with Aba and Ophelia to the point that the entire book was cycling around it endlessly. By the midway point, I had put the book down so many times out of boredom that I wasn't sure I could finish it. I also found the main killers voice going from confident and secure to almost manic and immature once they're uncovered, to be extremely odd and not fit the character.

Thankfully, the last 25% or so, the story picked up, and we had some mystery and intruige. However, it had layers and layers of secrets and twists that it almost felt nonsensical in their excess. Literally, every character had some deep, dark secret or quiet betrayal aside from one (two if you include an actual baby). It dragged the conclusion out to just be too much in all and pulled this book slightly under 3 stars for me.

If you like a more drawn out mystery and lots of mental diatribes, with surprises over and over, this one could work for you. It just wasn't for me!

*****

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Like a luxury safari, Jaclyn Goldis’s enormously entertaining new novel takes readers on a thrilling ride through terrain as brutal as it is beautiful: an imperiled ecosystem of secrets, manipulation, and murder that will leave you breathless. With characters as richly realized as its sub-Saharan setting, The Safari is a transporting page-turner with surprises around every corner. I couldn’t put it down.

aclyn Goldis’ The Safari is a masterfully crafted thriller that transports readers to the lush, untamed wilderness of South Africa while unraveling a tangled web of family drama, secrets, and murder. With its gripping plot, multi-dimensional characters, and vivid setting, this novel is an exhilarating ride from start to finish.

At the heart of the story is Odelia Babel, the dynamic and larger-than-life CEO of a sustainable fashion empire. As she prepares for her lavish second wedding to a much younger man, she gathers her fractured family for a luxurious safari at Leopard Sands, a place rich with memories—and buried tensions. The stunning backdrop of South Africa is not just a setting but an active participant in the story, with its beauty and danger amplifying the suspense.

Goldis expertly captures the Babel family’s dysfunction, weaving together their secrets, rivalries, and betrayals. Odelia’s adult children, her designer fiancé, her loyal assistant, and even her grandchild all have complex motives and hidden agendas, making it difficult to determine who can be trusted. When Odelia is murdered hours before her wedding, the story takes a chilling turn, transforming the safari into a claustrophobic, high-stakes game of survival.

The novel is as much a family drama as it is a mystery, with characters who are flawed, vulnerable, and achingly human. Goldis peels back their layers, revealing deep-seated grudges, unspoken resentments, and forbidden desires. Sam and Bailey, Odelia’s twins, become the focal point of the investigation, and their bond—strained yet unbreakable—is both heartbreaking and fascinating.

The pacing is pitch-perfect, with the story moving seamlessly between the present-day murder investigation and flashbacks that illuminate the Babel family’s troubled history. The twists and turns are relentless, and the tension is palpable as the killer’s identity remains elusive until the final pages. Goldis also explores themes of privilege, ambition, and the consequences of long-buried sins, adding depth and nuance to the narrative.

The Safari is a taut, atmospheric thriller that will keep you guessing until its explosive conclusion. Jaclyn Goldis has delivered a richly layered story that combines the glamour of high society with the primal intensity of the African wilderness. Fans of family dramas and twisty mysteries won’t want to miss this captivating tale of betrayal, survival, and the dark side of love.