Device Free Weekend

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Pub Date Feb 28 2023 | Archive Date Mar 23 2023

Description

Seven friends, one eccentric billionaire, and an all-expenses-paid reunion on a private island: with no technology allowed, it’ll be a weekend to remember—for those who make it out alive. 

Ryan Cloverhill, founder and CEO of the world’s most popular social media platform, invites his six best friends from college to his home on his private island near Puget Sound. For Stephen, Emma, Perry, Will, Beau, and Lainie, day one is just what the doctor ordered: amazing food, many drinks, lots of laughter, and a sunset cruise around the island aboard their host’s custom Van Dutch 55.  Day Two, however, takes a bewildering turn when the six hungover guests wake up to find that their host has disappeared, along with all connection to the mainland. A touchscreen tablet of unknown make awaits them, blatantly defying the rules of the weekend with its on-screen challenge: Unlock Me! The passcode to the tablet is hidden somewhere in the group’s shared history. But what seems at first like just another silly game turns deadly serious when the group discovers what unlocking the tablet really means. Is it the key to their futures, a Pandora’s box none of them will ever be able to close, or both?   Only one thing is clear: their old friend Ryan has something unthinkable planned. Now it’s up to the six of them to stop him. And when this weekend is over, the world will never be the same.
Seven friends, one eccentric billionaire, and an all-expenses-paid reunion on a private island: with no technology allowed, it’ll be a weekend to remember—for those who make it out alive. 

Ryan...

Advance Praise

"Spectacular. Ominous from page one, tense all the way through, explosive at the end, DEVICE FREE WEEKEND does everything a great thriller should—and a lot more, too. It makes us think about how we live now, and the extra dangers we have created for ourselves."

—Lee Child, #1 bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

 

"If Patricia Highsmith and Nelson DeMille and Alex Michaelides somehow united for a three-way collaboration, DEVICE FREE WEEKEND might be the explosive result. A breathtakingly clever, twist-filled thriller that feels exactly right for a weekend getaway. Sean Doolittle always writes the coolest characters. If it wasn’t so dangerous, I’d want to spend time on a private island with these people!"

—Blake Crouch, bestselling author of A Dark Matter and Recursion


“DEVICE FREE WEEKEND is aptly titled. Once I met this rich cast of characters—college friends mysteriously reunited on a rich tech mogul’s private island—I immediately wanted to avoid all distractions and lose myself in this smart, propulsive thriller. Sean Doolittle continues to be one of the most clever and creative crime writers working today.”

—Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Find Me


"Brutally clever and action-packed, DEVICE FREE WEEKEND is also a wry, warped tale of the tech-heavy world we live in. And it's truly impossible to put down. Pick this one up and you'll wind up spending a weekend without devices ... or sleep."

—Alison Gaylin, bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author of The Collective

"Spectacular. Ominous from page one, tense all the way through, explosive at the end, DEVICE FREE WEEKEND does everything a great thriller should—and a lot more, too. It makes us think about how we...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781538706596
PRICE $28.00 (USD)
PAGES 288

Average rating from 133 members


Featured Reviews

I LOVE vacation gone wrong stories and this is a totally unique and interesting tale. 7 college friends are brought to the Island that their childhood friend has purchased with the billions he has mae on a META type social media platform. It's not long before they learn that they are there for a purpose other than catching up. Billionaire Ryan is brilliant and he has posed a type of trolley problem for them to solve - right out of one of his favorite ethics activities in college.

Get ready for lots of action and plenty of opportunity to ask, "What would you do?" If you love a vacation -gone-wrong, a unique thriller and a crazy page turner, Device Free Weekend is for you!
#GrandCentralPub #DeviceFreeWeekend #SeanDoolittle

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This gives very one on one by Ruth Ware vibes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt it was quite compelling and I couldn't put it down! I just wanted to see what was going to happen next!

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Overall feel: A locked-room suspense thriller that you’ll find hard to put down. This story is captivating and just as equally intriguing. A ride you won’t want to get off once it’s over.

A lil’ preview: A group of friends are invited to a private island for a weekend away- but there’s a catch - it’s a device free weekend. Leave your phones at the entrance. Old college friends are about to become closer than they’ve ever been and be challenged in ways they’ve never been.

I can’t express enough how much fun this book was to read. It is well-written and holds your attention. It’s my first time reading this author and now I’m buying all his previous work!

So many good quotes I’ll be posting Feb 28 - Release day. I received an ARC version of this book and leave this review of my own accord.

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Now this, this is my kind of story!
As soon as I read the title I knew I had to read it!
As soon as I read the description I knew I would devour it!

Device Free Weekend by Sean Doolittle was everything I was anticipating it would be.

The author created quite an incredible story with the build-up of the suspense, the vivid descriptions that kept me fully engaged.
I enjoyed the secluded island, vacation weekend turned bad, no technology allowed.... It made for an amazing setting and atmosphere!
I really had a blast reading this one.

I'm rating this a five star because I literally couldn't put it down.
I was finding every excuse to pick my Kindle up to read one more page!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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An excellent locked room thriller taking place on a secluded island with no technology allowed. Original and highly spooky!

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This book was a ride. I love the mystery aspect that the author brought to the table here. It went by very quickly and was an engaging read.

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I would say this book is about 50% thriller 50% mystery. I literally could not put it down for two days and I was not disappointed with the ending, it was amazing.

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When a giant social media owner decides to get his college pals back together on a private Seattle area island he asks them to make a group decision about the tech giant. You might recognize it?

I love these newer thrillers using modern social media plots because you an actually see where they might be going. Doolittle does an excellent job in detailing how nuts social media truly is. Unfortunately all seemed possible. Highly recommend.

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Device Free Weekend is an unpredictable, well-written locked-room thriller. Fans of Agatha Christie will be thrilled from start to finish. A group of college friends have a reunion on a private island and soon it becomes clear it's a weekend worth killing for. The plot is unpredictable and fast-paced. The characters are well-developed. This is one that cannot be missed. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Device Free Weekend today.

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