A review by joyceheinen
The Fury by Alex Michaelides

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

Lana Farrar leads a reclusive existence, after a tumultuous life as a famous actress. Every year she invites her best friends to her idyllic Greek island to celebrate Easter and escape the English weather. But this year, the seven friends are beset at night by the fury, a local storm that rises suddenly and cuts the island off from civilization. A night that will end in violence and murder. One of them must be the culprit, and old friendships give way to hatred, jealousy and vindictiveness. A cat-and-mouse game ensues 

 

I like the setting of a remote location, where retired actress Lana Farrar stepped out of the spotlights and left Hollywood. You quickly learn that there is a lot of drama between all these friends. Jealousy, secrets, secret admiration, revenge, vicious schemes, toxic relationships, poor choices and lots of manipulation. It goes from bad to worse. And I love reading about rich people drama. 

 

I’m a big fan of Alex Michaelides’ previous books: “The Maidens” and especially “The Silent Patient”. So my expectations were really high for “The Fury”. The story is told through the character Elliot Chase, who tells his story as it were to you, the reader. He tells you from the start that he can not be trusted. I really liked this form of narration, it felt fresh. Michaelides has thrown in several plot twists, but unfortunately I found these twist a bit disappointing. In this regard, I found “The Fury” to be nothing like his previous thrillers. 

 

The story had a lot of potential, the setting and all the drama felt promising. And I did enjoy these elements. But as the story progressed, I began to realize that the story didn’t really grab me. Although I did like the narrative style very much. This was just an okay mystery thriller for me.