You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by bookrantreviews
The Invitation by Rachel Abbott
5.0
Gathering with old friends for a wedding should be a joyous occasion. Yet, when Jemma Hudson attends a weekend wedding bash for her husband Matt’s oldest pal Lucas Jarrett, it becomes anything but a happy event when the body of Lucas’ little sister is found floating near the rocky seashore. Although Jemma barely knew the girl, the death changes everything.
A year later, Jemma’s happy marriage is in tatters, although she can’t understand why. At Lucas’ request, she, Matt, and their friends return to the scene of the tragedy in order to mark the anniversary. But what Lucas has in mind isn’t a somber remembrance. Although his sister’s death was ruled a suicide, he’s convinced that one of his guests may be a killer. He devises a disturbing ‘murder game’ to reveal everyone’s secrets and uncover what really happened. Only new detective Stephanie King can put all the pieces together to figure out the truth, and it’s more shocking than you’d ever believe.
Addicting, pulse-pounding, and shocking, “The Invitation” by Rachel Abbott is a book you can’t put down. It takes off running from the very first page and doesn’t let up until the last. With light yet vivid descriptions that bring the scenes to life and characters so well developed that you feel like you know them, it’s a psych thriller brimming with enough mystery to keep you enthralled and guessing. Red herrings swim in schools. The secrets the characters harbor give the story multiple layers– and create some shocking twists.
Although “The Invitation” is the second book in author Rachel Abbott’s Stephanie King Series, you don’t need to read the first book to understand it. Although Stephanie King is a fairly prominent, likeable character, she’s more of a propulsive element in the story than an integral part of the tale. The rest of the book is so well-written, engrossing, and briskly paced, Stephanie could have as easily been used as a mere plot device to solve the case — instead of a developed character.
My favorite type of psych thriller is one that contains vivid characters, red herrings galore, and a fairly fast pace. “The Invitation” checks all those boxes. It’s not as mind bending as other books in the genre, but — as addicting as it is — it’s as good of a read as any, if not better.
A year later, Jemma’s happy marriage is in tatters, although she can’t understand why. At Lucas’ request, she, Matt, and their friends return to the scene of the tragedy in order to mark the anniversary. But what Lucas has in mind isn’t a somber remembrance. Although his sister’s death was ruled a suicide, he’s convinced that one of his guests may be a killer. He devises a disturbing ‘murder game’ to reveal everyone’s secrets and uncover what really happened. Only new detective Stephanie King can put all the pieces together to figure out the truth, and it’s more shocking than you’d ever believe.
Addicting, pulse-pounding, and shocking, “The Invitation” by Rachel Abbott is a book you can’t put down. It takes off running from the very first page and doesn’t let up until the last. With light yet vivid descriptions that bring the scenes to life and characters so well developed that you feel like you know them, it’s a psych thriller brimming with enough mystery to keep you enthralled and guessing. Red herrings swim in schools. The secrets the characters harbor give the story multiple layers– and create some shocking twists.
Although “The Invitation” is the second book in author Rachel Abbott’s Stephanie King Series, you don’t need to read the first book to understand it. Although Stephanie King is a fairly prominent, likeable character, she’s more of a propulsive element in the story than an integral part of the tale. The rest of the book is so well-written, engrossing, and briskly paced, Stephanie could have as easily been used as a mere plot device to solve the case — instead of a developed character.
My favorite type of psych thriller is one that contains vivid characters, red herrings galore, and a fairly fast pace. “The Invitation” checks all those boxes. It’s not as mind bending as other books in the genre, but — as addicting as it is — it’s as good of a read as any, if not better.