I absolutely loved the idea and premise of this book however after reading the first few chapters im not entirely sure it fits in with my interests as a reader. I dont tend to lean more towards the dystopian side of thrillers (the ear devices in the first few chapters for e.g.). That being said, should that be enjoyable for a reader, im sure this book would be a hit.

The Last Resort is a gripping thriller that mixes in technology and wearable devices expertly. While I was reading there were some And Then There Were None and Black Mirror vibes.

Seven strangers have been invited on a luxury trip to review new devices and technology created by a mysterious company. They meet for the first time on the plane to the island. Amelia, a notable aid worker feels wildly out of place alongside a game developer, social media influencer, and financial powerhouse. Despite their hodgepodge backgrounds, they are quickly bonded when the plane experiences severe turbulence and they realize, this trip may not be the luxury adventure they were promised.

After the harrowing flight, the guests are greeted by Harvey – seemingly the only person on a remote island. But it is difficult to know where the plane landed and where they are as it seems they were drugged on the plane and woke up here. Wherever here is.

The promise of luxury is even farther removed when Harvey equips each of them with a prototype of a new wearable device the mysterious company is developing. He indicates that the device taps into their neural networks. It seems completely fanciful and too futuristic to be real but somehow, device knows things about the guest’s lives, it knows their darkest well buried past.

The Last Resort has a locked room feel with the guests being trapped on the island. The combination of this and the futuristic tech is intriguing, and I flew through the first 75% of this book but wow the ending was… such a letdown.

Dredging up the past of the seven guests felt like it was leading somewhere. How are these seven strangers connected? And then, the climax wraps up the connection, but it seemingly leaves out the relevance of five of the guests.

I could have looked past that since the significance of the island was established but I ended up reviewing 3/5 stars because the actual ending was so dull. It easily could have wrapped up a different way. The whole focus was on the technology but the ended fizzled. It truly felt like the book was unfinished.

The Last Resort is a modern-day thriller that felt like The House on Haunted Hill had been combined with aspects of The Hunger Games. Containing equal parts of sci-fi, mystery, and thriller, this story started off interestingly with seven strangers sitting on a plane, being flown to an unknown destination for a luxury experience. However, when it comes out that most of the participants were coaxed there using blackmail, and strange happenings begin occurring, the experience becomes more about survival and less about the luxury getaway they were all promised.

I found the plot of The Last Resort to be very exciting and it kept me guessing throughout the story; trying to figure out each characters’ dark secret, the backstory of the main protagonist, Amelia, and who the mastermind was behind the entire experience. I enjoyed how Holliday wrote the story from the different character perspectives and at certain points had each of the character’s experiences overlap so that readers could see parts of the story from different views. I also liked how you slowly were given more information about each of the characters, especially as their dark past was revealed. Holliday was able to create several characters that were both likable and hated all at once, which is often difficult to do. Her ability to intertwine multiple characters and their personalities kept the story fluid and I often found myself not wanting to put it down because I needed to know who was behind all of this.

While I did appreciate how Holliday created each character, along with their sordid pasts, I did find myself wanting more at the end. I wished there had been a bit more development with each of the characters, as well as with the flashbacks that were trickled throughout the story. I also was a little disappointed with how abruptly the story ended. While the ending was not something I would have predicted, it could have had more depth to tie together the various story lines together.

Overall, this was a fast read that took a different spin on the frequently written thriller. I would still recommend for anyone that enjoys a good mystery and thriller that they add this to their reading list.

A LONG JOURNEY THAT WENT NO WHERE!

A group of people, tricked into coming to an island for a weekend of luxury, only to find out they are going to be guinea pigs for a new neuro-based tech and the menu includes their worst held secrets.

The premise sounded very intriguing, unfortunately that's where the intrigue ends. A cryptic backstory, so vague it essentially provides no backstory at all. This book is quite long, too long given the pace was not consistent. Attempts at suspense were squashed by four extra pages when only one was needed. Ultimately this was a story where none of the characters mattered or played into the main story, with the exception of one. This was somewhat mind boggling to me, as I wondered what was I bothering to read then for the past few hours. Topped off with an underwhelming almost B-rated horror movie ending. (Don't be fooled by the word "horror").

I believe this is supposed to be a whodunnit/locked room book. Sadly, this was just not up to par and felt a bit amateur. I believe if someone did a large amount of editing there is definitely room for much improvement as there were very interesting ways in which the characters were "toyed" with.

*Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley for providing the digital review copy.

I really liked the majority of this book but the ending let it down in my honest opinion. It fell felt and didn’t live up to expectation sadly. Sadly because 90% was great. Possible rewrite before actual publication???

When seven strangers are invited to an all-expenses paid luxury retreat in order to test a new product from the mysterious Timeo Technologies, they eagerly accept. But soon their excitement turns to terror when it's revealed why they're really there.

Each of them has a guilty secret and instead of luxury they find a trap. Will any of them make it out alive?

I have to say, the premise of this book is a lot more exciting than the actual novel. It's a quick read that does not move quickly, if that makes any sense. The plot is slowed down by a lot of backstory, but its backstory that doesn't illuminate anything. The book rests on two narratives: the present tense of the guests POVs (only the females; the three male protagonists never get a chapter) and the past story of "Anne" and "George." It's clear the past plays an important role in why the strangers were brought together, but it's simply to tell us over and over that "Father was a bad man." But we're never really shown anything to make us care. This leaves the ending bizarre and lackluster.

Likewise, in the present story, no one's really developed in a way to make you feel connected to them or care about what's happening and their reactions to what's unfolding are just strange. As their secrets are revealed and each is shown to be a terrible (actually, how are most of them not in jail?) person, they keep hammering home that, "no, this isn't real, it's all a game. And even if it's not, everyone does terrible things so our terrible things are justifiable!" Amelia repeats this to herself so much it's annoying, and no dear, while a lot of people may harbor memories they're not that proud of, most of us haven't committed acts of murder/brutal, bloody assault.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for making this available to review. I'll have to recommend this lightly. It wasn't the worst thing I've read, and it was entertaining enough to keep me reading, but I was hoping for a little more intensity throughout. Or at least be a little more believable.

I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

A few times a year I receive those tempting invitations to go somewhere warm and sunny (obviously not this Covid year), stay in a nice swanky hotel and do it all for nothing - so long as I'm willing to sit through a hard-sell about investing in a time-share or a time-share dressed up as something else. I'm no millionaire or famous person but even I can tell it's just not worth getting involved. If something seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. I just wondered why the seven strangers - or one couple and five singles - would have accepted the offer of a luxury trip to an island without thinking "Hmm, is this a good idea?"

The seven spend a day being drugged, manipulated and having their minds and their memories mined for their guiltiest secrets. As my old French teacher would quote - usually at people who'd not done their homework "Be sure your sins will find you out". As the seven blunder about the island wondering what the heck is going on, we readers soon work out who might be behind the invitation but in most cases, we're not sure why the people have been chosen.

I enjoyed this. Well, the first 85% or so after which it all got a bit more weird than I was ready to swallow. Word to the wise; if invited to a luxury retreat on a mystery island, be really careful what you swallow.

The book is well paced, a lot of what happens requires the reader to suspend rather a big chunk of disbelief, but it thankfully avoids following the Agatha Christie style 'And then there were none' approach, preferring instead to save up a lot of the action and deliver it in a 'blink and you'll miss it' finale. Did I believe the baddie would do what they did? Not entirely. Did I believe the mighty powerful techno-brains behind the world's great innovations? Only partially.

If I wanted one improvement it would be for the seven weekenders to be more logically linked to the story and for there to be a better reason for at least five of them to be there.

I'm a Susi Holliday fan and have yet to read anything by her that doesn't blow my mind and The Last Resort was no exception. Even if the story hadn't been brilliant, the creativity of the technological ideas was enough to carry this book. How on earth does Ms Holliday come up with such innovative and unique concepts? Sheer genius. The story was so taut, at times I could feel myself tensing up, waiting for the next shock. The two strands of the story seemed so disparate, I couldn't begin to figure out how they would connect. But connect they did and with a huge WOW! I had to stay up until 3 in the morning so I could finish because I was totally engrossed and wouldn't have been able to sleep without knowing how it ended. Taut, tense, atmospheric, engrossing, captivating, unique, brilliant, I could go on and on. I'll precis my thoughts for you. Buy The Last Resort today. You can always thank me later.

This book is definitely the genre I normally like to read...mystery and a little Sci fi. It was good from the start and had me guessing what was really going on. While you can kind of figure out what will happen, there are some surprising elements. I will say, it does get a little slow in parts and the end is disturbing and a little rushed. Not sure if I will read another from this author. Thank you to Netgalley for providing this book in exchange for my honest review.

I must admit that I read several reviews prior to starting this books...both good and bad and there were plenty but I decided to read it anyway since I had already downloaded it.
I am still trying to figure out exactly WTH it was that I finished last night. Nothing in this book makes much sense including the title which just does not fit with this book.
7 strangers are placed on an island for obviously false reasons the biggest of course is they wanted the money at the end of the weekend. Each chapter is told from a different female character's view (can't figure out why the men are excluded in this but author's choice). Each person has done something truly awful and are made to be viewed as a sinner or something and not worthy of the game or money or whatever she is trying to accomplish as each person's past deeds are slowly revealed. There are also chapters thrown in titled 'Summer 2000' about 'Anne' and 'George'. It's obvious who 'Anne' is but 'George' is a mystery until the very end and when it's revealed...well,.that's when most bad reviews ask the question...WTF is this crap?!
I think she tries to make this a techno-thriller but the thrills fall short, unfortunately. I honestly think that this book does have potential but things just don't fit together into a big picture at least for me in the end. I would give her another chance with a different book because she can write but can't fit all that she tries to do in this book into a good book.
Thank you for the chance to read this prior to release.

A fast paced thriller that doesn’t just pique your curiosity but it frantically drags you along with every disastrous & dangerous moment for the guests of the island. The first chapter when we meet Amelia had made me interested and the middle section of the book was full of tension. However the ending left me feeling deflated and slightly disappointed after such an exciting journey with these flawed but addictive characters. The resolution felt lacklustre and sadly meant that my overall enjoyment was spoiled.

As the rating system doesn't allow half marks, I will be generous and round up my rating.

A huge thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Susi Holiday for the Uncorrected Proof, in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start by saying that locked room mysteries are my absolute favorites. I love using the clues throughout the book to figure out who will be the last one standing and how it will be done. A locked room mystery with a technology twist, sure why noy?

The story started out great! The characters were developed well, there was just enough question to make you keep reading but not so much that your head is spinning. I loved all of the false starts and stops just when it looked like something was going to be revealed. Unfortunately, these "stops" also applied to the characters as well. Mid-way through the development of the character, they are killed off and their story is ended just as abruptly. This left holes in the story.

The technology angle also had a lot of promise but jumped the Sci-Fi train along the way. I don't regret reading this one and if you are looking for a fairly quick read with short chapters, this is it! Just don't forget that there may be some suspension of reality and no Agatha Christie.

Okay, this book was weird, and still don't know if it was a good weird or bad weird.

We have seven people that are invited to experience a luxury resort, they are important people like Influencers, bloggers, photographers and rich people, they don´t know each other, actually they don't know anything but still here they are, in a misterious island, in the middle of nowhere, with no signal. Delightful.

I think the plot it's good, it's really intriguing, a thriller on a island, someone's gonna get murderer for sure and lot of mysteries. And it was something like that.

Like I said it was weird, there were many red flags since the beginning, and the characters, they were just cool with being drugged, being injected with a tracker device that shows all your dirty secrets too, I mean it was kind of ridiculous, but I was okay with that, the books its pretty fast to read, and very quickly to get hooked.

Tiggy for me was the best character on the book, she's not the principal but we get to know her, The Last Resort has differentes POV, Amelia (The main character) Brenda, Tiggy and Lucy, but at the end all of them were just nothing

The end, was awful, and again, ridiculous, it was so flat, the big mistery was boring, and predictible.

3 stars because the reading was fast, and I got hooked, but that ending... ugh.

Thanks NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This book was exciting & full of twists! If you enjoy mysteries, atmospheric settings, and interesting characters, I would definitely recommend this book.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Great read but honestly, the ending hugely disappointed me! But overall it was well written and pretty creepy! Will recommend to a few of my friends who I know will love this book though! Really well written and kept my mind running, heart racing

3 Stars. I was attracted by this book because of the description, as a fan of Agatha Christie's "And Then They Were None". This book is a good thriller with a surprising final twist. Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC!

Seven people sign up to go to a private island to test a product from Timeo Technology. A device you wear that punctures into your skin and reads thoughts , reveals secrets and pits people against each other. Felt like something I watched before on reality TV and something I read before . Characters were complaining a lot and I could not really get into this. Not a page turner. I tried. I felt I had to force myself to continue . Expected more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for allowing me the opportunity to read The Last Resort by Susie Holliday.

I loved the idea behind this book - 7 strangers heading off to a luxury island, all eager to see what time in this mysterious resort will bring to their professions and lives. They very quickly become aware however that things are not as they seem.

The story was fast paced, had great relevations that kept me entriqued and I enjoyed the chapters changing between characters.
I struggled with the ending of the story however, after such an intense read, I felt the ending fell a little flat and didn't quite keep up with the pace of the rest of the book.

I was strongly reminded of writing by John Marrs as I read this book and I would definitely read more of Susie Holliday.

A fast-paced thrill ride that keep me guessing right to the end. With a brilliant ensemble cast ego each get a moment in the limelight, I raced through this book to find out how it would end. I wasn’t disappointed!