Wednesday 13 March 2024
Review - Five Nights by Rachel Wolf

Five Nights by Rachel Wolf
Publisher: Aria and Aries (Head of Zeus)
Release date: 29 February 2024
Back cover blurb: A powerful family. A luxury cruise. A killer on board… You’re invited to join the infamous Scarmado family on a five night voyage aboard their glamorous new ship. It’s a chance to see your best friend, Belle, newly married to Mattia Scarmado. You haven’t seen her in years. FIVE. On the first night, you’ll be wrapped up in the glamour of the ship. FOUR. On the second night, you’ll wonder who is sending you threatening notes. THREE. On the third night, someone will die. TWO. On the fourth night, you’ll discover that someone knows the truth of what you did. ONE. On the last night, you’ll be left for dead...Will you make it back to shore alive?








When Emily receives an invitation for a five night cruise onboard a prestigious new ship she only hesitates for the smallest moment. She doesn't want to leave her elderly Father and young Son, and isn't really sure of Belle's motives, as she hasn't seen her best friend in Five years.

But her Father insists she needs a break and encourages her to go. Emily agrees. Perhaps it is time for them to build some bridges...

Belle is now married to Mattia Scarmado, one of the wealthiest businessman. He is old enough to be her own Father, but Belle appears to be very much in love. Much to the disgust of Mattia's own children, still mourning the sudden loss of their Mother, and all vying for their Father's affections ... and inheritance.

They are the very definition of spoilt brats. Every single one of them is so entitled, it's vulgar (but brilliant), and they all seem to share a hatred of Belle. But you would never know. The four words; 'appearances can be deceiving' have never been so apt.

When Emily tentatively makes her way on to the ship to meet with Belle for the first time in Five years, she can't deny that she's nervous, but they've been friends for so long, that they should be able to pick up where they left off. Right?

Well maybe once. But now their worlds are so different, that Emily feels hideously out of place. She can't keep up with the Scarmado's. Even if she wanted to. And it's clear that somebody doesn't want her too. Whether it's because she friends with Belle, or they just don't think her face fits, somebody in the party has taken a dislike to Emily and is sending her threatening notes.

There are many twists in this story, but I think it's safe to say that the 'main' twist in this novel isn't the one that I thought I saw coming, but it works very well within the context of this story.

By the time you get to it, you'll know exactly what I mean!

A thoroughly enjoyable novel, which hasn't put me off cruising - Thankfully I don't move in the same circles as the Scarmado's!

I really didnt enjoy this one at all - slow slow burn at the beginning had me putting the book down and picking it back up - i never once felt drawn to picking the book up to finish and it was a hard slog to get through

I didnt care for any of the characters and I didnt care for the story and twists in general

I wish i could have loved it more as the premise sounded so good

2 stars

Loved loved loved this so so much. Brilliant!

I was absolutely gripped from the start. Belle, married to a wealthy family, invites her estranged friend, Emily on the maiden voyage of the family’s commercial cruise ship. Emily can’t pass up this opportunity, despite wondering why, as they’ve not spoken for a few years. It all starts glamorous…then the notes start..then it all gets worse. Who’s behind it all? What happened years ago?

This book caught me off guard repeatedly, and I couldn’t put it down. The twists just keep coming.

Brilliant!

My thanks to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one started a little slowly but when the action started thr pace was perfect with short snappy chapters that kept me turning page after page.

Following two estranged friends and an incredibly rich family on a luxury ship the isolation is prominent and everyone has secrets.

I would highly recommend this for thriller fans who love an isolated setting.

Sounded a lot better than it actually ended up being. One dimensional characters and predictable plot twists made me skim read.

Five Nights is an incredibly gripping read.

I was hooked from the start and read it in one sitting. This is the perfect holiday read.

This was a fun, quick read, with some twists and turns to keep you guessing who did what right until the end.
Belle has married into the wealthy Scarmado family and isn't much older than her stepchildren. Belle and Emily became estranged after a traumatic incident a few years earlier, but now Belle needs Emily's support and has asked Emily to join her on a 5-day luxury cruise. Everyone has secrets, and they're about to be revealed!
This book offers a glimpse of what life might be like behind the scenes of the rich and famous - all is not as it seems, and this book is a good example of that. There are some interesting family dynamics, many secrets, and characters who were mostly easy to relate to. A perfect light holiday read for those who enjoy a who-dunnit. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

Niche review - if you watched Death and other Bodies and wanted every single character to be the siblings who are completely self-involved and on a bender instead of being worried about solving the murder activities, this is the book for you.

I did guess the ending before the book got there but I appreciated that the clues were all there in subtle ways for solving instead of introducing the twist entirely out of left field that seems to be a bit of a trend in thrillers. A number of side twists that I also liked worked into this book as well. I think the siblings were honestly my favorite characters for all their rich chaos. The MC annoyed me a little bit for general lack of focus on the task at hand but it was definitely intentional and true to the character.

Wow. A fast paced thriller that kept me riveted . This well written, fun action packed thriller was packed with toxic characters and I loved the palatial cruise ship setting. A totally addictive ride

When a traumatic past event pulls apart a friendship, can it ever be healed? Belle and Emily haven’t seen each other in years. They both live in different worlds now. Belle married a millionaire and Emily living with her Dad and little boy. What caused the great divide in their friendship? Why the invite out of the blue to join Belle and her new family on a luxury cruise?

When you look at the book communities on social media. My favourite is Instagram for sure. I often see posts saying “OMG I am in such a reading slump” or “Nothing is exciting me”. Well, now I have the perfect solution, Five Nights by Rachel Wolf is the medicine I will dish out to aid the slump. Because from page one until the end it it is non-stop. You just jump on the ride and hold on for dear life. You can’t trust anyone and no matter how hard you try to play to detective the book is too clever.

I loved my time with Emily and the Scarmado family. The tagline for the book says Agatha Christie mixes with Succession and that sums it up perfectly. With the Scamado kids all fanning over papà’s cash. Any of them could be a killer.

I read a previous title by this author called Under the Ice (Rachael Blok) and it was my book of the year. Five Nights would be a contender for this year’s pick.

Fast-paced with a fabulous cast of characters and an amazing plot. Bravo, Rachel Wolf, I can’t wait to see what is next.

I loved the premise of this, trapped on a ship out at sea, someone knows what you’ve done and danger lurks around every glamorous corner.

Unfortunately, for me it didn’t live up to the hype. I found the writing style jarring and the pacing off. I couldn’t get into it and read several books inbetween, I kept going back to it hoping it would grow on me but it wasn’t for me.

A glamorous, mysterious thriller with so many people out for revenge I didn’t know where to look next!

When Emily is contacted by her old friend to come and help her she jumps at the chance. It just so happens that Belle needs her to accompany her on the Scarmardo ships virgin voyage. A luxury cruise liner only for adults, she is holidaying with the Scarmardo’s Belle’s new family and one of the richest families in the country so she gets a taste of the multi millionaire world they live in.

This was a fast paced, full of action story. The characters aren’t particularly likable and even though I felt sorry for Emily and Belle at times their actions were questionable. I love the contained setting of the ship too, there’s no escape and no hiding so it just descended into chaos.

I really enjoy a locked room thriller but unfortunately Five Nights did not live up to my expectations. It wasn't as action packed and twisty as I had hoped and I found it a little predictable in places.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Five Nights is an addictive thriller, written by Rachel Wolf, and published by Head of Zeus; Emily has been invited to a luxury cruise ship by her friend Belle, three years since the last time they reunited (and due to a good reason). But Belle needs her support to deal with the Scamardo family and their machinations, an opportunity for Emily's redemption.

But if the Scamardo family and Emily share something, is their life being full of secrets; and after receiving some threatening messages, Emily decides to start investigating, all to see if she can help Belle. However, passing five nights will be proven as tricky, especially as things start to heat, and the actual personality of many of the Scamardo's siblings are revealed.

A plot that starts unraveling more questions than answers, combining three timelines in order to let the reader try to guess who is the assassin inside; all while dealing with the unlikeable personality of many of the characters. The pacing is fast, going from scene to scene without a single moment to breath, creating a great intrigue that only gets resolved a few pages before the gran finale.

A really interesting thriller, which is perfect if you like character-driven narratives with multiple timelines; an intriguing proposal that Wolf executes almost flawlessly. If you are looking for your next film, read Five Nights.

This book started out great and soon grabbed my attention,I did feel it dip in places but it always seemed to get back on track. There was a array of characters some of which I liked and some I didn't. I felt the book was well placed and chapters were not too long. A good read overall. Thanks to net gallery for a early copy to read.

Five Nights was one of those books I knew I was going to love as soon as I heard about it – give me a dysfunctional wealthy family (could I have loved Succession any more ….), a cruise liner setting and a locked room thriller with lots of twists and what more could I ask for?

Emily and Belle were once best friends but have become estranged following an incident three years previously and their lives have gone in very different directions. Emily is now a single mother, Belle has married an extremely wealthy older man. Out of the blue, Emily gets an invitation to join Belle on the maiden voyage of a ship owned by Belle’s husband Mattia Scarmado. Emily arrives on board to discover that Belle is less than popular with Mattia’s five grown up children – and she soon finds that being stuck on a ship with them all makes for an interesting journey. Everyone, including Emily, is harbouring secrets and things soon begin to unravel as confessions are made and truths come to light.

This is a book full of characters you’ll love to hate as you try to figure out who to trust and who not to. With flashbacks to what led to the breakdown of Emily and Belle’s relationships, as well as mystery surrounding the death of Mattia’s ex-wife, there is plenty to keep the reader guessing and there is no shortage of surprises as the twists keep coming. I for one couldn’t turn the pages quick enough! It is a wild ride but oh so much fun!

I personally found this one way too slow and predictable so I really struggled to stay focused on it.

Five Nights is an action-packed page turner of a book - you won't want to put it down.

Emily is invited to join her best friend Belle on a luxury cruise. Since they last met, Belle has married one of the richest men in the world, Mattia Scarmado, successful businessman and proud father of five adult children, who are all going to be on the cruise too.

Emily hasn't seen Belle since a mysterious incident three years previously, so is keen to make up for lost time, but also nervous at how their friendship may have changed. She's also anxious at how she is going to feel being around such a famous and powerful family, their stories put the Kardashians to shame, filling the tabloids with gossip and drunken stories.

Just before she leaves for her cruise, Emily gets an anonymous note 'we know what you did' - if she goes on the five day trip, is she risking everything she's worked so hard for? But if she doesn't go, she's abandoning Belle and jeopardizing their lifelong friendship

The action keeps coming and coming, the tension builds, and the twists are plentiful. 'Five Nights' will whisk you away from the rains and gloom of winter and make you wish you were living it up on a luxury cruise liner; maybe steer clear of the owner and his uber-rich spoilt family though.

This is the author’s debut novel, published on 29th February. Yet another novel set on a cruise ship, this seems to be quite a common setting for novels lately. When I looked at the cover I thought it was a tower block at first but on closer inspection realised it was meant to be the front of a cruise liner. 🙈

Funnily enough, the book follows Emily over five nights, as she is invited on a luxury VIP cruise by her former best friend, Belle. Belle has married into the wealthy Scarmado family and invites Emily along. Emily tentatively accepts, as she wants to atone for what happened three years ago, fracturing a once solid friendship. When Emily is onboard the ship, she receives notes claiming “I know what you did” and begins to wonder if the trip will be relaxing after all.

All the characters are awful and two dimensional and I didn’t like any of them. I was irrationally annoyed at Bean’s nickname. 😂 I thought the decisions made by some of them were questionable and generally the plot was a bit silly, cliche, and at times predictable. The book dragged on and on for me and I wasn’t keen to pick it up and read it. It took forever to reveal what happened three years before to spoil Emily and Belle’s friendship which was irritating. The ‘big reveal’ ended up being underwhelming The plot was too slow and boring and unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it at all.

This book wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t recommend it but others may enjoy it.

Thanks to Aries & Aries Publishers and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for a review.

Five Nights is a true locked room style thriller that takes place over "five nights" on a luxurious cruise liner.

Out of the blue, Emily receives an invite from her old friend Belle to join her and her new millionaire husband Mattia Scarmardo, along with his five children, on his new cruise ship's maiden voyage.
But Emily and Belle haven't spoken in 3 years!
As the plot develops, we learn about the two childhood friends' secret past, and as we get to know the Scarmardo family better, it seems that everyone is harbouring at least one secret.

The narrative alternates between the present and the past when we adopt Viola, Mattia Scarmardo's first wife, as our point of view.

I was gripped throughout, and with plot twist-a-plenty, I didn’t guess the final outcome until right at the very end of the book as I was reading it.

If you enjoy a locked room style thriller, packed with suspense and intrigue, then I highly recommend you read Five Nights.