The exotic South African safari lodge setting and the multiple points of view of characters who all have something to hide are reminiscent of Agatha Christie whodunnits, and this book is as satisfying a read as any of her bests.

3.5 stars
Expected publication date- May 20, 2025

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

The Babel family is visiting their resort in South Africa for their mother's wedding...to a much younger man. The 3 adult children try their best to be accepting towards their soon to be new stepfather, while everyones long-held secrets are being revealed. Some secrets are enough to kill for.

The setting of this story was wonderful, I loved the safari and wildlife. I figured out a lot of the twists, but some were surprising.

The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis is a familiar trope with a wealth family and a ton of secrets. I loved the setting and the crazy and sinister family characters in this book. A great read and recommended.

I really enjoyed this one! The setting was vividly described, making me feel like I was right there in the African wilderness. The suspense builds steadily, and the characters are well-developed, each with their own hidden motives. If you love a mix of mystery, drama, and a bit of family dysfunction, this is a great read.

It just felt very repetitive & longer than it needed to be. The multiple POVs made it a bit confusing too.

The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis is not only a thriller, but also the story of a family at odds with one another who come together to celebrate – however begrudgingly – a new marriage.

The relationships are very complex amongst the family members, though these aren’t the only tempestuous relationships that are relevant to this novel. The different dynamics between the different point of view characters is perhaps the most fascinating part of The Safari and makes it difficult to settle on one particular culprit of the murder that takes place, as everyone has their own potential reason to have gone to such extremes.

Each character really manages to stand on their own, whether in good ways or bad, despite the number of different points of view there are. It managed to make the story being told even more interesting for having the different perspectives both on what was happening, and on the other characters themselves. And as previously stated, these characters have rather complex relationships with one another, the kinds of relationships that come from vying for money and power, who in the family will take over the company upon their mother’s death, debt issues, jealousy, and even simply that of someone who has always been forced into the role of mediator and shakes up the entire family when they ditch that role and actually show emotions.

And of course, as the title, suggests, the setting is a safari which made things even more interesting as there was also the threat, and beauty, of the wild, dangerous animals always looming over them. There are lots of twisty turns that kept me deeply invested in the plot and discovering the culprit, and it had a satisfying conclusion that kept the tension high. I thoroughly enjoyed the little clues that made it possible to put bits and pieces together throughout. It was definitely a fantastic read and was so well put together. I highly recommend this twisty novel.

When the Babel family descends on their family owned safari property for the matriarch's second wedding to a much younger man, things go awry quickly with a murder, a disappearance, another murder, and even a kidnapping of sorts. There are so many twists in this book it kept me on my toes and guessing throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Odelia and her 3 adult children, daughter in law, grand daughter and best friend gather at the family's safari resort in South Africa for her wedding to Asher, who is significantly younger than her. In the middle of the night before the wedding, Odelia is found dead and all of the family are pointing fingers at one another.

4.5 stars.

I was offered this ARC and accepted because I thought the setting sounded very interesting, and it was. It took me awhile to get into the book because it was a lot of setting the stage and introducing us to the characters and all of the drama amongst them. Also, the chapters were from the points of view of several of the characters and sometimes I would forget whose point of view it was. Once I got past those issues I really got into this book. There was a lot of lying and deception going on and everything tied up nicely at the end. The setting added to my enjoyment of the book. I would read more from this author.

Review of eGalley

As Joshua moves along the path in the South African jungle, he’s headed for a meeting with his sister, Bailey. The family has come to Leopard Sands for Odelia Babel’s wedding to Asher Bach. Bach, some twenty-five years her junior, is madly in love with Odelia. The grown children have some conflicting thoughts about their mother's upcoming nuptials.

But everything changes when, after an argument with her son, Sam, Odelia is found dead.

Who is responsible? And why was Odelia targeted by her killer?

=========

Told from several points of view, the unfolding story is richly populated with believable characters. A strong sense of place anchors the telling of the tale: readers will feel like they are on safari with Odelia and her family. As might be expected, there are a plethora of lies, each capable of bringing chaos and unrelenting turmoil to the safari. Misdirection is the order of the day.

The characters are flawed; all are holding information unknown to the others. The strong sense of place anchors the telling of the tale; the multiple points of view slowly reveal long-held clues as the twisty plot unfolds. Of special note is the inclusion of the South African culture, establishing realism and enhancing the setting.

Readers who enjoy twisty mysteries filled with unexpected revelations will find much to appreciate in this unputdownable tale that will keep readers engrossed until the final page is turned.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Atria Books / Atria / Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley
#TheSafari #NetGalley

I received a free copy of this eBook from Atria Books / Atria / Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley
#TheSafari #NetGalley

The last 35% of this book was wonderful. Everything tied together very nicely and it was a twist I did not see coming! But I felt like the author spent too long establishing that all the characters had motive for the murder. The beginning of the book dragged on because of it.

Odelia Babel, soon to be Odelia Babel-Bach, has decided to host her wedding at the Safari resort she owns in Africa with her family. The soon to be husband is 25 years her junior and is a designer at the Babel company that creates sustainable, luxury clothing. The entire family packs up to celebrate their mothers marriage, even if they aren't all that happy about it. The morning of the wedding, Odelia is found murdered and the family members are the prime suspects.

3.5 stars

The first half of this book lagged. There were a lot of different perspectives and a lot of background character information. I almost DNF’d at 40%, and while I’m glad I didn’t, it shows the slow pace of the beginning of the novel.

If you have difficulty with mega-rich, entitled characters, this book isn’t for you. The Babel family are insanely rich, and each of them have their sordid pasts and secrets they keep from each other. I loved the South African setting and the South African-isms that were woven throughout. I wonder if it would be hard for folks who haven’t been there to decipher some of them, though.

There are a lot of twists, a lot of broken people, and a lot of sordid stories that make up this tale. While I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, I think it was meant to be that way.

The Safari follows the wealthy Babel family who are visiting their South African safari resort for the wedding of matriarch Ofelia to Asher Bach, a much younger designer at the family fashion business. We know in the first chapter that Ofelia is dead, brutally murdered inside the resort that is protected by an electric fence. The danger here comes from within. It seems that everyone has a motive to murder Ofelia so solving this crime will be difficult, especially since torrential rains keep the police away. Is the killer Asher, her fiancé, who may inherit her business and vast fortune? Could it be one of her children: Joshua, the insecure son or one of the twins; Sam, always in debt, or Bailey, his somewhat disturbed sister? It could be Davina, Joshua’s wife, mocked by Ofelia because she is no longer a plus size model. Perhaps it is an employee of the lodge? This character driven mystery, told by multiple narrators, gives us different views of the past and present. Ofelia’s death is not solved until the final chapters.

The South African setting is atmospheric and unique but it plays only a small part here. Family dysfunction is the star and the Babels go to the top of the dysfunction list. The characters are all very well described and the writing is very good. The problem I had is with the length of the book and what I thought were repetitive actions. This slowed down the pace of the mystery but I think that tighter editing would solve the problem. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Jaclyn Goldis for this ARC.

I'll start with the things I liked about this book: cool setting, interesting characters, and a unique story.

Here's what I didn't enjoy: We are told over and over the same things about the characters. Davina lost weight after having her baby. Odelia hated her husband who died. Sam is gay and a photographer. Joshua is lame and nerdy. I have no idea why these same character traits were repeated over and over with no new information each time. Most of these things had nothing to do with the plot and didn't necessarily add depth to the characters. We are also given a ton of background on Jewish Orthodoxy, while interesting, also had almost nothing to do with the plot. I felt like there was a need to get to a page count, so random side information was thrown in and repeated over and over. I also found that the book had way too many POVs and characters. While the story ends up being complex, I don't think having the additional POVs added anything other than confusion to the book. All this additional info made the pacing feel off. It felt really slow at some points and too fast at others.

I think this book could have been shorter and a lot of the unnecessary info could have been left out in order to improve pacing and keep the reader more engaged.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

From the start, the narrative is rich with introspection, giving readers an intimate look into the minds of the characters, each of whom seems to be concealing something. This psychological depth adds layers to the tension, keeping you on edge as the mystery slowly unravels. The first half is slow-paced with detailed character backgrounds, but the action intensifies in the second half, leading to a gripping conclusion.

Such a great read. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to indulge in this advance reader copy. I couldn't put it down all night.

The Safari , while a thriller, is more about a seriously dysfunctional family. Although while it wasn't quite what I expected I did enjoy the book, the first half is character development.

I've loved Jaclyn Goldis' previous books and was so excited to see this one! I loved it! What a wild ride! It was fresh and exciting and unlike any other book I've read!

Didn’t love, didn’t hate, just didn’t necessarily love the characters? I was rooting for no one and felt like the book dragged in places

Jaclyn Goldis is back with another stylish whodunnit set in a luxury safari resort in South Africa, where the deadliest predators are not the animals...

The Safari follows the Babels a wealthy Florida family whose matriarch Odelia is set to marry her much younger fiance on her family's safari resort in South Africa. Her dysfunctional family and deep dark secrets clash amidst the dangerous African landscape where they each become the prey of a predator who has killed Odelia hours before her wedding. Everyone becomes a suspect as family secrets and money stalk the surviving relatives into turning on each other like the wild animals that surrounds them.

What I liked about The Safari was that the actions of the Babel's mirrored the behaviour of the animals helping to create a tense atmosphere full of adrenaline. Overall I thought this book was not as strong as the author's previous two destination mysteries. Something about the setting or location did not appeal to me like France or Italy did in the last books. I had a hard time envisioning the location in my head and I did not feel there were enough thrilling aspects. The mystery did not grab me and was more of a soap opera this time around. The beginning of the book lagged a bit with the stakes not high enough to get me excited for the story. There were enough twists and turns and stylish Agatha Christie inspired elements as always that will appeal to many readers. However, for me, the mystery wasn't interesting enough and the suspense only appeared in the last few chapters of the book.

Fans of locked room thrillers and whodunnits will love The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis.

This was a decent thriller but it took a long time to get to the thriller part. The first half of the book is a lot of character development and family drama. It was a little dull but the Safari aspect kept me going. The end of the book finally had the excitement I was waiting for but then the ending felt a little rushed.