The Fury

August 1, 2023

In The Fury, which follows up Michaelides's first two thrillers, both New York Times best sellers, a reclusive former actress invites friends to celebrate Easter on her private Greek island--with the festivities disrupted by murder. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2023
Everyone loves movie star Lana Farrar, especially her closest friend, Elliot, who offers charismatic narration twisted with fantasies, Agatha Christie overtones, and self-serving asides. They met when she was a young starlet and were instantly kindred spirits. So, when Lana discovers that her husband, Jason, has been having an affair with her oldest friend, Kate, she turns to Elliot. In drinks-fueled synergy, they concoct a dramatic plan to out the betrayal. Lana persuades Kate, Jason, and her assistant, Agathi, to join her, Elliot, and her son, Leo, for a getaway on their private island. The island seems to sense their tension, whipped to new heights by the Fury, a legendary wind famous for its malicious power. Lana's inner circle, infected with barely suppressed resentments, gives the plan a new, darker impetus that ends in murder. Michaelides (The Maidens, 2021) again creates an almost tangible blend of tension, manipulation, and obsession. Even veteran crime-fiction readers will fall prey to Michaelides' craft, nudged into shifting, sympathetic allegiances to the damaged, unlikable characters in this pitch-perfect, classic crime set-up and modern psychological thriller.

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November 1, 2023
Michaelides takes a literary turn in his latest novel, employing an unreliable narrator, the structure of classical drama, and a self-conscious eye to dismantling the locked-room mystery. The novel starts off with a murder, and with seven people trapped on an isolated Greek island lashed by a "wild, unpredictable Greek wind." The narrator, soon established as Elliot Chase, then zooms out to address the reader directly, introducing the players--most importantly movie star Lana Farrar. We meet her husband, Jason Miller, her son, Leo, and her friend Kate Crosby, a theater actress. We learn about her rise to fame and her older first husband, Otto Krantz, a Hollywood producer. We learn about Kate's possibly stalling career and Leo's plan to apply to acting schools against his mother's wishes. We learn about Jason's obsession with guns. And in fragments and shards, we learn about Elliot: his painful childhood; his May-September relationship with an older female writer, now dead; his passion for the theater, where he learned "to change everything about [himself]" to fit in. Though he isn't present in every scene, he conveys each piece of the story leading up to the murder as if he were an omniscient narrator, capable of accessing every character's interior perspective. When he gets to the climax, there is, indeed, a shooting. There is, indeed, a motive. And there is, of course, a twist. The atmosphere of the novel, set mostly on this wild Greek island, echoes strongly the classical tragedies of Greece. The characters are types. The emotions are operatic. And the tragedy, of course, leads us to question the idea of fate. Michaelides seems also to be dipping into the world of Edgar Allan Poe, offering an unreliable narrator who feels more like a literary exercise. As an exploration of genre, it's really quite fascinating. As a thriller, it's not particularly surprising. More style than substance.

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Starred review from November 1, 2023

"There were seven of us in all, trapped on the island. One of us was a murderer." So begins Michaelides's latest (after The Maidens), a tale of friendship and retribution, stardom and fame, and the wounded child that hides in everyone. Playwright Elliot Chase is the unreliable narrator spinning a fantastical tale of a group of people trapped on a private Greek island by the Fury, harsh windstorms that batter the island. Told over five acts, Elliot's narrative moves from Hollywood to London to the Greek island of Aura and provides a history of the major players in the island murder case, including himself. His main focus is his best friend, former movie star Lana Farrar, who invited the guests to her private isle. Besides Elliot, the group includes Lana's husband, her son, her housekeeper, and a creepy caretaker. Michaelides's use of Elliot as dubious storyteller is clever, keeping readers engrossed in peeling back the layers. VERDICT The tension, unrequited feelings, lies and resentment, friendship and jealousy that permeate this suspenseful page-turner will keep readers guessing until the satisfying ending. Recommended for fans of closed-circle mystery writers such as Agatha Christie, Lucy Foley, and Alice Feeney.--Marianne Fitzgerald

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 18, 2023
Shades of Agatha Christie and Sunset Boulevard color this outstanding psychological thriller from bestseller Michaelides (The Maidens). Among the frenemies who gather for a weekend at a lush Greek island owned by former movie star Lana Farrar are Lana’s second husband, Jason Miller; her son, Leo; theater actor Kate Crosby; two servants; and the book’s unreliable narrator, playwright Elliot Chase. At the outset, Elliot tees readers up for “a tale of murder,” that is also “at its heart... a love story.” Shortly after arriving on the island, the group is trapped by unrelenting wind (in Greek: menos, or “the fury”), and before long someone is killed. Elliot then winds the clock back, delving into each attendee’s place in a thick web of jealousy, ambition, and infidelity. As he builds toward the bloody opening incident, he dwells on each character’s personality and flaws, revealing himself in the process, from his painful childhood that pointed him toward love of the theater to his complicated relationship with a much older, wealthy author whose death was gossip fodder. Michaelides keeps readers on deliciously unsteady ground throughout, ratcheting up the tension until he arrives at the final series of reveals. The result is a character-driven, atmospheric delight. Agent: Sam Copeland, RCW.