12/18/2023

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. (Jan.)

"Gloriously atmospheric and utterly riveting, this is my favourite Alex Michaelides yet. Readers you are in for a treat! But then what else would you expect from the undisputed master of the twist?"
—Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Apartment and The Guest List


“Alex Michaelides hits the trifecta with his third novel, The Fury. The highly original story presents the reader with the king of all unreliable narrators, enough twists and turns to power two novels, and a host of characters that bleed right on the page. For fans of erudite, locked room mysteries told with style and theatrical panache, The Fury delivers, on all counts.” —David Baldacci


“A classic, twisting, brilliant murder mystery. A wonderfully drawn cast of characters with a motive to kill for, in a location to die for, keep you guessing until the shocking finale. Clever, and fiendishly fun.” —Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End


“The Fury, like its beguiling narrator, is endlessly evolving, wildly entertaining, and like the very best fiction, impossible to pin down. Just when you think you have it cornered, it moves, impossibly and with stunning flourish, toward a devastating finale. The Talented Mr. Ripley for our time.”
—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter


"Audacious, twisty, compelling, and full of the joyous verve that one only finds in the very best storytelling, this is the best novel yet from Alex Michaelides." —Sophie Hannah


“You’ll think you know where it’s going and you couldn’t be more wrong.” —Linwood Barclay


"A very sophisticated book which takes the format of a classic murder mystery and elevates it to something very devious and clever indeed. The narrator is fabulous — I was thoroughly gripped by his voice and it seems to have been written with great glee. There's such a tremendous complicity to it even though the reader has no idea how much of what he's telling is true, even down to the final pages. The way it reveals itself through the layers of the narrative is very well done indeed." —Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange


"Alex Michaelides is the grand master of the modern mystery. The Fury reads like Hitchcock with a heart, or Agatha Christie running amok on a wind-whipped Greek island. A tale of old friends and buried emotions ready to explode, all set on an idyllic island rendered so perfectly you can smell the jasmine, the ouzo and the Aegean Sea. The Fury will, quite literally, blow you away. Totally brilliant." —Tony Parsons, author of Who She Was


“The Fury by Alex Michaelides is a proper, grown-up thriller that exudes class from every page. So much more than a murder mystery, every twist and turn is simultaneously a total surprise and completely inevitable. The writing is perfectly sparse, yet cloaks a narrative of rare complexity. So many contradictions, yet all unite in a devastating whole. The Fury is a very special book and highly recommended.” —Janice Hallett, author of international bestseller The Appeal


"Glamorous, sinister, and endlessly surprising, The Fury reads like Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith took a Greek vacation together and decided to write a book while there. It's twisty, twisted entertainment."
—Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The Only One Left


“A glorious triumph—just brilliant.”
—Stephen Fry


"This is a masterclass in suspense. A unique and captivating narrator takes you on a journey filled with twists and finely drawn characters you will treasure. This is probably his best book. Not to be missed."
—Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen and Kill for Me, Kill for You


“One of those rare books where really nothing is as it seems. As usual, Alex Michaelides does not disappoint.”
—Ragnar Jonasson


"The Fury is a masterfully woven story of Shakespearean twists and Machiavellian turns. A Greek Tragedy in the guise of a postmodern thriller. Do not miss this one."
—Holly Jackson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

"Mesmerising—a beguiling labyrinth of twists and surprises, even better than The Silent Patient. The Fury is The Magus meets The Secret History on a Greek island paradise where nothing is as it seems, and Alex Michaelides is a master magician, skilfully misdirecting the reader at every turn." —JP Delaney

“Shades of Agatha Christie and Sunset Boulevard color this outstanding psychological thriller …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.”
—Publishers Weekly

“From the author of The Silent Patient comes another perfectly-paced thriller that will have you looking at your friends with a hint of suspicion… It unfolds so satisfyingly well, you just might want to block off a weekend to read it all in one.”
—Good Housekeeping | 12 Most Anticipated Books of 2024

"Michaelides again creates an almost tangible blend of tension,
manipulation, and obsession. Even 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." —Booklist

“Alex Michaelides is a master…Intriguing and page-turning, The Fury is Michaelides at his best, which is saying a lot after the success of The Silent Patient.”
—GMA.com | 15 New Books to Read for the New Year

"A dazzling whodunit, much like his bestselling novels The Silent Patient and The Maidens. But The Fury sets itself apart by adding [a] dose of Old Hollywood glamour and intrigue...like the love child between Sunset Boulevard’s Billy Wilder and Agatha Christie."
—Bustle

“Michaelides wrote the huge best-seller The Silent Patient, so he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve with this new novel…Elliot Chase, our unreliable narrator, owes a bit to Tom Ripley; he might also remind readers of Barry Keoghan’s character in Saltburn.”
—Vulture

“Michaelides’s deliciously twisty and fiendishly clever third novel takes the classic locked-room mystery and delivers a fresh spin on the genre... What sets the book apart is its innovative structure and the compelling voice of its narrator, Elliot Chase; wonderfully sinister and beautifully unreliable, he guides us – with sleights of hand aplenty – through this impressive and highly enjoyable tale of subterfuge, secrets and murder.”
—The Guardian

“Alex Michaelides delivers a terrific spin on the Agatha Christie classic, And Then There Were None, with a dash of the film Glass Onion in his latest thriller...Readers who have enjoyed Michaelides’ previous books will find this one his best yet…”
—Criminal Element, Best Psychological Thrillers in January

“The Fury is well-plotted — a murder mystery in the style of Knives Out with the sensibilities of Hamlet (“the play’s the thing!”) and Rebecca woven-in to great effect. There’s adultery, drugs and a mysterious groundskeeper. What’s not to like!?”
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Alex Michaelides is a master of the unreliable narrator… The Fury is pure Agatha Christie-esque fun.”
—The Boston Globe

★ 11/01/2023

"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

Olivier Award-winning actor Alex Jennings performs this story of murder on a remote Greek island. Famed actress Lana Farrar invites her family and close friend to her private island for Easter break. But what starts out as an idyllic vacation ends in murder. The novel is told from the perspective of Elliot Chase, a playwright who is Lana's closest friend. With his ear for dialogue, Jennings captures the expressions of the characters. But while he knows his way around a wide range of accents, Jennings's stiff performance of exposition and descriptions detracts overall. The plot twists and backtracks, often predictably, dampening the suspense. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

2023-10-07
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.