I have to admit that I am super excited to have been given a spot on the blog tour by blog tour organiser Tracy Fenton, thanks as always for the opportunities, as well as to Zaffre Books for the copy of T. M Logan’s newest novel The Holiday to read in preparation. This was one of my most anticipated summer reads!
The Holiday was published in paperback, kindle and audio book format on the 25th of July and my gosh its great, you can grab a physical copy here.
Author T. M. Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His debut thriller LIES was one of Amazon UK’s biggest ebooks of 2017.
Together with his second standalone thriller, 29 Seconds (2018), his books are now published in a dozen countries around the world including the USA, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and the Netherlands.
Tim lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children, and writes in a cabin at the bottom of his garden. Find him on Twitter at @TMLoganAuthor
It was supposed to be the perfect holiday, dreamed up by Kate as the ideal way to turn 40: four best friends and their husbands and children in a luxurious villa under the blazing sunshine of Languedoc-Roussillon. But there is trouble in paradise. Kate suspects that her husband is having an affair, and that the other woman is one of her best friends.
As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined. Because someone in the villa is prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.
The Holiday is best read outside in the sunshine with your choice of beverage, or inside under a blanket while rain pours outside…. Just read it anywhere because it doesn’t matter, you’ll be sucked in and your surroundings with become blurred and ignored. Yes, it’s good!
The first thing to draw me in were the short snappy chapters, that contributed towards the tension building – this made me go into ‘one more chapter’ mode (because what is a swift tense chapter between friends?!) and before I knew it, I’d inhaled 100 purely addictive chapters. The sequence of events are flowing and easy read and to follow, the chapters are subs to a larger chapter that are the subsequent days after Kate’s speculation is initially ignited. I really enjoyed the tying together of the story, although the essence of the narrative was taut, I wish that there hadn’t been so faffing around the big reveal but when it eventually got there with a dripping or two of blood thrown into the pot. Overall, the storyline did leave me jaw slacked and wowed! There were moments of ‘oh my god’ and gasps! The penmanship of this thriller is masterful, I found it to be immediately captivating and had me guessing ‘who dun it?’ Definitely a clever little thriller to read on the beach or just basking in the sunshine!
When it comes to characterization, T. M Logan has done a great job, Kate is portrayed really well as one half of a strained marriage, Sean being the other half, her worry feels authentic as she turns infidelity detective. At first, I didn’t feel like I particularly liked her, she felt like a poorer member of the Desperate Housewives cast. That being said, as I ‘got to know’ Kate as a wife and a protective mother, she kind of wormed her way into my heart – I could see myself acting the same way if I sniffed out marital betrayal.
The way that the narrative has been written is with multiple points of views that helps the reader to create a further visualisation of what is going on. From these narratives we get to see the strains of marriage, parent and child relationships, as well as how deep the poison of betrayal really goes. I especially enjoyed seeing the events Daniel, Kate and Sean’s sons point of view. You can tell that he’s trying to find his place amongst the pecking order of his parents friends children. I think the children’s ‘heirachy’ very much reflects that of their parents. The affair side of the storyline is intriguing and keeps us guessing with tit bits of clues, which left me greedingly waiting for more information. I think this was the part of the thriller that I was initially more psychologically invested in. As the tale begun to unravel further, there were major ‘OH MY GOD’ moments that had me hanging on to every single word. It is the thrilling gift that just keeps on giving, a darkly riveting bus ride that just won’t stop! Like the bus from Speed but in book form!
The Holiday is smorgasbord of lies, betrayals and revelations coupled up with anonymous trips down memory lane that’ll have you hooked and wanting more.
Again, thanks to Tracy for my blog tour spot and Zaffre Books for a copy of TM Logan! I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it to thriller fans who enjoy more of a suspicion based read that will keep you guessing. Make sure to check out the blogger’s posts that came before me and are due after me, with the use of the #TakeTheHoliday hash tag!
Happy reading!
The Reading Closet 