Madeline
Generally, a thriller story has an arch to it. A thriller starts with the back story, then goes into what the reader wants to know, then what the reader wants to know starts to unravel until it is revealed; however, The Guest List is an unusual thriller. It starts with the back story of all the characters, as it should. Then it reveals more of their backstory, which is fine but I wanted to know why I cared. It was not until I realized that all the characters had a reason to kill a single character that we find he is dead. The next chapter reveals who killed him. I knew he was dead before he died. Not much suspense.
Premise of The Guest List
It is the wedding of a popular magazine mogul bride and an adventure seeking television personality groom. They have rented out an island in Ireland and invited a select few to spend a few nights on the island with them. The story is told by a few of these individuals including the bridesmaid, a plus one of the best friend of the bride, the bride, the best man, and the wedding planner. As the events lead up to the murder, we start to find out some dark secrets each of them hold.
How I Wish The Unusual Thriller Was Told
Honestly, I loved this book, it just needed to be structured much differently. Throughout the story, the characters tell their stories about the current situation and the past. Sprinkled throughout these stories is the event that result in the murder, and this is where all the suspense was held. What would have been great, was to find out who was murdered about two thirds of the way through and then start finding out why everyone hated him so much. That was the reader can start to guess who the murderer is.
Final Thoughts
I truly enjoyed this book. If it was not for the unusual structure of this unusual thriller, I would have enjoyed it even more. It ties together two of my favorite genres, chick lit with the wedding and thriller with the murder. Regardless of the large cast of characters it was easy to follow.
