The Honeymoon by Tina Seskis #BookReview @MichaelJBooks @tinaseskis

About this book…

There’s trouble in paradise. . .

For as long as she can remember, Jemma has been planning the perfect honeymoon. A fortnight’s retreat to a five-star resort in the Maldives, complete with luxury villas, personal butlers and absolute privacy.

It should be paradise, but it’s turned into a nightmare.

Because the man Jemma married a week ago has just disappeared from the island without a trace. And now her perfect new life is vanishing just as quickly before her eyes.

After everything they’ve been through together, how can this be happening? Is there anyone on the island who Jemma can trust? And above all – where has her husband gone?

My review…

I have been a huge Tina Seskis fan ever since I read One Step Too Far, which I have named in my top 20 all time favourite books and has probably the best twist I have read in recent years. I get 99% of twists nowadays but that one gave me one of the best “twistgasms” I have ever had!!! The Serpentine Affair didn’t quite live up to my ridiculously high expectations so I was looking forward to reading The Honeymoon, hoping those dizzy heights were to be reached again. I had been waiting so long to read it that my excitement at getting a review copy reached fever pitch but OMG it was worth the wait! This book is going to blow your mind!

The Honeymoon is a slow burning claustrophobic suspense where the heat and the island setting adds to the tension building right from the first few pages. Told in the “Now” by Jemma who realises on the fifth morning of her luxurious honeymoon in The Maldives that her new husband has gone missing. We are also treated to flashbacks starting seven and a half years earlier which fills in a few of the blanks about their relationship and also treats us to a few surprises quite early on in the action. But fear not, there are plenty more twists and turns to come!

I did find myself becoming mildly obsessed with discovering why a man would go missing on his honeymoon and a whole host of theories ran themselves through my brain, trying to look for the most oblique possibilities as I know how this authors mind works! Or I THOUGHT I did because she has just given us once again a twist that I didn’t see coming in a million years but that also managed to be a bang on trend, socially relevant observation that managed to both shock and delight at the same time. Honestly, I kneel before the brilliance of this author!

There was a widely spread cast of characters to give us plenty of possible suspects and plausible scenarios as to why someone would disappear from such an island paradise. And we are always in two minds as to whether or not it was a planned departure and if so, what set off such a dramatic chain reaction. The exploration of family relationships and the sexual chemistry given off by another honeymoon couple both seem to leave Jemma exploring various avenues in her search for her husband but the island is a small place and the longer he is gone the likelier it looks that he wont be returning.

The themes of obsession and revenge cut through the tension, filling scenes with enough resentment and jealousy to make this a top notch psychological thriller that will have you gasping out loud. I am still thinking about this book now, weeks after finishing it and I can’t wait to see what everyone else will be saying about it on publication day. This has been such a difficult review to construct as I’m terrified of giving away spoilers whilst trying to entice you into one of the best books of 2017. And has it put me off planning a celebratory holiday to the Maldives next year? No! But if my husband ever reads The Honeymoon then I have a feeling he won’t be quite as keen!

The Honeymoon will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph on 1st June 2017 and can be pre-ordered by clicking on the title above.

Meet the author…

Tina Seskis grew up in Hampshire, and after graduating from the University of Bath spent over 20 years working in marketing and advertising. She is the author of two novels, One Step Too Far and A Serpentine Affair. Tina lives in North London with her husband and son.