An absolutely thrilling and entertaining debut novel
In Kris Purdy’s debut thriller, a planned vacation in beautiful Spain turns into a hell of a trip and a nightmare. So if you’re about to travel abroad, you might want to consider reading the book afterward.
An emergency hospital stay is about the last thing I would want to experience on a trip. But that’s exactly what happens to Canadians Dani and Jo. A supposed dream vacation turns into a fight for survival. They have been a couple for many years, and after 15 years without a real vacation, Dani was finally able to convince her wife Jo to add a week’s vacation to a business trip to faraway Spain. Fantastic, isn’t it?
But when Jo wakes up in the middle of the night with chest pains and shortness of breath, they are forced to call the paramedics. They take her to a private hospital in the old town of Cadiz. But from there everything goes south, from the very first moment, everything feels unreal, weird, and somehow suspicious. Thus begins the worst vacation ever. Paradise Pending is an exciting thriller for which you’ll need strong nerves. Even though I suspected what the book was about, the author surprised me again and again.
The story is told from Dani’s point of view. I don’t know if I would have as much courage as Dani and Jo in the same situation, I can only hope so. They have to take big risks and trust their gut feelings and that alone takes a hell of a lot of courage. You don’t know who to trust, what exactly is going on, and most of all, why you of all people are getting involved in something you have no idea about, and from which no one comes out unscathed. A hellish roller coaster ride through Cadiz to Seville and back, which lets the adrenaline shot to the ceiling and makes you tremble with Dani and Jo for their lives. But as thrilling as the story is, there is also some humor that lightens the mood.
Dani and Jo aren’t some Superwomen or heroines, just two ordinary women who wanted to have a nice vacation. But both had to grow beyond themselves. Sometimes fear is a big motivator to do things, you thought you would never do. Only I would have liked to know just a little bit more about the background of the two women, but with this fast-paced story, there wasn’t much time for that.
There were some shady and creepy side characters, but also some good people who will help Dani and Jo. The only question is, who are the good guys, and who are the bad ones?
An absolutely thrilling and entertaining debut novel by Kris Purdy, I am already looking forward to her next story. I will be reading it for sure. 4 stars.
ARC was provided by Bella Books to LezReviewBooks.com in exchange for an honest review.
