Title: The Club
Author: Ellery Lloyd
Release Date: March 1, 2022
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis
Everyone’s Dying to Join . . .
The Home Group is a glamorous collection of celebrity members’ clubs dotted across the globe, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media.
The most spectacular of all is Island Home—a closely-guarded, ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast—and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade.
But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point: the ambitious and expensive project has pushed the Home Group’s CEO and his long-suffering team to their absolute limits. All of them have something to hide—and that’s before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island.
As tempers fray and behavior worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home’s members will begin to wish they’d never made the guest list.
Because at this club, if your name’s on the list, you’re not getting out.
Review
I first heard about The Club on the Books in the City podcast where it was pitched to me as like the Fyre Festival but with better accommodations, no cheese sandwiches, more celebrities and murder. So I basically had to pick it up and they sure weren’t wrong.
The Club is about an elusive company called Home that caters to the top tier artists, celebrities, musicians, etc. and it takes more than money to get in, you have to be someone or on your way to being someone. There are several locations throughout the world including the Home club Covent Garden (the first), the Highland Home, the Manhattan Home and the newest one being the Island Home. Island Homes opening weekend is the event the book follows and let’s just say things don’t go according to plan. On brunch Sunday, those hungover celebs find more than just eggs florentine while dining at the underwater restaurant.
The way the story unfolds is through several perspectives of people who work for Home and what they are experiencing as the weekend is happening and then through a newspaper article discussing the investigation after the fact. We get the perspectives of Annie Spark who is head of membership, Nikki who is the PA to owner Ned Groom, Adam Groom who is the brother of Ned Groom and his right hand man along with the head of housekeeping Jess Wilson. We really get to see how Home operates on every level along with what each gains and loses by working there. Most of these people were so awful and so self absorbed though, with their sense of worth buoyed by their association to Home.
I don’t want to say too much and spoil things, but Home definitely had a dark side and like their clientele, a ton of secrets. What would you do if no one was watching or would ever find out? With cell phones turned in at the door, no paparazzi and no one but members and staff allowed on the grounds, that’s exactly the kind of privacy these celebrities are getting. It was more than just a club. It was such a peek behind the curtain of celebrities and the lives they could or do lead. One of the authors is actually a writer for celebrity magazines along with newspapers and it showed in the writing. It was so believable that I could see Home being real and me just not being cool enough to know about it.
The mystery of who died and how really kept me invested in their story along with the opulence of it all. I couldn’t put it down but do wish it had been a tad shorter in the middle and longer at the end. I wanted to see the consequences of peoples actions play out more, but am satisfied by the ending. It was less thriller and more mystery but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really hope this husband and wife writing duo continue to put out more celebrity mysteries because I’d totally keep picking them up.
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