Every year when the weather starts to heat up, I start itching for a getaway. For me, beaches are the thing, and pools—beside which I can laze about beneath an umbrella with a book in one hand and a margarita in the other.
Vacations give us something to look forward to, a break from our everyday lives, the chance to get away from it all, relax, have some fun—and if we’re traveling with family or friends, to reconnect. But vacations also don’t always live up to our expectations. And sometimes they can go very, very wrong.
I mean, an all-expenses-paid holiday to the Mediterranean aboard a yacht sounds too good to be true, right? And it is. In The Lion’s Den, this dream trip quickly turns to a nightmare for Belle and her friends, who are treated more like prisoners than guests by their powerful host. And Belle is far from the only literary character who’s had her hopes of an idyllic getaway crushed when things don’t quite turn out the way she’d planned.
This year, with all the uncertainty of travel, I’m not in for much of a holiday. Which got me thinking about some of my favorite books that feature vacations—and not just any vacations, but vacations gone wrong.
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
In this richly atmospheric locked-room mystery, an exclusive list of guests harboring dark secrets are invited to a secluded and eerie island off the coast of Ireland for the wedding of a glamorous magazine publisher to a rising television star. The tension between the guests is underscored by the unforgiving landscape and sense of impending doom, not to mention the haunted history of the island. Like Foley’s previous book, The Hunting Party (which also belongs on this list), The Guest List is beautifully executed and follows multiple narratives and timelines, making it a puzzle deftly crafted to keep you guessing till the last page.
In a Dark, Dark Wood, Ruth Ware
I am a huge Ruth Ware fan, and while a couple of her books fit on this list (The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game), I’m going to suggest her first book, In a Dark, Dark Wood. Against her better judgment, Nora accepts an invitation to the bachelorette party of a friend she’d fallen out with years before, but once she arrives at the isolated house in the woods where the party is to take place, things get weird. Suffice it to say this getaway is not a good one for Nora. This fast-paced, fun page turner serves up the twists and turns.
The Farm, Joanne Ramos
Set at a spa-like live-in center for surrogate mothers, this psychological suspense compellingly explores issues of class, race, immigration, and morality. Jane, a struggling single mother and immigrant from the Philippines, is thrilled when her application to become a surrogate at Golden Oaks is accepted, even though it means a painful separation from her own young daughter during her surrogate pregnancy. But once she arrives at the luxurious facility, she finds herself exploited and manipulated, tangled in the web of politics among the surrogates and employees, her every move monitored. Caught between her desperation to reconnect with her life on the outside and her need for the money she’ll lose if she leaves Golden Oaks, Jane struggles to make the right decision. Some call The Farm dystopian, but it’s really only a hair from the reality we live in today.
The Beach, Alex Garland
You may have seen the movie version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton, but the book is definitely worth a read. In this suspenseful social commentary, a young American named Richard is traveling in Southeast Asia when a fellow traveler he’s just met commits suicide, leaving him his map to a legendary, off-the-grid beach. Not the most auspicious start, but when Richard finds the beach, it’s just as gorgeous and idyllic as it’s rumored to be. At first the community of select residents living on the beach seems to be a true utopia, but Richard quickly discovers that deadly currents run just beneath the surface.
The Missing American, Kwei Quartey
This fast-paced crime read set in Ghana is the first of the Emma Djan Investigation series, though it’s not the young intrepid private investigator of the title who takes a trip she’d like to forget. That honor belongs to D.C. widower Gordon, who is taken in by an internet dating scheme and disappears in Ghana while attempting to visit the woman he believed he was dating. When his son Derek comes to Accra in search of his father, he and Emma find themselves caught up in a world of corruption, voodoo, and sakawa scams, all set against the exotic, chaotic, colorful backdrop of Ghana.
Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty
Set in a boutique Australian Health spa that employs questionable methods to help their guests reset their lives, Nine Perfect Strangers is told from multiple points of view, which is great because Moriarty’s characters are so vivid that you want to get to know all of them. The main voice is that of a middle-aged woman reeling from an internet love-affair gone wrong, who isn’t sure whether to throw herself into the rigorous program designed by the enigmatic leader of the resort, or run while she still can. This isn’t a thriller per-se, but it’s definitely a witty page-turner with elements of suspense and mystery.
The French Girl, Lexie Elliott
While on summer break a decade ago, a group of friends from Oxford spent a blissful week together in an idyllic French farmhouse… until their vacation was torpedoed by Severine, the beautiful and cunning girl next door, who wreaked havoc on the group and then disappeared, never to be seen again. Ten years later, Severine’s body is found in the well behind the house, and suddenly the group are all suspects. This psychological suspense is a slow-burn, but the shifting alliances and tensions between the friends keep the mystery alive until the end.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
Talk about a trip gone wrong. By turns violent, depraved, and hilarious, Fear and Loathing features a debaucherous weekend getaway to Sin City by a writer and his attorney that spirals to the brink of madness and back on the wings of uppers and downers and everything in between. While not technically a thriller, this drug-soaked psychedelic roller-coaster ride of a road-trip that will transport you to the Vegas of the late sixties in the mind of Hunter S. Thompson is definitely thrilling. Even if you’ve seen the brilliant movie adaptation featuring Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro, Fear and Loathing is worth reading just for the treat of Thompson’s always visceral, sharp writing.
The Last Flight, Julie Clark
OK, I’m taking a liberty here with the title “getaways gone wrong,” because this one is about a different kind of getaway – as in, running away. Claire has worked for months refining her plan to escape her violent politician husband, but when he changes plans at the last minute, her plot goes up in smoke. With his discovery of her scheme imminent, she makes a desperate decision to switch plane tickets with a woman she meets in the airport bar. But when the plane to Puerto Rico that Claire was supposed to be on crashes, she finds herself with no choice but to assume the woman’s identity in Oakland, CA, and all the secrets and dangers that go along with it. This taut thriller featuring strong yet flawed female leads will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.
Searching for Sylvie Lee, Jean Kwok
Though it begins as a mystery and has elements of suspense, Searching for Sylvie Lee is a beautifully written family drama at its core. Amy has always idolized her older sister Sylvie, who lived with family in the Netherlands until their Chinese immigrant parents made enough money to bring her to New York. Years later, when Sylvie never returns from a trip overseas to tell her dying grandmother goodbye, Amy sets out to find her. While staying with the family she never knew in the Netherlands, Amy learns about culture and identity and uncovers the secrets and lies that will eventually lead her to the truth.
The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith
This list couldn’t possibly be complete without Highsmith’s timeless story of social climbing sociopath Tom Ripley and his exploits on the Riviera in the 1950’s.
Sent to Italy by Mr. Greenleaf to collect his libertine son Dickie, Tom crafts his persona along the way, charming his way into Dickie and his erstwhile dilletante girlfriend Marge’s lives. Tom’s infatuation with all-American golden boy Dickie and the moneyed world he inhabits progresses to a deadly obsession that turns him from liar to murderous liar to multi-murderous liar. Written in 1955, this psychological page-turner set against the gorgeous backdrop of mid-century Italy deftly deals with issues of identity, repressed sexuality, manipulation, and the pursuit of wealth. The Talented Mr. Ripley is yet another example of a book that deserves a read regardless of whether you’ve seen the film!
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