Book Recommendation: The Fury | Alex Michaelides

A unique and refreshing take on the locked room mystery, Alex Michaelides’s The Fury leverages a theatrical retelling and an unreliable narrator to deliver a wickedly clever third novel!

About the Book | The Fury

A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder ― from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient.

This is a tale of murder.

Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ― it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse ― a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.

Review | The Fury

Alex Michaelides’s third novel proves that he is an expert at his craft and knows how to write a masterfully plotted story. Written in acts as though it is a play, narrated directly to the reader by the playwright himself, and paced as perfectly as a Broadway show. I absolutely loved this book!

“This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?”

Forget whatever is troubling you when you pick this up. Picture yourself sitting in a pub (or maybe an upscale lounge, Elliot is a fan of a martini) with Elliot Chase who is inviting you to hear a twisted tale of murder. Elliot narrates the book directly to the reader, addressing the reader in the first person as though it’s a conversation among friends:

“This is a story for anyone who has ever loved, I say sliding a drink in your direction—a large one, you’ll need it—as you settle down and I begin.”

Elliot Chase is an all-time great narrator and character. He’s a playwright by trade and has had one major success that he coasts on. He narrates the story as though it is a play in which he is the writer and narrator, but also a character. Elliot admits that because he is both the narrator and a character, things are skewed by his perspective. The reader knows that Elliot may be an unreliable narrator, but he is so fun to read. He interjects his personal thoughts and opinions throughout. Though he claims to be attempting a lack of bias in his narrative, it’s clear to the reader that he is making efforts to persuade us to his view of things.

The play revolves around a murder at a private island off the coast of Greece owned by retired film star Lana Farrar. At the outset, the reader isn’t told who the victim and the killer are. The suspect list (and the potential murder victim) is narrowed to the seven people on the island—movie star Lana Farrar, playwright Elliot Chase, actress (and best friend to Lana) Kate Crosby, Lana’s second husband Jason Miller, Lana’s son Leo Farrar, Lana’s groundskeeper Nico Delakis, and Lana’s housekeeper Agathi Mavropoulos.

This is not a whodunnit, though it may feel like one, Elliot cautions the reader. So, what type of play is this? A love story? A mystery? A drama? You’ll have to read to find out—this is a book too good to risk spoiling anything! I liked how the characters also felt like play characters—they have backstories and specific roles they play within the story but also within Elliot’s life.

Michaelides’ shared in an interview with NPR that therapy was a big inspiration for this book, and it is woven throughout expertly. From a young age, Elliot yearned to be loved. He shares insights from therapy with the reader, one of which is that he spent so much of his life wanting others to love him, that he often failed to think through whether he loves them. When he was younger, he fell in love with Lana Farrar through her movies. As a young boy with a troubled home life, the movie theater was his escape, and Lana was his greatest love. She was the ultimate heroine, often making her career through her role in tragedies. Later in life Elliot has an opportunity to meet her, and he becomes determined to forge a connection. And eventually, he succeeds.

The ending has several twists that I found positively delicious and wicked. Reading this book reminds me what a well-crafted mystery can offer when plotted to reveal the twist at just the right moment. I was captivated, I wanted to read it again. Elliot escorts the reader through the entire story and he is a fascinating character. He has a charm to him that is strangely enhanced by his desperate insecurity rooted in his childhood. He doesn’t merely want the reader to believe his take on the events of the story, he needs it. For Elliot, validation from others is how he measures his worth. And he craves validation from Lana most of all.

I could go on about this book but I don’t want to risk spoiling anything! Trust me, if you are a fan of a bit of theatrics to your mysteries, this is the perfect book for you!

Thank you to Celadon Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Audiobook Review | Narrator Alex Jennings

This book works in all formats, but I can’t stress enough the magic that Alex Jennings brings to Elliot through his narration in the audiobook. Jennings is a renowned actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theater who has won multiple awards. In The Fury, he lends the perfect amount of drama and spark to the story that captures Elliot’s voice perfectly. Similarly to seeing a play live on stage versus reading it, Jennings brings The Fury to life in an exciting way.

About the Author | Alex Michaelides

Alex Michaelides was born and raised in Cyprus. He has an M.A. in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and an M.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patient was his first novel, debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide. The rights have been sold in a record-breaking 51 countries, and the book has been optioned for film by Plan B. His second novel, The Maidens, was an instant New York Times bestseller and has been optioned for television by Miramax Television and Stone Village.