#alexmichaelides – the shiny diaries

Alex Michaelides’s, “The Silent Patient”, has been my favourite psychological thrillers of all times. His next book, “The Maidens”, was good too but didn’t match his debut work. “The Fury” is his third book and I was eagerly awaiting its release. To say I was disappointed with it would be an understatement. For the most part it didn’t feel like Alex’s work. It felt as if an overbearing, overindulgent and arrogant writer has written this shoddy story masquerading as a thriller, who is supremely confident that his readers will like it no matter how abysmal the plot is.

As far as the story goes, it’s about this famous Hollywood star, Lana Farrar who goes on this impromptu trip to an isolated Greek island along with her second husband Jason, her friends Kate and Elliot, her son Leo and her assistant Agathi. One of them gets murdered on the island and the rest of the story is about finding the killer. The narration is lethargic and it takes forever for events to unfold. Also, the writer has deployed one of the characters as the storyteller who takes you on this never ending journey and keeps dangling the proverbial carrot of something exciting and unexpected to happen, in front of us readers; only that it’s never as what is promised. I have to say, the narrator is irritating, irrelevant at times and nauseatingly pompous. Lana is the most boring one dimensional character I have ever read. So are the rest, mostly brimming with one particular emotion for the entire narrative. I also wondered why is everyone acting the way they did; what is prompting them to be so unlikeable and monotonous. The climax is extremely make believe, stretched beyond imagination and utterly implausible. What happened to Alex Michaelides?

Some people are one time wonders. If that is the case, swallow that tough pill and stay put. Don’t write a fury!

~ JUST A GAY BOY. 😖😠

Absolute page turner! This next psychological whodunnit thriller from Alex Michaelides (his previous was the brilliant, The Silent Patient) is gripping and riveting to say the least. The story is set in the prestigious Cambridge university. Mariana, a group therapist, in London, is struggling to cope with the sudden demise of her husband. Whilst she’s going about balancing her emotional state and conducting her group therapy sessions, she gets a frantic call from Zoe, her niece, who’s studying at Cambridge, about the mysterious and gruesome murder of her roommate. Mariana, immediately, sets off for Cambridge, to comfort her niece. During her visit, Mariana gets sucked into the sinister developments going on in the university. She gets especially intrigued about a secret society of female students called “The Maidens” led by a charismatic Greek tragedy professor Edward Fosca. When another one of “The Maidens” gets brutally murdered, Mariana gets convinced that it’s Fosca who is the murderer and she takes it upon herself to prove it so.

While keeping the story taut and chilling, the author throws some insight into Mariana’s psychology. Raised by a father who abandoned her emotionally and left her yearning for his love and attention, Mariana struggles to come to terms with her own issues. This juxtaposed with her trying to be an emotional anchor for Zoe, makes her feel depleted of her bearings. The way the author constructs this psychological arc of Mariana, intertwining it with the current sinister scenario and various characters and situations from Greek mythology, makes the book remarkable and exceptional.

The fast-paced narrative leads to a shocking climax, that’s bound to make you dizzy.

I finished this book in three days. It’s simply unputdownable!

~ JUST A GAY BOY. 😶‍🌫️