Synopsis

A Villa in Paradise

It’s destined to be the ultimate reality show: Ten contestants. A luxurious villa on a stunning private island. Every moment streamed live to a global audience who have unprecedented control over those competing for the cash prize.

The Journalist

Coerced by her callous editor to enter the show undercover, Laura is a journalist told to get the inside scoop on her fellow contestants. But once the games begin, she soon finds herself out of her depth and at the mercy of a ruthless producer – a woman willing to do anything to increase viewer numbers.

Reality TV to Die For

There is more to every contestant than meets the eye, including Laura. They all have secrets they’d like to keep buried, and the pressure in paradise quickly reaches boiling point. How far will the contestants go to secure audience votes? How far will Laura herself go? And would somebody really kill to win?

Review

I am perhaps in the minority when I say I’ve never seen Love Island. Reality TV shows in general don’t really appeal to me, but I love reading about them, especially – as is usually the case – when there’s a dead body involved.

In The Villa we meet undercover journalist Laura. A typical thriller protagonist with low self-esteem and many doubts, she’s not who you might expect to walk onto a reality TV show. But this show is slightly different… viewers are in control of the different tasks, and the games they’re playing are deadly.

This was such a great read! I was completely hooked and the idea of a luxurious villa in the Balearics was so appealing. The dual timeline and different perspectives worked really well and although my suspicions about a certain person were correct, there were still plenty of twists and turns that made this a real page turner.

Unlike many thrillers, there was no need to suspend belief with this one as it all felt entirely feasible and the sort of manipulative thing TV producers would do to gain more viewers!

None of the characters were particularly likeable, but nor were they dislikeable. Kelly managed to make them seem like normal, everyday people looking for a chance at fame. The psychology behind these sorts of programmes is fascinating and I really enjoyed this element of the book.

But I still won’t be watching Love Island anytime soon!

Thanks to PanMacmillan and BookBreak for my proof copy. Opinions my own.

If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy Freeze by Kate Simants and Dead Famous by Ben Elton.