The best destination thrillers to take with you on vacation

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to take destination thrillers with me on vacation. It’s like a double whammy of travel. I also love to write destination thrillers and have written quite a few, including my first book, set in a charming lakefront community on Lake Erie, Ohio. My other destination thrillers include Beneath the Surface, set on a luxurious super yacht on a trip to Catalina Island from Newport Beach, California, and my latest, Under the Palms, set at a fabulous Laguna Beach luxury resort. I love to write about grown-ups behaving badly. Dropping the characters into a beautiful resort or vacation setting increases the suspense. 


I wrote...

Book cover of Best Day Ever

What is my book about?

THE PERFECT MARRIAGE IS THE PERFECT ILLUSION. Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys, and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, just the two of them at their lake house. And he’s promised today will be the best day ever.

But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, tension begins to wedge between them, and doubts arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Club

Kaira Rouda Why did I love this book?

I just love an uber-private, members-only resort setting, and this book delivers.

The club caters to celebs and the wealthy elite who want to be in the presence of famous people. Ned, the creator of The Home, has outdone himself this time and created an island destination to die for.

But when he goes missing, chaos envelops the island and its guests. It kept me on the edge of my seat. 

By Ellery Lloyd,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*** A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and an instant New York Times bestseller ***

'One of the most riveting books I've read in a long time' - Louise Candlish, author of Our House

'Smart, topical and immensely entertaining' - T.M. Logan, author of The Holiday

'Marple meets Succession' - Sunday Times Style

'Glitzy and twisty and tons of fun' - Observer

*********************************

There's no place like Home . . .

The Home Group is a collection of ultra-exclusive private members' clubs and a global phenomenon, and the opening of its most ambitious project yet - Island Home, a forgotten…


Book cover of And Then There Were None

Kaira Rouda Why did I love this book?

I love an island setting and of course, Agatha Christie always delivers.

I love the pacing, the brilliant characters, and the terror of the situation they find themselves in. Stuck on an island, dying one by one, obviously and terrifyingly.

They’re desperate to leave, but there’s only one way out—creepy and satisfying suspense. 

By Agatha Christie,

Why should I read it?

16 authors picked And Then There Were None as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Agatha Christie's world-famous mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide.

The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but…


Book cover of The Guest List

Kaira Rouda Why did I love this book?

This island mystery is set on a chilly resort off the coast of Ireland, so you won’t need sunscreen here, but you will need stamina as you’re once again trapped.

I loved this cast of characters attending the wedding of a glamorous and famous bride and groom. Media celebrities are so much fun to read about. But the real star of the show is the hostile setting and the menacing characters who are all there for something, some cleverly hiding their true motives until the very end.

A fast, propulsive read. 

By Lucy Foley,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked The Guest List as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The brand new thriller from Lucy Foley - THE PARIS APARTMENT - is available to pre-order now*

The No.1 Sunday Times bestseller

*Over 1 million copies sold worldwide*
*One of The Times and Sunday Times Crime Books of the Year*
*Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Crime & Mystery 2020*

A gripping, twisty murder mystery thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

'Lucy Foley is really very clever' Anthony Horowitz
'Thrilling' The Times
'A classic whodunnit' Kate Mosse
'Sharp and atmospheric and addictive' Louise Candlish
'A furiously twisty thriller' Clare Mackintosh

On an island off the windswept Irish…


Book cover of The Fury

Kaira Rouda Why did I love this book?

This quirky and original thriller is set on a fabulous private island off the coast of Mykonos.

Friends gather for a weekend getaway at a former movie star’s home. Sounds fun, right? It is for the reader but not so much for the characters in the story. As the winds batter the island, cutting off access to the mainland, the luxurious estate becomes the scene of a crime.

I loved the setting, the writing style, and being transported to a Greek island. 

By Alex Michaelides,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Fury as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

“Alex Michaelides hits the trifecta with his third novel, The Fury. The highly original story presents the reader with the king of all unreliable narrators, enough twists and turns to power two novels, and a host of characters that bleed right on the page. ” ―David Baldacci

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…


Book cover of One Perfect Couple

Kaira Rouda Why did I love this book?

I’m a huge fan of Ruth Ware–the heir apparent to the Agatha Christie crown–and this book is a perfect example of why.

Five couples are stranded on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them–what could be better? The story is told through the eyes of Lyla and her boyfriend Nico as they make their way toward Ever After Island to compete against four other couples to win cash prizes.

But of course, everything goes wrong. Lyla finds that the TV show is all too real–and the stakes are life and death. 

By Ruth Ware,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked One Perfect Couple as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Pre-order the new edge-of-your-seat thriller from the bestselling author of The It Girl, the R&J pick.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE meets THE TRAITORS

Five beautiful couples.
One deadly game.
Who will escape alive?

Lyla Santiago has spent months working on a research project that could be the key to getting a permanent job in her field.
So, she can't really drop everything to go to a desert island with her actor boyfriend Nico to film One Perfect Couple, a new reality TV show that Nico is sure will lead to his big break - can she?

Two weeks later,…


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A Diary in the Age of Water

By Nina Munteanu,

Book cover of A Diary in the Age of Water

Nina Munteanu Author Of Darwin's Paradox

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Writer Ecologist Mother Teacher Explorer

Nina's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

This climate fiction novel follows four generations of women and their battles against a global giant that controls and manipulates Earth’s water. Told mostly through a diary and drawing on scientific observation and personal reflection, Lynna’s story unfolds incrementally, like climate change itself. Her gritty memoir describes a near-future Toronto in the grips of severe water scarcity.

Single mother and limnologist Lynna witnesses disturbing events as she works for the powerful international utility CanadaCorp. Fearing for the welfare of her rebellious teenage daughter, Lynna sets in motion a series of events that tumble out of her control with calamitous consequence. The novel explores identity, relationship, and our concept of what is “normal”—as a nation and an individual—in a world that is rapidly and incomprehensibly changing.

A Diary in the Age of Water

By Nina Munteanu,

What is this book about?

Centuries from now, in a post-climate change dying boreal forest of what used to be northern Canada, Kyo, a young acolyte called to service in the Exodus, discovers a diary that may provide her with the answers to her yearning for Earth’s past—to the Age of Water, when the “Water Twins” destroyed humanity in hatred—events that have plagued her nightly in dreams. Looking for answers to this holocaust—and disturbed by her macabre longing for connection to the Water Twins—Kyo is led to the diary of a limnologist from the time just prior to the destruction. This gritty memoir describes a…


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