The Family Retreat: 'Few psychological thrillers ring so true.' The Sunday Times Crime Club Star Pick

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An enjoyable and thought-provoking read, The Family Retreat is a very subtle domestic thriller, using authentic situations and obstacles to build up a little tension in an engaging story of strained family dynamics and neighbourhood drama. But as the weeks went on, something started to shift. It was during a stay on Ko Phi Phi island in Thailand, when a woman I’d met earlier on the beach approached me and asked if I was free that evening. She’d invited a few other women to meet for dinner. Would I like to join them? We were six women of different ages. At the meal she told us it was her 40th birthday and, as she was travelling alone, she’d decided to celebrate by gathering together a group of women she’d enjoyed meeting during the week. As the waves lapped on the beach, we sat together under a canopy of fairylights eating pad Thai and drinking Tiger beer, and for the next four hours we shared stories about our lives: hopes, dreams, sadness, loss and disappointment. I felt profoundly moved by the honesty of these strangers, and was surprised, too, by the ease with which I felt able to share things about myself. I felt profoundly moved by the honesty of these strangers, and by the ease with which I felt able to share things

Jess is a GP and is hoping for a lovely break in Dorset. She immerses herself into village life immediately and meets a mother with children similar to hers in ages. They form a friendship but Jess feels it is very one sided as she is really trying but Helen is very closed. Spending days with the children on the beach seems idyllic but Helen only starts to show another side when she gets calls from her sister. Jess is struggling with not coping well as a GP and a parent so gets involved with Helen to help her sister but trouble is on the horizon and neither see it coming. This was a slow burn domestic drama that centred on Dr Jess Gibson, a GP currently on leave following an unsettling incident at the group practice where she works in East London. Her writer husband, Rob, suggests that the family get away for the summer.

I chose this book because I'm a fan of mysteries, I thought it might be something like the genres that I have read before. However, this book is more of a suspense drama.

This is a well-paced tale where tension builds slowly over the course of the book. I adored the sweeping, dramatic setting which could be picture perfect one minute and a brooding, angry, dangerous threat the next. There’s a sub-plot featuring Jess’s parents which I thought really added to the story. Making characters that already felt real to me even more believable. With the extended absence of husband Rob (away on a business trip in the US), with the strange behaviour of her father, with the pressure to return to work, with two young children to look after and the need to fit into a new community, it’s no wonder that Jess has the weight of the world on her shoulders. For me, the creeping fear and tension created by Jess's thoughts really made the book work. I liked the fact that I knew that something was going to happen, I loved the slow exploration of events and the fact that what seemed to be the obvious conclusion really wasn't. It's been a long time since that book and I was delighted to find that Thomas had published her second novel; The Family Retreat. I can’t say much about the plot for fear of spoiling the read for others, but what Bev Thomas does so completely brilliantly is a kind of sleight of hand that has the reader believing one thing before she hits them with a different reality that is breath taking. As the narrative drew to a close I felt literally rooted to my seat as I read, unable to tear myself away form what was happening. As autumn approaches, Jess - and the reader - will come to realise this is going to end in a way no-one could have imagined...Overall, the plot is good but I would have enjoyed it more with a more in the moment proactive approach from Jess. First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Faber and Faber (and in particular Rachel Quinn), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This idyllic Dorset cottage might just be the perfect escape. But when the neighbour hints at a dire predicament, Jess puts the idea of sun-kissed, sandy bliss on hold. Like a door nudged ajar, the lure of solving someone's problems invites her in. So, although I didn't really like the characters, the plot was good once it finally got going. It ended up being an okay read.