Most of the time, when we can’t put a thriller down, we don’t think too much about how the writer has developed the story. Just like a building’s foundation or a well-made garment, the elements of construction are invisible and we simply appreciate the end results.
Every once in a while, though, an artist or craftsperson will call attention to the whole artifice. Maybe they’re hoping we’ll admire the skill. Perhaps they’re showing off a little. Whatever the reason, it seldom fails to surprise and enchant us. Such is the case with Ande Pliego’s novel You Are Fatally Invited.
In a nod to her inventive use of tropes (including the creation of a book within a book calling attention to them), here are ten (plus a bonus) tropes included in this delightful debut.
Isolated Location: ✔️ / Locked Room: ✔️
The setting for our delicious dance is an island off the coast of Maine, accessible only by ferry.
The Ticking Clock: ✔️
Six thriller authors have been invited to a six-day writing retreat. “You’ll have a killer time, I assure you.”
Mysterious Stranger: ✔️
J.R. Alastor, owner of Wolf Harbor Island and its private manor is well-known to the world, but only through the many books he has written over the course of his 30-year career. No one has ever seen him, as he doesn’t do in-person events or face-to-face interviews.
Storm Coming: ✔️
“The sun was a shameless lie,” one of our characters reports, and boy, he doesn’t know the half of it. The fog, the wind, and the white-capped waves lapping over their fine leather shoes…that’s how it starts for our group of writers and it’s about to get much, much worse.
Missing Person: ✔️
Despite being the ostensible host of this writing retreat, Alastor isn’t present when his guests show up and the woman he’s hired to coordinate the event, Mila, only corresponds with him via text.
Toxic Relationships: ✔️
Hidden crimes, and stolen words, and egos, oh my! But nothing is hidden from our mysterious stranger (see #3 above).
Victim Out for Revenge: ✔️
Make that multiple victims, all out for their own vengeance.
All the Weapons: ✔️
And all contained in Alastor’s aptly named Museum Room, including his most recent acquisition: the axe from the movie The Shining.
All the Bodies: ✔️
Alastor and Mila had arranged a week of games, puzzles, and riddles for the writers to solve—or not, at their peril. But when the first guest turns up dead, it’s not the murder Mila had been planning. Will anyone be left standing?
Powerful Protagonist: ✔️
Despite his ephemeral presence, Alastor is clearly pulling the strings. Mira quickly realizes that any control she thought she had over the course of events has been shattered.
Tight Group of Suspects: ✔️
Surely you’ve realized by now that there’s more to this group than meets the eye.
Of course, these aren’t all the trope-y delights that await you in You Are Fatally Invited. We could tell you more…but then we’d have to kill you.
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