The Island of Lost Girls
Alex Marwood’s latest thriller unearths an unthinkable nightmare, wrapped in the façade of a glamourous dream. The Island of Lost Girls, which follows two different women in two different timelines, explores the dark side of the super-wealthy and the wreckage that can be caused when the wrong people are consumed by power and money. The novel’s setting, the sun-drenched island of La Kastellana, provides the perfect backdrop of this tale of corruption and excess; it’s a glorious paradise until you dig deeper, and then nothing can prepare you for what you uncover…
Marwood is an expert at crafting pacey novels that never sacrifice on fleshing out their characters, and my heart was in my throat as I followed Mercedes’ relationship with the Meades develop in the eighties, and Robin’s desperate search for her daughter in the modern day. With well-executed twists that left me shocked at times and bereft at others, I couldn’t recommend this dark tale more!
Ruth Jones
‘Gripping, stomach-churning . . . Marwood is in a class of her own’ LISA JEWELL
‘Heart stopping’ SUNDAY TIMES, CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH
‘A ripped-from-the-headlines thriller . . . I couldn’t put it down’ MARK EDWARDS
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Sun-drenched glamour and obscene wealth hide the darkest of secrets and lost girls in this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller.
1985
For twelve-year-old Mercedes, La Kastellana is the place she calls home. It is an island untouched by the modern world, with deep-rooted traditions – though that is all about to change with the arrival of multimillionaire Matthew Meade and his spoiled young daughter, Tatiana. The Meades bring with them unimaginable wealth, but the price they will all pay is far darker than Mercedes and the islanders could ever have imagined.
2016
Robin is desperately searching for her seventeen-year-old daughter Gemma, who has been missing for over a year. Finding herself on La Kastellana, the island playground of the international jet set, Robin is out of her depth. Nobody wants to help and Robin fears she is running out of time to find her child.
But someone has been watching, silently waiting for their moment to expose the dark truth and reveal to the world what really happens on the island of lost girls.
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FIVE STAR NetGalley reviews
‘Superbly written, darkly atmospheric and incredibly creepy (but always page-turningly readable), Alex Marwood has played an absolute blinder with The Island of Lost Girls‘
‘The author specialises in “ripped from the headlines” thrillers, but has surpassed herself this time‘
‘This is one of the best beach thrillers I have read’
‘Superlative suspense‘
‘This book is so compelling. So sunny and refreshing with this idyllic island that you just wish you were on and then – wow. A sharp, clever, blisteringly dark and gripping thriller‘
‘An excellent dual timeline thriller set in the glamorous world of the ultra-rich, where emotions and betrayal run high. Loved it!‘
