Really excited today to welcome Guillaume Musso to my blog today and his book The Reunion which I can not wait to crack open. Be sure to check out Susan @ Books from Dusk to Dawn‘s post too.
So first things first, what is The Reunion about?
The Reunion: by Guillaume MussoPublished by Orion on July 11 2019
Pages: 289
Amazon UK
Goodreads
The US debut of France's #1 bestselling novelist, a thriller about a glamorous girl that goes missing in the South of France
A prestigious campus frozen in the snowThree friends linked by a tragic secretOne girl taken by the nightThe Côte d'Azur - Winter 1992One freezing night, as her campus is paralyzed by a snowstorm, 19-year-old Vinca Rockwell, the most beautiful and glamorous girl in her prep school, runs away with her philosophy teacher, with whom she has been conducting a secret affair. For Vinca, "love is everything or nothing."
She will never be seen again.
The Côte d'Azur - Spring 2017Once inseparable, Manon, Thomas and Maxime -- Vinca's best friends -- have not spoken since graduation. They meet again at their reunion. Twenty-five years earlier, under terrible circumstances, the three of them committed a murder and buried the bodyin the gymnasium wall, the same wall that is about to be demolished to make way for an ultramodern new building.
What really happened that long-ago winter night? Now nothing stands in the way of the truth coming out.From France's #1 bestselling author, Guillaume Musso, Night and the Maiden is a taut and suspenseful thriller that will keep readers riveted until its haunting final page.
Eeekk!! What a blurb right!! Before I share with you an excerpt…do you want to check out what other bloggers have said???
The Reunion is quite a passionate book in way showing it’s French roots with plenty of dramatic conversations and reveals. The unrequited love felt for Vinca was the catalyst to spark off to a chain of events resulting in murder, a crime of passion that would take 25 years to uncover.
Wyres World says
This is the first book that I have read by Guillaume Musso and I am tempted to read some of his back catalogue. It was an easy read in the main that kept me engaged from beginning to the end and the fact that I guessed some of it, did not spoil my enjoyment of it at all.
Book After Book says
Wow!!! This novel was completely addictive. THE REUNION was a rollercoaster of a read, full of twists and surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat. The story revolves around the character of Vinca Rockwell. Who is Vinca? Some people love her, some hate her, and some are completely obsessed with her. Beautiful, charming, and smart, she comes from a wealthy American family and she attended a prestigious school on the French Riviera.
Beverley Has Read says
The plot is inventive, clever and twisty. It is almost like a Russian Doll, mystery heaped upon mystery with layers and layers of secrets and deception. I read a fair bit of crime but didn’t see any of this book coming, which was a refreshing thing indeed. I enjoyed being swept away and allowed the clever flashbacks unfurl the plot slowly. It is deliciously dark read with an overarching sense of genuine peril. The gymnasium will be knocked down in a few days and for our culprits they are on borrowed time, once the body is found it will be easily traced back to them. Throw in an ex schoolmate who is a journalist with a sniff of a story and suddenly the stakes are even higher. Tension builds incrementally with clever flashbacks fleshing out the modern day story, adding a new perspective and reveal each time.
I really enjoyed the way we slowly got to know each character and what secrets they were hiding it really gave an edge to the story which was very twisty and full of surprises. Like with any thriller, I love to play along and try to guess the outcome and each time I thought I had it I was proved wrong.
In its translation, the book has retained some wonderful turns of phrase and really evokes a sense of classic murder mystery stories. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering more about the fateful night of the Vinca Rockwell disappearance and all that has transpired for these complex characters since.
My Bookish Blogspot says
You thought it was a simple crime of passion but oh no Musso pulled out all the stops, the intrigue thick and at times impenetrable, the reader never knowing who or what would happen next, which avenue to take. It gave the novel that great feeling of tension and suspense the latter pages full of pulsating drama and surprise. You felt satisfied that all was resolved until Musso threw in a curve ball, one full of relief and a feeling of closure for Thomas and his friends.
Novel Deelights says
Does anyone even know anyone in this story?! There are not just secrets buried behind the gymnasium’s walls. In fact, they are everywhere and they come at you thick and fast. I think this is one of the most unpredictable plots I’ve read in a long time. There are some delicious twists and turns, none of which I saw coming and there’s a lovely kind of Noir vibe throughout.
Cal Turner Reviews says
The Reunion is a book filled with intrigue and suspense, that once started you do not want to put down until the final page has been turned. It kept me enthralled from beginning to end, as the pieces of the puzzle finally began to fall into place and the shocking truth of what really happened that night was horrifyingly revealed.
Sean’s Book Reviews says
I would definitely read more from this author as the way he tells the story is compelling and was very entertaining. I am looking forward to seeing what else is out there by this author and also wish I could read it in the language that it is originally written in.
The Writing Garnet says
I thought that the characters were very well crafted, especially as some of their personalities oozed colour, whilst others couldn’t have been more like chalk and cheese if they tried.
I cannot fault the way the storyline came together, nor can I fault the cold tingles that shimmied up and down my spine whilst reading it.
Varietats says
I loved how the story is told between the past and the present, to connect both worlds and put the reader inside the story. It was not difficult to discover the real killer, there are some clues dropped on the story; but I always love to try to discover the real murder before the ending.
This had been a quick read, I am not sure if it was because I was so invested in the story or because it was so addictive, either way, I finish it in one sit!
Are you ready for The Reunion?
Hope this has done enough to pique your interest! Now on to the excerpt!
✮ Excerpt ✮
2017
Southernmost point, Cap d’Antibes, May 13
Manon Agostini parked her patrol car at the end of the Chemin de la Garoupe. She slammed the door of the battered old Renault Kangoo, inwardly railing at the chain of events that had led her here.
At about 9 p.m., a security guard at one the most opulent mansions on the cape had called the commissariat in Antibes to report hearing a firecracker or possibly a gunshot – some strange noise – coming from the rocky coastal path. The Antibes commissariat attached little importance to the call, and relayed the information on to the local police station, who could think of nothing better to do than radio her, even though she was not on duty.
At the point when her superior officer called to ask her to check out the coast road, Manon was already in evening dress and preparing to go out. She wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she felt she could not say no to him. Just that morning, he had given her permission to use the Kangoo outside working hours. Manon’s own car had recently died a death, and she desperately needed a car that Saturday night to attend an event that was important to her.
The school she had attended, the Lycée International SaintExupéry, was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary and there was to be a reunion of her former classmates. Manon secretly hoped she might run into a guy she had been smitten with long ago. A boy who was not like the others, but whom she had stupidly passed over at the time, preferring to date older guys who had all turned out to be utter shits. There was nothing rational about her hope – she could not be sure that he would be there, and besides, he had probably forgotten that she ever existed – but she needed to believe that something was finally going to happen in her life. Manicure, haircut, clothes shopping: Manon had spent all afternoon getting ready. She had blown three hundred euros on a designer dress – midnightblue lace with a silk bodice – borrowed a pearl choker from her sister and a pair of slingbacks from her best friend – Stuart Weitzman suede pumps that pinched her feet.
Tottering on her high heels, Manon flicked on her phone’s flashlight setting and headed down the narrow trail that hugged the coast as far as the Villa Eilenroc. She knew the area like the back of her hand; as a child, her father used to take her here to fish in the streams. Locals used to call this area Smugglers’ Way; later it appeared in guidebooks under the intriguing moniker of Sentier de TirePoil – HairPluck Lane. These days, it was known by the prosaic, anodyne name of ‘the coastal path’.
After some fifty metres, Manon came to a barrier with a hazard warning sign: ‘Danger – No Entry’. Earlier in the week, a fierce storm had lashed the coast, and the waves had caused landslides that had cut off certain sections of the path. Manon hesitated for a moment, then scrambled over the barrier.
1992
Southernmost point, Cap d’Antibes, October 1
Vinca Rockwell blithely hopped and skipped as she passed the beach of La Joliette. It was 10 p.m. To get here from the lycée, she had had to sweettalk a friend from her class who owned a moped to drive her as far as the Chemin de la Garoupe.
As she set off down Smugglers’ Way, she could feel butterflies fl uttering in the pit of her stomach. She was going to meet Alexis. She was going to meet the love of her life!
A fierce gale was blowing, but the night was so beautiful, the sky so cloudless, she could see almost as well as in daylight. Vinca had always loved this place, because it was so wild, so unlike the clichéd image of summer on the French Riviera. When the sun shone, you were dazzled by the tawnywhite glare of the limestone crags, the myriad shades of blue that bathed the narrow inlets. Once, while gazing out towards the Lérins islands, she had seen a pod of dolphins.
On nights like tonight, when the wind howled, it was a very different place. The sheer rockface loomed dangerously; the olives and the pine trees seemed to writhe in pain, as though trying to uproot themselves. Vinca did not care. She was going to meet Alexis. She was going to meet the love of her life!
Until next time xxx
Thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the tour invite
and the Publisher and the author for an excerpt from the book.
Kelsey @ There's Something About KM says
A longer blurb, please! ? I love a mystery and/or thriller with two timelines like this, it makes the book so much more fun and suspenseful when it’s done well.