This type of book isn't my normal fare, but was the monthly pick for one of my book clubs.

The first 40% of the book is a pure page turner. It kind of disintegrates from there. Lillian Linden's mother-in-law, Margaret, wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Fiji and Lillian is the lucky one who gets to join her. The last segment of their trip involves a flight to a private island aboard a small jet. The only people aboard the jet are Lillian and Margaret, Dave (the representative from the company sponsoring the contest), Kent the pilot, and Theresa the flight attendant. The plane crashes and the survivors are left on a deserted island for over 2 years before their rescue.

The story is told from alternating point of view -- Lillian and Dave -- and also jumps between present day and the past. We know from the start that the characters have built their story on lies, and the change in narrator and chronology is supposed to keep the reader guessing the truth from the lies. This works to a degree, except that the plot points are very predictable. The first time a "mystery character" was mentioned I knew exactly who he was, for example. There's a "shocking twist" at the end which seems pretty preposterous.

The characters aren't particularly developed. Kent, for example, is a complete jerk. One might think that if you were trapped on an island with just a few people with no rescue in sight, you might want to find a way to be civil, but that isn't the case here. Lillian's overwhelming guilt over things which aren't her fault gets very annoying.

In sum, I guess this book could be related to one of those bad TV movies. You know it's not very good, but somehow you keep watching. 2.75 stars ( )

so I picked this up as a kindle first through amazon prime. I thought the cover was interesting so I decided to give it a chance. I was oddly surprised that I had a love hate relationship with this book. I would have gutted Kent Myself if I was Lillian but You have to read more of the story to get what I mean. the ending was awesome will be looking for more by this author. ( )

Without giving much of the plot away, it was a story I could put myself in (other than being stranded on a deserted island... I'd last about a day!) But the story line with Paul is heartfelt, same with Lily's situation with Jerry and Dave. I could feel the difficult situation and emotions, and Emily did a great job putting us on that island! ( )

AWESOME READ ( )

Somewhat like the movie "Castaway," but with several plane crash survivors stranded on a desert island. It was an entertaining. read But the plot was overly convoluted for a mystery that wasn't hard to solve, and the resolution was too tidy and unrealistic. ( )