Review: The Resort

The Resort by Sue Watson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

First, this book was simply awful. Second, I have no idea why I persevered and finished it. If I’d had a lick of sense, I would have closed the cover after the first ten pages and moved along. Third, do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake—hours wasted on what can only be described as utter nonsense.

The story is that of three couples, meeting for the first time whilst on holiday at Fitzgerald’s, a posh, exclusive resort. Now this could have been a great name for a lavish getaway situated on its very own island. Instead, however, it is rendered positively cringeworthy the moment the second couple is introduced—Tom and Daisy. (No, I’m not kidding. F. Scott is somewhere in the ether, downing migraine meds and praying he doesn’t have a stroke.). When a Fitzgerald’s waitress is found dead on the beach, no one knows for sure whether it is murder or suicide, but finger-pointing runs amuck, and everyone is a suspect.

There are so many issues here I’m not even sure where to begin. The character development is abhorrent—not a single one likable or even interesting. It’s as if the author created these shells she intended to imbue with personalities but then realized a couple hundred pages in that she had forgotten to do so. Their behaviors are inconsistent and erratic, up and down more often than a whore’s drawers. In case that isn’t enough of a deterrent to keep turning pages, there are also numerous errors in continuity. One of my favorites is as chapter five opens, and Daisy is on her way to the beach:

“Daisy climbed down the rather rickety wooden steps to the beach, and once there pulled off her sandals, immediately soothed by the feeling of warm sand between her toes. She stood at the bottom of the stairs…”

In THE VERY NEXT PARAGRAPH:

“She tried not to think of what might have been and counted her blessings as she stood quietly at the top of the wooden steps down to the beach, her art director’s eye scanning the view for shots.”

Come on, seriously? It’s a ONE PARAGRAPH follow through!

Here’s another gem:

“‘You sure you’re okay?’ Sam was saying. ‘You look terribly pale.’

To Sam, she probably looked like the picture of sophistication drinking Aperol in her chichi beachwear, but in truth she was just a scared and fragile woman.”

So Sam tells Daisy she looks pale, and Daisy interprets that to mean Sam sees her as a picture of sophistication? I….but….::sigh::

Those are just two examples of the myriad issues that plague this book. Although classified as a “mystery”, the only true mystery is how The Resort made it to publication. This editor needs to be in the unemployment line whilst seeking training for a new career.

Reading back, I realize the brutality of this review, but it truly angers me to spend hard earned money to purchase a book that I then invest time into reading, only to discover that clearly my own investments are far more than those made by the author.

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