The vacation A novel

If you're a devoted John Marrs fan, you might have read this book already. It was originally self-published as Welcome to Wherever You Are in 2015; this new edition has been re-edited but not extensively altered. It's a great story: in a hostel in Venice Beach, California, an assortment of interesting people have come together; all of them are running away from something, and all of them are desperate, to one degree or another, to keep their secrets hidden. But is that possible when you're in such close quarters with other people who have their own secrets? Marrs struggled a bit in the early years of his writing career, taking the self-publishing route as he accumulated rejections; his third self-published novel, The One (2016), was later released by a major publisher and became a Netflix series. Reading this novel, it's difficult to understand why he wasn't immediately snapped up: the writing is superb, the characters beautifully drawn, and the story subtle and constantly surprising. It's nice to see this book finally getting the attention it deserves.

This captivating ensemble thriller from journalist Marrs (The Marriage Act) peeks into the secret lives of several tenants at an international hostel in Venice Beach, Calif. Among the cast are Nicole, an English nurse who's traveling all of Route 66 in honor of a recently deceased patient; Savannah, a pole dancer being hunted by ruthless henchmen sent by her evangelical father; Matty and Declan, two Irish lads intent on making American memories before an undisclosed deadline makes it impossible; Eric, an Englishman desperate to reinvent himself; and Ruth, an Australian woman who has come to Los Angeles to meet her favorite screen idol. Flashbacks disclose how each protagonist ended up at the hostel and why they'll do almost anything to keep their pasts hidden. Marrs keeps readers off-balance, shedding new light on each character's actions and motivations with every new bit of information, and he gradually reveals links between the cast that feel surprising and well-earned instead of Crash-level contrived. Intricate and captivating, this fractured crime saga will hook readers from start to finish. Agent: Jon Mitchell, Pan Macmillan UK. (Dec.)