BLOG TOUR, BOOK REVIEW - The Bridal Party by J.G.Murray

The Bridal Party is a gripping,intense story of friendships,secrets,betrayals,lies and revenge.

The story centres around a group of friends,Clarisse,Nada,Afreya,Gaia and Elana who have flown out to Jersey for the weekend for Clarisse's bridal party. The weekend had taken a mysterious turn even before they had left the airport when they received a WattsApp message from Tamsyn,the maid of honour informing them that she unfortunately couldn't make it to the party. Confused and upset they decided to make the most of the stunning,isolated seaside house that Tamsyn had arranged for them to stay in. Upon arriving at the house they were surprised to discover that Tamsyn had organised a murder mystery,a game that became more and more intense and sinister as the day progressed. The object of the game was to expose the killer in their midst. As tensions and tempers boiled over,it become clear there are some secrets that won't stay buried.

We follow events in the present day and also in flashbacks to the past as they are told from Nora's point of view. To be honest,I didn't think Nora was a very likeable character, I found her behaviour was often frustrating and struggled to understand her obsession with Clarisse's happiness, Her obsession maybe made sense later in the book but not in the earlier flashback chapters. My favourite character was feisty Gaia,yeah she had a bad attitude at times but she wasn't afraid to speak her mind and fight back whenever she saw an opportunity. The group of friends were a mixed bag of realistic personalities,the sort of group that you might expect to find in a pub or club,getting drunk and having a laugh. I loved the isolated setting,the big house surrounded by a deep forest. Hinting that the house and the area around it had a dark,sinister history added to the creepy atmosphere of the story. I always think that forests can seem sinister and otherworldly even in broad daylight never mind in the dead of night when you can hardly see and all you can hear is your own footsteps that sound so.loud no matter how carefully you tread or maybe it's not your footsteps,maybe it's the footsteps of whoever is pursuing you.

The Bridal Party is a chilling,sinister,intense thriller that had me on the edge of my seat from the first page right through to the unexpected ending that had just a dash of poetic justice. I would love to watch a film adaptation of this book. This is a well written debut psychological thriller and I look forward to reading more books written by this author in the future.

                                                           ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J G Murray is the winner of the 2018 Deviant Minds Prize and the author of the upcoming psychological thriller The Bridal Party.

He studied Creative Writing at Warwick University and has lived in Brussels, Bangkok and London. He has won numerous prizes for his short fiction and published stories in a number of publications. Most recently, Julian contributed to the 24 Stories Anthology, a book raising money for the victims of Grenfell featuring authors such as Irvine Welsh, Chris Brookmyre and AL Kennedy.

Follow Him On....

Twitter: @JulianGylMurray

Goodreads: Julian Gyll-Murray

PUBLICATION DATE: 7th March 2019
PRINT LENGTH: 194 pages
PUBLISHER: Circus
GENRE: Psychological Thriller

PURCHASE LINK....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridal-Party-Perfect-fans-Wares-ebook/dp/B07GHBKTK3/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1552652014&sr=1-1&keywords=the+bridal+party

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT WHAT THE OTHER BLOGGERS THOUGHT OF THIS CHILLING,INTENSE,DEBUT THRILLER