Author: Nigel May
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 10th February 2017
Pages: 335
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
If you keep dangerous secrets you’ll pay the ultimate price…
In the South of France, playground of the rich and famous, world renowned chef Dexter Franklin is organising a night to remember. As he opens the doors to his exclusive restaurant for the first time, he’s handpicked a list of guests, as hot and dazzling as the St Tropez sun itself:
Mew Stanton: Fashionable, beautiful and a notorious TV chef, Dexter’s ex-girlfriend has all the ingredients for success. As her books fly off the shelves, a secret from her past is about to surface with explosive consequences.
Holly Lydon: Ex girlband star who has fallen on hard times. Forced to make ends meet she’s having to sleep her way to the top. Now she’s making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Rosita Velázquez: Brazilian actress extraordinaire and girlfriend of Dexter’s brother, Leland. When she’s in town everybody needs to know about it, but this is one show-stopping entrance she’ll live to regret.
Three women have a past with Dexter and a grudge to bear against him. As fireworks ignite in the jet set capital of Europe, there’s murder on the menu. Who will be served their just desserts?
The sun is setting in the South of France. Pour yourself a glass of champagne and sit back for a read of revenge, regrets and shocking revelations that will have you hooked to the very last page.
Anyone who follows my blog will know that I am a huge fan of Nigel May (one of his biggest!) and his fabulous books. Nigel has fast became one of my favourite authors over the past few years and I go into each one of his books full of confidence that they will not disappoint, and Revenge was no different. I'm not the biggest fan of books set in France however St. Tropez is a little different and Nigel uses the glamorous setting to its fullest here in Revenge (with flashbacks and some scenes taking place around the world) and it is only a small part of what is an action-packed and very character-driven story.
Dexter Franklin has invited a whole host of characters to his newest restaurant opening in St. Tropez and, determined to make it a success and one of the most talked about events of the decade, he's invited just the right mix of people to make that happen. I'm not going to list them all as they should be discovered by the reader themselves, however there's a real mystery behind each of the characters and why they have been invited by Dexter. They each arrive in St. Tropez with a bang and there's a shock in store for each of them. I also love how Nigel's books all take place within the same world and there's always mentions and appearances from some of his past characters.
I love that by now Nigel has created so many characters across all of his novels and yet he still manages to make all of his newest ones feel fresh and original, all with their own believable backstories and stories to tell. Yes, as a bonkbuster some of the characters can behave a little over the top, but underneath all that, in his female characters especially, there's an underlying vulnerability that allows us as readers to relate to these characters who, whilst living in a world so far removed from our own, are relatable and we are able to view them as real people who just want the same thing everybody wants regardless of wealth or social status; love and happiness.
All throughout Revenge you know that Nigel is building up to something big and he never fails to deliver when it comes to his finales. Each book he has written has finished and left me desperate for me and I can't think of another author currently writing in this genre that does it better than Nigel May. As with the legendary Jackie Collins, Nigel's books transcend the genre and go far beyond being another book just filled with smut and sex. Instead you get a truly action-packed book here featuring murder, intrigue, revenge, comedy, rivalries, glamorous locations. Pretty much everything you could possibly expect from a book and then some. I am in awe of how Nigel manages to achieve this book after book, improving on what came before and his writing and storytelling in Revenge compared with his earlier work is astounding (and his early books are amazing so that should give some idea of how good Revenge is).
Nigel named a character after me in Lovers and Liars and I was ecstatic to see that I made a return here in Revenge as a fantastic journalist who refuses to take no for an answer and I appear in a couple of rather funny scenes (however a certain Daniel Riding also made an appearance as DC Riding and I found myself wishing I too had quite the fun he had in his hotel room...) Revenge is one of Nigel's best books to date and cements his place as the King of the Bonkbuster and one of my all-time favourite authors. If you are yet to discover one of his books then this is the perfect place to start, and then when you finish you have a back catalogue of books just waiting to be devoured. Now, when's the next one?
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