Happiest of book birthdays to THE LAST RESORT by Marissa Stapley, out today from Simon and Schuster! THE LAST RESORT has already garnered quite the critical and public acclaim, including being featured on Katherine Heigl’s instagram! In addition, it was featured in US Weekly, Sanctuary Magazine ran an exclusive excerpt, it was an Oprah Magazine Best Beach read, one of Parade’s 12 Big Fiction Readers Every Book Club Will Love, a NY Post Beach Reads Roundup pick, part of Entertainment Weekly’s and Yahoo’s April 17th roundups, one of Frolic’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, one of GoodRead’s Most Popular Books of June 2019, part of PopSugar’s 29 New Thrillers roundup and their New Books to Read roundup and was one of Chatelaine’s Most Suspenseful Thrillers of Summer 2019.
“Featuring vivid, heart-pounding storytelling and a compelling depiction of the heartbreaking ways that long-term abuse can destroy your will, Stapley’s latest (after Things to Do When It’s Raining, 2018) is an excellent beach read for anyone who loves romantic suspense.” – Booklist
“Stapley shows a real knack for suspense.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“Marissa Stapley’s writing is a gift.”-Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan’s Tale
“Atmospheric and evocative, Marissa Stapley’s THE LAST RESORT brings together a cast of characters with secrets as destructive as the hurricane threatening the island, and explores how far we’ll go to keep the truth buried. Fast-paced, expertly plotted and highly entertaining, this novel is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty!” – Karma Brown, bestselling author of The Choices We Make
“The Last Resort has all the ingredients for an impossible-to-put-down thrill ride of a read–but it’s also got something more: well-developed characters who feel intensely real, polished prose that never descends into thetrite or predictable, and authentic emotional heft. It will fascinate you, enlighten you, break your heart and mend it again. Read this book!” – Jennifer Robson, internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France and The Gown
“I devoured The Last Resort over 3 days. It is an example of a new kind of thriller; it is of our time. The book offers up a delicious plot while at the same time drawing quietly powerful and deeply relatable female characters whose experiences are echos of so many others on and off the page. Stapley’s writing is fast-paced while still cutting deep. I burned through the book, but it will stay with me. The Last Resort is all of these things: a nail-biter, a page-turner, a thoughtful, powerful exploration into who we are in relationships and on our own. It’s like literary fiction and killer suspense were left on an island together and the outcome was an incredible book.” -Laurie Petrou, author of Sister of Mine
“Couples with secrets, people who tell lies—nothing is as it seems in Marissa Stapley’s tense and tightly paced thriller, THE LAST RESORT. Fans of Agatha Christie will surely love this modern whodunit from the first to thevery last page. One to add to your “to read” list now.” – Hannah McKinnon, author of The Neighbours and Her Secret Son
“With artfully creative storytelling, THE LAST RESORT leads us down the dark rabbit warren of other people’s marriages and asks the best question of all: How well do you really know the person you’re living with? This novel is an exciting addition to the psych thriller world—with an emotionally complex twist.” —Roz Nay, bestselling author of Our Little Secret
To the guests at The Harmony Resort, Doctors Miles and Grace Markell appear to be a perfect power couple. They run a couples’ therapy retreat in a luxurious resort in the Mayan Riviera where they help spouses deal with their marriage struggles.
Johanna and Ben’s relationship looks great on the surface, but in reality, they don’t know each other at all. Shell and Colin fight constantly—Colin is a workaholic, and Shell always comes second—but what has really torn them apart is too devastating to talk about. When both couples begin Harmony’s intensive therapy program, it becomes clear that Harmony is not all that it seems—and neither are Miles and Grace. What are they hiding, and what price will these couples pay for finding out their secrets?
As a powerful hurricane descends on the coast, trapping both the hosts and their guests, confidences are revealed, loyalties are tested, and not one single person—or marriage—will ever be the same.
Marissa Stapley is the author of the bestselling novel Mating for Life, and Things to Do When It’s Raining, which has been published in nine countries and translated into seven languages. Her journalism has appeared in newspapers and magazines across North America. She lives in Toronto with her family.