The Club: A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

This book starts with deaths of people unknown. Jumping back and forwards we start to piece together lots of lives of the rich and famous and those behind the scenes keeping their lives just so. I found this book hard to really get into but was interested enough to keep going. Having all the characters as flawed is realistic but it’s hard to root for any of them which made the story hard to lose yourself in.

Keeps you guessing - short chapters

Rating: 3.4/5I was very impressed by Ellery Lloyd's debut novel, "People Like Her" and there is also a lot to like about the second book that the husband-and-wife writing partnership has produced. This time around the pair have produced another contemporary thriller, but on this occasion it is set in the glitzy, glamourous and exclusive world of a celebrity club rather than that of online "influencers".The narrative is provided from the viewpoints of a number of key protagonists, plus an additional perspective in the form of an article in "Vanity Fair" that appears at the end of each chapter. Events unfold across two timeframes, which is quite neatly handled: The "Vanity Fair" piece provides a retrospective report on events surrounding the opening of the latest addition to "The Home Group" portfolio, the "Island Home" club. The accounts from the other characters relate events as they were happening at the time of that same opening. As we gradually learn more about each of the narrators and the high profile members of "The Home Club" it soon becomes apparent that nobody is quite as they would appear and everybody has something to hide.Like their previous thriller, "The Club" is a cleverly constructed mystery with plot lines that have been well thought through. The characterisation is also appealing and the two writers once again make a good fist of delivering authentic differentiation between the protagonists. Seeing the portrayals of the various world famous stars is great fun and also allows the reader to play their own game, guessing which real life celebrities may have provided the inspiration for these fictional creations.All of that said, on the whole, I didn't think this consistently matched the overall quality of Ellery Lloyd's debut. It could have - and probably should have. The ingredients are all there to make this a top notch mystery thriller, but certain sections struck me as a touch overwritten and this, in turn, had an adverse effect on the pace of the novel. Nonetheless, this is still an enjoyable mystery and well worth adding to your reading list.

A great book, with lots of intrigue and twists & turns.The story is told from multiple perspectives, that all piece together to form the full story, which I enjoy, as it's an opportunity to see characters from their own perspective along with how others may be perceiving them.

The Club is a brilliant mystery thriller written by Ellery Lloyd, the pseudonym of husband-and-wife team, Colette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. The novel is set during the three-day launch of the exclusive Island Home Club that attracts the rich and famous with its excessive luxury and the promise to conceal any bad behaviour. The genius behind the club is Ned Groom, but the story is told by the four people who help him run the operation: Adam (his younger brother), Nicki (his assistant), Annie (the head of membership), and Jess (the new housekeeper).I loved Lloyd’s first novel, People Like Her and so was a bit nervous before starting The Club. I needn’t have worried though because I absolutely adored Lloyd’s second work. Like all good mysteries, the novel is expertly plotted with twists and turns that lead to a very satisfying ending. The characters range from the immediately sympathetic, through those who have sinned but we like anyway, to the delightfully despicable. Still, it was the structure that I found most fascinating because framing the character’s perspectives is a long article – with its own separate page numbers - for the glossy magazine, Vanity Fair. And, that title tells us all we need to know about the decadent self-serving world of The Club, because here Lloyd alludes to Thackeray’s nineteenth-century novel, Vanity Fair with its satire on human greed, snobbery and deceit. In The Club Ellery Lloyd introduces us to a ‘vanity fair’ for the twenty-first century.

Once I started this book I had to finish it, but for all the wrong reasons. I needed to see if it got better and "who dunnit". The plot was weak and poorly written with predictable high drama amongst the and famous. The characters were almost stolen and thinly veiled versions of stars of recent years. Dead bodies were piling up all over the place in this far fetched and disappointing read. I recommend you skip this one and fine another book club read.

Story kept you reading, but wasn't anything to blow your socks off. Did I pick it up and read the entire thing - yes, so 4 stars.

Si es aficionado de la cultura pop y estrellas de la música y cine, posiblemente es para ti. Estrellas comportiendo como criminales y otros tratando a ellos malísimamente. El concepto del club es interesante, pero no es ningún carácter bueno en ese libro! No era para mi!

The dullest type of chick lit. Irritating style with lots of lists & repetition. Caricatured protagonists. Would not recommend it.

Das fragt man sich bei jedem Kapitel aufs Neue. Viele Protagonisten erschweren es dem Leser am Ball zu bleiben.Ich werde den im Grunde spannenden Roman daher noch einmal lesen.

Not as enthralling as most thriller’s but still very well written.