Her Last Holiday by CL Taylor

​This photo was taken in Sedona, AZ, which is GORGEOUS and also where the 2009 sweat lodge disaster happened, the real-life wellness retreat tragedy which - I’m assuming - inspired this book.

If you’re like me and into cults and the dark side of the self-help industry, I thought I’d mention a true crime podcast about that disaster called Guru. It’s a six part series about the retreat led by James Arthur Ray in 2009 which led to 18 people being rushed to the hospital and three people dying. You can listen to it here: https://wondery.com/shows/guru/

About the book:
Fran’s younger sister Jenna went missing after attending a wellness retreat run by self-help guru Tom Wade and his wife Kate. It was presumed that she committed suicide, but at that same retreat, some of the attendees died while participating in a sweat lodge. Tom served time but is now out of prison and running his first retreat since that tragic day, and Fran is determined to attend and get to the bottom of what happened to her sister three years ago. 

This book alternates between past (Jenna’s experience at the retreat) and present (from the point of view of Fran infiltrating the current retreat and Tom’s wife, Kate, trying to run it and rehabilitate their brand). The writing flows so well throughout, but it’s a slow burn until later in the story, when the pacing picks up and the layers of dysfunction and secrets are revealed. 

I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have loved the read even more if the present time was limited to Fran’s POV. I say that because Fran was a wonderful character, and ultimately, it’s her ride we're on. What sounds awesome about this book is the idea of infiltrating a shady wellness retreat to get answers, am I right? That’s like, my dream job 🤣 Will someone hire me to do that?

Anyway, this book reads easy and is full of fun twists - perfect for a day at the beach! 

Thank you Avon Books for the ARC!