Tourist Season by Brenda Novak ©2024 was a very enjoyable read for me. I like the variety this prolific author offers. Wikipedia lists her as having written over fifty books but that count is outdated; she has written more. A list of her books and book series can be found at the website listing her books in order. I have read thirty-three of her books since 2017 and this is my thirty-fourth. With such a large output, her books are not destined to be classic, ponderous, literature, but they are engaging reads and the characters are well defined and have some depth to them.
Despite the cover image, I do not consider this a beach read. In my opinion the term beach read is a derogatory term. Publishers must think that sitting in the sun, slathered with sunscreen, also deadens the brain cells because my experience with those summer "beach" reads is that they are generally glib and predictable with ditzy females and muscle bound males. Tourist Season does indeed take place on an island off Cape Cod, but the female is no scatter brain. She has just completed passing the bar after obtaining her law degree. She is supposed to be enjoying a three-week vacation at the lush beach house of her future in-laws while her fiancé Remy stays behind to finish studying for his medical boards.
Immediately after Ismay's arrival, the island is hit with a hurricane, or perhaps technically called a nor'easter. The house loses power, and in the strange new environment with torrential rains and gusting winds, Ismay stressfully struggles to find candles or batteries for a flashlight to wait out the storm. A huge tree branch snaps off but misses the house. Calling his parents' newly renovated and extensively lavish beach house a cottage would be a disservice and an understatement. Her fiancé is not sympathetic to her situation, telling her she is overreacting, and chides her for interrupting his studying. He does, however, alert his mother to the situation and she phones the caretaker Bo to go over to the house with lanterns and to start the generator. Bo lives in a bungalow behind the main house and so he is close to assist. Bo is a supportive rock, especially in comparison to Remy's apathy. Bo however is a loner with a secretive past.
This story opener is a real page turner. In her search for candles and matches Ismay discovers some disturbing items hidden within the walls of the beach house. The physical action is more toned down in the rest of the novel but the interpersonal relationships and the prospect of a psychopathic component arise with the surprise arrival of Remy's twin brother Bastien. These brothers do not get along. Ismay is the oldest in her family with seven younger siblings, all very close and supportive of each other. She struggles to make sense of the combative relationship of the brothers and the lone wolf actions of Bo. Simultaneously Ismay's younger brother Jack is undergoing a painful divorce and Ismay invites him to spend the summer with her on the Mariner's Island.
Yes, there is a beach, but that is the only reason this might be classified as a beach read. Well, maybe not the only reason. I will admit, there is a bit of a romantic involvement that may tend to place this book in the beach read genre. But romance is not the major focus. I have usually rated most of Brenda Novak's books that I have read three or four stars. My most highly rated Novak novel, at five stars, was Brenda Novak's thriller Before We Were Strangers ©2018 reviewed in my post for 10/26/21. Tourist Season is more of a psychological study with potential psychopathic components. I found it very engaging and rate it four stars.
★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience
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