#BlogTour: The Vacation by John Marrs

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a complex, interwoven thriller with a lot of moving parts. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Vacation by John Marrs.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

Complex, Interwoven Thriller With Numerous Characters And Flashbacks. Hell, the one thing to knock this book on is just how sudden the flashbacks and returns can be. Other than that, this is one of those twisty, complex, interwoven tales more about the people that find themselves at a particular hostel at a particular moment than any titular “vacation” – though, as you’ll come to see, every single one of them is truly on a “vacation” of sorts, so the title *does* work. I simply think the original title of “Welcome To Wherever You Are” may have actually been a more apt title for the tale.

If you want a single, simple plotline with a one or two true main characters and maybe a supporting cast… this isn’t that kind of tale. If you want a tale where there are definitive answers and everything is black and white… this isn’t that kind of tale. If you want an absolute mind fuck of a tale that makes you question your sense of reality… this isn’t that kind of tale, either.

Instead, this truly is one of those more interesting in between tales that shows a more accurate depiction of humanity and how we’re all flawed and we all have our own stories both before and after any given encounter, this simply happens to be the tales of those people who wind up being in the same Los Angeles area hostel at the same moment in time at the particular moment of the story here. If you’re looking for *that* kind of tale… congratulations. You’ve found one of the better examples of it I’ve ever come across in my own reading.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.

PROLOGUE

Venice Beach, Los Angeles

“That’s her,” the driver yelled to the three men waiting in the rear of the transit van.

He pointed a gloved finger in the direction of a slender woman walking along the sidewalk up ahead.

“You sure?” a gruff voice asked. “It’s pretty dark out there.”

The driver was very sure. He’d watched carefully as his target walked with purpose in her high heels. He recalled her appearance an hour earlier as she made her way up a stainless-steel pole before slowly, seductively descending.

“Yeah, man,” he replied. “You don’t forget a pretty little ass like that in a hurry, even from this distance.”

He was confident their mark was completely oblivious to her impending fate. She stopped suddenly, searching for something that was seemingly wedged in her clutch bag; the streetlamps and neon shop signs illuminated the glitter in her hair. The driver lifted his foot slightly from the accelerator and dipped the headlights as he continued to stalk his prey. Meanwhile, his colleagues slipped black balaclavas over their heads and adjusted their bodies into position—one knelt with his hand gripping the door lever, ready to open it on command; another held plastic restraints, and the third clasped a hunting knife with a serrated blade.

“Ready?” the driver asked. They grunted in unison.

The van sped up, but not so fast as to throw the hunters from the positions they’d rehearsed earlier that day. Then, as it pulled up alongside the woman, the door flew open and the first of her assailants sprang out.

The man with the restraints was the first to reel backward into the vehicle as a bullet from her revolver tore its way through his shoulder blade, taking fragments of collarbone with it.

For a split second, the flash from the gun’s muzzle illuminated the van’s interior as she pinpointed two more would-be assailants poised to drag her inside. Twice more she pulled the trigger; twice more she heard the men screaming. The driver remained rooted to his seat, baffled by how off-kilter their mission had suddenly gone. They had been so confident of its success that there was no Plan B.

“Go, man, go!” yelled a desperate voice as another bullet found its target.

Tires squealed as the van lurched forward, veering across the median and then crisscrossing back toward the sidewalk.

A combination of adrenaline and fury propelled the woman to kick off her heels and run after it, firing twice more and shattering its rear windshield. The vehicle clipped an LA Times newsstand, hurling newspapers into the air; they fell like large chunks of confetti.

She fired one last time, but the van had already corrected itself and sped off out of range. Then she watched in horror as that final shot sent a stranger up ahead, carrying a backpack, sprawling face forward onto the pavement.

Time froze as the consequences of her last reckless bullet resonated.

She had just killed an innocent tourist.

THE VACATION
Author: John Maars
ISBN: 9781335006042
Publication Date: 12/19/2023
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
18.99 US | 23.99 CAD

Book Summary:
How far would you run to escape your past?

Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep…
This holiday-set read is a compulsive and addictive thriller, perfect for fans of T.M. Logan.

Author Bio:
John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan. Follow him at www.johnmarrsauthor.com , on Twitter @johnmarrs1, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor.