The Writing Retreat, Julia Bartz

I picked up this book because I recognized the last name of the author; come to find out, it was her sister I had read previously - The Writing Retreat is Julia Bartz's debut. And, she totally stands on her own without the need for her sister's success in the previous few years. Well done, both of you Bartz ladies.

As for The Writing Retreat - ooh, this is a good one. A lot of good twists and turns in this as we follow five budding authors who have been hand-picked by the renowned author, Roza Vallo, to join her for a month-long retreat at her extremely secluded estate. During the month, the young women will start and finish a new novel and the best one will be published and the author will receive $1M. Easy-peasy. At least until one of the five go missing, a dungeon is found, and things are simply not what they seem to be.

There is a lot to unpack in The Writing Retreat; there is murder, mayhem, lots of emotional baggage, sex, drugs, and deceit - all the elements are there and Julia Bartz weaves them into a believable, fun, and easy-to-read story. I actually carved out additional reading time for this one.

Well done, Julia Bartz!