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The book title is wrong, I tell you! The nine people aren’t all strangers: There is a couple and there’s a family of three. The editor in me just hates that the title isn’t accurate. (I need to get a life, lol.) Liane Moriarty's latest offering is a hugely enjoyable psychological thriller that is pure fun and entertainment whilst incorporating a look beneath the issues of a wide cast of characters and the moving stories that lie behind the facade of their everyday lives. Set in Australia, Tranquillem House is a health and wellness resort that many clients claim transformed their lives for the better. The latest batch of arrivals are 9 strangers that get considerably more than they bargained for with their 10 day cleansing programme of diet, light exercise, therapy and spa treatments. It is run by the Russian Masha, a ruthlessly ambitious former company executive whose near death experience led to a complete change in her life direction. Masha had a dark and hidden agenda for her latest customers, driven by the best of intentions, supported by her primary staff members, Yao, and Delilah. But, I must warn you. This book is not like Moriarty’s previous novels, which usually centered around the family unit, providing a taut element of suspense, blended with humor and sarcasm. This novel has the humor, sarcasm and the suspense, but the setting is not at all domestic, as you will see. I hate when you've been waiting for an author you like to come out with a new book and it disappoints. The good news for me is, there are still some of Moriarty's earlier books I haven't read, so I look forward to those. And who knows? You may enjoy this one more than I did.

Let's just say it's not one of those books that kept me reading late into the night. After about the fourth or fifth person weighed in with their feelings about the same... exact... event, and their chapter ended, I just thought, "Okay, that's enough for tonight." And I closed the book. I loved all the characters. They are a zany group of people, flawed of course, some dealing with deeper issues than others, but all of them are so human and real. I rooted for and cared for them all, but Frances remained a favorite character for me from start to finish. Heather, Zoe, and Napoleon have the meatiest story in the book and evoke some serious emotions. There’s an epilogue, which I ordinarily find to be unnecessary but in this case I appreciated it. There are transformations, although not necessarily the ones the guests expected.

Of course, I had my favorite characters, and Frances, the menopausal romance novelist was the one I was immediately drawn to in this story. I love snarky wit and she was hilarious. But it’s not all laughs, as some guests are dealing with serious issues, many of them heartbreaking. This remote health resort called Tranquillum House is located in Sydney- Australia, built in 1800s and renovated into a secluded place providing extra pampering, luxury, mindfulness, medication, soul healing etc. read: A luxury retreat that promotes itself as being able to transform lives in a ten day stay in which you cannot leave. Nine people with body and/or psychological issues seek transformation. The story told from the perspective of each of them and the three main consultants at the retreat. The setting Australia. The key phrase - 'which you cannot leave'! Plot: Intriguing, clever, thought-provoking, suspenseful, perfectly-paced, absorbing, enjoyable and highly entertaining.

She was a terrible winker; she found it hard to close only one eye and had been told that her attempt looked like an extraordinary facial spasm.” But honestly, the whole situation with the director of the resort and her decision to take things in a new direction I found utterly laughable. I was waiting to see just how over-the-top Moriarty would take things, and found some of it really hard to believe. I did like the way she tied things up with some of her characters, but I was really disappointed on the whole.At one point, the book breaks the fourth wall in a trippy, meta way that I actually liked. We get dialogue from Frances’ editor: “!!!!” and “cliché?” which is just darned cute. But what a long way to travel for a mild joke. Great veins,” he said. Nurses often said that about Frances’s veins. She always felt momentarily proud and then kind of depressed, because what a waste of a positive attribute.” The gate opens easily when Ben enters the ‘correct’ button code. “Just needed a man’s touch”, he says. Ha! So I'm laughing at a lot of things in the book although almost every character had some serious things going on in their lives and very real reasons to be depressed, sad, discouraged and on the verge of giving up. Then things really go lopsided and it was interesting reading how the characters handled the situation. I'm thankful for the sappiness of the book and can see Fran writing the ending and I loved it. This book is weird, because it’s sort of a meta-thriller-character-exploration that has no genre and hates genre convention, and what’s perhaps even weirder is that um… this is Liane Moriarty’s brand now.

As I was making my way through the last half of the book, I was thinking, "Oh my God. I'm going to have to go on Goodreads and give Liane Moriarty a 3-star rating. Oh my God."

Overall, this one is a bit of a departure for Liane Moriarty, but her signature style is etched all through the novel. While the plot is just this side of deranged, the story is a compulsive read, perhaps a little overlong, but otherwise compelling and highly engrossing!! Overall: An extremely enjoyable & entertaining read that had me totally engrossed from start to finish! Would highly recommend! Frances is 52 years old, twice divorced, a romance novelist. Her agent just gave her crappy news. Nobody wants her new book.