Beautiful Ugly, by Alice Feeney - Anna
Fans of the thriller genre will be excited to learn that Alice Feeney has a new book set to be released 30 January, 2025. Personally, I think this is her best book yet. As a thriller-lover myself, I was immediately drawn into this moody, vibrant story of a disappearance, a struggling author, and a beautiful, but very remote, Scottish island.
Beautiful Ugly is written from multiple perspectives, allowing the reader to view events from vastly different angles. Grady is a bestselling author whose wife goes missing on a dark night under mysterious circumstances. Abby is a wife who has lost herself in her marriage and longs to escape. We follow Grady as, struck with grief and unable to write, he travels to a tiny, isolated Scottish island in an attempt to resurrect his career. The island and its inhabitants are both vivid and haunting, setting a perfect atmosphere for twisty and mysterious happenings to unfold.
Besides being a gripping page-turner, Beautiful Ugly explores deeper themes of marriage and relationship, jealousy and violence. It has depth. While I enjoyed the initial reading experience, days later I find myself thinking about this book, which, in my opinion, is the sign of a good read. If you are looking for an exciting winter page-turner, complete with a highland cow, a mountain-climbing vicar, and a skeleton hand, I suggest grabbing Beautiful Ugly when it is released in January.
Anna
