Nine Perfect Strangers

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of nine strangers who meet for the first time at Tranquillum House, a luxury health resort, which promises their guests relaxation, detoxification and the reshaping of lives. The nine strangers are: Frances, a romance novelist who's been recently duped by an internet romance; Tony, a beer-bellied former soccer player; Jessica and her husband Ben, who recently won the lottery and are now struggling with that win; Carmel, a divorcee raising four children; Lars, a handsome, gay lawyer; Heather, Napolean and their daughter, Zoe, who are struggling with a recent loss. Then there are Masha, the owner of Tranquillum house; Yao, a former EMT and current employee of Masha's, and, finally, Delilah, another employee at the resort. These nine people, are about to enter a world into which they had no idea they were heading. Their lives are certainly about to change!

I think stories should be driven by characters and not by a story line, which is why I, generally speaking, like Moriarty's books. She tends to be so good at character development that even when you don't love her characters, you feel like you really know and get them. This one was, unfortunately, not one of her successful stories. There's some information on some of the characters, and what got them to Tranquillum House, but for the most part, I ended the story with a lot of questions about these people. Also, the climax of the story is bizarre. It's not entirely clear what really makes these characters motivated to do all that they do. I'm afraid that this review will have to remain as is because if I tell you any more, it might ruin the story for you. Try it, and let me know what you think below.