DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Pan Macmillan via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Vacation by John Marrs for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Rerelease of ‘Welcome to whoever you are’ which I enjoy much more second time around - go figure!!! The novel has a good premise with a disparate bunch of people from various corners of the world ‘washing up’ at a rundown hostel in Venice Beach. Every single one of them is faking in in some way shape or form, most are running or hiding from something which is often huge.

The Vacation by John Marrs - Books on Google Play The Vacation by John Marrs - Books on Google Play

First stop…a rundown hostile on Venice Beach that attracts people from all over the world. Their reasons for being there are vastly different. Everyone with a story and past that lead them there. Ready to find out all the juicy details? This huge cast of characters descend on Venice Beach International Hostel. Each with their own stories to tell. Ranging from fame, domestic abuse, death, crime, obsession and just a sprinkling of love. Savannah - has a famous father who is a TV Reverend in Alabama. She decided to move to LA. Why is she always looking over her shoulder?This is the fourth John Marrs book I've read and it's, by far, my least favorite. Marrs has an amazing ability to bring his characters to life, and in most his books, the story-line is absolutely gripping. Not so with Welcome To Wherever You Are. It's very slow paced, to the point of being boring at times. Our goal is to discover that we have always been where we ought to be. Unhappily we make the task exceedingly difficult for ourselves. It took me a while to get into it, and for the first quarter of it I didn't even think I'd finish it... But then... it just swept me off my feet! Unputdownable roller coaster, where everything you know turns out to be nothing like you could have possibly imagined!

The Vacation by John Marrs | Waterstones

Welcome to Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Home of Muscle Beach and the Venice Beach International Hostel. 8 strangers from around the world, all hiding secrets and wanting a fresh start are all guests at the hostel. They are all trying to escape from their past and at first glance are so different. As we get t There were some really good moments in the novel, for instance, the final scene between Zac and Ruth is an absolute doozy. Talk about ...'And its five, six, seven, Open up the purly gates...'!!! Sorry if you haven't read it - that will mean nothing! Wow there are so many unexpected surprises, twists and deranged characters. Most of these guests are running away from something in their lives. Seriously, this book has such a large cast of characters that at first glance seems to have nothing to do with each other but as you read along you discover this convoluted web that binds them together in some way or another. Originally published under the title Welcome to Wherever You Are in 2015, this book is quite different from what ‘we’ are used to read from John Marrs lately. It’s not SF, it’s not a travel guide (although it sometimes reads like on) and its not a thriller or a romance story. It has little pieces of everything and of course, the writing is such that it’s hard to put the book down.At the Venice Beach International Hostel eight of those people congregate. They’re all different and all have their own stories to tell. They all have their own secrets too, but as we all know, secrets have a nasty habit of emerging when you least want them to…