Entertaining but nothing remarkable

“The Vacation”, a re-edited edition (this book was previously published as “Welcome to Wherever You Are”), by John Marrs

This was my 4th book by this author and my least favourite.
Although very entertaining and a fast read (165 short chapters), I didn’t think that the structure was well executed. The timeline made everything a bit confusing and slowed the pace.
And you really need to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy this work.
Some of the plot lines were not so interesting.
I didn’t mind the number of characters (8), but because the chapters are so short and the author switches timeline too frequently, it was hard to feel connected with any of the characters and some felt underdeveloped.
I actually found this book to be a bit amateurish, but entertaining nonetheless.
Some of the twists were predictable and some were good, but nothing remarkable. The conclusion was too rushed.
I would not label this book as a psychological thriller or even a thriller.
There are some good moments and some of the dialogues were funny, especially in the beginning.

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Unconnected Stories Paced Poorly

Author John Marrs is extremely ambitious in this offering: exploring the motivations & life stories of 8 (EIGHT!!) characters staying at a youth hostel on Venice Beach in California.
The characters are interesting, and Marrs does a nice job providing well-considered storylines full of surprise revelations - but the individual narratives take a loooong time to become captivating (like, starting with Chapter 110 or so), and he only tenuously weaves the events together into a cohesive plot, anyway. We end up with eight disparate stories about people who happen to know each other.

Unfortunately, reader Peter Noble doesn't help the situation, either. His diction, timbre, and cadence are commendable, mind you - but some of his accents are legitimately cringe-y. He would be an excellent narrator if given fewer challenges (say, a story set exclusively in England), but QUEST Audio could have cast this particular project better.

Altogether, this 5/10-star audiobook is a reasonable listening option if you can get it for free.. but spend your money on a different John Marrs story if they ask for a Credit.

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Meh …

I was prepared to give this a 1 … but then the story picked up. Too bad the first 100 chapters (seriously … the 1st 100!) were a n absolute BORE! After that the story was very good! So … I gave a rating of 3

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Great book!

This was my second book by the author. The first one was just ok, this one was great. Took awhile to get used to the style

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Absolute chaos is the best way!

All I can say is I have never read a book with more twists than this one, and he was completely able to pull it all off! I’m a HUGE fan now

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Zzzzzzzzz

20 chapters in and I am sooooooo soooooooo bored. I don’t know who these groups of people are,and just don’t care. 20 chapters of complete boredom. Must not only quit but purge this book from my library btw it was free.

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