Title: Hotel Arcadia

Author: Sunny Singh

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Magpie, Point Blank Crime

Publication Date: 21st March 2024

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

A high octane thriller, capturing the extraordinary capacity of humans to retain compassion in extreme circumstances

Sam is a war photographer, famous for her hauntingly beautiful pictures of the dead. After a particularly gruelling assignment she checks into a luxury hotel, hoping to unwind with a few days of solitude.

Abhi, the hotel manager, never wanted to be a hero; he just wants to avoid disappointing his father and brother any more than he has already. But when gun-wielding terrorists run amok through the hotel, and his five-year-old Billy is found alive under the bodies of his parents, Abhi and Sam are forced to work together to protect him from the mounting violence.

As the threat of danger moves closer, the bond between this unlikely trio grows ever stronger. If they make it out alive, none of them will ever be the same.

Review:

Hotel Arcadia is one of those books it is very easy to lose yourself in and read in just a matter of hours. The action takes place over the course of a number of hours in a hotel that has been taken over by terrorists. We follow two characters: Sam, a war photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager, as they try to survive and also protect a young boy who is found alive by Sam. The events of the hotel siege are interspersed with events from Sam and Abhi’s pasts and give us an insight into who these people really are.

It is an almost unbearably tense read that will have readers on the edge of their seat throughout and it is also a deeply compelling one. The terrorists are not given much attention in this book, with the focus being very much on Sam and Abhi and the way they try to cope with the unimaginable. I thought this was a smart choice. It shows the trauma they are going through without giving power to the violent men committing these acts of aggression. I also found the intricacies and ethical issues surrounding war photography fascinating, if sometimes harrowing to read. Overall Hotel Arcadia is a propulsive, electrifying and impressively nuanced thriller that I found completely gripping. I would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for an intense and well written story that feels relevant and powerful.

★★★★

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

Buy the book:

Waterstones | Blackwell’s | Amazon