The Reunion

by Sue Walker

Innes? Innes, it's Isabella. Isabella Velasco ... A simple message on an answer machine. But one that made Innes Haldane's blood run cold. Isabella Velasco was a name from a past that Innes had tried hard to forget. For in 1977 both had spent a fateful year at the Unit, an experimental home for dysfunctional teenagers in

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Adult, Suspense

Hardcover

First published September 28, 2004

Reviews

[camila (literarymila) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF! No puedo, Marta. Últimamente escojo puros libros con mucha información. Mucho blablablá y poca acción.
La premisa era buena, con un pasado misterioso en un internado psiquiátrico donde, años después, los integrantes van muriendo de forma sospechosa. Sí, interesante. Pero como se iba contando la historia no. Demasiado lento para ser un thriller. Más si es criminal como en este caso. Llegué a la pagina 200. Lo intenté.

[Bill Kupersmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give The Reunion three stars for being a good read, but just one star for representing reality - that averages out @ two stars. I still ponder the extent we should allow in fiction things that could never happen in real life before they become a fatal artistic flaw but here I found the police being so incompetent that the perpetrators got away with their crime impossible. There would have been a mammoth hue & cry after the victims. Their pictures would appear in every shop window & on every lamp post & milk carton & the approximate place were they went missing easily discovered. The staff of the Adolescent Psych Unit would have known their patients were in the area when the victims disappeared & they & their patients questioned by the police regarding anything they observed. And Abby, at least, would surely have revealed all she knew, the loch dragged for bodies that would have shown evidence of torture & rape, & the perpetrators confined to a secure facility @ Her Majesty's pleasure. There were many other loose ends & examples of characters behaving in most unlikely manners in this book, but the literally incredible insouciance of the police, the press, & the public was the 1000 lb. elephant in my living room that simply ruined this book for me.

[Jeremy Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

very British. Very Dark. Very much a waste of time

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Reunion is a thriller about a group of adolescents who are inmates at an 'avant-garde' psychiatric facility. The teens include: Danny, a charming rapist, Carrie, a drug addicted beauty, Lydia, an obese girl with a tendency to commit arson, Alex, a foul-mouthed and aggressive bully, Simon, who has an awful mother, Isabella, seemingly normal with a completely abnormal family., and Innes, the newest member.

The story revolves around the present day and the year 1977 when these teens were in 'The Unit'. In the present Isabella after many years tries to contact Innes. When Innes finally gets back to her she finds out she has committed suicide. While Innes is looking into the suicide she finds out that another member of the unit has also died. What is going on?

The Unit seemed to be a very loosely monitored group of very disturbed teens. Something must have happened and now the remaining members are either been driven to death or killing themselves.

This is a very dark story. The plot is great but Carrie who seemed to be such a part of the story was basically missing from the story. A good twisted mystery!

[Dawn McNary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dark, twisted, dark book. The characters all had combination of qualities, both good and bad, that made them likable and caused you to read on and on. But, then the darkness descended upon the story. Honestly I wish I never knew the secret. In some ways the secret was tooooo dark for these likable folks. If ONE or TWO of the characters were involved that would have been understandable but to have the entire unit- save one- involved was just the sort of twist that makes for compelling reading coupled with total disgust and a feeling of being shaken to the core. Very dark... yes, I realize I've said dark multiple times. Consider yourself warned.

[Audrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This kind of hurt to read, the prose was painful to get around. I kept reading for the clunkily preshadowed pay-off and yes, it was suitably shocking, but there was much too much preshadowing and characterisation of grotty characters. ick.

[Ray Adcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not angry I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed by the ending of this book. Why did it have to go and ruin itself by being too dark and twisted in the last 50 or so pages? Up until then I was digging this book.

[Cheryll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of book. It took me a while to place each of the characters and I found the past/present writing a bit confusing. Inexplicably evil. I won't be reading anything by this author again. What sort of mind can write this sort of thing?

[Harmony · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrific content! I can never unread this book. Beyond disgusting. How a person can write about stuff like this is deeply concerning and wrong. Books like these need to come with warnings. I do not recommend this book or author to anyone.

[Lizp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining mystery thriller, but it’s not a great read. It’s quite a dark tale. It’s about a group of disturbed teenagers at a cutting edge psychiatric facility ( or at least they thought it to be cutting edge in the late 1970s). There’s Danny, a rapist who is a bit of a charmer, Carrie, who’s gorgeous looking and is a drug addict, Lydia, an obese fire starter, Alex, a nasty bully, Simon, who has the mum from hell, Isabella, who has a dysfunctional family, and Innes, the new girl. It’s set in 1977 and also in the present. There’s a lot of jumping back and forth from present to past. That didn’t bother me as the writing is good.

Isabella, after many years, tries to contact Innes. When Innes finally gets back to her, Isabella has committed suicide. Innes then discovers that another unit member has also died. She delves into what’s going on. That part made me think of Wilde. To lose one ex-psycho is unfortunate, but to lose two is downright careless!

The psychiatric Unit was not closely monitored, albeit their all being disturbed teens. Something sinister happened back in 1977; a crime. This mystery follows up the on the fact that the former inmates are all dying off one by one. It is set mostly in Scotland and that comes across as authentic.

All the characters seem to feel guilty, even those who had nothing to do with the 1970s’ crime. It’s 300 pages long, has a decent plot, and is easy reading despite the darkness of the topic. I liked the ending.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this book. The mystery certainly kept me attentive and reasonably entertained. The ending when it finally came was not such a shock as it should have been.

The Unit is an adolescent psychiatric facility, somewhat experimental and it is home for 12 months, to a group of young people with various mental health issues. What could possibly go wrong?

The book is quite well written and the characters, although not all likeable, are well developed and interesting.

My main issue is that this is the second book I have read in the last 2 weeks where the ending has included a letter which ties up all the loose ends and explains everything (the other book was 'Because She Loves Me '- Mark Edwards).

This method of ending a 300+ page book feels lazy and unimaginative to me, as if the authors cannot think of any other way to explain all the twists and turns of their stories. It's almost a quick/easy way out. It would be so much more skilful if they could incorporate the why's and wherefores within the story itself instead of this rushed summary of all that has happened at the end.

That aside, it wasn't a bad read.....This was my first Sue Walker book, so I will probably give her another go another go.

[Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed to read a quick crime-novel after the 700 page Steven Pinker non-fiction book. As that, this book was the perfect antidote, I was able to finish it in two days. The chapters are short. The book is divided into sections that help to build the characters and the story. The setting is mostly in Scotland and the dialect and settings are well portrayed.

That said, though I was intrigued enough to pick it up, it is a dark and fairly unbelievable story. I did like how the author went back and forth in time, developing each of the characters in the drama and showing us how from troubled adolescents they grew up into dysfunctional or coping adults. I never would have guessed the secret crime or perpetrators and it is so horrific that it truly is beyond belief.

Not a book I would recommend but it was a quick read.

[Lian Higgins · Rating 2 out of 5]

It intrigued me and had the bones of a good story, but ultimately I could not understand Innes extreme reaction to hearing Isabella’s message on her machine, given that neither her nor Isabella were involved in “that night”. Nothing about their relationship or time together in the unit could explain her response and unwillingness to call her back. Unearthing the story was what kept me reading but the ending failed to satisfy. The discovery of bodies, even 4 years later, would surely have offered some clue that it was not accidental and resulted in a much more thorough investigation. The knowledge, by staff and patients alike, of the change in the adolescents after the camping holiday would have surely warranted deeper investigation, especially if two children were reported missing in that same area at the same time. Too many holes and unlikely scenarios.

[Riandi du Toit · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a far-fetched plotline. If this book was only one member of the Unit's previous patients regressing psychologicaly into a state where he or she believes that the only way to keep their secret safe is to murder all the other patient's one by one and making it look like suicides, I might have believed it. But noooooo! This book takes you on a whirlwind of accidental deaths, suicides, arson and murder all by different people, but all ultimately for the same reasons. The only part of the book that I did enjoy was the theme of 'what goes around comes around' and not being able to hide from unfaced demons forever.

[Myrthe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad if you find yourself with nothing better to read. But if there's more than one book on your to-read-list, go for the other.

The build up is incredibly slow, after the 20th mention of 'something that happened' I got the gist. The characters were okay but the story felt stretched thin. The final reveal was brutal, but by that point it could no longer make up for the 300 pages slowly leading up to it. I think this story and the ending would've benefited greatly if the book only had 200 pages instead of 300.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very gripping read but you have to be able to navigate the jumping between the past and present and a couple of times I did get a little lost in the story. That said it was a very absorbing and thrilling read. A little disappointed by the ending

[Kiara]

I can't even rate this because I don't even know what I was reading. I couldn't tell you who the characters were and when they spoke or what time period things were happening in. Terrible writing. Please don't waste your time

[Apurva Kale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeps you hooked till the climax! The back-and-forth between scenes was engaging and held my attention. Gave it 4 stars because a few chapters dragged on longer than needed, making the pace feel a bit slow at times.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read of this author and I enjoyed the uncovering of character in it. A lot achieved in a relatively short book.

[SammyReedAlot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A page turner, short chapters so you think just one more chapter until it's the end. Perhaps a bit wordy but still mainly enjoyable.

[Lynne Block · Rating 1 out of 5]

thumbs down

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

content warning was required, but not supplied.

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Be warned. This book is disturbing. Crimes of the worst kind commited against children.

[Carole Hawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish. I have so many books to read so if a book doesn't grip me quite quickly, it's gone!
Only recently adopted this attitude but life is too short on things you don't enjoy

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het boek had wat korter gekund. Het verhaal is op sommige vlakken namelijk erg langdradig. Anders dan dat is het prima weg te lezen.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsuspected ending and kept me reading 'till the end.. Rather dark storyline

[Andrea Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read keeps you reading until the secret is revealing right at the end of the book ...
Does switch from character to character, so need a bit of extra concentration .

[Magpie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharon 2017

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping and tense. Unexpected twists that keeps you guessing right until a very shocking end. Would recommend!

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The build up to the ending was far too long. I found myself mumbling something along the lines of "these kids better have done something utterly shocking and despicable if I'm going to read hundreds of pages of build up first". And they DID do something terrible, yet I feel unsatisfied with it, and the ending.
The chapters jumped from one characters thoughts to the next, but it wasn't smooth. Titled chapters with the character name would have been really helpful and made this book easier to read.

The front cover claims SHE WILL SHOCK YOU LIKE HAYDER. I love Hayders books and it was a piss poor person who compared this book to hers.
Yawn.
Don't bother,