The Work Retreat

by J.E. Rowney

What could be worse than being stranded on an island?
Try being there with six coworkers that you hate.

Jonathan Jackson and Mark Thompson are the very definition of workplace toxicity. As their bickering and infighting threatens to destroy the company, the CEO has no alternative but to send them and their colleagues to a team-building retreat.

When the plane crashes en route, the coworkers find themselves stranded on a deserted island with only each other to rely on for survival. With tensions high and psychological demons threatening to overwhelm them, surviving the island may prove easier than surviving each other.

If you love domestic thrillers, and are looking for a book with a storyline that's not set in the usual neighbourhood, family or friendship circle, this unique and fresh thriller is for you. Think 'The Office' meets 'Lord of the Flies' with a dash of 'Lost'.

Find out what happens - add this book to your cart now.

219 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2024

About the author

Writer.

Visit my website for previews, further information.

http://www.jerowney.com/

"I always dreamed of being a writer, until I realised that I was. Then I started to write."

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

No twist, predictable plot, whiny characters, and a half a day of suspense. I didn't find anything about this book enjoyable, but it was an easy read, so I pushed through. Second book by this author, and I'm realizing that their books probably aren't my style.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Work Retreat had an interesting premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t deliver.
The story follows a group of toxic coworkers forced into a retreat that takes a disastrous turn when their plane crashes, leaving them stranded on a deserted island. While this setup had the potential for intense character dynamics and psychological tension, I found the execution predictable. As soon as the group was sent on the retreat, I already knew where the story was heading. Rather than being gripped by the plot, I felt like I was just waiting for the inevitable to play out.

The writing itself didn’t help. It was repetitive for the most part, making the short chapters feel like a bit of a slog rather than a fast-paced thriller. Despite the books being short, I found myself struggling to stay engaged due to the monotonous writing style.

While the book had the elements of a suspenseful survival story—workplace drama, psychological tension, the island—it didn’t fully capitalise on them in a way that made it compelling.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but unfortunately I could not. It’s marketed as a thriller, but if you read the genre at all, the "twist" is glaringly obvious almost immediately, which drains all the tension out of the story.
The biggest issue, however, is the writing mechanics. The narrative constantly switches how it refers to characters—sometimes by first name, sometimes by last name, and sometimes by their full name—with absolutely no rhyme or reason. It made keeping track of who was who a chore and completely pulled me out of the story.
To make matters worse, the characters are uniformly unlikable. They spend the entire book whining and it got annoying to ‘listen to’. The plot is also riddled with illogical survival choices. At one point, a character suggests using a condom to carry water... despite the fact that they have perfectly functional water bottles right there.
Between the confusing name-swapping, the whiny cast, and the nonsensical plot points, this was a massive miss for me.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book based on the premise. I tried, but 75% in I stopped reading due to the lack of real depth of plot/character development. There were too many characters and not enough detail about them to like or try to get to know. Some of the plot actually made me annoyed, especially the scene involving a tampon. For the rest of the plot, it was almost as if the author put all things related to a plane crash on a remote island on slips of paper in a jar and tried to use them in every chapter. After reading other people's reviews, I'm glad I didn't spend the time to finish it.

[Ali O · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Work Retreat by J.E. Rowney
Narrated by Duncan Galloway
🌟🌟🌟🌟(3.5 rounded up)

This is an entertaining book, but I was expecting more thrills and twists. I feel like it started off with a great mystery, but the direction it took, didn’t work as well for me.

Being stranded on an island with co-workers sounds like a pretty rough mixture to me! That’s what happened to 7 co-workers who are on route to a team building retreat.

I listened to the audio and the narrator did a very good job!! It’s a shorter story and I zipped through it quickly.
I still enjoyed the read, just didn’t love it.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was fairly easy to figure out, the supposed "twist" at the end that of course the whole "plane crash" was a set up and they were put in the extreme situation to try to build a team. It was obvious to me what happened and couldn't believe these supposed intelligent adults didn't figure it out. Regardless, they were a nasty group of people to be around so I give this a low rating. Nothing much redeemable here!

[Tobey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had marked this as To Read because the premise sounded excellent and plus it took place on an island so satisfied a prompt for me. But in the end, I just didn't love it and found it just okay. I understood the gist of where the story was going and why and how it affected the characters but admittedly, I found them all a bit annoying. I also didn't love the going back and forth between first and last names that the author was doing.

[Jeff Bradford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first reading from this author. It is a very well written story about an office staff that can't get along or work as a team. They are sent on a retreat to learn the advantage of working together and not be selfish. The plane goes down on a secluded island and they are stranded and have to learn to work together to survive.
I gave this book a 3 because for me it lacked suspense and twist with a predictable ending, However I will read more by J.E.Rowney

[Sophie Bristow Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read but packed with action and suspense. After bickering in the workplace an office team is sent to a retreat to learn how to get on and work as one.
What happens next is a surprise to them all. Will they learn how to cooperate with one another or is there no hope?
A good thought provoking read.

[Samantha Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very simple and basic. I was 87% through the book before I felt any tinge of excitement. The writing was good but the story was bland and could have used more to keep me invested. I do not like to DNF a book so I pushed through but don’t know about JE Rowney, I will give her another shot.

[Bri Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

good, but predictable

This book was good, but I did find it to be a bit predictable. There were some parts of the book that I felt could’ve been given more detail - like when a character had a big realization.
My biggest complaint though is that the characters are all alternately called by their first or last name, which got confusing.

[Tristan Guyette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is good! But the characters were unlikeable and childish, and we weren’t given any time to like them as readers, let alone tell them apart. And the payoff just isn’t there.

[Vanessa Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

[Marie Wikle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book!

[Casey Mccraith washburn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book at all , yikes

[Natalie Rodriguez · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give it 0 stars, I would. Terrible writing, zero conflict or climax, bland characters. Don’t waste your time

[Maria Chambi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating, clever and interesting concept! This is a quick read that really gets you thinking. I did feel that the descriptive elements of the book were a bit over the top, and I noticed certain words were used repeatedly (e.g. 'relentless').

[Kimberley H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dysfunctional and toxic work environment leads to a loss to the company and a work retreat to get things together as a team. Instantly engaging and adventurous with many lessons to contemplate along the way. I could imagine a scenario with my own work team, as we do statewide employee retreat. Fortunately we work well together. Loved this book!

[Rebecca Morris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Misspelled words, and ending with no real answer, and they constantly changed the names of the characters from first name to last name so it was hard to keep up who was who.

[Rachel Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this one, I did figure out the plot about half way through, but it was still a good story and still suspenseful. It a story about a group of employees that just don’t get along at all and they go on a retreat to learn to work together. It’s crazy what happens after they leave.