Those words by Mark Twain struck me as soon as I read a little about Louise Minchin's debut novel.
Isolation Island - the upcoming title - is about a new survival reality show which sees ten celebrities grouped together on a Scottish island to contend for the grand prize which is unique to each individual.
Only, it doesn't go to plan.
The main character - Lauren - is an investigative reporter t who has signed up for the show for two personal reasons: to claim her dream prize of a primetime television series and to also unmask a sinister A-List celebrity who also happens to be one of the ten contestants on the island.
To avoid giving away spoilers, the programme is halted just when the contest is picking up steam. And that's when the real competition to survive begins.
For a debut novel, I thought Isolation Island was brill.
As with any mystery-themed story, I spent a lot of time thinking to myself 'ah, it's got to be them' only to fall way off when it becomes clear that those ideas are - for want of a better term - red herrings.
So, yes, Isolation Island was an enjoyable read with a cavalcade of characters with various backgrounds you truly would expect to find on a reality series. Albeit without the murderous traits.
Maybe?
I started off this review by quoting Mark Twain because Louise Minchin was one of the contestants on the twenty-first season of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. That edition of the series was one of the two to take place in a Welsh castle due to the pandemic. Considering Isolation Island's story is headquartered mainly inside a Scottish monastery, it made me ponder whether Minchin's idea for the story spawned from her time in Gwrych Castle for the ITV series.
If anyone is qualified enough to set her fiction inside the world of Reality TV - with the main character being a journalist - then Louise Minchin ticks the box. Just ask Mark Twain.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Thank you to Net Galley and Headline Books for the advance reading copy
Isolation Island by Louise Minchin is scheduled to be published on Thursday 12 September. You can order a copy by following the link below.
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