The Hunting Party was a thrilling read that kept me breathless-I hope you find the same. I loved how Foley stripped away each character to reveal underlying truths: (1) We aren’t who our friends think we are (2) Just because we were pals back in the day doesn’t mean we have anything in common now (3) One should never consume too much Champagne with rifles close at hand and (4) Just as I suspected, snow stops being pretty once you’re trapped with killers. The trip began innocently enough: admiration of the stunning, if foreboding, scenery champagne in front of a crackling fire and reminiscences about the past. Two days later, on New Years Day, one of them is dead. Well I’ll tell you: Someone ends up dead. They arrive on December 30, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world. Did I tell you there’s also a serial killer loose in the highlands? And that cell-phone reception is spotty? Booze. They’re all celebrating New Year’s Eve in the snowy highlands of Scotland at an exclusive hunting lodge managed by Heather and Doug, two people faced with their own emotional baggage. Exhausted new parents Samira and Giles brought their baby along, while creepy Mark arrives with his wannabe-in-the-mix girlfriend, Emma. There’s gorgeous Miranda and her equally hot husband Julien.

The book follows a group of best friends. Well in The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley shows us what we’re missing-and how it might not be as perfect as it seems. While Miranda and Katie are childhood friends and bonded with Julien, Mark, Samira, Giles, Nick, and Bo while they were at Oxford or soon after. This year, only eight of them will go home from their New Years' party. Admit it: You want to be with those beautiful people. Ever since college, these nine friends have remained close. Something tugs at us as we scroll past these posts-envy, anger, exhaustion. Social media makes it worse because now, at any moment, we can see beautiful people doing wonderful things in gorgeous settings. We’ve all experienced FOMO-fear of missing out.

Lucy foley the hunting party