Well what a plot twist!

The premise of the story is really interesting and definitely set up a red herring of a read for me.
Maggie is an elderly woman, broken hearted with grief over the loss of her husband and travelling the world due to loneliness when Covid lockdown hits and she finds herself a haven at the Royal Karnak hotel in Luxor, Egypt.

Maggie has been staying at the hotel for a while and befriended several other long-term guests and often likes to meddle, interfering in the lives of other guests when she isn't asked. Watching the guests and making her own interpretations of their musings and lives. I initially thought this would be a "grey" cosy crime / mystery story and how wrong I was!

One day a new family arrives at the hotel and unknowingly the young boy with the family becomes the centre of Maggie's new focus. What follows is a tale of revenge, suspicious minds, one upmanship, thrills and chills - deliciously evil set against a backdrop of a faded grandeur hotel.

I loved the relationships that Maggie had with the hotel staff, the guests and the plot twists that kept coming - just when you thought you knew what was happening another twist would change everything, highly recommended

Maggie hides a lot and does a lot and leaves out a lot and says a lot. We have to nitpick our way through what she tells us and what we see happening and make up the story as we go along as leaving it to Maggie would not do.

Unfortunately, Maggie has the desire to meddle, to make right for what to here is wrong. It is only at the end that we see why this is but then it was rather too late for me. When the denouement came, I had rather lost my empathy and care.

An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this, it is something a bit different. Maggie seems so ordinary at first although we get hints of issues in her past. She is a long term guest in a hotel in Luxor and everything seems settled and normal until Tess and her 8 year old son Oliver arrive, then the havoc begins.

Just as with Maggie, Oliver seems quite ordinary at first but as time goes on and he and Maggie cross swords, another side of him emerges to horrifying, and it must be said, oddly amusing effect. Again, as with Maggie, there are hints of a dark past for Oliver.

Maggie had what she saw as a perfect relationship with her late husband. She mourns his death and also the death of their only child Julia and yet, Maggie seems confused about when her daughter died. Despite their age difference, Maggie and Oliver are drawn to each other and Maggie wonders if she could be a sort of surrogate grandma to him. No spoilers, read it if you want to find out how things go for them.

I must admit that despite her secrets, I felt for Maggie rather than Oliver. One small quibble for me is that perhaps Oliver should have been a little bit older than 8. Would any child be so precocious at 8? And perhaps Maggie should have been a little younger. She does have her health issues but generally she is very spry indeed for a person in their 80s.

The story zips along and the reader gets a real feel for Egypt, the heat, the sunsets, the hotel. The supporting cast is well drawn and everyone plays their part in the drama and excitement. I liked the nice touch that Maggie's skin condition and bruises come to match what we later learn about Julia.

All in all, a very good read. The ending is maybe a bit abrupt and certainly surprised me but it doesn't take away from the book.

Maggie isn't your clichéd sweet little old lady. At eighty-one, she's an instigator of chaos, a meddler, and someone who's not afraid to use unorthodox methodology to get what she needs.
Holed up in a hotel in Luxor during the COVID lockdown, she's just used her tricks to break up a toxic marriage. But there's someone else who's equally dark who's about to prove that he's Maggie's match. An eight-year-old boy called Otto.
I loved the twisty, suspense. Books about older people forming friendships (or, in this case, a deadly clash) with children can be twee. Not this one. It's dripping with sociopathic malice. There's nothing here that's derivative or patronising. Pure joy.
This gave me love child of Alan Bennet and Patricia Highsmith. Maggie could easily be Mr Ripley's granny.

Bollen has produced some truly hypnotic prose here. I found myself lingering over phrases and passages in this evocative novel

Well that was one strange, dark and deadly story!

If you’re a fan of unreliable narrators then Maggie is the 81 year old for you! Caught in a “tit for tat” cat and mouse esque chase with an 8 year old boy in the same hotel, things spiral out of control between them.

What is true, who knows!

I did find the middle dragged a little and felt a little repetitive. But those last couple of chapters were fantastic and that ending….mind blown!

An eightysomething woman and an eight-year-old boy going hammer and tongs at each other in a battle to the death amid the faded splendour of an Egyptian hotel sounds like an unlikely premise for a thriller. But, my goodness, what a thriller this turned out to be.
First, we meet Maggie Burkhardt, an elderly widow who left Wisconsin six years earlier after the death of her husband and daughter. After fleeing a hotel in Switzerland under dubious circumstances. Maggie has ensconced herself in a Luxor hotel, ingratiating herself to staff and indulging in her favourite pastime: meddling. She sees it as her mission to “save” people, even if it involves a bit of inconvenient murder.
Enter Tess, a fellow American, with her decidedly strange little boy, Otto. Almost instantly Maggie and Otto become adversaries in a cat-and-mouse game in which the stakes get ever higher and more deadly. No prizes for guessing that Maggie is the most unreliable of narrators, and she quickly begins to unravel physically and mentally as the deranged war between her and the boy intensifies. Decadent, devious and deliciously twisty – you’ll find this hard to put down.

Unfortunately this is a did not finish for me. I struggled with the style of writing from the start but kept going as wanted to give it a good try. Sadly by around halfway through I had to stop, as soon as a reference to an 8yr old boy having an erection and then the slaughtering of animals I had to stop, not for me at all.
I do appreciate how the writer set the scene in beautiful Egypt but I think maybe I'm just not intelligent or cultured enough to enjoy it as I found it far too descriptive. I noted over 100 word just describing a path!
I will give 2 stars due to the fact this maybe a "me" issue rather than the book but I wish this had trigger warnings. I was hoping for the comedic side of "white lotus" but it was just too nasty for me.
Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy

Raced through this battle of wits between an elderly woman and a small child, both deliciously nasty pieces of work, in an old fashioned hotel in Egypt during Covid. The war of escalating cruelties they inflict on one another come to a very dark crescendo. Until that point, Havoc has a midcentury feel to it that I really enjoyed and I spent a delightful afternoon with this on the sofa.

What an insane read! I loved the setting in the Egyptian old-style Nile hotel. The increasingly chaotic doings of Maggie and Otto make you stay on the edge of your seat.

A wicked battle of wits between an 81-year-old lady and an 8-year-old boy.
The long-term residents of the Royal Karnak Palace Hotel in Luxor are languishing in the blistering Egyptian heat at the end of the Covid pandemic. A barely concealed and escalating battle of tit-for-tat has erupted between those two guests.
This was my second Egypt book in a row (Nephthys by R M Driscoll the other) with the atmosphere caught brilliantly well. However, this faded grandeur story is dripping with malevolence, with allegiances forged and broken, with memories true and imagined. Fabulously dark.

This darkly atmospheric psychological suspense novel takes readers to the faded luxury of the Royal Karnak Hotel on the banks of the Nile. At its heart is 81-year-old widow Maggie Burkhardt, a compulsive meddler whose well-intentioned interference in others’ lives often veers into chaos. Maggie has left a trail of trouble behind her, most recently at a Swiss hotel where her actions made a quick departure a necessity. Now, she’s settled at the Royal Karnak, seeking solace, companionship, and perhaps a second chance at a peaceful existence.

Maggie is far from your typical sweet old lady. Although her charming façade wins over staff and fellow long-term guests, she is an unreliable narrator with questionable motives. Her grief for her late husband, Peter, is palpable, but her intrusive tendencies suggest she might be driven by more than just loneliness.

Her latest target is Tess, a young, troubled mother, and her mischievous eight-year-old son, Otto, who have recently arrived at the hotel. Initially, Maggie’s intentions seem benign as she welcomes the pair into her world, offering advice and support. But Otto quickly proves to be more than Maggie can handle. In this wiry, sharp-tongued child, Maggie may have finally met her match.

What follows is a battle of wits and wills between the octogenarian and the precocious boy. The novel twists and turns as Maggie’s fixation on Tess and Otto spirals out of control, with the lines between victim and villain becoming increasingly blurred. The tension builds to a shocking climax, leaving readers questioning just how far Maggie—or Otto—will go to protect their agendas.

This is a deliciously twisted story, perfect for fans of unreliable narrators and morally ambiguous characters. With its sharp prose and unsettling atmosphere, it masterfully explores themes of grief, loneliness, and the dangerous allure of control. The clash between age and youth has never been so vicious—or so compelling.

If you enjoy suspenseful, character-driven tales with a dark edge, this novel is a must-read. It’s a wild, unforgettable ride that will leave you questioning who the real villain truly is.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Nosy and interfering Maggie Burkhardt has a nasty habit of getting involved in other people's business. A habit that caused her to have to flee a stay in the Alps and relocate to the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt. But it appears she hasn't learnt her lesson and this time she seems to have met her match in eight year old Otto.

I went into this book not knowing much and what I found was a very strange, White Lotus-esque set up with a grand but crumbling hotel filled with demanding guests and the put upon staff forced to provide service to them.

It was, quite frankly, a pretty insane and wild ride of a read and one that unfortunately I didn't enjoy as much as I hoped I would. There's a trend it feels at the moment to pack your cast with wholly unlikeable characters and that's what I found here. It's a trope I don't love as whilst I don't mind bad behaviour, I struggle to enjoy a read when I dislike the main character(s) as much as I did here.

If that's something that you enjoy and you like strange and twisting thrillers then I would recommend this to you because whilst it didn't hit the mark for me I think it's more to do with my reading tastes than anything related to the writing for this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for this digital review copy of "HAVOC" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Maggie Burkhardt, 81, formerly of Winconsin, is living at the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt, after losing her husband and daughter. She spends her days avoiding the sun, chatting with other long-term residents and the hotel manager, and 'fixing' the lives of unhappy hotel guests. However, Maggie is not the kindly old woman that people perceive. It takes 8-year-old Otto to pierce her façade. And Otto is no innocent child himself — a nastier little shit would be hard to find. The two end up in a bitter fight for survival where there are no limits to what they will do to outwit and bring down the other. Even if it comes to murder. As the heat rises, Maggie and Otto spiral and havoc ensues.

It's all very White Lotus-y, with the exotic hotel setting, feckless rich people idling away their time, demanding entitled guests and put-upon staff.

Wicked and delicious and nauseating.

Havoc is my first novel by Christopher Bollen and I'm delighted to discover this author. He reminds me of Lionel Shriver (an author I loved before finding out more about her political views. Ugh. Won't be buying her books anymore...), for his incisive satire and wit. Now I'll just buy his books instead.

Thanks to the publisher, @harpercollins.bsky.social, author and Netgalley for the ARC. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.

Christopher Bollen's Havoc is narrated by Maggie, an elderly widow from the United States who has become a long-stay guest at a grand if ageing hotel in Luxor during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reminiscing about her perfect life with her late husband Peter, Maggie believes it is her mission to fix other people’s unhappy relationships – even if that means planting evidence of fictional affairs – and alludes to the trouble this has led her into in the past. And despite her glowing memories of daughter Julia, something bad clearly went down between the two of them. When smart eight-year-old Otto arrives at the hotel with his mother, however, Maggie realises her reign of manipulation might be coming to an end. This is the first Bollen I've read, so I wasn't sure what to expect. He's clearly an incredibly skilled writer, able to evoke the heat of the overgrown hotel gardens and the Valley of the Kings, draw clever pen-portraits of the other hotel guests, and immerse us in Maggie’s unreliable narration. The fact that I could only manage about a chapter at a time while reading the first half of the novel is testament to his talent. Somehow, I was so invested in Maggie, even though she starts off weird and unpleasant and gets worse, and I desperately wanted her schemes to come off. Bollen really ratchets up the tension in small social interactions, and I felt like I wanted to read this through my fingers. In contrast, I read the last 40% practically in one sitting - as Maggie's plots become crimes, I found it easier to distance myself a bit and enjoy the way the plot unfolds, satisfyingly pulling together what may have seemed like extraneous details in the earlier chapters. A superior literary psychodrama, and my only serious criticism would be that the ending is too quick - I'd like to have had a glimpse at the aftermath, perhaps from another character's point of view, and definitely SPOILER some comeuppance for Otto.

I genuinely could not put this book down. I had to stay up til half one in the morning because I had to know what happened!

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This book follows Maggie. Maggie is 81 years old and has been living for a while at a hotel in Egypt after leaving Switzerland in unfortunate circumstances. Maggie likes to meddle. She likes to fix people’s lives. But she meets her match in eight year old Otto who spies her meddling and starts making demands. A feud escalates growing more and more sinister and intense between these two disturbing individuals.

This book was so tense and stressful! An absolute page turner. I was completely obsessed. I couldn’t believe how unhinged this got as it escalated and the things they did to each other. I was so terrified as to what would happen but I couldn’t stop reading.

The writing was so brilliant and intense. It was such a clever idea to have a battle between an eight and an eighty one year old. Everyone else around them underestimates them and that allows them to enact absolute carnage.

I was really impressed with this book, it was so well-written, so fascinating.

A pair of decidedly unlikeable characters - a precocious 8 year old and the narrator, an interfering dodgy 81 year old - play a cat and mouse game in a faded luxury Luxor Hotel in this unique but disturbing thriller.
Shades of White Lotus - exotic location, hotel guests behaving badly - but taken to some strange extremes..
I don't mind people behaving badly but always find it hard to engage when I dislike (and distrust) the main character this much.

DNF 52% Apologies, but I cannot continue torturing myself with this boring stuff. Let mi start with the COVID – please stop put it in books for no good reason, we lived through it, we don’t need to read about it, it dates the book and it doesn’t say anything we didn’t know already. The main character was so annoying and uncharismatic, sticking her nose in other people’s business, being the savior. I get there was an intention to expose her at the end but I cannot justify the dull and trivial interactions she had. There was nothing remotely intelligent in her methods so far and I highly disliked her. The kid was more entertaining, but still, big disappointment with this one. I’m giving it 2 stars now, because the premise is interesting and the setting at the hotel was atmospheric, although I would never go to a vacation in the desert.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.

I started reading HAVOC with knowing very little about what it entailed. This made my reading experience a lot more enjoyable as I had no idea what was coming next and could not predict what was going to happen. It was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun thriller.

Maggie is an elderly American lady who, after losing her husband has decamped to a series of hotels. After a sojourn in Switzerland, she has now ended up in Egypt, in a hotel in Luxor. She likes the staff and the other guests, the comfort of the new routines. This is set just after the first lockdown, when travel is happening but things are not yet back to normal. Or what passes for normal in Maggie's life, because, well, she has secrets... She may look elderly and innocent, but she likes to interfere and sometimes that interfering in other peoples lives has consequences.

When a mother arrives at the hotel, with her young son, Maggie senses that all is not what it should be. She is at her best when she has people with problems around her and can arrange their lives. As well as the elderly appearing to be unthreatening, children also have that appearance. Young Otto though may well be more than able to both deter Maggie's machinations and, in fact, surpass them.

I really enjoyed 'Orient' by Christopher Bollen and was pleased to read his latest worl. This is a dark read, a cat and mouse attempt by two people who are often ignored by society - the elderly and the young - to outwit and outmaneuver each other. On the one side, there is Maggie, who is desperate to maintain her new life and on the other there is Otto, who is very much her equal at manipulation. This is a great read I recommend both the author and the novel highly.

Absolutely brilliant and insane. I went in knowing very little about the book and I’m glad because it made it even more of a wild ride. The building of tension as the protagonist unravels was excellent and the finale did not disappoint!

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC!