Havoc tells the story of Maggie, an octogenarian American lady who is staying long term in a hotel in Luxor, Egypt at the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic. She muscles her way into the lives of the other guests staying there, befriending her fellow long-termers and interfering with the more transient guests. She alludes to saving people from their predicaments, which we don't hear much about, other than she had to leave a hotel in Switzerland somewhat abruptly, and is constantly looking analysing the marriages and family lives of those she sees. One day, a young boy and his mother arrive at the hotel, and she begins to try and poison them against the boy's absent father.
The story that follows is at times charming cosy retirement tale, at others psychological thriller as she starts to see a dark side to the boy and they begin an unspoken game of oneupmanship that gets out of control.
While there is a lot of the book where not a lot happens, the pace is surprisingly not an issue as Maggie's routine as the matriarch of the hotel and her interactions with the guests and the staff is really quite enjoyable.
My only gripe with the book (and the narration) are of the family from Manchester who are pretty poorly represented, both using the word "soda" to refer to a can of fizzy drink and also the accents used in the audiobook, sounding more like Bertie Wooster and Miss Marple taking their daughter Princess Diana on holiday and not at all like people from Manchester, unless that is an area of Chelsea I haven't heard of.
On the subject of accents, the narrator puts on an old woman voice when speaking out loud, but not for her internal monologue - as the book is told from her PoV, this was initially jarring, but I soon realised as Maggie's sanity started to fray that it was to differentiate between her internal monologue and her outward persona.
The book suddenly kicks up a gear in the final quarter leading to a shocking conclusion of near-happiness stolen and replaced with confused misery.
I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story kept me guessing who truly is behind all the horrible things happening at the Royal Karnak. It was refreshing to have a protagonist who is an elderly woman, Maggie is well into her 80s and this adds a level of doubt to her recollections and interpretations of events. But is was only after I googled the medication that she was prescribed that there was then the extra layer of doubt and evaluation of how much could I trust what she was telling me.

I am not sure I would have picked this up as a book but thoroughly enjoyed listening to this story and being taken along on the ride.

I looooooooooved Havoc! I can't remember the last time I read a book that matched its title so well be cause this book was absolute chaos. In the best way. I loved how the lady and the young boy kept pushing each other and the story got wilder and wilder. Completely unrealistic obviously but it's the kind of book that works best when you suspend reality. So much fun!!! surprisingly dark too which added to it.

Wow! I really loved this dark story full of twists and characters that you either like or loathe.
Maggie Burkhardt is an 81 year old widower from America, not only has she lost her husband but she also has lost her daughter. Her husband left her well off and she has used her money to travel the world and stay for indeterminate periods at hotels. We find Maggie in a hotel in Luxor, Egypt (a country at the time accepting visitors during the covid years) where she has settled into a routine with the staff and at first all seems well. She has little chores that the staff indulge her in like ringing the bell to watch the sun set. Her secluded little world starts to unravel with the arrival of 8 Year old Otto and his mother, from Paris. He is soon taking over the evening bell ringing and Maggie starts trying to find ways to make Otto and his mother leave. Otto however is a cunning and fearless adversary and the two are soon locked in a game of tit for tat with the stakes getting deadlier.
As the story unfolds and we get to know Maggie a bit better, then the twists start happening. If you have been to Egypt (I haven’t) I am sure you will find the descriptions of the sights and the markets and the hawkers very apt, and as we get to see more inside Maggie’s head you just might change your opinion of her.
A compelling read

#Havoc. #NetGalley

If you are interested in this book, I think it is best to go in blind…

I don’t read thrillers often but this one intrigued me! I love an unreliable narrator and the setting of a hotel in Egypt was perfect. It was a fun suspenseful read that was unhinged, unpredictable, and weird.

If you like thrillers I think you should definitely give this one a go. It isn’t one of my favourite books, thrillers rarely are, but it was an enjoyable read.

What have I just listened to? Wowzer! I could not put this down. Set in the sun-baked tourist destination of Luxor, Egypt, in a once-luxurious but now down-at-heel hotel, this tale is full of wonderful, often enigmatic, characters.
An elderly American, Maggie, has found her forever home in the Royal Karnak Hotel during Covid. Her haven is threatened however with the arrival of precocious eight-year-old Otto, who becomes her nemesis.
What follows is a riotous adventure of revenge and irritation, which soon starts to become particularly nasty. The tale is cleverly told: crazy, confusing, sad, tender and ultimately horrifying. I loved it. To begin with I didn’t enjoy the narrator (I am definitely in the minority here judging by other reviews), but her voice did grow on me. It did cost the audiobook one star for me, however. A good, surprising listen, but one which may irritate readers who like a cut-and-dried conclusion, and reliable narrators. For the rest, this is highly recommended - enjoy the ride!

This book started off a bit slow for me but does pick up and ended up being a very entertaining novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun time! Set in Egypt during the pandemic, we follow an elderly woman staying indefinitely at a luxury hotel. She has a habit of meddling in people's lives, and her (un)helpful ways soon stir up trouble. To ensure she can continue staying at the hotel she wants to call home, she must come up with a clever plan.

This book was not what I expected. While I did notice some hints dropped by the author here and there, I was definitely surprised by the novel’s twists and turns. Without giving too much away, this is not your standard crime novel. The setting is, of course, a highlight. While the Egyptian backdrop is relevant to the plot, don’t expect anything like Pharaoh’s curses or more than a few ancient tombs.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I thought I might be put off by the pandemic setting (or the eight-year-old antagonist), but it all came together. I’d recommend Havoc for anyone looking for a fun time.

The audio format worked really well for this novel. It was easy to follow, and the narrator’s voice perfectly matched the book's vibe. She altered her voice for the main character, making her sound like a very old woman. Without giving too much away, this choice definitely enhanced the overall experience, especially by the end when certain revelations come to light.

The pacing was spot on, and the narration complemented the story beautifully.

I’m not sure how to describe this book, other than disturbing on a lot of levels. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Could not follow the story properly, might be a me issue. I think overall it was an interesting book but did not hit me as much as I wa hoping based on other reviews.

This is a compelling story based in a hotel in Cairo during the pandemic. The protagonist is Maggie, an elderly American widow spending her final years living long-term in hotels. She left her previous hotel in Switzerland under mysterious circumstances and with limited options available to her has found herself in Egypt, as one of a small number of guests in an old fashioned hotel of faded grandeur occupied by a few long term guests like herself. Unfortunately, Maggie has a habit of meddling in the lives of other guests, often with dire consequences for them, but in the belief of a greater good. Unfortunately for her, a new guest at the hotel, a precocious young boy called Otto, who has arrived from Paris with his mother, has picked up in this and threatens to reveal her secrets, unleashing a cat and mouse battle of wits between the two of them, resulting in a trail of destruction and chaos. Written from Maggie’s viewpoint, it becomes clear that she is an unreliable narrator from early on in the book and this is exacerbated when Otto substitutes her anti-psychotic medication with vitamins. Otto himself is a truly scary and sinister little boy.

Beautifully written and expertly narrated, this was a a great audiobook to listen to. Thank you NetGalley, Christopher Bollen and Harper Collins audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this story.

After finishing this book I sat on the floor and stared into oblivion for a good 15 minutes (but like in a good way). WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THIS

Never in my life did I think an 81 year old woman having beef with an 8 year old could be a good psychological
thriller but here we are.

Both Maggie and Otto were very unlikeable characters and yet It kept me entertained. The book starts of slow but then it just keeps getting more and more insane. At times I wanted to throw hand at Maggie and other times I was rooting for her because Otto really was an annoying little shit. I went into this book completely blind, having received an arc and boyyyy did I not expect this. AND THAT ENDING. JAIL.

Anyways read this book people, I loved it. But if you do, just know you’re in for a wild ride 😉

With thanks of the author, publishers HarperCollins UK Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The blurb for this one really caught my eye, and overall it didn’t disappoint. The idea of pitting an 81 year-old woman against an 8-year old boy in a game of life and death was certainly original, and the author delivered on it for the most part. However, the ending left too many unanswered questions to my mind, which is always a disappointment for me.

Maggie herself started off as a character that I had a lot of sympathy for, especially when Otto apparently started picking on her. However, as the plot unfolded, her character got a lot darker, and by the end the back and forth between the two of them got a little crazy!

Special shout out to Maggi-Med Reed who was outstanding as the narrator.

Overall, this was quite a fun audiobook to listen to, but again the open-ended nature of the finish left me hanging a little.

I am so glad I decided to pick up this book as I’d never have guessed what it would be like! A psychological suspense like no others, with unexpected characters and even more unexpected events!

Everyone loves a grandma right? And everyone loves Maggie at the Royal Karnak hotel in Egypt, where she escaped not just from the pandemic like many others, but from a much more thorny situation. And because of her impulses, she starts again meddling into the lives of some of the hotel guests, not realising that when she starts engaging with Tess and her son Otto, it will probably be her downfall.

I never read anything like this book, not only for the very opposite main characters, an octogenarian and an 8-year old boy, but also for the turn of events and the abrupt ending which hits the reader like a slap in the face!
I very much enjoyed it throughout, and I couldn’t wait to get to it every time I could. This is mostly due to the narrator Maggy-Med Reed, who captured Maggie's nasty soul so perfectly!
I found the skin condition Maggie suffers from, a light homage to The Picture of Dorian Grey, becoming worse as her thirst for revenge becomes stronger and eviler.

I must admit that I was shocked by the abrupt ending, and I expected a bit more, but I also understand that it is probably the perfect way to end it, as it leaves the reader with so many questions, so that this story retains its place in the brain long after the last page.

If you like psychological suspense full of revenge and secret plotting, with characters you wouldn't expect, I suggest this read!

Thanks to the author, HarperCollins Audio, The Borough Press and NetGalley for an audiobook and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the audiobook ARC.

First of all, wtf did I just listen to? 😂

81 year old Maggie has left it all behind. After the death of her husband Peter and the tragic loss of her daughter Julia, she fled her home in Wisconsin and has spent the last five years travelling and living in the world’s luxury hotels. Now she has now find one where she wants to stay, the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor. She had to leave a hotel in Switzerland due to ominous circumstances before this so she is running from her past.

She is nosey and likes to meddle and "fix" people's lives.
When she sees Tess and her 8 year old boy Otto she wants to put herself in their lives. Little does she know that Otto will be her biggest rival and bring everything she has been trying so hard to keep going to a tense stand still.

The conflict between the old and the young in this cat and mouse trope is brilliant.

This book was really good and hearing the sanity start to falter in our main character is well writen.
The end seemed quite abrupt but otherwise this was a good psychological thriller.

Slow-going with lots of repeated explanations. I got bored and DNF at 30%. It was another poor attempt by a male author to narrate the long, eventful life of an elderly lady. Sometimes I think they just don’t get the emotions right.

Maggie(81) has had it all & is now in search of peace as the final years of her life come to pass. Finding a new home at the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor (Egypt), she is finally settling in. Her stay would have been more peaceful, had she been a little less nosy 7 manipulative towards the situations & humans around her. But she finally finds a competitive match in an 8-year-old boy & the two seem to be spiralling down in an entangle of death and delusion, creating havoc at the hotel.

The best thing about this book was its writing style. The descriptions and the narration made me immerse myself all in! Maggie's character is so strong, I felt everything she felt (the anger, the exasperation, the confusion & even the tiredness of climbing those stairs). Now I did feel the story dragged a bit in the middle, but the above 2 things kept me going.

Towards the final moments of the story, the incidents escalate next level, grabbing the reader's attention to an end you won't picture coming. It was sudden, unpredictable & absolutely shocking!
P.S. The covid lockdown angle addition worked so well with the plot.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins UK Audio and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review

Oh the dangers of meddling...

This was a fun ride, the beginning was slow but once things started moving I did not want to put the book down. 
Maggie is one devious lady and Christopher Bollen fully explores her motivations and why she has this impluse to 'help' and her beef with Otto was utterly entertaining. This book shows that Maggie and Otto are two sides of the same coin. 
Maggi-Med Reed as the narrator was incredible and really enhanced the reading experience for me. The ending was just Wow.

This story follows a new trend of fiction, particularly thriller/crime fiction, with an elderly protagonist.
We follow Maggie Burkhardt at the Royal Karnak, someone who takes it upon herself to meddle in the lives of other hotel guests in the aim of freeing them from their doomed relationships. We are introduced to Otto, a boy who finds out about her secret role.
Maggie is the protagonist and through her narration we come to dislike and despise Otto, as we watch the escalation in their revenges it reaches a climax and lives are ruined. Maggie is an unreliable narrator as we find out, but I am someone who dislikes abrupt and ambiguous endings so I wish it was more clearer. Ultimately Otto is evil and I hate him, also his mother and Zacks constant excuse and inability to see ottos disturbing behaviour was infuriating.
I enjoyed the story but it did take a while to get into the story and there were some parts where it did drag and nothing much happened, but it was interesting and I liked it.

Also this book is set during the COVID lockdown so there is a lot of mention of it which was jarring, it's not something I want to read so be warned.
4.5⭐/5

What a curious tale! It had me totally engrossed; such an unusual premise and Maggi is a highly entertaining character. Devious in the extreme, manipulative and very original. I really enjoyed her warped perspective and desire to ‘help’ those she considered in need. She’s acutely observant and I enjoyed her asides whilst in Luxor; just small details she noticed about people and their behaviour which informed her views and conclusions. The first part is a slow burn as we get to know Maggi and her backstory. The death of her husband and daughter and a dark past hinted at. Why did she flee the USA? What’s brought her to Luxor. Then she rocks up against an 8 year old Otto. Superb. What a pair!

This is a truly original story. I loved the narration throughout which felt very much like Maggi’s ‘voice’ and I’ve polished this off in a couple of glorious sittings. It’s quirky, amusing, dark and very unusual, but I lived it for being different.