The Fury Book Review

The Fury

by Alex Michaelides

Publisher: Celadon Books
Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery / Thriller 
Read This If You Love: Piranesi / Greek mythology/tragedies/mysteries / Classic mysteries with a modern twist

“This is a tale of murder.”

A reclusive movie star is on an isolated Greek island with her husband, best friends, son, and servants. What could possibly go wrong? Told across acts, The Fury explodes onto the page and you won’t consume it fast enough.

You know when you pick up a Michaelides book that you are in for a frightful ride. He does creepy as hell soooo well. Not to mention that his mysteries also have an unmatched and elevated intellectual approach. He is one of my favorite modern writers of mystery and horror. While most readers (and BookTok) are obsessed with The Silent Patient, I found The Maidens to be even better and didn’t think he would top that book for me. I was wrong. The Fury was SO GOOD. It hit all of my favorite notes in a book that I didn’t even know could be combined: a modern Greek mythology/tragedy retelling mashed together with a classic mystery. I was blown away and can’t recommend this book enough. If you don’t get the Greek references, that’s okay. It’s a fabulous mystery thrill ride, as well. 

There are so many winks to other pieces of literature and modern crime novels throughout the novel. Don’t get me started (or please do!) about all the Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, Aphrodite, Eros, Icarus, etc connections. I can totally geek out over that side of this novel. 

One of the other major points to give kudos for is how well the author nails the atmosphere of Greece. It was spot on. I had the immense privilege to visit years ago and I could feel those winds blowing off the page, smell the ocean, and feel the glorious sun. (Here are some photos from my trip.)

Spoiler Section

I had completely written this post and then had to come back in and talk more about the book! This section will have spoilers so proceed with caution.

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In my opinion, I felt like the entirety of The Fury could be interpreted as a modern retelling of mythology. Clearly each person is playing a part in this “play” and sets it up in a classic Greek tragedy. Michaelides foreshadows events in the mystery section of the novel via Kate playing Clytemnestra and even Lana and Leo as Aphrodite and Eros characteristics. 

In classic tragedies we often have a narrator who walks us through the story. (This concept is done brilliantly in the far more recent Piranesi if you want another great read.) The Fury is no different in that structure and leans on the trope in a way that draws in the audience. As we are guided through the acts of the play structure, the levels of mystery and tragedy builds and wraps up in the motivation, intention, and goal reveal. It also felt so appropriate to have Elliot have drawn his name from Private Lives and Elliot reminded of classic stories of being a character of chaos to control those around him. Only he gets played in the end.