The Invite

 

Irina Shapiro's latest caught my eye, so I ordered it and finished it in one day. 

Does it kind of look like an adult YA Point Horror from the 90s to anyone else? 

Yeah, that's exactly what it's like. 

Seven college friends who are now 26 are invited to a lake house by one of their number that hasn't been seen for I think it was three years. 

The once missing girl is Lexie. She was Serena's best friend in college and Noah's girlfriend...until she dumped Noah over text and disappeared. 

Noah is a pretty straightforward character. So boring that I can't even remember his profession. After Lexie's disappearance, he ended up with Serena and they're married. Serena wants kids right away. He does not, which he mentions right before they get to the lake house. She's pissy about it but pretends to be okay with it. What he doesn't know is that she's pregnant already. 

Serena is a Raging Bitch. And she's racist. Very insecure and that turns into sheer nastiness. I hate her. She's of course very upset at Lexie's return because she's sure Noah still wants Lexie. (And he does.)

Richie is a criminal attorney, works for the DA, typical player. 

Remy is a fashion photographer, works with some high profile people, also a typical player. (Though maybe not typical because a lot of the fashion industry is gay and he's not.) 

Angelina is a nurse with a long-time thing for Richie. She's the mom friend. 

Mia is an elementary school teacher. Can't say much about her that isn't a spoiler.  

Vince is The Black Guy. Yes, this is seriously his role. He's Angelina's ex and hoping to get back with her, but the others aren't close to him at all. Serena makes some racist comments towards him and doesn't understand why he was even invited. She felt the same way when Noah invited him to their wedding. See what I mean about racist bitch? Vince is a very likeable character, his only flaw being that he's a little too moony over Angelina when she's clearly into Richie. He and Mia are the only two I actually liked. While Angelina has a black grandmother, everyone else is mayo white, so Vince feels like he's the guy added for variety like they'd do in 90s YA horror or horror movies. I'm really not sure what Shapiro was going for with him. Was she mimicking that trope? You could take him out of the entire book and it wouldn't change much. 

So friends at the lake house. Lexie doesn't show. A body turns up in the lake the next morning. Cops are called. No one trusts anyone else. And it just spirals from there. 

I enjoyed it, mostly because it really did feel like grown up Point Horror. But I'd never reread it. Hated the ending. If you liked those books in the 90s, maybe check this out, but I wouldn't spend money on it.