Endgame

Round’s (Lake on the Mountain) exciting and suspenseful novel pays tribute to Agatha Christie in this modern spin on her classic mystery And Then There Were None. When the remaining members of the punk rock band the Ladykillers are summoned to Shark Island off the coast of Washington State by their former manager, they believe the reunion is to complete their final album, abandoned when they split acrimoniously more than 15 years earlier. Joining them on the island are former groupies, a girlfriend, a nurse, a music critic, and a real estate agent who is there to put the island up for sale. Shortly after arriving on the island, however, things start to go wrong. Their manager and host Harvey Keill fails to show up, but after they are served dinner, a video Harvey had instructed the staff to play for all the guests implicates everyone present, including the island staff, in the death of a young woman many years previous. The atmosphere quickly becomes one of distrust and fear as the guests begin to die, one by one, in mysterious ways. With strong characters related to the rock band’s past and inventive plot twists and details, Round succeeds in making the story his own while staying true to Christie’s original framework. A must read for fans of both authors. (June)