The Writing Retreat

A Novel

By: Julia Bartz

Narrated by: Gail Shalan

In this instant New York Times bestselling and “utterly addictive thriller” (Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author), a young author is invited to an exclusive writer’s retreat that soon descends into a pulse-pounding nightmare.

Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth—or suffer the same fate.

A claustrophobic and “audacious psychological thriller debut” (Publishers Weekly), The Writing Retreat expertly explores the dark side of female relationships, fame, and the desire to have our stories told.

Critic reviews

"Gail Shalan narrates this psychological suspense featuring five aspiring authors who are participating in a writing retreat held at an isolated mansion in the Adirondacks. The five attendees are all women under 30, though they seem younger. The leader of the retreat is Roza Vallo, a renowned feminist horror writer much admired by the young writers. Shalan gives Roza, who is Hungarian by birth, a voice that sometimes sounds warm and sometimes sinister. The story is told by Alex, who hopes the month-long retreat will overcome her writer's block. It does just that but in a way that is terrifying. The plot includes secret passages, underground dungeons, mind-altering drugs, odd sexual undertones, and murder. Shalan makes each writer distinctive and interesting."

Entertaining

Intriguing it was. I wanted to find out what happened to the characters. The plot and story was really good. Performance was great. I did not like the graphic sex so vividly written. I do think the story could have gone on without that but that it a personal opinion. Overall- yes, worth the credit. It was entertaining and kept my interest.

Wanted to hear every word ! Enthralling

One of those books that you can’t wait to read what happens next and how these normal loving characters are going to survive.

Too predictable

Reader helped but the book unfortunately was too predictable. The ending was not all that great; it felt like a large leading up then the ending was rushed.

it was okay

SPOILER!!!


well, where to start? this book has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time collecting dust and I had seen that the author was coming out with a new book this year, so I wanted to read this one first now the book itself wasn’t bad, but it felt very much like I read a Kate Alice Marshall book with more of a boring plot line. Not saying that the book wasn’t good. It just wasn’t a book for me. It had a lot to do with being a lesbian and finding out your sexuality and learning about yourself in essence and it had a lot of good undertones. I just don’t know if it was executed the best. The book was an interesting ending with you know the message from Rosie it just all in all was an OK book as mean, as that is, I would definitely read something else by this author, but it wasn’t something that lived up to the cover.

Devoured this in one plane ride!

I had the physical book and the audiobook while flying from Hawaii to California. I’m usually really hard on rating books, but this one deserves 5 stars. I enjoyed the small cast of characters and the twists she put in. Nobody had the same personality, even though they were all writers. I think some people get stuck because they aren’t trying to piece together the puzzle of what could happen in the end. I’ve never read a book that has me 100% obsessed the entire time. I think the author did a fabulous job and took her time to lay down what was happening without rushing through to the end or taking too long. I give it 5 stars, because this is so original and I really enjoyed it. Bravo. 👏🏻