The Rip by Holly Craig

Publisher's Synopsis

Luxury villas on hot white sand, views for miles over turquoise water.

Flawless hostess Penny gathers guests to an island for her husband’s birthday celebrations. But she soon regrets inviting self-obsessed Eloise…When a child vanishes on the night of the party, their perfect island weekend is ripped apart.

Even paradise harbours murky secrets…

Has he been taken? Has he drowned? In the panic to find any trace, Penny casts about for someone to blame—even if that person is her own daughter, Rosie.

Even clear waters descend to pitch black…

But it’s not the first time Rosie’s been attacked by her mother. And it’s not the first time she’s turned to Eloise for support. As the sun beats down and dark secrets rise to the surface, can they find the missing child before it’s too late—or will this sudden disappearance endanger them all?

…and someone among them knows the whole shocking truth.

My Review of The Rip by Holly Craig

Holly Craig’s The Rip is an examination of an almighty clash of strong personalities. Although it’s billed as a missing child case, there’s a definite sense that this is merely an aside, with the real focus the head to head battle between Eloise and Penny.

The holiday to Rottnest Island came at the invitation of Penny who was using the vacation as an opportunity to celebrate her husband Kav’s birthday. Scott and Eloise are part of the party but it’s Scott, best mates with Kav, who’s the real invitee. Eloise is only there because she’s Scott’s wife and her huge internet following, cosmetically enhanced body and perfect family are all fuel to Penny’s hatred of her.

For her part, Penny is an unreasonable bitch who is quick to find fault with others while excusing her own oversights as completely justifiable - and how dare anyone suggest otherwise. She’s hiding devastating events from her past and resents her 16 year old daughter Rosie for something that happened many years before. Her shining light is her adopted son, 6 year old Edmund, who was taken from his drug addicted parents as a baby.

During the birthday celebrations while the parents are partying at the nearby hotel, one of the children goes missing from the holiday cabin in which they were all staying at. Nobody remembers seeing or hearing anything and, inevitably, it’s Rosie who cops the blame for the disappearance. Eloise also finds herself in the crosshairs with all kinds of blame and accusations flying left and right.

The Rip is set on Rottnest Island in Western Australia, a beautiful and very picturesque part of the world from all reports. It’s a pity there was very little in the way of description of the surrounding landscape. This could have been set at any seaside town in Australia for all the attention that was paid to pointing out any notable features that might transport me to the place. I felt that was a missed opportunity.

Much of the story centres on the emotional outbursts of the main characters as they voice their dislike and make outlandish judgements on one another. Much of it’s fuelled by a deep fear of being found out with a definite impression that both Penny and Eloise are in an elaborate process of faking it to impress their peers. In a smaller dose, I think I’d be okay with it, but the sniping carried on for way too long, overshadowing areas of the story that would have made it more enjoyable. (More lavish descriptions of Rottnest Island, for example).

While I didn’t particularly like Penny or Eloise, once the focus turned more fully to the disappearance and subsequent, the plot became more engaging. It’s a shame it made up such a short proportion of the book. If a greater portion to the novel were devoted to the tension and drama that was automatically built up here, I’m sure I would have found it far more enjoyable.