Sun Trap by Rachel Wolf

 

Sun Trap by Rachel Wolf.

Published 8th May 2025 by Aries.

From the cover of the book:

BE CAREFUL
Ellie has wanted to be an actor since she was a child so, when a role in a blockbuster film presents itself, she grabs it.

WHAT YOU
On the plane to Abu Dhabi to begin filming, Ellie overhears something she shouldn't - two people discussing plans for murder.

WISH FOR
Unsure if it's a misunderstanding, and not wanting to ruin her big break, Ellie remains quiet. Then ten members of the cast become nine...

Ellie needs to be careful - it's more than just her career on the line.

Because she isn't who she says she is. And liars are always the prime suspect.

***********

Ellie longs for a career as an actor, so when a set of extraordinary circumstances lead to the opportunity to take on a role in a star-studded film on location in Abu Dhabi, she grabs the chance with both hands. However, the potentially career making job starts in the most inauspicious way, when Ellie hears two unidentified people on the plane to their swanky desert hotel discussing plans for a murder...

When one of the film crew subsequently dies, Ellie is caught in a dilemma. She might hold the key to solving the crime, but admitting it to the police means risking uncomfortable questions she would prefer to avoid. Because Ellie is not who they think she is...

Sun Trap is a highly entertaining destination thriller, with all the fun of clashing egos, and trolley-loads of emotional baggage. The story plays out from Ellie's perspective, as events begin to go seriously awry on the film shoot, and then flips back and forth in time to expose jaw-dropping twists that take the plot in very surprising directions. 

Wolf cleverly uses the glamorous location to make this feel every ounce a Christie-esque locked-room whodunnit, as a storm rages around the hotel, which I loved. And she has Ellie facing peril from multiple directions at once as she does not know who she can trust with her life and her secrets, pitting the danger from the human element within the hotel against the life-threatening desert environment in which it is set.

Bodies begin to pile up as murky scores are settled, and I think I suspected practically everyone of having blood on their hands at some point along the way. Wolf really keeps you on your toes, ramping up the tension to fever pitch, and when she subverts what you think is a doppelganger plot into something far more complicated, she certainly sets you reeling. Lovely themes run through this page-turner too, especially deception and revenge, which are perfect for a story filled with characters who are used to hiding who they really are beneath manufactured images. 

I swallowed this gem whole, and was absolutely here for every gritty (pun intended), dramatic second. 

Sun Trap is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Ransom PR for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

Rachel Wolf is the author of the luxury thriller FIVE NIGHTS and SUN TRAP. Before writing, she worked in the travel industry, and FIVE NIGHTS takes inspiration from some of her travels.