This darkly atmospheric psychological suspense novel takes readers to the faded luxury of the Royal Karnak Hotel on the banks of the Nile. At its heart is 81-year-old widow Maggie Burkhardt, a compulsive meddler whose well-intentioned interference in others’ lives often veers into chaos. Maggie has left a trail of trouble behind her, most recently at a Swiss hotel where her actions made a quick departure a necessity. Now, she’s settled at the Royal Karnak, seeking solace, companionship, and perhaps a second chance at a peaceful existence. Maggie is far from your typical sweet old lady. Although her charming façade wins over staff and fellow long-term guests, she is an unreliable narrator with questionable motives. Her grief for her late husband, Peter, is palpable, but her intrusive tendencies suggest she might be driven by more than just loneliness. Her latest target is Tess, a young, troubled mother, and her mischievous eight-year-old son, Otto, who have recently arrived at the hotel. Initially, Maggie’s intentions seem benign as she welcomes the pair into her world, offering advice and support. But Otto quickly proves to be more than Maggie can handle. In this wiry, sharp-tongued child, Maggie may have finally met her match. What follows is a battle of wits and wills between the octogenarian and the precocious boy. The novel twists and turns as Maggie’s fixation on Tess and Otto spirals out of control, with the lines between victim and villain becoming increasingly blurred. The tension builds to a shocking climax, leaving readers questioning just how far Maggie—or Otto—will go to protect their agendas. This is a deliciously twisted story, perfect for fans of unreliable narrators and morally ambiguous characters. With its sharp prose and unsettling atmosphere, it masterfully explores themes of grief, loneliness, and the dangerous allure of control. The clash between age and youth has never been so vicious—or so compelling. If you enjoy suspenseful, character-driven tales with a dark edge, this novel is a must-read. It’s a wild, unforgettable ride that will leave you questioning who the real villain truly is. Read more at The Secret Book Review.

I genuinely could not put this book down. I had to stay up til half one in the morning because I had to know what happened! I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher. This book follows Maggie. Maggie is 81 years old and has been living for a while at a hotel in Egypt after leaving Switzerland in unfortunate circumstances. Maggie likes to meddle. She likes to fix people’s lives. But she meets her match in eight year old Otto who spies her meddling and starts making demands. A feud escalates growing more and more sinister and intense between these two disturbing individuals. This book was so tense and stressful! An absolute page turner. I was completely obsessed. I couldn’t believe how unhinged this got as it escalated and the things they did to each other. I was so terrified as to what would happen but I couldn’t stop reading. The writing was so brilliant and intense. It was such a clever idea to have a battle between an eight and an eighty one year old. Everyone else around them underestimates them and that allows them to enact absolute carnage. I was really impressed with this book, it was so well-written, so fascinating.

Well what a plot twist! The premise of the story is really interesting and definitely set up a red herring of a read for me. Maggie is an elderly woman, broken hearted with grief over the loss of her husband and travelling the world due to loneliness when Covid lockdown hits and she finds herself a haven at the Royal Karnak hotel in Luxor, Egypt. Maggie has been staying at the hotel for a while and befriended several other long-term guests and often likes to meddle, interfering in the lives of other guests when she isn't asked. Watching the guests and making her own interpretations of their musings and lives. I initially thought this would be a "grey" cosy crime / mystery story and how wrong I was! One day a new family arrives at the hotel and unknowingly the young boy with the family becomes the centre of Maggie's new focus. What follows is a tale of revenge, suspicious minds, one upmanship, thrills and chills - deliciously evil set against a backdrop of a faded grandeur hotel. I loved the relationships that Maggie had with the hotel staff, the guests and the plot twists that kept coming - just when you thought you knew what was happening another twist would change everything, highly recommended

This darkly atmospheric psychological suspense novel takes readers to the faded luxury of the Royal Karnak Hotel on the banks of the Nile. At its heart is 81-year-old widow Maggie Burkhardt, a compulsive meddler whose well-intentioned interference in others’ lives often veers into chaos. Maggie has left a trail of trouble behind her, most recently at a Swiss hotel where her actions made a quick departure a necessity. Now, she’s settled at the Royal Karnak, seeking solace, companionship, and perhaps a second chance at a peaceful existence. Maggie is far from your typical sweet old lady. Although her charming façade wins over staff and fellow long-term guests, she is an unreliable narrator with questionable motives. Her grief for her late husband, Peter, is palpable, but her intrusive tendencies suggest she might be driven by more than just loneliness. Her latest target is Tess, a young, troubled mother, and her mischievous eight-year-old son, Otto, who have recently arrived at the hotel. Initially, Maggie’s intentions seem benign as she welcomes the pair into her world, offering advice and support. But Otto quickly proves to be more than Maggie can handle. In this wiry, sharp-tongued child, Maggie may have finally met her match. What follows is a battle of wits and wills between the octogenarian and the precocious boy. The novel twists and turns as Maggie’s fixation on Tess and Otto spirals out of control, with the lines between victim and villain becoming increasingly blurred. The tension builds to a shocking climax, leaving readers questioning just how far Maggie—or Otto—will go to protect their agendas. This is a deliciously twisted story, perfect for fans of unreliable narrators and morally ambiguous characters. With its sharp prose and unsettling atmosphere, it masterfully explores themes of grief, loneliness, and the dangerous allure of control. The clash between age and youth has never been so vicious—or so compelling. If you enjoy suspenseful, character-driven tales with a dark edge, this novel is a must-read. It’s a wild, unforgettable ride that will leave you questioning who the real villain truly is. Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Christopher Bollen's Havoc is narrated by Maggie, an elderly widow from the United States who has become a long-stay guest at a grand if ageing hotel in Luxor during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reminiscing about her perfect life with her late husband Peter, Maggie believes it is her mission to fix other people’s unhappy relationships – even if that means planting evidence of fictional affairs – and alludes to the trouble this has led her into in the past. And despite her glowing memories of daughter Julia, something bad clearly went down between the two of them. When smart eight-year-old Otto arrives at the hotel with his mother, however, Maggie realises her reign of manipulation might be coming to an end. This is the first Bollen I've read, so I wasn't sure what to expect. He's clearly an incredibly skilled writer, able to evoke the heat of the overgrown hotel gardens and the Valley of the Kings, draw clever pen-portraits of the other hotel guests, and immerse us in Maggie’s unreliable narration. The fact that I could only manage about a chapter at a time while reading the first half of the novel is testament to his talent. Somehow, I was so invested in Maggie, even though she starts off weird and unpleasant and gets worse, and I desperately wanted her schemes to come off. Bollen really ratchets up the tension in small social interactions, and I felt like I wanted to read this through my fingers. In contrast, I read the last 40% practically in one sitting - as Maggie's plots become crimes, I found it easier to distance myself a bit and enjoy the way the plot unfolds, satisfyingly pulling together what may have seemed like extraneous details in the earlier chapters. A superior literary psychodrama, and my only serious criticism would be that the ending is too quick - I'd like to have had a glimpse at the aftermath, perhaps from another character's point of view. I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.