The Retreat by Benjamin Compton

A man suffering poor mental health issues such as depressions and anxiety, is persuaded to take a yoga retreat in the French countryside. The location is calm and tranquil, run by Buddhists with some of their precepts among the rules.

As he explores the place and meets the other people there, he quickly becomes suspicious of individuals. Initially it is the instructor everyone calls the Teacher, who seems aggressive and gives 'menacing stares' all the time, but the number he mistrusts continually grows. With a group of other members behaving very oddly in their outdoor rituals and a strange archer, things soon change from a place of recruitment to a place of survival.

Having the story told from the first person perspective, events and opinions are naturally going to be unreliable, especially when taking mental health issues into consideration. The protagonist is immature, unworldly, self centred and paranoid and his tale is disjointed and repetitive. By the end of the book the genre appears to be a thriller full of mortal danger and lots of chasing.

The writing style is informal and somewhat unrefined, with far too many exclamation marks and the word 'I'. The conclusion does offer an explanation for the eccentric behaviours and happenings, but it feels as if the author has rather reneged on the story a bit.

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Published by The Book Guild on 28 January 2024.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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