Isla Morley

Praise for THE LAST BLUE

Morley has constructed a memorable and moving narrative, complicated by the troubles of the past and shadowed by the risk of betrayal, which probes what it means to truly be seen and understood for oneself.
(Booklist)

It’s not often you read a book that is so perfect in every way. This is a book that will grab you from the first page and will leave you in tears at its ending.
(Fiction Addiction)

The writing in The Last Blue is lyrical and the story is mesmerizing...one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.
(Nancy McFarlane)



Praise for ABOVE

Combine the terror of Emma Donoghue's Room and the drama of The Hunger Games and you'll get a rough idea of how gripping Above is.  Can someone make a film adaptation please?
(Cosmopolitan, U.K.)

A daring tale.  Emotionally true, surprisingly action-packed, and quite harrowing...definitely a page-turner.
(Psychology Today)

Part psychological thriller, part brilliantly conceived nightmare, you should read it with all the lights on. The book is gripping, chilling and makes readers question what they themselves would do if the world as they knew it were taken away without warning.  Morley keeps us guessing page after page.
(Bustle)

What do you get when you mix the claustrophobia of Room with the psychological suspense of Before I Go to Sleep and a dash of The Road? Perhaps something that approximates Isla Morley's suspenseful second novel, Above.
(BookPage)

If you love Room why not try Above.  A haunting and compelling story.
(Woman & Home magazine, U.K.)

Above is so much more than a psychological thriller... It's ultimately a novel about hope, courage and endurance.  It kept me spellbound.
(Fair Lady magazine, South Africa)

Your heart will broken.  You will cry.  You will yell.  You will utter expletives.  And then...something happens that totally changes the outlook of this book.  And you will shout more expletives, but you will want to hug the author for the sheer brilliance of this novel.
(Jenn's Bookshelves)

The author hooks the reader early on, her passionate writing allowing us to feel the fear and desperation Blythe experiences... Morley's writing is magnetic, instantly attaching the reader to the story.  We see, we feel, and we cringe at the victim's circumstances...a scary tale.
(New York Journal of Books) 

A compelling story that builds suspense... a true page-turner.
(Library Journal)

Guaranteed chills! Readers who like atmospheric horror like Julianna Baggott's Pure series will be easily drawn into Blythe's story.
(School Library Journal)

I loved this book!  It is going to be a huge book club read and I cannot wait for my book club to read it.  It is "A Boy and his Dog," "Room," and "The Stand" mash-up!  And I loved every minute of it.  The book is well-paced and at just about the physical halfway mark of the book, everything is flipped on its head.

(Wanda Jewell, Executive Director, Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance)

Morley scores with an audacious page-turner.  Blythe Hallowell is only sixteen when she’s kidnapped and taken to live in an abandoned missile silo by Dobbs, a local conspiracy theorist, who has chosen to help him repopulate the world after end times… In a series of gripping twists, Morley elevates the complexities of Blythe and Adam’s situation, deepening the themes of survival and dependence… a stellar and surprising ride. 
(Publishers Weekly)

Blythe can’t imagine anything worse than the seventeen years she has been held captive in an underground abandoned missile silo, until she escapes with her teenage son. The book begins as a compelling story of a teenager abducted by a nut case who was convinced the world was coming to an end, and what she has to endure. But it ends as a riveting, heart stopping tale of determination, love and hope for the future.  Highly recommended.
(Fiction Addiction)

Extremely readable, this is dystopic for Blythe personally and the world globally.  (Library Journal)

Never has such a simple title held so much terror... This book is full of tension, horror, and suspense leaving the reader holding his breath as every turn of the page brings a new shock.  (Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA)

Quite moving… very intriguing and provocative.  (Kirkus)

Reeled out with the chilling calmness of a Hitchcock film, ABOVE haunts as it illuminates.  Deftly told, this tale of human resilience in the face of madness is a horror classic for our times.  (Lynn Cullen, best-selling author of MRS. POE)

The isolation and darkness wrap you like wild vines and force you to face the nightmare, but ABOVE plunges you forward and drives toward hope, because sometimes that's all that remains. This is a novel that challenges you to believe. (Michael Farris Smith, author of RIVERS)

What makes this book unique is the moral grey area that Isla Morley navigates expertly.  The story itself is captivating and stunning.  The characters all reflect something back to the reader that we can see in ourselves.  Morley has done amazing things with this novel and I look forward to more.  (Brittany Jackson, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington, KY)

Morley presents a mind-bending and captivating story of determination, love and hope despite spirit-crushing circumstances...I could not turn the pages fast enough.  (Ruth Love, Aaron's Books, Lititz, PA)


Praise for COME SUNDAY

Morley brings a pathos palpable in its authenticity and a maturity arresting in its conviction.  Firmly establishing her in the pantheon of such insightful authors as Chris Bohjalian, Sue Miller, and Anita Shreve, Morley’s poignant, read-in-one-sitting tale of loss and renewal will haunt readers.  (Booklist, starred review)

Morley is a stunning storyteller... COME SUNDAY should not be attempted without a Kleenex box at hand.  (The Daily Beast)

An intense and ambitious first novel, and exquisitely detailed exploration of the mother-daughter bond. (Los Angeles Magazine)

A compelling tale of survival, reinvention, and hope, in the end COME SUNDAY is less about the death of a young child than about personal redemption and resurrection… vivid and poignant. (The Boston Globe)

A heart-wrenching tale of unthinkable loss and hard-won healing, COME SUNDAY grips your heart from the first page and doesn't let go. Isla Morley takes us on an unforgettable journey from the hills of Hawaii to the plains of South Africa, daring us to join her as she crosses racial and cultural divides.  This is a novel to savor, like the lingering notes of a fine wine." (Sara Gruen, bestselling author of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and APE HOUSE)

What a wonderful tale of overcoming challenges and having faith in the power of forgiveness.  (Maria Shriver)


A debut novel full of heartbreak and promise. (Christianity Today Magazine)

A powerful novel of love and the loss of a child… a beautifully written book. (Connie Martinson, Beverly Hills Courier)


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