Off World Hotel & Resort-Series Review

This review of Off World Hotel & Resort by author Dave Terruso is comprised of spoiler free reviews of the 3 books in the series.

Thank you so much to author Dave Terruso for providing me with a copy of Off World Hotel & Resort in exchange for this honest review.

If you are also a self published author and want to know how to get your book reviewed check out my guide for indie authors.

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Episode 1

Off World Hotel & Resort is a science fiction mystery trilogy that starts off as a simple who-done-it and ends with the grandest mystery ever known to humankind. The trilogy is actually my first experience with being a beta reader so I have some insider knowledge about episode 1, seeing as I’ve already read the conclusion.

However, I read the final version of episode 1 for this review and I can say with full confidence that it holds up to being reread. Even after knowing the ending and even though I just read it a few months ago I was still engaged and couldn’t stop myself from starting the next chapter.

Off World stars Christie, a middle aged mother of 3 who has just been diagnosed with an unnamed terminal illness. She’s devastated that she won’t have more than a year left with her daughters and grandchild.

Her loving daughters decide to get Christie the best darn going away present that anyone could ask for. Christie has been dreaming of going to the Off World Hotel & Resort on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Of course, it is astronomically expensive. So her daughters take a loan against her soon to pay out life insurance policy and buy her a three day getaway to the most luxurious place in the galaxy.

She’s thrilled but nervous about the teleportation technolgy used to get there. The fine print even states that should she be stranded there it would take longer than she’d be alive to have a rescue ship enable her to return. So obviously, she’ll get stranded there.

Episode 1 introduces the cast of characters in this interstellar locked room mystery and sets the stage for what is to be the last place Christie ever gets to see. It’s all fun light science fiction until it is discovered that someone has sabotaged the teleporter. The mystery begins as Christie decides to spend her final days revealing who doomed her to die separated from her loved ones with just her new AI gal pal, Coba, by her side.

Off World is an incredibly fast read. Somehow the pages just fly by in a blur of entertainment. It would be the perfect book to read at a resort staring at a monumental view of Jupiter. I can also tell you that the cliffhanger ending to episode 1 is nothing compared to the intensity of the next two episodes. You’ll be hooked but you won’t be prepared.

Off World Hotel & Resort episode 1 is available now and the next two episodes will be released over the next two months. Get ready for you new favorite sci fi mystery thriller!

5/5 friendly robots 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖

Off World Hotel & Resort Episode 2

Off World Hotel & Resort: Episode 2 picks up right where Episode 1 left off. But first it gives the reader a very handy recap. I’ve never understood why all series don’t do this! The episodes of Off World are being released only 1 month apart from each other but so many series can have years in between and think I’ll just remember what happened! Thank you Terruso for knowing my memory just ain’t that sharp.

Episode 2 gets deeper into the mystery side of the story. We follow Christie as she attempts to solve Candy’s murder; living out her dream of being an amateur detective just like in her favorite books. As the mystery deepens we also see that there may be a more sinister side to this dream resort. Small reveals get us to start to question what kind of place this resort really is.

As Christie investigates she digs up more and more questions than when she started. She feels she’s getting nowhere and that she’ll die before she ever gets to solve the case. Speaking of dying, Christie actually begins to show symptoms of her illness. I can’t count how many stories have a “dying” character that never even coughs only to spontaneously lie down and die with a peaceful look on their face by the end. Off World uses Christie’s unnmaed diagnosis to enhance the story and further the plot. It’s not just a gimmick.

Terruso is the kind of writer who recognizes the flaws in past literature and makes a point to correct them through his own works.

Off World Hotel & Resort: Epsiode 2 is not only darker than episode 1 in setting, it gets darker in tone as well. A profound monologue near the middle of the book is followed by a bonding moment between two characters. I won’t spoil either except to say that these couple of pages display a full spectrum of emotions. In just 2-3 pages we are treated to Terruso’s firm grasp on the human condition and what it means to go on living after a tragedy. Nothing is ever purely happy or purely sad, we all have many feelings brewing inside at any moment and sometimes depression is punctuated with a dirty joke.

The biggest mystery of Episode 2 starts to come further into play. Is this fantastical resort what it appears to be? Christie may be trapped there but she also seems to be getting all of her wildest fantasies fulfilled. Was it all deliberate? Who is actually in charge here? Is it even real? You’ll begin to question what you thought you knew from episode 1 and you’ll be dying to read episode 3.

Since these three books play out more like a miniseries than a trilogy, episode 2 has a strong cliffhanger ending. I adore the ending of this book. If you become familiar with Terruso as a writer this ending will be even more intense. Terruso is bold, if nothing else. I would not put it past him to have main characters die in his books so don’t think that just because there’s one book left that there must be a happy ending. There might be, there might not, you’ll have to take that risk and find out.

I strongly recommend ordering all 3 Off World Hotel & Resort books. They are all incredibly engaging reads that you won’t want to put down until you know what happens.

5/5 moons 🌖🌖🌖🌖🌖

Episode 3

Off World Hotel & Resort: Episode 3 is a direct continuation from the cliffhanger ending of episode 2. To discuss episode 3 at all I need to start off with a spoiler, I’m sorry, I don’t know how else to do it.

If you want absolutely zero spoilers I’ll just tell you here that the ending is spectacular. It is highy unlikely that you will have figured out each mystery point but you will not feel like a twist was forced out of nowhere. The ending is highly satisfying and on the right day might really touch you in the emotions. The journey through episode 3 to get the answers is entertaining and maintains the strong pace set by the other two books.

Also know that it would be foolish to pick this series up and only read episode 1. The story is told in 3 parts and was designed that way for a reason. Please read this whole series!

You can now stop reading if you’re avoiding spoilers, just skip to the bottom for where to pick up the last book.

Some spoilers ahead (I’ll try to keep it as vague as possible)

The end of Episode 2 leaves our protagonist Christie alone in her bed at peace with the fact that she just poisoned herself and the woman that she believed trapped her on this moon. She is prepared to die.

Then she wakes up. She’s alarmed, relieved, confused, and worried about how and why she lived through the night. Now you see why I have to talk in spoilers. I can’t very well talk about Christie doing anything without spoiling the fact that she lived!

Episode 3 continues to follow Christie as she attempts to figure out what the heck this resort really is. Things begin to feel far more sinister the deeper she investigates. Christie’s own behavior even becomes darker and more extreme as she becomes more desperate for answers.

And answers she will get! Big huge answers that she never expected or even thought about! The ending of Off World Hotel & Resort: Episode 3 will answer any questions readers may have had throughout the series. Author Terruso somehow manages to do this without it reading like a pedantic wrap up. He reaches a tidy conclusion without sacrificing a natural flow to the storytelling.

We are also treated to about as happy of an ending as we could hope for. This is, of course, taking into consideration that this is a story about a woman who is dying. This could lead to any number of deaths or even a miraculous recovery for Christie. Terruso found the best possible outcome for this story that doesn’t simulataneously undo everything that happened prior. He has a habit in his writing of respecting the reader enough to know that they can handle emotions and are actually looking for them in literature.

I would love to discuss the climactic reveal with some other readers. Please let me know when you’ve read through the entire Off World and give me all of your thoughts!

End spoilers

I’ve been recommending all of Terruso’s work since nearly the beginning of my site. He continues to impress and astonish and every single one of you should pick up something, anything from his collection. The entire Off World Hotel & Resort trilogy probably has the most mass appeal out of any of his works so it’s a wonderful place to start discovering this author.

5/5 sinister robots 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖