Author: Allie Reynolds
Publisher: Headline
Available: Out now, January 2021; in Hardback, eBook and Audio
Thank you to Alana Delfosse and Headline for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.
Book Details:
‘A truly gripping chiller of a thriller. Sensational ‘ PETER JAMES
‘A white-knuckle-ride through a dangerous world full of deadly ambition’ ERIN KELLY
‘A knife-sharp locked room mystery’ HARRIET TYCE
‘An exciting, twisty page-turner that will keep you guessing all the way to the end’ C.L. TAYLOR
READ THE MOST EXHILARATING THRILLER OF THE YEAR
They don’t know what I did. And I intend to keep it that way.
How far would you go to win? Hyper-competitive people, mind games and a dangerous natural environment combine to make the must-read thriller of the year. Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver.
When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can’t seem to let go.
The five friends haven’t seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don’t know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.
In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.
My Thoughts:
Talk about an apt title for a book, everything about this story made me Shiver; the freezing cold of the of the French alps; the icy sinistrous narrative and the piercing attitudes of the characters but mostly this sensational story made me palpitate with tension and anticipation! From the first page to the last, this incredible story makes for greedily addictive reading. I foolishly picked the book up one evening in the week, thinking, I will just read the first chapter…at 1.30am, my partner got up and came down to retrieve me from the sofa…saying he would hide the book, if I didn’t come to bed!! I reluctantly agreed (but got up at 5.30am to finish it) because, once you start you simply cannot put this book down!
A reunion, it has been a decade since five friends have been in each other’s company; ten years since the winter where one of their cohort the beautiful and ruthless Saskia vanished…curious circumstances have gathered them together now! In a remote, isolated and all but deserted ski resort, a place that once was the home of their trials and triumphs as our cast all strived to succeed in the thrilling and dangerous world of elite snowboarding! Where winning was everything and it seems that competition was not confined only to the slopes!
The story is told from Milla’s point of view and has alternating timelines between the past and the present, where sinister secrets were born and maybe now have come full circle, the plotlines are perfectly blended and there is an ever present fission of tension, that just keeps on building!
The story is an avalanche of mind games, manipulations and dark, delicious deviousness…it is indeed a wild ride! I loved the interplay of characters, the undulating group dynamics were brilliant, intense and passionate in every way! All through the story Allie had me constantly thinking; what really happened and obsessively trying to figure out the slalom of twists and turns; who really can be trusted and I was gripped by unrelenting need to know, who is responsible for this reprehensible reunion! I have no doubt you will be as desperate as I was to find out the answers but of course, I have no intension of spoiling that experience for you!
Quite simply, you absolutely must read this book, I insist…it is utterly compelling, sublimely crafty and quaveringly creepy and with pay day weekend on the horizon there are no excuses, do not miss out on this exceptional story. Allie you are a complete star, a superb character wrangler and master plotter…Whatever you write next, I want to read it!
Happy Reading Bookophiles…
About the Author:
Allie Reynolds is the author of the thriller SHIVER, which will be published in January 2021.
Born and raised in Lincoln, England, she moved to Australia in 2004. She lives on the Gold Coast with her two young boys and a cat who thinks he’s a dog.
Many years ago, she competed at snowboard halfpipe. She spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. These days she sticks to surfing – water doesn’t hurt as much as ice when you fall on it.
Her first ever job was a Saturday job in a bookstore, at age 14. She taught English for many years and became a full-time writer in 2018.
You can find her on:
www.instagram.com/authorallier
Please do read other reviews from the blog tour of this book
The Fallen Librarian Reviews 