This author is becoming one of my new Favorites. Couldn't put it down!! This book had it all.. i kept trying to figure it out again and again. Keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more. Great book and would recommend to my friends. Can't wait to read more from this author


Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an Early release copy.

This is an intense read! A page turner from start to finish. I truly enjoy books that keep you guessing and make you think. I found myself at times stopping to think about who, why and where. Though it is a slow read I was still hooked on it. Will recommend this on my blog..

"It was time to go back into the dark."

Truer words have never been spoken! That's how I felt going into this book. When I can finish a novel within 24 hours, you know it's a winner! I blew threw this one everyone! Let me tell you... this one is so full of twists it's like you're on a roller coaster in complete darkness and you don't know which way you're headed. Mark Edwards delivers yet another gripping and chilling novel.

Lucas Radcliffe, a best selling horror novelist, is on a tight deadline, one that is fast approaching. In an attempt to meet this deadline he makes a decision to attend a writers' retreat. Yes, the seclusion and atmosphere should be exactly what he needs to get him back on pace. Only shortly after arriving he learns that the Julia, caregiver and owner of the writer's retreat, Nyth Bran, is also suffering a terrible loss. He learns about her husband who drowned in the local river trying to save their young daughter who they believed fell in, though her body has never been found. Julia believes that her daughter never fell into that river. She believes that her daughter is still alive, that she's out there somewhere and that someone has her.

Lucas, now too distracted to write by what he has learned of Julia's past decides he wants to help and hires a private investigator. Only, he doesn't tell Julia about it because one, he doesn't want to get her hopes up, and two, he's afraid of her reaction. She might not be so understanding of his generosity and mistake his kindness for his own personal gain. It's not far into the investigation and things hit a dead end. Suddenly, Zara, the private investigator says there's nothing else to investigate, and the police have done all they could to locate Lily, and then she too disappears. Lucas becomes unsettled by her disappearance, and suddenly people who have been questioned about Lily's disappearance are turning up dead. Surely this can't be coincidental.

The townspeople believe that Lily was sacrificed to The Red Widow, a witch that eats the souls of young children. An urban legend, no different from Bloody Mary or the Boogey Man, but the problem with small towns, is that there is someone that always believes, and when you believe, fear can be a powerful motivator.

Can I just say, I loved how Mark Edwards included little references to his previous work, such as Jackdaw Books, The Shropshire Viper, and of course the magpies. I also loved how he makes references to some inspiration he's found in previous work, such as The Diary of a Young Girl and The Chronicles of Narnia.

"As we entered the room we saw Karen, leaning into the wardrobe and yelling as if she'd discovered Narnia but the door to the magical kingdom had slammed shut."

It's clear that with this novel he found inspiration in many different pieces of work, which considering he writes psychological thrillers speaks highly about him as an author. I could see the bit of fantasy mixed in, but of course, it overflowed with suspense and mystery.

This was an excellent read with well developed characters, lots of suspense and twists, really, what's not to love? And that ending! Oh my! I highly recommend this to everyone!

I want to thank NetGalley, Amazon Publishing, Thomas & Mercer, and of course, Mark Edwards for allowing me the chance to read this fantastic novel in exchange for my review! I can hardly wait for the next one Mr. Edwards!

P.S. I want to thank my new friend, Victoria, for buddy reading this with me!

A great slow-burning thriller with twists and turns that you'll never see coming!

Julia is a bereft woman who has lost everything of value to her: her husband who tragically drowned in the river and her daughter Lily who disappeared on the same day. The police closed the case long ago despite never having found Lily's body. Everyone in town assumes that she is dead and drowned in the river alongside her father, but that Julia refuses to believe it simply because she's a grieving mother.

Nonetheless, Julia refuses to accept her daughter's death until she sees proof of it. Therefore, her imagination fills the gaps in her mind with all the horrible situations that her child must have experienced. Two years after her world fell apart, she opens a writer's retreat in her home. She allows authors, both prominent and new, to stay with her in order to be able to write their books in peace away from the distractions of larger cities.

Lucas, a bestselling horror novelist, joins a few other authors at the writer's retreat. He grows frustrated with how easily everyone has dismissed Lily's disappearance and decides to take it upon himself to search for answers. By doing this, he has inadvertently uncovered a web of secrets and deception that go further than anything he could have ever imagined. Secrets that someone would kill to remain hidden.

Mark Edwards is a fantastic writer. This novel starts off at a slow and steady pace with plenty of character development and world building right before it begins a rise in anticipation and suspense.

I had many theories as to how this book would end and guess how many of them turned out to be correct? Not a single one lol. Although there was one small part that I was able to predict, it rapidly shifted into something completely out of left field that hadn't even occurred to me. I loved how it kept me on my toes. There were parts of it that had chills climbing up my spine.

This only marks the second book that I've read by Mark Edwards, but it certainly won't be the last! I look forward to reading more of his books!

Special thanks to Thomas & Mercer Publishing and Mark Edwards for approving my request to read the ARC through Netgalley!

We all have fears - often fears that we have clung tightly to from our childhood; some of the fears being mere urban legends told to scare and warn, others built on fact. The Retreat is a lurid, sickly addicting tale - that gets into your spine and spreads a chill throughout your body; leaving you gasping for breath, drowning in words, as your pulled into the pages of the book.

The Retreat, is a tale of Lucy, a child who goes missing - thought to have drowned in the river with her father on a family walk in the woods. However, told by Lucy, in the first chapter of the book - there is always more to a story than what is written. Tales of fokelore and myth add color to the disappearance of Lucy - surrounding a tale of the Widow, who takes children as a payment for her wronged past.

The Retreat, was my first encounter with the author Mark Edwards and I vow this will not be my last. A book that at the last page, leaves you entranced, vindicated and somewhat distributed - The Retreat is a book that deserves more than a mere 5 stars allowed by Goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC. ❤️

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Lucas, the narrator and horror writer has one very popular novel so far. He is suffering from writers’ block and travels to Wales to seek inspiration. Karen is a middle-aged woman writer who has enjoyed modest success. Max is a famous novelist who is rather stuck on himself and tweets constantly. He also is chasing Suzi. Suzi is a very young almost writer of erotic novels. She is working on her first book with the aid of Max. Julia is both the owner and hostess of the writers’ retreat.

Two years earlier, Julia lost her husband to the River Dee and her daughter Lily went missing. The police think Lily drowned, but her body was never found, unlike Julia’s husband’s body. Alone and broke, she opened the writers’ retreat as a means of income. But perhaps it’s too soon. She is fragile and sad.

Lucas begins experiencing strange things such as hearing a child singing in the night – from behind a door that Julia told him never to enter. Karen has begun to witness occurrences as well. Her sandwich went missing and dead animals show up in her room. The house cat, Chesney, does not hunt.

Lucas decides to hire a private investigator named Zara to look into Lily’s disappearance. When all of the usual channels are exhausted, Zara and Lucas begin to imagine the impossible. Zara interviews a retired librarian who knows more than he is saying. He speaks of the Red Witch who snatches children.

The four writers return home after an evening in the local pub when they can’t find Julia in the house. Lucas finds her in the cottage in the woods. It is Lily’s birthday and Julia has made a cake and taken it there.

When Lucas speaks to his mother via Skype, she tells him about a child that went missing some thirty years earlier in the area. When Lucas tries to call Zara to have her check it out, she does not answer her phone. He leaves a message.

Karen has a meltdown in the middle of the night. She sees and hears things. She leaves for home the next day. Lucas is very worried about Zara not responding to his messages. He gets in his car to go and look for her. When he goes to the place she was staying, the owner tells him that Zara left the day before. When he leaves her a voice mail, Zara responds via text message that she hit a dead end and left. She said not to worry about her fee, and she paid for the hotel herself when Lucas said he would pay. How odd? What is going on? And more news, the elderly librarian man Zara spoke to had died the day before as well.

Following a productive week writing his novel, a new guest showed up at the retreat. Her name is Ursula. She wrote a best-selling novel about her spirit guide. Then Lucas has a visitation in the night. His phone and his favorite pen have gone missing.

Ursula says she saw a little girl outside. She also tells Lucas that she is sorry for his loss. Ursula knows things. Whether she’s read it online or divines it; this is unknown. Julia rushes out of the house. She knows Lily is alive and out there. It turns out to be Megan, Lily’s best friend.

What follows is an exciting chase to discover the truth. Is the house haunted? Does the Red Widow really exist? Is Lily alive? When Lucas and Julia discover secrets about the house, their investigation is set afire. They begin to make connections that the police have missed. A journal is found and it is very revealing.


This book is very well written and plotted. It was a delight to read. The tension began almost immediately and continued throughout the story, increasing as the sightings and eerie noises increase. The story reads linearly, that is to say that one event followed another in pretty much a straight line. I appreciated Mr. Edwards’ word choices. I like Lucas’ character as a struggling writer; it seemed so real. Julia was perfect at the grieving mother. I have taken a recent interest in Wales and its people, so reading a book set in Wales was nice.

I want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing/Thomas & Mercer for forwarding to me a copy of this exciting and wonderful book to read and enjoy.

I really enjoy Mark Edwards books and was delighted to receive a copy of The Retreat. This thriller was full of myths and scary tales told to the local children about a witch they called The Widow. Lucas is a writer that is having problems finishing his latest book. He goes to a writers retreat in Wales to get some peace and quiet to work. Julia who runs the retreat is a widow who's husband drowned trying to save their young daughter but the body of her daughter was never found. Lucas becomes fascinated in this story and decides to look into the mystery. I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more of Mark Edwards books. I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Mark Edwards work and jumped at the chance to read his latest novel 'The Retreat'.
Lucas is a horror novelist and when facing writers block decides to stop at a writers retreat. The Retreat was set up two years ago by Julia who lost her family in a tragic accident. Her husband drowned trying to save their daughter, Lily, in the river near their rural home. But the little girl’s body was never found and Julia believes Lily is somehow still alive. When Julia opens her house as a writers’ retreat, one of the first guests is Lucas, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. But within days of his arrival, the peace of the retreat is shattered by a series of eerie events.
What really happened that day by the river? Why was Lily never found? And who, or what, is haunting the retreat?
Mark Edwards certainly knows how to write very good stories, this book is full of suspense, thrills and I am sure will be a big success.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge Mark Edwards fan I couldn't wait to read this book and I was not disappointed. I read this book in 2 days, I just couldn't put it down and needed to find out what happened next after every page. The setting and themes were perfect and such an unexpected ending. I love reading about urban myths and the one created for this story (whilst echoing the lead characters own horror novel) was terrifying in the best way possible. I will be recommending this book to everyone upon release. I feel this is Mark Edwards best yet!
Thankyou to the publisher for this opportunity.

Fantastic thriller from mark Edwards as always kept me hooked right u to the very end

*4.5 stars

Only my second book by Mark Edwards and I can safely say that he' s quickly becoming a favorite. I struggled to put this book down. It was highly engrossing! This was part mystery, part gothic, and based on urban legends. You know? Like those myths you hear about when your a kid: bloody mary, the boogeyman, etc. This one has the Red Widow. It seems that everyone in this small English town is very superstitious about the Red Widow. When Lily goes missing while out for a walk with her parents, people assume that she was sacrificed to keep the Widow satisfied. Her mother Julia believes that she's still alive and never gives up hope that they will be reunited. When Julia opens up a writers retreat, strange things begin to happen. The occupants begin hearing a child singing, seeing people that aren't there, items going missing, a strange voice telling them they aren't welcome there. Is any of this real or are there other other forces at work? One of the writers, Lucas, starts investigating but inadvertently begins a horrible chain of events. Very well written, to the point where your wondering if the Red Widow truly is real. Mark Edwards truly knows how to write a mystery!

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Retreat is a spooky, nail biting thriller that will have you hooked, the gripping goes storyline was brilliantly written and what an ending!!!

A brilliantly creepy premise, a perfectly scary setting and just the right amount of twists and turns, not to mention the excellent characters and a nice hint of small town folklore... and the ending was spot on. I predict a(nother) huge hit.

In the two years since her husband drowned trying to save their daughter Lily from drowning in a river, Julia has refused to believe her daughter is dead. Her body was never found, and Julia is convinced the girl is alive…somewhere. Needing a source of income, Julia opens her home in the woods as a sort of writer’s retreat. One of her first customers is a horror novelist. Lucas becomes obsessed with Julia’s story and is determined to find out what really happened to the child. This book is full of things that go bump in the night, the sound of singing from an empty room and other deliciously creepy happenings. A must for Gothic novel lovers

Stumbled across mark edwards quite recently on kindle unlimited and since then have been devouring all of his books. This one also lives up to expectations with enough twists and mystery to keep the reader wanting more

Thanks to author #MarkEdwards , publisher #Thomas&Mercer , and #NetGalley for my digital copy of #TheRetreat. I can honestly say that it is my favorite book of 2018 so far.

This was the third novel I have read by Mark Edwards, and by far my favorite. It genuinely sparked that feeling I had as a teenager when I first developed my love of thrillers. This one was a perfect blend of a "scary" campfire story and the reality that first gets these stories started. The Retreat was so atmospheric, that I felt I was in the forest, by the river, surrounded by fog in the Welsh countryside. The descriptions of these places, and especially of the 200 year old house that housed the writer's Retreat from the title, made the locations characters in and of themselves. The most unique things about this novel are that it makes the reader wonder throughout if they are reading a ghost story or a straight thriller. And the reader won't know for sure until the end.....

The Retreat started with a little girl disappearing while on a hike with her parents by a river hugged by a forest. Police assume she drowned. Her family is dealt two tragedies that day. A couple years later, the girl's mother, Julia comes back to the family home to start a writer's retreat and to do her own investigating into what happened to her daughter as she does not believe the girl to be dead.

Enter Lucas, a horror writer who was born in the countryside where the inn is located, but raised in the city. He is suffering from writer's block and decides the foggy countryside and centuries old houses might give him the spark he needs to get going on his next novel. He stays at the retreat and from locals learns about Julia's tragic past and decides to try to help her.

Very creepy things start happening. Doors are opened in the night. Singing is heard coming from the missing little girl's old room. An old legend about a witch called "The Widow" who demands a child sacrifice every 35 years is told. While ever-rational Lucas doesn't believe in the supernatural, he, Julia, and the other guests of the retreat are finding it difficult to explain the strange occurences of the inn.

Lucas begins trying to get the town locals to give him any information they may have on the missing girl and in that endeavor learns of another young girl who had also mysteriously disappeared 35 years before Julia's daughter. Are these girl's stories related? What does "The Widow" tale have to do with them? What happened to the girls?

There are sinister townspeople, menacing writers, haunting locales, and many opportunities for red herrings. While a reader might think they figure out what happened, he/she is probably wrong. One thing I will guarantee, it is one fun ride beginning to end to figure out the mysteries in The Retreat. There are so many details that I want to write about, but I am afraid they might be spoilery, so I will stop there. Just read this book. If you don't like the gore of horror stories, but like the creepiness and mystery of a Hitchcock movie, this is the book for you.

Bonus that I must mention: Mark Edwards is certainly doing a great job writing for both genders. I think this novel will appeal to everyone. But one thing that stood out as unique to him is that he chose to write a couple of leads who are in their forties. Certainly novels I read seem to imply that sex appeal ends somewhere in the early-to-mid-thirties. Most characters in this novel are in their 40's or older, and it was so nice to read a fun, compelling, sexy-at-times story about characters of an age often neglected or, worse, denegrated by most writers.

Excellent book with a brilliant storyline and great main characters. I would recommend this book.

This was a great, creepy, edge of your seat thriller! The woods is never a good place to go!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I always love Edwards' books - they are creeptastic! This one gave me the chills and thrills as I read it late at night. Such a great mystery to solve revolving around an old town legend about a Red Widow how takes children - scary!! I did think of that movie The Boy when the mystery was solved - had that same voyeuristic creepiness. Another great story!!