This debut novel makes for a perfect wintry read! It's exciting and the dual timelines really keep the pacing constantly quick from start to finish. Milla narrates this snowboarding, locked-room-esque type of mystery. Ten years prior to the opening of the modern storyline, first brings these characters all together as they train and compete in the snowboarding season. There's lingo about the sport itself that makes me thankful to already be vicariously experienced with it as they describe the events and the tricks. I think that this is the first time that I have ever read a book so focused on snowboarding, so I think that this will definitely be a real thrill for those that are passionate about it - and it also gives this a real modern feel as well. It also distracts a bit from the more predictable parts of the plot. The athletic group is in their mid-twenties in the earlier portion of the plot, but their relationship drama makes them seem even younger and more immature. It's a bit eye-roll inducing sometimes.

But while the modern storyline is more of the locked room feel with the isolation of the lodge and the way they are manipulated, it's not quite a surprise who the mastermind really is. And while the characters - and their choices - make them all somewhat unlikable, this one has some definite Agatha Christie vibes - and is also remiscient of Ruth Ware's latest novel, One By One with the setting. But I couldn't pull myself away from it and am genuinely curious to see what she will write next.

A group of competitive snowboarders who had Olympic aspirations regroup 10 years after the death of one of the group. The reunion does not go as planned, as they find themselves isolated in the lodge atop the mountain, and ten years of secrets come to the surface.

The bleak, Alpine setting in Allie Reynold's debut novel, Shiver, makes for a chilling locked room mystery. Five friends reunite at an empty ski lodge in the French Alps, where 10 years earlier they had all met and competed against one another in professional snowboarding. A sixth person from the group disappeared at the end of that season and has been presumed dead.

Each of the five believes that one of the others from the group was the one to invite them to the weekend retreat. Once there, a note tells them to put their cell phones aside and suggests an icebreaking game. The cell phones disappear and the game reveals secrets they would prefer to remain concealed, including an accusation that one of them is a murderer. With no way to contact the outside world and no way to operate the lift that brought them up the mountain, their isolation is complete.

The story bounces between the present in the empty ski lodge and 10 years in the past when they met and competed. The accusations make it difficult to trust one another and the scenes from the past shed light on their connections as well as tensions among the group. In particular, the actions of the missing girl, Saskia. The remote location, unreliable power, scant food, and the possibility that they are not alone keep the tension high throughout.

Reynolds' background as a former snowboarder makes the scenes describing the competition and training really come to life. The time jumps keep the pace moving briskly and further define the characters with each chapter making the reader uncertain who to trust. She does a great job making the characters both sympathetic and suspicious. Fans of locked room mysteries will really enjoy this novel.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

"Shiver" by Allie Reynolds
After ten years apart, five friends reunite at a ski resort in the French Alps. But the resort is deserted and the friends soon discover that this might not be the fun reunion they expected. The story unfolds about what happened to one of their group who disappeared ten years ago and everyone is a suspect. This is a twisty and spooky tale that had me glued to the page.

Shiver joins a growing list of “stranded in a ski lodge” books. And I know you have to suspend belief when you read novels in this genre, but unfortunately Shiver pushes it to the extreme. Five old friends, all involved in the professional snowboarding game, are invited to a reunion at a ski resort where 10 years ago, one of their other friends went missing, and another had a tragic accident. Soon, strange things start to happen, and the 5 friends realize they were lured here for some nefarious reasons. So what starts out as a decent premise soon descends into ridiculousness, as even though the 5 realize they’re being hunted, they insist on doing things like taking one more fun (fun?) snowboard run before trying to escape down the mountain. The author seemed to cram a lot of things in just for shock value, but I felt it just made the story a little too far-fetched. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The characters are all ex-professional snowboarders who are returning to the ski resort where 20 years previously one of their members went missing and had been declared dead. But someone else has arrived before them and they want to know the truth of what happened 10 years ago on the mountain.

Ok so this was recommended to me by a friend, who leans more towards cozies than thrillers...so
I admit it was expecting it to be more cozy. But man, this was full of thrills and mystery. I had a hard time putting it down. It kept bouncing back between the past and the present and when it all comes together it’s a doozy!

Many thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut thriller by Allie Reynolds. Wow - 5 stars for a book that I couldn't put down!

Milla arrives at LeRocher, a ski resort in the French Alps, cautiously excited about seeing the group of friends again that she competed with 10 years ago. A lot happened to the group then and Milla is still keeping secret about her role in those events. When the group assembles in the resort and takes part in an icebreaker game, they realize that they are all holding secrets. At the center of those secrets is Saskia, who vanished 10 years ago and has just been declared dead. The group has lost their cellphones and there is no one else around at the resort. So who can they trust? Definitely not each other.

This book is written with alternate chapters taking place 10 years ago and in the present time. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel - each chapter ends with a sort of cliffhanger storyline that you are desperate to get back to. Just like all the characters in the story, you will question each one and wonder who is responsible for what. Add to that the stark frigid atmosphere of being in the French Alps at a deserted resort during a winter snowstorm and you will not be able to put this book down! Highly recommended - I can't wait to read more from this author!

Jump back and forth in time to understand what happened to a group of young snowboarders and how it affected their lives as they matured. A page turner that keeps you wondering who did what and hwo is doing what now.

I am very competitive, but this is a bit much for even me!a group of friends ( I use that term very loosely) has reunited at a skiing training site. One of the group went missing long ago. When sinister events start happening, they start to turn on each other. Who can be trusted, if anyone?

Shiver is a fun thriller set 10 years after disappearance of Saskia, a member of an elite group of snowboarders, in the midst of a competition. This book reminds me of a combination of The Hunting Party and One by One - locked room mysteries with a reunion aspect in the mix.
The story alternates between the present day and events from a decade before - the many ways Saskia tormented the group alongside how they are being tormented now by their anonymous host.
Not every plot point was a surprise, but it was a fun time throughout.
Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley for providing me with an arc for review.

A group of friends come together 10 years after Saskia disappearance, recently legally declared legally dead.
Milla was sent an email from Curtis - Saskia's brother. They had flirted but Milla ended up with Brent.
Brent, Heather and Dale join Milla and Curtis for a reunion weekend - at the ski lodge where their friendships formed. And the last sighting of Saskia.
The narrative is both present- as well as 10 years ago. They were young, competitive snowboarding. The world of sponsorships, accidents, harsh falls and hope to nail the perfect ride.
The Ice Breaker reveals dark secrets - who is lying? Who was the last to Saskia?
Great plot, moved along smoothly and some good twists at the end.

4.5 stars

Hats off to Allie Reynolds on her debut novel!

The synopsis alone grabbed my attention, but the writing and plot sealed the deal.

A reunion in the French Alps sounds wonderful doesn't it? Except when you are stranded at a mountain top resort, during a snowstorm and there is no staff on site. Plus, this reunion comes with some stress, ten years earlier, one of them, Saskia went missing and has never been found.

Milla accepts the invitation to the reunion getaway at Le Rocher, believing she was invited by one of her former friends. She has not seen any of her fellow snowboarder for ten years. She hopes to spend the weekend catching up with Curtis, Dale, Heather and Brent. She spent time with them, preparing for an elite competition, trying to work on her skills, maybe learn some new ones and of course to win!

They begin to feel that something is not right soon after they all arrived. Their icebreaker game goes awry when they realize that someone knows their secrets. They are getting uncomfortable, suspicious, and beginning to doubt each other. The "Ghost" of Saskia looms over them. She was Milla's nemesis and biggest competitor and Curtis's sister.

Trapped, and full of suspicion, tension rise as the temperature plummets. Who can you trust? Who really invited them? Who stranded them there? What really happened to Saskia? Was one of them responsible for her disappearance? Is she dead or alive? Suspicion falls on all them all. This is a chilling and atmospheric book. I love when the environment is very much a character in the book as well. This book is told in the present as well as ten years ago. We see them in the past, snowboarding, hanging out, competing, and being taunted by Saskia.

Allie Reynolds is a former freestyle snowboarder and avid reader. She combined her two favorite things to write this book. This was a captivating read which had me guessing and trying to figure out who was behind them being stranded. I found this book to be well written and perfectly plotted. I enjoyed both timelines and the alternative timeless really set the stage for the unfolding of the plot. I enjoyed reading as the characters changed, grew and evolved. Are they the same people they were when they were competing? Has Saskia's disappearance changed them? Is their friendship still there?

Shiver is an intriguing, riveting, tension filled whodunit which I highly recommend.


Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair review.


Milla received an invitation for an off season reunion at the ski resort, she was hesitate to accept. She has secrets of her own to keep and reason that she hasn't talked to any of them in 10 years. However, as soon as sees Curtis, Dale, Heather and Brent she is taken back to the days when they were all friends before everything went wrong.

No sooner, then they open the door of the resort they begin to understand that something isn't right. The place is completely deserted. Soon their cellphones disappear, their computers are gone and they are stuck up the mountain with no way off and someone wants them to pay for what happened 10 years.

I would say more but I really don't want to give away a lot about this book. I have read a couple of thrillers set at deserted resorts so I wondered if this would give me the I read this already vibe. It didn't though I was hooked from the first to the last chapter. Once I thought I figured something out I was totally wrong.

Even after things were revealed I was still thrown by some twists. For a debut author this book was great. It was engaging and kept you guessing until the very end. I didn't see it coming at all. I can't wait to see what the author writes next.

I found this to be a very compulsive read. I really wanted to know who was behind everything, and how it all happened. That being said, I found this book just ok. I think it's partially because snowboarding interests me not at all (and there is a LOT of snowboarding stuff) and also because I felt like it was trying a little bit to be a And Then There Were None, but in the mountains. And that fell flat. The initial set up happened really quickly, and the feeling of dread created was good, but not great. The flashbacks kept the pacing interesting, but the flashbacks themselves didn't lend anything to the atmosphere of the story for me. I liked the ending, the whodunnit made sense, and I liked the open-ended feeling of it. Overall, an enjoyable read.

A chilly debut that put me right there in this cold winter setting. Told in dual time period via Milla both current day and in the past. So what happened ten years ago exactly? That's the question and slowly (maybe a tad slowly at times) the events of that winter are revealed.

I don't read a lot of books with that lock-down setting and I'll admit that part of me thinks is it even possible to have a book with both depth of character and a story that doesn't drag when covering a shorter period of time. I'm happy to report that it worked out nicely here.

Shiver is a chilly suspense that kept me guessing until it didn't (pretty darn close to the end I might add). With any mystery there is always twists and turns, my mind trying to decipher the clues. Both time periods are full of secrets but its the current day where they get darker and deadlier. Set high up in the mountains there is no way to escape or communicate with the outside world.

There is lots of talk about snowboarding, but that's okay - its who these people are and central to the plot. It actually gave me a new appreciation for the work involved with that sport.

Shiver has an interesting cast of characters, all suspect, flawed and unreliable - what better group is there to be stranded with, right? Shiver releases in a months time and available now for preorder. It's a book I recommend to those that love a slow burn suspense to go with the chilly months ahead.

My thanks to Penguin Group (via Netgalley) for an advanced e-arc in exchange for a honest review.

Five old friends are invited to a ski resort in the French Alps where years before they had all met during an international snowboarding competition, but their lives were turned upside down when rivalries and relationships, with one girl at the heart of it all, shook them apart - and that girl ended up missing, presumed dead. They soon discover themselves cut off from the outside world with someone unknown accusing them of the very things that caused their riffs in the past.
For the most part I really liked this book. It was a well-paced mystery/thriller that steadily built up the tension, kept you guessing as to the "who" and the "why" and threw in some unexpected twists. Like many of the thrillers of today, it's mostly told in the format of a chapter of "now" followed by a chapter of "then," but manages to effectively use this style to both slowly unreel the mystery of today while dishing out the backstory. While there were elements that were far-fetched, the story itself was engrossing s0 that you become caught up in it enough to accept the crazier parts.
The only things I didn't like so much were the length - there were parts of the story that felt like could have been left out and would have made for a tighter narrative - and all the snowboarding details. I get it that the author obviously knows the sport intimately and the characters were all international athletes, but I ended up having to skim through some of the chapters detailing everybody's runs with play-by-play of intricate snowboarding jargon. Those minor things aside, it was an enjoyable book that really sucks you into the story.

Because this book is set in the Alps, it reminded me of Ruth Ware's ONE BY ONE, and the stories are similar in some ways. Five friends from snowboarding competitions are invited to a ski resort where another friend went missing 10 years ago and has just been officially declared dead. The story is told from Milla's point of view, both present day and 10 years ago. The timelines are clearly delineated but the format seems to drag the story down. The planned reunion goes off the rails when it becomes clear that someone is trying to harm everyone. Although there is a lot going on, the story moves rather slowly. I did like the setting, though. Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing an ARC.

Shiver induces shivers because of the setting, a deserted French ski resort and two mysteries. The older mystery is about the death of a Saskia, a former elite snowboarder, who died/vanished on the mountain ten years ago. The newer mystery is about the reunion of her fellow snowboarders that were seemingly invited to the same resort where Saskia perished. Who extended the invitation and is someone trying to kill these surviving snowboarders? Like a locked room/ desert island mystery, escaping the resort may prove impossible.

The story unfolds in two timelines, the past and the present. Milla, Saskia’s rival, tells both stories while trying (like the reader) to understand how the past is playing into the present. And everyone is keeping secrets and suspecting each other. There is lots of detail about the sport and competitiveness of snowboarding. They played hard and trained harder. In the beginning, the characters were a bit difficult to follow but just as the tension picks up, the group dynamics becomes clearer. Enjoyable winter thriller.

A group of former snow boarders and friends are invited back to the site of an event in their pasts and are deliberately stranded. The book transitions between events in the past and the present. I had trouble identifying with the characters, but the mystery held my interest. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

A locked room thriller with a killer twist of snow. Wow. Talk about suspense and edge of the seat thrills. Twists and turns that you never see coming. Most highly recommended