Member Reviews
A fun and fascinating thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I didn't know anything about snowboarding before reading this, but I never felt lost.
A locked room mystery that delivers. I had a little bit of trouble getting into it at first because of the snowboarding but once it took off I couldn’t put it down.
Finally an interesting thriller. I will recommend it to patrons. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
This was a great locked room mystery. Reunion in a remote snow lodge turns deadly. The twists and turns definitely kept me guessing. The relationships were complex and compelling. The snow boarding action was intense. The ending was truly a surprise. Recommended.
A chilling locked room mystery that will resonate with ski bums of all stripes. Milla isn't sure why she accepts an invitation to an old haunt with old friends - a ski resort in the Alps where she spent a disastrous snowboarding season competing years before with cut-throat athletes who were both friends and foes. When they arrive and realize they are the only people there things start getting spooky. Twists and turns will keep you guessing up til the end. This is a great read as we prepare for snow - whether you are a winter sports fan or not
A group of former pro snowboarders get together again after a mysterious summons. Everyone seemed to get an email from someone else. Why are they all here? Years ago Saskia died in a tragic accident. But was it an accident? Mia had a rivalry with her and an unrequited love of her older brother Curtis. As she and her former friends all gather an icebreaker game set up by their mysterious host immediately puts everyone on edge. Is saskia really gone? And when everyone has a secret to hide who would kill for theirs? A thrilling locked room (but this time in the middle of nowhere) mystery, readers won’t know the whole truth until the last page.
It took me a little while to really get into this book. I was having some trouble following the snowboard terms and couldn't really picture some of what they were talking about in my head. But the mystery aspect was enough to keep me interested. And then BOOM. I could not put it down. A mystery in the past that causes thrilling secrets to be spilled and friendships to be tested in the present. I loved it. If you like mystery/thrillers/people all trapped together this is a book for you!
While I enjoyed the reading, I did feel that there was a lot of technical stuff that brought the book down. I did enjoy the dual timeline aspect of the book. There was also hint of a romance or two, so that will appeal to those that like a bit of spark with their thrillers. I wonder if this will be a sequel....seems the mountain holds onto many lost bodies.
Thanks to netgalley and publisher for an e-arc of the book. All opinions are my own.
I'm calling this The Real World meets The Escape Room meets The X Games.
In this debut thriller, a group of snowboarding buddies (who have pretty much all slept with each other at some point) show up to a reunion at a ski resort only to find it totally deserted and with all lines of communication and the only way down the mountain cut off.
They soon realize that they were brought here under false pretenses, and they're not sure if the mastermind is one of them, or if someone else is at the resort with them. Also, everyone is highly attractive and whoever left them up there thankfully left the liquor.
The atmosphere was great and I was really scared at some points, the writing was good and moved along quickly, and I enjoyed the parts about snowboarding, but the ending was pretty contrived and the motivations for the characters' actions made no sense to me. Still, I enjoyed the ride and horror movie vibes.
This is a locked-room thriller set in the French Alps when five friends are reunited and deliberately stranded on a mountain top resort. It is fast paced and will keep you guessing “who done it.” All the characters are former snow boarding champions and the story does go into more snowboarding details then I needed to enjoy the book. Lots of twists and turns as you try to figure out who is the murderer and why are they being killed. Everyone has secrets!
Shiver by Alllie Reynold reminded me of a cross between a Lifetime movie and a teen I-know-what-you-did-type story. Shiver is a debut book, and I found it quite good. Most of the story is retold through flashbacks. There were many twists and turns. The story had me trying to figure out the puzzle and keep up with the events. Even the end was a surprise.
#Shiver #NetGalley
I can’t decide if this book being published so soon after Ruth Ware’s One by One is good or bad luck for the author. On the one hand, this book is a perfect readalike for One by One, but on the other hand it’s hard for a debut author to compete with an established, beloved author like Ware when the subject matter is so similar. Regardless, readers should judge this book based on its own merits. A group of old not-quite-friends reunite in a mostly abandoned ski lodge to rehash events from ten years ago where several of their number did not make it out whole. The suspense was taut and there was a sheen of sexiness over the whole thing. A worthy addition to the thriller shelf. I look forward to more by this author.
The story is cleverly told through alternating chapters taking the reader back to the past ten years ago when Saska, Curtis, Milla, Dale, Heather and Brent were young, up and coming snowboarders starting their professional careers. They believed that nothing could stop or hurt them, until six friends became five and their lives were changed forever. Now it’s 10 years after the disappearance (and presumed death of one of them) the five friends are forced to face each other again, suspicious and each harboring their own secrets. The reunion appears to have been orchestrated by Milla, the novel’s protagonist (who believes her invitation came from Curtis, the dead girl’s brother). It’s not long before they realize that the entire event is a set-up that is designed to revisit more than the good times they shared. As the tension ramps up among the group, it’s clear that they’re not all going to get out of this alive.
All five characters are well developed and believable and I was constantly changing my mind on who was guilty and who was innocent. I loved the duel timeline and that we have basically a handful of characters, one building and yet it’s such a tense and twisty book that just keeps going. It's so well written and kept me on my toes until the very end. I definitely gasped out loud a few times and could not pick who was the killer. I'm positive that if you like mysteries or thrillers, writers such as Riley Sager, Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware you will enjoy this novel too. This is a fantastic first outing for Allie Reynolds and I look forward to reading more books by her.
Milla reunites with her snowboard friends 10 years after one of their friends disappeared. The reunion is in a deserted lodge and once they are delivered by a cable car, they are trapped. There seems to be someone else in the lodge when their devices disappear and odd things begin happening. It seems someone planned the reunion to figure out what happed to Saskia all those years ago. The story is told in alternating chapters, the present day and 10 years ago, when 4 of the 5 friends were Olympic hopefuls. They had complicated relationships with each other and they all seem to have a secret. Who planned the reunion and will they find out what happened to Saskia? I know nothing about the French Alps or snowboarding and I was intrigued to look at photos of the scenery and watch snowboard tricks online.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy of Shiver by Allie Reynolds in exchange for my honest review. Shiver is a solid, closed-circle mystery that takes place in the French Alps. A friend group has reunited at their former stomping grounds as competitive snowboarders under unknown circumstances. Each character is propelled to come for their own reasons--some for guilt and some who just want answers as to what REALLY happened 10 years ago when their group disbanded and lives were altered by violent outcomes.
I would label this novel as a mystery, rather than a thriller. Most of the story is a guessing game as to who is culpable. and the "action" takes place more through flashbacks than in present day. The build up is slow. Things amp up later in the story, but for the most part, it is the development and intertwining of the couples as they manage the competitive situations of being professional athletes. As a side note, I do appreciate the angle of competitive sports. There are not many storylines with this snapshot, and it gives this story a unique edge.
For fans of Ruth Ware...plenty of suspense and atmosphere, lots of interesting information about snowboarding, and enough twists to keep anyone guessing. But beware, not everyone makes it out alive...
*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
A group of five former competitive snowboarders is invited back to a resort, Le Rocher, located in the French Alps. It has been ten years since they were together, and it soon becomes apparent that someone has made very detailed plans for this reunion. There is no staff, their cell phones disappear, and they are trapped with no way down the mountain. Secrets, lies, and the truth about what happened in the past will be revealed, but will anyone be left alive?
A very atmospheric setting and a story told in the past and present made Shiver a fast-paced whodunnit and why. With more skeletons in their closets than a Halloween graveyard, I was hooked from beginning to end. I made my usual guesses concerning who was responsible for this fun-filled trip down memory lane. I was close, which is a nice way of saying, I was totally wrong!
Another fantastic debut with enough thrills and chills to make it a perfect fall read. With publication set for January, I think it will make a great curl up by the fire with a good book read. I also really enjoyed learning about the fascinating life of a competitive snowboarder.
This well-written and suspenseful novel makes you feel like you are there, breathing in the frigid air. It paced along nicely and and had a small bonus twist at the end.
Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Milla Anderson gets an email invitation to meet up with four people from a snowboarding competition that took place ten years ago. She is a little ambivalent about going, after all she is 33, no longer competing, and one person disappeared and another was badly hurt at the event as well as betrayals all around. In the flashback scenes the characters are rather unlikeable in their pursuit of their individual athletic goals at the expense of their possible future happiness. In the present, Milla and the others quickly find out they have been tricked into coming into the isolated spot and deadly games begin. The story moves rapidly and it was a fun, suspenseful debut to read.
Brr!! It’s cold in here! I’ve got a serious case of the chills and it’s not from the sudden drop in temperature (goodbye summer, hello wonderful, crisp Autumn weather!) it’s due to the chills that have been plaguing me ever since I read this book!
This was EXCELLENT. Just what I was looking for!
I love a good whodunnit locked room mystery and this was one of them.
AND. There is just something extra exciting and intense about locked room mysteries that take place in resorts in remote settings in the dead of winter.
So sinister and deadly for the characters, so cozy and thrilling to read about, especially when you’re snuggled up in a big warm blanket with a cup of your favorite warm beverage.
Chilly and atmospheric, this is a story that will give you goosebumps and have you reaching for a hot beverage to sip while you’re reading it, if only to try and rid yourself of the chills and goosebumps prickling your body while reading.
The entire time I was reading I felt like an eager skier sitting on a ski lift as it was climbing up the mountains higher and higher, taking in the sights and peering around, marveling and wondering what adventures (albeit dangerous and sinister adventures!) were in store for the day. Suddenly, your stomach fills with dread as you see ominous gray clouds gathering in the sky above, hinting at a snow storm to come. Dramatic? Maybe.
The mystery. The intrigue. The chilling, claustrophobic vibes. The sinister, remote setting. All the ingredients necessary for a great locked room mystery book!
Everything about this book was as chilling as it was exciting. Apprehension and dread lurked around every empty dark corner, and lingered on every page, because you just never knew what was coming next, nor what was in store for the characters.
This story takes place at a European ski resort during the off season. A group of people, who had all been friends once upon a time and had stayed there years before, arrive there for a reunion, invited there for a reason although they have no idea by who or why. The group had fallen apart years earlier after their previous stay at that resort, after one of the members of their group mysteriously disappeared and was never found.
Things quickly go sideways and grow sinister when all of their cell phones go missing and the ski lift fails to work. Due to it being the off season, they are completely alone and isolated at the resort, leaving them stranded and without anyone to help them. The group begins to panic, and things grow even more tense and frantic as they turn on each other and try and figure out whats going on, who has trapped them there, and how they are going to get out.
Who is doing this, and what is their motivation? Who is out for revenge? Is it one of them? Or could it be the lost group member?
The more frantic they become, and the more sinister and deadly the situation turns, the more that old resentments begin to rise to the surface, and secrets from long ago are uncovered and revealed. The group begins to turn on each other, and trust between all of them is non existent. But they are all in agreement when it comes to one thing: they must make their way out of the resort and down the mountain before its too late.
Told in dual storylines that offers insight into the past and adds even more mystery to an already suspenseful tale, this suspenseful, eerie story will keep you on the edge of your seat from start till finish.
Get the fire roaring in your fireplace, get settled in next to it, pour a glass of your favorite beverage, find a comfortable spot to lay in for several hours, because once you start reading, you won’t want to stop!
This book is highly addictive, chillingly atmospheric, and a thrilling, suspenseful ride from start to finish.
Definitely looking forward to reading more books from Allie Reynolds in the future!