I have loved all of Sharon Bolton's previous novels and The Pact was no exception. It has a great premise and hooked me in from the beginning. I loved the Oxford setting and Bolton brilliantly portrays the lives of privilege and entitlement of most of the characters. Despite the fact that I found all of the characters unlikeable I was completely immersed in the novel over a period of 24 hours. My only criticism is that the last section of the book became increasingly unbelievable and I felt that it let down what was otherwise a gripping read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC

I love Sharon Boltons books and this one didn't let me down at all! Intriguing from the beginning and full of twists and turns! I wondered where the story would go but this did not disappoint. Sharon up to her usual high standard and I already know some customers at the shop this will be perfect for!

I really enjoyed this book. A group of sixth formers with bright futures ahead of them take part in a dare devil car ride which leaves a mother and 2 children dead. One of the group, Megan, agrees to take the blame, and goes to prison. The payback is that she can ask a favour of each of the others when she is released. Now, 20 years down the line, Megan is out. This is a real page turner, which will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Early morning of A Level results day, five friends who have nearly all drunk heavily, one crazy dare, a mad reckless rite of passage, a major tragedy and a pact as one takes the fall for the others. In return they grant Megan one favour each, as and when ...... The story is told then and twenty years on.

Sharon Bolton hits it out of the park again with this latest thriller. It’s a heart in the mouth shocker that yanks you into the storytelling immediately. This is a very well written novel with the author at the top of her game. The characterisation is excellent, they are not necessarily likeable and all bar Megan are incredibly privileged with glittering futures ahead of the which they fulfil. You sway between feeling a bit (not much) sorry for them as Megan exacts her favours and then thinking they’re getting exactly what they deserve for the rashness and ‘wisdom’ of youth. The pacing is spot on as the tension rises and rises, then falls which I’m thankful for as I don’t think my ticker will stand the stress! There are some fantastic, vivid descriptions in some good settings in and around Oxford and some of the best are in a reclamation yard belonging to Megan’s father. Some of the weird and wonderful reclamation objects add some chill and creepiness. I like how the balance of power shifts and sways as pounds of flesh are demanded and the four friends make plans a bit like headless chickens. Megan’s reappearance brings out the worst in some of them, existing traits subsumed to their success. The end is breathtaking as the plot twists keep coming.

Overall, I think Sharon Bolton is a master of this genre as yet again it’s a book that is impossible to put down. I wasn’t sure how she’d follow The Split but she sure has!

With thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group, Trapeze for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Six teenagers have taken their exams and are awaiting the results. They are all high achievers and glittering careers beckon to them once university is over. The group, apart from one, are all highly privileged and totally arrogant. Regrettably, even the scholarship student is obnoxious!
Due to their arrogance and self importance, a terrible accident occurs and the group have to think of a way out. One of them decides to take the blame, on the proviso that the others “pay back” when the prison sentence is completed, hence The Pact.
This is a good, captivating story and whilst I found the characters awful and arrogant it was still a good read. There are quite a few loopholes, but the story flowed well. The ending was as expected but still enjoyable.
Thank you NetGalley.

A fast placed thriller that, as a parent of 3 teens, was uncomfortable in places. Mostly privileged and with the arrogance that comes with it, the pack are led astray with tragic consequences. Someone has to pay, that's when the fun starts.
Beautifully written. A high octane page turner.

My first book by this author tells the story of a disastrous and life changing experience for a group of teens when a dare goes horrifically wrong.
The six teenagers, all of whom are expecting perfect A levels results at their independent Oxford school in a few weeks, have spent the summer drinking and lounging and carrying out dangerous dares - each taking turns to drive the wrong way down a stretch of motorway in the middle of the night. 5 drivers get away with it but the sixth isn’t so lucky....so the pact is drawn up that one will take the blame and the other 5 can stay free. One important condition though - when the prisoner is released, each of the 5 have to fulfil one request...and it could be anything...

The story starts with the six as teenagers then moves forward twenty years, when all of their lives are very different now. How will they be changed again when the prisoner is released and returns to Oxford?

I really envied this book, even though I was convinced I had worked it all outa no I was completely wrong! I will be looking for Sharon’s back catalogue now.

Another cracking thriller from the pen of Sharon J Bolton. I absolutely loved it.

Six friends, one stupid game of dare in one summer following their A' level exams and their lives change for ever.
One friend is prepared to take the fall for the others and sacrifice their future to save the others but at a price.
Years later it's time to collect,

It you loved The Split by the same author then you're going to love this too. I know I did, This is defiantly one of those another chapter before bed books that you find yourself still reading hours later.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for a per publication copy in return for an honest review.

Another really good book from Sharon Bolton. Six friends committed a awful crime but one took the blame. She returns years later to collect her agreed fee. A great novel with many twists and turns and an unexpected ending well worth a read .

It's been a while since I have read a book in which I find pretty well all of the characters completely contemptible. In which I have never to see them get their just desserts more than I do each of the characters that Sharon Bolton has created in her latest thriller, The Pact. The book follows a group of six friends on the eve of getting their exam results, and the aftermath of a decision they make that night which they all live to regret. A game of date turns deadly and for one of the six, Megan, steals away the largest portion of her life as she takes the heat for them all. It's bad enough that they let her do it, they are teenagers and you'd perhaps forgive their panic, but what follows just cemented my dislike of them all. Every single one.

Bizarrely, despite not liking any of them and perhaps, even, because of it, I found myself completely immersed in this book and glued to the page. As I said, I wanted to see real justice done, not just the kind of justice that sees Megan face twenty years in prison. There is almost a sense of shock in the immediate aftermath of that fateful night, and the reactions of the group, the indecision, the panic, the avoidance, are all believable and have such an air of truth about them. But it is when the story picks up some twenty years later, when Megan is released from prison, that things start go get interesting. Megan made them all sign a pact agreeing that they owe her, and it is time to call in that debt. Now some of her demands may shock, they are certainly a little. ... unconventional at times. But then when the truth of what Megan went through in prison, of why she served her full sentence is revealed, it is almost possible to feel a little sympathy for her. Almost. And only a little. Sharon Bolton has played a blinder in that even the one of the six who has the greatest claim to the title of victim (and it is a very weak claim at that) is not a really sympathetic character. There is something cold, calculating, about Megan, more than just the remnants of her time inside.

This really is a story of privilege and of that sense of entitlement that is so natural to those who have everything. Even when a friend is in pain they group were oblivious, caught up in their own worlds and needs, and not really seeing what is right in front of their face. She was easy to sacrifice, the scholarship student. No one with the money or influence to really fight for her. Gifted but ultimately expendable. I had guessed. Megan's secret, but not the who or the extent of it, and thankfully it is kept largely off the page. What we learn is dark enough. As for the rest, it is less their actions as teenagers, as awful as they may be, than how they behave as adults that stick in the craw. The author taps into that idea that with money and power your actions and your history can be re-written, and the ends justify the means. And just how far they are all willing to go to protect their perfect lives really does beggar belief, leaving me with a real sense of anger as I read.

The second half of the book is packed with tension that ebbs and flows like the River Cherwell around that exclusive Oxford College they all attended. The sense of threat builds, that urgency and expectation waiting to see how the cat and mouse game plays out. It is almost with a sense of regret the fate that befalls one of the group, perhaps the only one of the six who was truly sorry for what came to pass, but it adds to the mystery, the question marks over where the real threat lies.

This wasn't a particularly fast paced read, the tempo only really building in the dying pages (no pun intended) when all that has happened before is pushed to a somewhat tragic end. But it held my attention, and I still completed it in a single day. I wanted to know the outcome. I wanted to smile (and I did) when certain characters got what was coming. Overall, I wanted to be entertained and I was. Fans of the author will love this.

Six sixth formers, about to leave their private school and start on what would undoubtedly be glittering careers, are involved in a car accident which leaves a young mum and her two children dead. One of them, Megan, says she will take the blame but on condition that when she comes out of prison they will each do her a favour. They agree to this plan thinking she'll get a minimum sentence because of her age. In fact she ends up on a murder charge and gets a twenty year sentence. When she comes out she is determined to extract revenge on her erstwhile friends. The same friends who now have so much more to lose than before: a top lawyer, a headteacher, a junior minister, etc etc.

First things first. This is an easy to read book and mildly entertaining. However it does have one of the most ludicrous plots I've ever come across. There are so many things wrong with it. I won't say what because I'd have to reveal spoilers and I don't want to do that. The characters were almost all irredeemably awful. Who would let one of their friends take the blame for an accident, end up in prison for 20 years and not once, not once ever contact them. No wonder Megan was bitter. This was a disappointing novel from the author. I've read several and enjoyed them but this one... No. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you for my copy of this book to review.

I was gripped by this book from the start.

I didn’t particularly like any of the characters but I don’t think you were meant to. I found the whole plot overblown and completely unbelievable but that’s what made me love it.

I finished this book in less than 2 days, the story was so tense and it made my heart race at times, I can’t recommend it enough!

It didn’t quite make 5 stars (I would give it 4.9) as I felt the ending was a bit rushed.

When six teenagers commit a heinous crime, one decides to sacrifice themselves by turning themselves in to the police and going to prison. In return, the other five will owe her one favour each on her release.

This was a good, solid, twisty thriller. I can imagine this being turned into a hit mini-series in the near future.

Thank you NetGalley and Orion for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

6 school friends, all bright and expected to be successful and flourish after achieving their A-Levels at Oxfords most prestigious private school, but one stupid dare may change the courses of their lives forever when a mother and her two children are killed. The group make a pact that if one person takes the blame, at the end of their sentence they get to ask for a favour from the other 5. 20 years on and 5 out of the 6 friends are living successful lives until the 6th friend reappears ready to enforce the pact.

Full of twists and turns ‘The Pact’ had me gripped from start to finish. I found myself disliking most of the characters which to me is a sign of a great author! My only gripe is that I found the ending to be somewhat far fetched and a little bit too unbelievable. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I have read several books by Sharon Bolton and enjoyed them all and this was no exception. A fast paced storyline that gripped me from the first page with plenty of twists and turns and believable characters that I just had to keep reading to find out what happened I really like her style of writing and hope another book comes out soon. I highly recommend this book and author.

I know when I pick up a Sharon Bolton book, I will not be able to stop reading until I have finished it and this one did not disappoint. It is a thrilling page turner that was different to others because it focuses on six teenagers who make a pact after a dare goes wrong and what happens twenty years alter. Sharon Bolton is the queen of atmospheric novels that twist and turn leading you to think one thing only to turn things round moments later. None of the characters were easy to like and all unreliable narrators adding to the mystery. It was reminiscent of my favourite book as a teenager I know what you did last summer.
Set in Oxford, it was a joy to read.
I would have given it five stars but felt the ending let it down. It is still a solid four stars and surpasses many psychological thrillers available to read.

This is another great book by Sharon Bolton. Her writing style means that you quickly become absorbed into the characters.
There’s plenty of twists and turns and an unexpected ending. The plot is absorbing and engaging.

Wow what a story! This kept me gripped throughout, close to the end I did start to suspect some of what was going on but it was still quite a shocker!!! A must read :-)

Literally read this book in 6hours such a page Turner couldnt put it down. Loved the story and felt so connected with the characters. Didnt see the ending coming until the very end! Brilliant

* spoiler alert ** 3.5 stars

We open with what appears to be a tight knit group of senior school children,the eve before their exam results,with bright futures ahead of them.

We leave a lot less happy and bright.

I definitely turned pages fast,possibly to find out if the characters could get any more unlikeable.
All out for themselves,and willing to slap anyone down to keep their own cosy life.
It was great!!
A few twists added tension to the story.
A perfect beach read,if beach holidays become a thing this year!