If you're a fan of Stephen King psychological thrillers 8n the genre of "Misery" then this is the book for you. I found it very tense and gripping which is what 6ou want from a good thriller with a few twists and turns along the way. Highly recommended.

A Palpable Tension…
As Connor, on a special forces elite training mission, struggles across Bodmin Moor he encounters Eilidh. Is she about to be the perfect host? Offering him shelter, food and warmth she invites him to stay awhile. He may find it impossible to leave her perfectly delightful farmhouse. Beating with a palpable tension from the off and with an underlying menace that continues throughout, this is tense and immersive read with a well drawn and deftly depicted cast.

It has taken me some time to write this review as mixed feelings over the book have interrupted my words on paper. Was it just too far fetched and unrealistic? The ill disciplined and weak soldiers I think probably make it so and although the book is gripping in places I have to conclude that I cannot rate it more than 3*.And, you do not hear the shot that kills you!
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Headline for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review..

Misery, but low rent? This was not for me, the beginning was sooooo boring. I get having to establish a character but this dragged on waaaay too long. Also, this guy is supposed to be some elite special ops soldier but made some of the dumbest choices. The book was saved when he gets kidnapped/ held hostage but other than that, this was eh for me.

This wasn't what I was expecting at all, yet I felt compelled to read on.

Connor visits his ex-partner Michelle and young daughter, Ivy before setting off on a military training exercise. Out on the moor, a local woman invites him in for a rest and a refreshments. Connor finds himself seduced and in her bed, but soon discovers something isn't right. Eilidh has no intention of letting him leave.

The writing was gripping, descriptive and intense. I had shivers at the thought of the jawbone in the fire, the toe bone necklace and the femur in the bathroom. I found Julie fascinating and felt I wanted to know more about her story.

The twist at the end was surprising. It is definitely a book that will haunt me for a while.

Thanks indeed to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Connor is in the final stage of the gruelling selection process for special forces on Bodmin Moor. Exhaustion is setting in before he and fellow soldier Deli need to check in at the rendezvous point. They settle for a brief respite in a bothy and when an offer to recover is offered by Eilidh, Connor is tempted because he’s at a low ebb and accepts, wrong though he knows this is.

First of all the author credits Stephen King and Misery with the inspiration for this and it does resonate throughout so as an homage it’s ticking the box. It soon becomes odd, tense and takes on an almost surreal turn. A very dangerous game ensues and there are some horrifying and shocking discoveries. The characters are mostly awful with Eilidh being the one that is most vividly portrayed as we witness her chilling , sinister and vicious actions. I can’t pretend it’s pretty reading because it’s not, at times it’s positively gross in its bleak darkness.
However, it’s unquestionably well written, with some original metaphors and good descriptions of Bodmin.

My reservations about the book first of all lie in the fact that it starts extremely slowly, I don’t find the army stuff at the beginning at all interesting but it does feel authentic as you get a sense of the toughness and grit required. I daresay we all know that anyway. My biggest problem is that this is a soldier in the final stages of SAS training taking place on Bodmin and it’s the third of an unbelievably challenging and rigorous process. Really? Would an individual so close to the finishing line risk potential failure by accepting “you can stay“? I think not.

If you can suspend disbelief this is certainly a page turner that’s for sure even if every now and again you mutter ‘yuck’.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Headline/Wildfire for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I began to read this and all I could of was the similarity to Misery by Stephen King. The description of the landscape and Eilidh's potential psychosis were intriguing but, it just wasn't the book for me.

Connor is on a training mission with the Marines on Bodmin Moor. He's tired, hungry, soaking wet and in need of a good rest. It seems too good to be true when a local lady offers him food, warmth and shelter. You know the saying 'if its too good to be true, it probably is'.... well Connor is about to learn this the hard way.

This is a crazy book... it was not what I was expecting... its a really unique story that is gruesome, scary and crazy in equal measure!! It was a real page turner. I felt a little dissatisfied with the end but actually I think it turned out the way it needed to - even if it wasn't what I expected!! I wasn't wholly convinced by Connor's situation. For a soldier I felt he lacked resourcefulness... but I enjoyed the story so coukd overlook this!

This is a great book, well paced, interesting, different and... did I mention... crazy!

This was an excellent read. Connor is taking part in a selection process for the SAS. Trampling through woodland he stumbles and sprains his ankle. A local woman comes to his rescue and persuades him back to her cottage. From then on a very twisty and chilling storyline which keeps the reader in suspense. Definitely a book to reccomend.

You Can Stay
by Elle Connel
This book was ever so chilling and creepy. I had to stop reading after a day-long, THE DARK!! Very well done, and the had me feeling I was there. Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

Creepy and full of suspense. This book reminded me of 'Misery' but not as enthralling. Unfortunately I wasn't gripped by it and spent a lot of time wanting to shout at the characters! A good idea but didn't like the characters.

Loved the start of this novel .
I found it became more uncomfortable to read from about half way through but that was the nature of the book.
I must admit, it did remind me of 'Misery' (although I've only seen the film, not read the book).
Undoubtedly well written,, although a little far fetched, with a great subject matter that left me wanting to shake Connor and shout 'Get Out!'

This is a great book. The story reminded me of the book misery by stephen king. I was gripped from the start.

Connor, desperate to complete his special forces training and get his life back on track is lured to a remote cottage by a mysterious lady where he quickly succumbs to her coercive charms jeopardising his mission, and drawing him into a dark place that threatens his entire future. Tension builds as Connor struggles to fully comprehend events as they unfold and faces his biggest survival challenge of his career.

Misery meets the wilds of Bodmin.
Creepy, horrifying and breathtaking this one will leave you with chills long after you turn the last page!

A great story with so many questions being asked as you go along, not knowing if all is as it seems. Sitting on the edge of nervousness, this book was hard to put down

Thank you for allowing me to read this book. I am very sorry, but although I was intrigued by the blurb the storyline was to dark for me. I read about 40% of the book, before I decided that I wasn't enjoying it and that the main female character was disturbing me. I put the book to one side fir a couple of days, but the storyline haunted me. I wanted to know if Connor git away, if she was caught, who was the other women in the cottage and most of all WHY? Despite Al, this I could only skim through the remainder of the book to answer these questions. The ending is very worrying! I won't spoil it fir others who enjoy psychological thrillers.
The author writes well,but it was just to deep and gritty for me.

Sometimes it’s hard to like a book if you dislike the characters in the book. I thought it gritty and dark and although it has a lots of twist and turns an action bits it was a long read for me. Not my usual genre so perhaps hard for me to judge

Gripping story but unrealistic plot.

Connor is a marine. He’s taking part in the selection process for the SAS. Whilst hiding out on the moors, he meets Eilidh, a local woman who offers him a meal and a place to rest, which he accepts. This is the part of the story I find unbelievable. Connor comes across as a weak, undisciplined character and certainly not SAS material if he, and his partner Dele, can be taken in and manipulated so easily.

Once Connor arrives at the farmhouse, he is injured by Eilidh, which makes it very difficult for him to leave. I wasn’t sure whether to continue reading but from this point onwards, the story was gripping, mainly because I couldn’t believe what was going to come next. The author tells the next part of the story from Eilidh’s perspective and the story becomes increasingly sinister as we catch glimpses of her back story.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Connor is looking forward to his next challenge on Bodmin Moor, taking part in a training exercise for the elite Special Forces. He will be tracked and he must not be found. He and Michelle have parted and he will miss his young daughter Ivy so much. This new test may see him with a good promotion and he hopes Michelle may change her mind and he could return to his family.
The day soon dawns and he and Dele Oduro set off together, shouldering their kit bags with everything they would need for the exercise. Bodmin Moor is a cold, challenging, wilderness with steep hills and many different valleys and they will need their compasses and maps at every section of their journey to find their way. They soon realise that they are off their course and need to adjust their route. They settle for the night in a crude, dilapidated bothy and when Connor awakes Dele has gone. He is deciding what to do when he sees a shepherdess and her collie with her flock of sheep. He is freezing cold and accepts her generous offer of the warmth and comfort of her warm farmhouse. She offers him homemade food and drinks and a bed for the night. He cannot resist her offer although that night his hostess expects more than he thought. Her name is Eilidh and when they reach home, in the farmhouse is another lady introduced as her sister Julie. At last he is warm and well fed. Maybe he can search for Dele the next day and they can continue on their way. This option is firmly not on Eilidh’s carefully built agenda. Not a bit of it.
Eilidh is determined Connor will stay with them at the farmhouse. She has planned and hunted for the right person. Connor is the best of a bad bunch of paratroopers that have been guests at her farmhouse over the years. She has ways of making him subservient and restrained, but when her brother turns up unexpectedly, Eilidh is forced to make new plans.
This is the chilling, alarming and sinister story of a predator and her prey. It is a well written and disturbing psychological thriller that certainly packs a punch. I was intrigued to discover Eilidh’s dark, mysterious and brutal secrets. I enjoyed the tension and unease that every page brought with it. With themes of kidnap, sexual predation, drugging, murder and more, the story definitely had an overall feeling of menace and mystery. I did not like any of the characters at all. They each had their own agenda but Eilidh was flawed, sadistic, unbalanced and downright evil.
In conclusion, this is a story written in five parts. There is no doubt that I was gripped in some parts, but other parts were more mundane and therefore not so easy to invest in. There were so many questions and not enough answers. I was disappointed in the abrupt and shocking ending and the fact you had to make up your own finale. You may disagree, but these are my honest opinions. I received my copy of this novel through my membership of NetGalley. It was sent to me by publisher Wildfire in return for a considered review. I enjoyed reading most of this story and this is my 3.5* review.