Sarah Kline is a solicitor at a city law firm specialising in divorce. When her sister Gemma is reported missing in the remote north Pennines, Sarah needs to find out what has happened to her. Travelling to Hartsbridge, a small town in the Pennines on the border between Northumberland and County Durham, where Gemma was last seen, Sarah is told by the local police that Gemma and her boyfriend are both "in some sort of trouble" - probably criminal. But what?

The mystery deepens when Sarah learns that it's not the first time that a young woman has disappeared without trace in unexplained circumstances: sixteen years before, 15-year-old Alice Brocklehurst had vanished from nearby Brocklehurst Hall. As for the hall itself, "who knew what other secrets it would be hiding?"

Sarah soon discovers that there are dark secrets that the locals want to keep hidden - and are prepared to kill to do so. And perhaps the terrifying tales of a mysterious creature lurking on the moors are real after all...

All is revealed in this readable novel, a mixture of crime thriller and American Werewolf in London/Hound of the Baskervilles-type mystery.

This book really wasn't what I had expected based on the title. The story is much more complex and really has nothing to do with anyone going hiking. Sarah discovers that her sister Gemma has gone missing and she sets out to discover what has happened. The two have an estranged relationship but Sarah is determined to uncover the truth. Locals seem to be unhelpful to the point of obstructive, and it is clear there are secrets being kept. The story is unusual and quite menacing, and kept me interested to the end.

In the hiker by MJ Ford Sarah is happy she is a divorce lawyer in the week away from her own expensive wedding to the love of her life. When inspector show up at her office looking for her sister Jenna and questions about her boyfriend Mark who was found in a burnt out car she is confused as to how they found her, she hasn’t spoken to her sister since the mothers death five years ago. Sarah and Jenna have led two totally different lives. Despite this Sarah feels compelled to find her sister. She goes on an investigative road trip and find the village where her sister was last seen and although the local residents or close mouth about her sister there also hesitant to talk about the other girl that went messing and what they think happened to both of them. I enjoyed this book, but I really thought it was going in a different direction. In the beginning of the book it lead you to believe it’s something supernatural, but either way it is a good thriller and worth reading. If you love great mysteries then you will love this book just don’t think I think this is a great book that holds your interest and that is why I gave it four stars and highly recommend it. I was given this book by net galley and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any grammar or punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

This was totally different to the type of book I normally read and I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy it but I really enjoyed it. I didn’t really want to put it down! I liked both Sarah and her sister and didn’t guess the ending at all. I like a book that keeps you guessing until the end and this certainly did!

The author set the scene well, the characters were written well. It's not my thing if I am honest but it was good and I'd definitely buy as a gift for friends who would really love this book

Although I enjoyed this, I didn't love it.
The author did an excellent job of setting the scene, but nothing was surprising. I thought it was too obvious.
The two narrators, Gemma and Sarah were well written. I especially enjoyed how Gemma was written.
This is not the kind of thriller I favour, but I'd recommend it.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I'm not sure who the hiker of the title is intended to be... This is the story of lawyer Sarah who is told by the police that her estranged sister's boyfriend has been found dead in a burnout car. Sarah doesn't think the police are worried enough about where her sister Gemma (now missing) might be, and the chapters alternate between Sarah trying to track Gemma down, and others from the perspective of Gemma, which gradually reveal what was going on. I found Gemma and Sarah a bit flat and not terribly likeable. Their estrangement was a bit of a plot device really (What did Gemma do with her half of the proceeds of sale of their mother's house by the way?) as they seemed quite fond of each other. There was an awful lot going on here, with a possible giant cat on the loose and a missing teenager from 15 years ago, quite apart from Gemma and her boyfriend's cunning plan (which was nuts). Then there was a sub-plot involving Sarah's fiance thrown in at the end for good measure.

I read this in one sitting on a plane, but I might have struggled to get through it if I had had more distractions.

Sarah and Gemma are the two main characters in this book they are sisters, they have not spoken for years, Sarah is a lawyer who appears to have it all great job a beautiful house and is getting married soon, Gemma struggles to make ends meet and her boyfriend Mark is no better, Sarah receives news that Mark has been found dead in a burnt out car but there is no trace of her sister Gemma who is missing, Sarah doesn’t hesitate to go looking for her sister who was last seen in a small village, the village people are not terribly friendly and some have very crazy ideas, the local police are not much help either, Great descriptions in this book the reader actually feels like you in the moors and the rugged countryside, urban myths and strange people this was a great book

An enjoyable read about a woman who goes missing and her sister will not give up on finding her, bit predictable I thought ..

Slightly far-fetched plot about two sisters who have become estranged. When one goes missing, the other travels to the north of England to try to find her. Without much help from the police she tries to find her last whereabouts before she disappeared. She is confused how her sister ended up in this small remote village. The villagers are all a little strange with some rather bizarre tales. Good page turner.

(3.5 stars)
The Hiker is a thriller that centres upon two sisters, Sarah and Gemma Klein, who grew up with a dysfunctional mother who abused alcohol. This childhood trauma has impacted their relationship, which is exacerbated by her death, and leads to their estrangement: "That's the thing about funerals—it's not just a goodbye to the departed but to the living also". It's also a book about their relationships with men, which are complicated by poverty and infidelity.

M.J. Ford's writing is flowing and easy to like, and I found myself quickly invested in the women's stories, which are presented in alternating chapters, with Sarah in the present day, and Gemma in the past. While this all-too-common device of shifting narrators with a non-linear narrative can sometimes be annoying, it worked in this case as a way of explaining the things Sarah finds about her sister.

"Now I've travelled out of the village and seen how wild and uninhabited it is up here, it's not quite so hard to believe there might be something roaming the pathless hills." The remote Pennines, a mountain range sometimes referred to as the 'backbone of England', provides an eerie setting for the novel that sees Sarah looking for her sister Gemma after she goes missing. The small village of Hartsbridge delivers a cast of characters that both sisters engage with. There are plenty of twists and turns leading to a climax that stemmed too far from believable for my liking. Otherwise it was a good, enjoyable book that I finished very quickly because the story was engaging.

This was a gripping read and held my interest throughout. There were lots of twists and turns to keep the story interesting

The Hiker by M.J. Ford After a slow start, the action picks up and evolves into quite a thriller. Past disappearances, a community with a myriad of secrets, twists and turns make for a suspenseful read in Sarah's search for her missing sister, Gemma.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book takes you on a ride and is interesting. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

The Hiker

Sarah is preparing for her upcoming wedding when she finds out her estranged sister, Gemma, has gone missing. Her boyfriend’s car has been found burnt, with him in it, but she’s nowhere to be found. Although she hasn’t spoken to Gemma for several years, she has to know what’s happened to her. When a clue leads her to a small town, she starts making enquirers with the local townspeople, but not everyone seems to be as forthcoming or honest as they should be. What really happened to Gemma?

The Hiker was a good double style mystery, with two missing girls, years apart, and a cast of both friendly and shady characters - working out which were which was definitely part of the fun! Based on the title, I was expecting the story to revolve around a hiking disappearance and the resulting survivor type story, but that really didn’t have much to do with it at all. There were some other animalistic type plot points that had me excited (I love big cats and stories with wild animals!) but that didn’t quite work out how I expected (or hoped) either. Nonetheless, they were expectation mistakes on my behalf and it was a solid mystery/thriller. I enjoyed the multiple points of view with the differing timelines, it made for a well rounded story that linked all the clues and twists together nicely.

I really enjoyed this book, full of twists and turns with a good ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

<i>The Hiker</i> is a fast-paced crime thriller that leaves you wondering which crime takes precedent. Sarah Klein is getting married when she receives a note from her sister saying that she won’t be able to make it to the wedding. She can’t help it. She needs to find her sister. <i>The hiker</i> is a standalone crime novel written by the well-known author of the DS Josie mystery series, M.J. Ford.

Sarah Klein is just about to get married when she finds out a postcard from her sister Gemma which says she won’t be able to make it to the wedding. At first she ignores the message. She can’t remember how long it has been since she last saw her sister. But then, policemen visit her office asking her questions about her sister who apparently has gone missing. This spurs Sarah on to wondering what has happened to Gemma and she decides take a few days to look for her. She ends up in the small town of Hartsbridge and the mystery starts to unfold. As she starts to ask questions of the locals who have seen Gemma with her boyfriend, she finds out that Gemma’s boyfriend died in a car crash up on the moors under mysterious circumstances. She goes up to see the site. Things become more and more complicated when she starts to find clues about where her sister has spent time and what she has done. Then the police start to give her warnings that she should just leave and let things go. They will let her know if anything else happens. Rather than leave she continues on her own. She discovers that people in the town are not at all what they seem. Will she find her sister and, if so, will sister be alive or has there been another murder that needs to be solved?

The story is very fast paced. The reader remains involved because the author uses the technique of first following the story of Sarah and revealing what she’s finding out. Then we are taken back in time to hear more about Gemma where the truth lies. Both their stories finally converge which keeps the reader engaged.

We learn a lot about the personalities of the two sisters. One is very hard working and ambitious and the other is more of a drifter. They are very dissimilar and yet so much the same that interesting parallels start to be revealed in spite of the fact that they both declare themselves to be completely different. These characters add a special level os interest to the story.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good crime thriller that’s fast-pased. I gave it four on five. I want to thank NetGalley and Avon Books for providing me with a digital copy of this novel. I give this review voluntarily.

This was a really entertaining book, and I read it in just a few sittings. In the whole it was well paced (there was a little dragging at about 2/4 Id say) but overall entertaining and with just the right amount of 'Oh my god!!' moments at the climax. Definitely some of the ideas and concepts were unique and stayed with me after reading.

Sarah is looking for her lost little sister Gemma. They're estranged, but when the police tell her she's missing, she can't help but want to find her. She digs in and the mystery deepens, with an isolated community that is definitely hiding something. There are lots of little hints and creepy suggestions - and I love the setting of the moors, and also the myth of large cats loose in the country, staying hidden but somehow managing to breed and survive. The Hiker had twists aplenty, and I love how strong and determined Sarah is, even in the face of several setbacks. The ending was just completely unexpected yet very satisfying also. A real page turner!

I absolutely enjoyed reading The Hiker by M. J. Ford because of its carefully-constructed plot, authentic characters and the cracker of an ending.

Two estranged sisters, Sarah and Gemma, tell this contemporary crime thriller separately; I enjoy reading thrillers told from different characters' perspectives because there's often a tension deriving from one character's information that relates to the other characters. The different perspectives kept the story's pace ticking along.

Sarah is a successful lawyer living with her fiance, Doug, in London. Gemma is working in an elder care home, out of London, with her just laid off boyfriend. They are in debt and now in danger of serious harm by their landlord's gangster son. Mark hatches a crazy scheme to blackmail some marijuana growers up north in Hartsbridge.

Sarah is approached at her workplace by police making inquiries about Gemma. A burnt-out car belonging to Mark was found, one dead body inside it. The police ask if Sarah knows about Gemma's whereabouts but Sarah hasn't had contact with Gemma for more than 5 years. Their childhoods weren't great: Sarah rose above it, Gemma didn't.

Remarkably, the day after the police visit, Sarah receives a card from Gemma, sent from Hartsbridge. Despite her wedding being just days away, Sarah drives north to where the burnt-out car was found. Hartsbridge is a small village and so Sarah is able to make some quick progress in determining that Gemma was there but is not now. Sarah's inquiries reveal some odd behaviour by some locals - sufficient for her to remain and continue her search for Gemma.

The local police are supportive and keep Sarah informed of their investigation. Soon, evidence is found by hikers that strongly suggests Gemma has been killed. DNA samples are taken and the investigation takes on a different mood.

The plot takes several interesting twists that I'll not reveal here - because no one likes spoilers in a review. They're credible, well-constructed twists and the story picks up pace so that I read the second half of the book in one sitting.

This is one of those contemporary crime thrillers, like Girl on the Train, that could be set now, feels real, and could be happening to any of us. And that's probably what makes it such a good read - it's outrageous but read any daily newspaper and you think, 'this could happen to me'.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because the characters were ordinary you-or-me people. The situation was credible and the conclusion was well-constructed and satisfying. (Satisfying means I said, 'good' or 'well done' at the last page).