This was a great mystery thriller that will appeal to outdoorsy readers. I really enjoyed learning about each of the main characters and their secrets as the story went on.

I enjoyed this book. At times I felt like there was too much going on. Too many personal problems with every character, none of them were prepared for this hike, etc. It just all seemed like a disaster and I found myself wondering would this really happen in real life? This was a typical popcorn thrill and the ending was meh and to be expected. Overall I would recommend this book and will continue to read this author (I've read all her books!)

Three out of four friends are meeting up for their yearly trip. The fourth can't make it because she's a famous rock star. The rest of the girls have busy lives but look forward to this yearly trip to unwind. This year they are going to Norway to hike a difficult trail up a mountain! The trips are usually warm and poolside, so this is way different. Everything is going pretty well and then the rock star shows up!!! Now all 4 will get to band together on this journey! The problem is that one of them looks exactly like a girl who went missing exactly a year ago. There are some suspicious people hanging around as well.

This was a really nice story. I loved the reality of the friendships between the 4 girls. The aspects of their fears and insecurities just made everything much more relatable. I can see peices of myself in each character. The suspense is a bit of a slow build but it sure gets there!

Four women, friends since childhood; embark on an adventure which includes hiking on a rugged mountain.
Typically, their annual vacation together includes drinks by a pool in the sun. This year will be different. What started as a get away from all their different problems quickly becomes their worst fears. This book was a real page turner! It keeps the reader guessing until the end. Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and the author for the arc read in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Couldn’t stop reading this addictive thriller that I read it in two days.
An atmospheric setting in the deep mountains of Norway, four lifelong friends embark on a hiking trip with deadly results.

Wildly entertaining & has me guessing till the very end!

For their annual trip together, four friends decide to hike up a mountain in Norway, even though it seems like an impossible trek. Each of the women comes with their own set of baggage - Liz is on a trial separation from her husband, Joni is a famous singer who is tired of being in the limelight, Maggie and Helena. They start out with a night at a nearby lodge and meet the rest of the characters who will inhabit the story. But can they trust any one of them?

Both the beginning and the end were filled with thrills and chills. The middle sagged a little for me and that's the reason I gave it four stars instead of five. There's cocaine, a bracelet, a cave, a body at the bottom of a ravine, adultery, pregnancy and a group of criminals.

Lucy Clarke writes bestselling psychological thrillers and does a marvelous job of it. I highly recommend any of her books including "The Hike."

I think this one was a case of the Not For Mes.

It's Liz's turn to decide where she and her group of friends go on vacation. Trying to escape the blues brought about by her crumbling marriage, she elects to gather them together in Norway on a hiking trip, something neither of her friends are supper jazzed about because their lives are moving with such rapidity that they have no time to train.

There's Maggie. For her, the trip will mean a separation from her daughter, spending her first night with her ex-husband unsupervised.

Helena's got a secret thrumming in the back of her mind.

And Joni skips out on her band's world tour, trying to run away from coke addiction and vindictive boyfriend.

I really thought I was getting a book similar to The Ritual by Adam Nevill - four friends out in the wilderness, creepy stuff happening. What I got was a LOT and I mean A LOT of friendship dynamics and a weird amount of stuff about motherhood, which is not something I'm interested in and tend to avoid in fiction.

I think this is a serviceable thriller and those interested in the dynamics between middle aged women and parenthood will love this. I desperately wish there had been more focus on the hike itself, though.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️What a great book! Loved the main characters and the story itself. The friendship between these four women is truly the center of the story. The ending was the “ thriller” part. Well written and the story just flowed so smoothly. Literally read this book in one evening- I could not put it down. A great book- be prepared to stay up late to finish it! Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group and Lucy Clarke for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such a smooth, good read! 4 friends set off to hike a mountain. Only one of them is really prepared. Although reluctant,all of them set off into the wilderness. They are not alone in the woods, of course! It was an unexpected twist to the story and a heartfelt ending. I felt all the characters were well developed and the story flowed really well. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"No help. No cell coverage. No one to hear them scream."

The Hike centers on a group of friends undertaking the titular hike in the Norwegian wilderness. The synopsis made the book sound like a thriller, but it's very slow burning and focuses more on the journey and the four friends than the danger. This is fine, just something to know going into it. While it didn't deliver on the heart-pounding twists and turns I had hoped for, it was a decent read. It is noteworthy, however, that the dual perspective in the book is a bit hard to follow with regard to timeline. Overall, less of a thriller than expected but still worth a read.

This was…fine. Not great. I really wanted it to be better. the characters and storyline. were all pretty cookie-cutter and nothing really made it stand out. I finished it and pretty much immediately forgot about it, so it’s a fine beach read..

It took me a little while to get into this book, but I once I did it was great! It gave just enough of those eery creepy vibes that it kept me interested!

On the annual girls’ trip, it’s Liz’s turn to choose a destination for Helena, Maggie and Joni (if Joni, a musician touring in Berlin right now, can make it). And after choosing beach holidays in Corfu or the south of France, this time she wants her friends to “wild camp” and hike in Norway. The trail they have chosen, unfortunately, was also the last place a local girl was hiking before she disappeared. Blafjell summit is known as a “thin place” where earth and mist meet the sky and a peculiar vibration and unease persist.

Each of them, in their early thirties, have complicated lives. Liz is a doctor married to her childhood sweetheart, but now she feels bored. Maggie, a struggling artist and neglectfully unprepared for hiking, is finally leaving her daughter Phoebe with her ex-husband for this first trip apart. Joni realizes she’s overdoing the drugs on tour and has made a panicked exit. Helena, a successful businesswoman, just might be pregnant.

The story is told via each woman’s POV as they hike and encounter a storm and other strange things, plus an interspersed view from Leif, the lodge keeper who, four days after hikers set out and were due back, has been told by other mountaineers that there’s a body on the side of the mountain. His brother, Erik, the boyfriend of the missing woman, Karin, was also on the mountain at the same time. Leif appears to be rushing towards the end of the story as it’s still being told.

“The Hike” is suspenseful, twisty and thrilling and will remind non-hikers to not agree to do something this dangerous as a girls’ holiday. Stay on the beach. 5 stars!

Thank you to Penguin/GP Putnam and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Both Joni and a baby have bright green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Although this almost totally takes place in nature, nothing horticulturally specific is described.

Whew! I just finished this book and I think I may have been holding my breath the last few chapters. Four childhood girlfriends who take yearly trips decide to embark on a Hike in Norway. Liz- married mom of 2, but currently in a separation from her husband, Maggie- single mom of 1, Helena- single and grieving the loss of her mom and Joni- a famous singer-- have I mentioned none of them have hiked before?

There are so many secrets, resentments and drama in this novel, I really enjoyed it. 4 stars because it just felt a bit far fetched, but still enjoyed so much.

This book is a wonderful addition to the many mysteries and thrillers that are arriving on our shelves! Middle-aged marriages are tough, it's great to read about how you're not alone.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. First, I would like to say the cover is gorgeous, and it is what drew my attention to this book.

The Hike is a story about 4 friends who go on a hiking holiday together. I was intrigued by the story line, and really wanted to like the book, but it was not my cup of tea.

I found the timeline of the story confusing. The book had multiple perspectives, and some of them were hard to follow. One of the character’s perspectives was in a different verb tense from the rest, which was very distracting. Also, I thought this book was supposed to be a mystery/thriller, but most of the book was about the friends and their hiking adventure. It felt like the thriller part was shoved in at the end and didn’t make a lot of sense.

Although this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I was never bored while reading. Also, it was a quick read, and I was able to finish it in a couple days.

Part of me wondered if it was smart of me to read The Hike (tagline: “There’s a killer on their trail”) while I was camping and spending a bunch of time, well, hiking. I’m pleased to report that rather than causing nightmares while sleeping in my tent or making me check behind me constantly while hiking, The Hike kept me turning pages quickly while I sat by our campfire.

I really did enjoy this thriller. Our story revolves around four women who meet up for an annual trip. This time, however, instead of going somewhere tropical to relax, Liz convinced them to do a four-day backpacking trip, climbing Blafjell Mountain in Norway. We begin the book knowing that a woman was found dead on the mountain and work through the book to figure out who and whodunnit.

I think the strength of The Hike is that rather on focusing exclusively on plot and plot twists, it spends an equal amount of time developing characters and their relationships. By the time you’ve reached the end of the novel, you know these women well. You understand their complicated relationships and have watched them grow both individually and as a group. I felt that this lent a bit of depth to this thriller, giving it a bit more substance. Sure it’s a page-turner with a killer on the trail, but it’s also a story about female friendships.

You too, can read this when it’s published on August 29. Perhaps take it to read on a late summer camping trip?

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Hike.

I've read the author's previous book and the premise of The Hike was intriguing (I enjoy hiking in beautiful locales/countries) so I was pleased my request was approved.

The author did a great job building the setting, the beautiful majesty of the Norwegian landscape; its cold, beautiful and desolate, isolated setting.

Sadly, I wasn't a fan of The Hike for a few reasons:

1. All four women are very different characters but stereotypically, each of them are facing personal issues and angers flare as the hike progresses

2. Lack of suspense and urgency since the majority of the narrative is the hike, and their internal dialogue and turmoil each is facing with their families, personal lives, etc.

3. Leif and the friends' POV chapters were written in different tenses and that was distracting. I'm not sure why the author chose to go in that direction.

4. The drug plot felt tacked on especially when everything is revealed in the end, and Karin's storyline is wrapped up

5. I was hoping for a supernatural twist to the narrative, or, a more plausible one than the drug plot

6. I didn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't dislike them but I didn't care about them and wasn't invested in the outcome.

7. It took too long to get to the end

Overall, the writing was fine, minus the confusing POV writing tenses, and the lack of consistency in how the locals are portrayed, switching from speaking great English to broken English, then adding Norwegian words to remind the readers where we are.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of The Hike in exchange for my honest review.

I felt like I was constantly on the edge of my seat for this book, but not in a good way. I felt like I was always anticipating that something would happen and then it just…didn’t. The characters were also really bland and lifeless which I think added to my less than excited attitude towards this book. And the ending left a lot to be desired.

Unfortunately I don’t think this one was for me, but I could see other people definitely enjoying it

I was beyond geeked when I was approved for The Hike by Lucy Clarke! A huge thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for granting me access! Last year while on family vacation, I stayed up through the night finishing One of The Girls. This year, we are back in the same house and I stayed up late once again to finish Clarke's most recent book, The Hike.

It's Liz's turn to pick the girl's trip destination and to everyone else's disappointment Liz has decided to take the girl squad hiking in a remote area in Norway. Walking brings Liz peace she is desperately seeking while her life seems to be crumbling around her. Her marriage is barely hanging on by a thread, so Liz needs this trip with her friends to walk and feel the calm that walking brings. The quartet hasn't been reunited in awhile and while Liz would love it if Joni could make it, she's not surprised when she doesn't hear from her. Liz, Maggie, and Helena take off. Each woman with their own secrets gnawing at them.

Once at the charming lodge, the girls are surprised by Joni who has made it! Together the women embark on their adventure. Maggie feels uneasy with the hike, Helena is preoccupied by bigger things, and Joni is escaping her superstar life.

I enjoyed the timeline shifts and the multiple perspectives for each woman. I found myself most drawn to Maggie's character who felt genuine and warm. I also liked the complexity of Helena's character. This is another solid read by Clarke. My only complaint is how things wrap up. I feel like the puzzle pieces don't actually fit together but rather belong to different puzzles and were forced together. The way things play out feels a bit too far-fetched and felt a bit forced connecting the stories together. However, this book was propulsive along the way and I was so deeply enmeshed into the story, it was a fun ride!