This book had me hooked from the prologue—it set up so much tension and mystery that I couldn’t wait to see how it all unraveled. The idea of old friends reuniting on a remote Scottish island, with secrets from their past bubbling to the surface, felt like the perfect setup for a gripping thriller.

At first, the pacing was spot-on, and I loved how the flashbacks added depth to the story. But once I got further in, the momentum started to drag. There was a lot of repetition, and I found myself frustrated with how the characters’ relationships were portrayed. They were supposed to be this close-knit group, but their interactions felt forced and, honestly, pretty unrealistic.

The fact that none of the characters were particularly likable was both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it kept me guessing about their motives, but on the other, I didn’t feel invested in any of them. It’s hard to root for people who constantly seem at odds with each other.

That said, it’s a quick, entertaining read—great for when you’re in the mood for a bit of suspense without too much complexity. I enjoyed the twists, even if they weren’t entirely satisfying, but this one didn’t quite live up to its potential for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Four estranged school friends reunite for a wedding in remote Scotland, but their gathering stirs up dark secrets from their past. Years ago, a friend’s death left lingering guilt and questions, and now, tensions resurface as old wounds are reopened.

This was an interesting narrative, told through the perspectives of Dan and Zoe—both struggling in their own lives. The car journey is the first time they have all seen each other since the loss of a shared friend many years ago and there is clearly an undercurrent of guilt and suspicion and that reslly is the drive in the book: lies, secrets, and buried emotions. The plot is mostly believable and a gripping; a twisty engaging read for fans of the secluded location psychological thriller.

School friends re-unite to travel to Scotland for a wedding. Many of them have changed, they don't know each other very well anymore and the road trip is very awkward. They kept a secret from their younger years and now there is a dead man in front of their car they might have killed that they need to deal with.

I found the pacing a little slow and the reveal/overall plot was done many times before in similar books hence two stars.

Many thanks to the publisher Boldwood Books, M.A. Hunter and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is released today - November 20, 2024.

Four old friends and a fiancee, heading off to a wedding on a Scottish island - so what could possibly go wrong? The answer is everything and none of them are able to trust each other . Told from various POV , the reader finds out who is thinking what about whom - a bit like a soliloquy in a play - and slowly their history is revealed. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you page turning .

Thanks to Netgalley/Boldwood books for the ARC to review.

The Reunion by M.A. Hunter

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Never underestimate how much people can change...

It's been years since Zoe last saw them – since they graduated, drifted apart, and lost touch.

Years since Zoe ended things with Dan because the memories were too painful to bear.

Years since that night – the night an unexpected death shattered their close-knit group of friends.

Now, Zoe is invited to Scotland for a wedding – a grand affair at a manor house on a remote island. Apprehensive about the reunion, she hopes the long drive with Lily will help ease her nerves.

But things are far from simple. Lily has also agreed to give Dan a lift, and Rod, not wanting to be left out, is joining them as well, along with his fiancée.

And when they come into trouble on a cold, dark, desolated Highland road, it sets off a chain of events which will leave them all shaken to their very core, and questioning everything they thought they knew…

My Opinion

Dan, Zoe, Lily and Rod have drifted apart since school but they are all brought together for a wedding. The four friends all have a secret that the car journey threatens to reveal. M.A. Hunter has once again written a book full of twists that will easily hold the attention of the. Multiple perspectives have been utilised, as well as the past being told through diary entries but all of this was easy to follow.

Rating 4/5

This was a great read, an edge of your seat read.
Four friends who have not been in touch for years meet up again for a wedding, but it’s not going to be a happy reunion. One of their friends died years ago and someone needs to take the blame for it, but who?

This was filled with lies, secrets and lust. I liked the characters and found the plot easy to understand. It’s a page turner once you start. Enjoyed the tangle of lies that was in the story too. A 4 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

A thriller of a book. There were many aspects that did not add up or seem realistic, but it was an entertaining read if you suspend some disbelief.

A group of schoolfriends meet up for the wedding for one of them in a remote location in Scotland, setting off on the long car journey together. At school, we gather, one of their friends was killed and at least three of the group members feel some responsibilty for that. All have secrets and the book is told from the POV of Dan and Zoe, neither of whom is in a good place in their own lives. The tension builds up in the book in the first half and there is another incident which adds to the groups problems.
On the whole I enjoyed the book, a psychological thriller. I had my doubts about the relationship between Rod and Bella though. The book was well paced and the plot fairly logical/believable.
A good read, thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

3.5 Stars
A group of old school friends reunite for a wedding in Scotland, having not seen each other for many years since an awful event occurred. It’s a “secluded location” mystery thriller that has been written/published quite a lot lately and didn’t really offer anything new. It’s written from different viewpoints with flashback, which I like.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC.

The Reunion
by M A Hunter
Pub Date: Nov 20 2024

The Reunion is a psychological thriller told from both points of view of both Dan and Zoe (main characters) including flashback's from a past diary entry. The relationship between Dan and Zoe is very twisted. The story has a lot of tension, suspense and suspicion among both main characters. I found the book had me captivated from the beginning until the ending. I highly recommend it.

Synopsis: One night. One mistake. One secret... It's been twenty years since I was last with Lily, Dan and Rod, the night that everything changed, the night we said we'd never speak of again... But Rod is getting married at his beautiful manor on a remote Scottish Island and he wants the three of us there. I couldn't say no... When Lilly suggested we drive up together, I thought it would give me time to relax and prepare, but I didn't bargain on her inviting Dan and Rod along for the ride... And I didn't expect things to go so wrong, so quickly...

Many thanks to #TheReunion #NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me an E-ARC of this suspenseful thriller!

This book was an enjoyable read overall, but I couldn’t help feeling that it lacked some suspense.

While it’s common for the stakes in this specific sub genre to be somewhat lower, I found myself searching for a certain something, an extra spark of tension maybe. This something missing though made it harder for me to connect with both the story and the atmosphere.

One of my main issues was the characters. I’m usually a fan of morally ambiguous or even outright “bad” characters. However, this time, I struggled to like—or even tolerate—some of them. Dan, in particular, was a character I most disliked, and since his point of view was one of the two main perspectives alongside Zoe’s, I felt this hindered my overall engagement with the book.

That being said, there were definitely aspects of the book that stood out in a positive way. The cover design is immediately drew me in. The writing itself was solid; the prose was polished, and the pacing and flow were well-handled. The narrative structure worked well on a technical level.

Have read and enjoyed previous books by this author.
Secrets between friends, don't stay secret forever it would appear.
Although a pretty decent and easy read, I have to confess that I found certain parts of this book to be just a little far fetched at times.
Putting that aside, I would still recommend this book to anyone that likes a decent thriller with more than a few twists along the way.

The Reunion by MA Hunter, A group A friends reunite because one of them is getting married. What would be a reunion without a long dead classmate, a secret pack, A stranger to the group and threatening text messages. Zah, Dan, Lilly, Saul and Rod, we’re all friends in one way or another during high school. One night while being chased by two security guards Saul was hit by a car and killed and although the perpetrator was never caught the police thought Dan, Lily and Zah New more than they were telling. It is 24 years later in their friend Rod is getting married and they all decide to take a road trip to Scotland on the way they stop at a B&B and that night go to a party they learned about from a pub waitress. When they wake up no one remembers the night before they’re all in Lillys range rover and there’s a dead guy in front of the vehicle. Throughout the book the suspicion becomes evident between the friends and even rods fiancé Bella but one strange notes start showing up they wonder who did it and for which accident is if this wasn’t enough stress Lily has a secret and a confession she is trying to get up the courage to tell one of the friends that will change their life forever but first they must decide if they’re going to tell the truth or go home and live with yet another secret. By the time they get to the wedding destination however their choices are fewer end it seems Confessing will be the only way out but that is if they all live long enough to tell it. This isn’t the best review but mainly it’s what the story is about. Before I tell you what I didn’t like about the book just now I still found it hard to put down. I didn’t like that for one thing Zah’s would go from thinking someone was conspiring against her thinking they were her ally to once again looking at them suspiciously it seemed she changed her opinion as swiftly as the wind. I also found they repeated a lot of the information in this book over and over again. I also want to say IDK if I had a blessed childhood and teenage years or a great opinion of myself but I found a lot of these traumas were childish nitpicky things that most adult situation would’ve put in the rearview mirror with these grown adults still acted traumatized by it and I was just shocked at all the things they seem to be cowering into their 40s. Having said that I still want to recommend this book it wasn’t a bad way to pass a Sunday afternoon. If you like thrillers and just want a fun read you will probably enjoy this one. #BoldwoodBooks, #NetGalley, #MAHunter, #TheReunion,

Had a blast with this one! I enjoyed the pacing, the plotting, and the characters! This is a wonderful mystery to read if you are looking for something that isn't overly violent/graphic, but still tense.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

4/5 stars

Zoe is invited to Scotland for a wedding. While there she is due to reunite with her group of old school friends who she hasn’t seen in years; not since an awful event occurred all that time ago. Soon a chain of events has her questioning everything she knew about what really happened.

I liked the mystery behind this thriller and was intrigued to see how it would all play out. Having read a lot of thrillers following the reunion in an isolated house trope, I found that this was fairly predictable and similar to the others I have read. I also found that the character’s aren’t that likeable and I struggled to develop a connection or really care what happened to them.

Although this wasn’t a badly written book. I found the pacing overly slow and struggled to invest myself in the story. I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and thought this was developed well. Unfortunately I didn’t get that many shocks, feel that excited while reading or feel that I was offered anything new. This is however a quick, easy read with secrets to discover, therefore good if you’re looking for that sort of thing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

What a story! I really enjoyed this twisty plot that was playing with my mind. This book is excellently written, and I really started questioning my mind several times during the read. Who is behind it all? Who is playing all these games? Is it him? Is it her? You know how it goes. Sometimes these books can go a bit overboard and be unrealistic, but not this one. It is always a bit challenging to keep track of several points of view, but I managed well. I doubt it was my brilliant mind, more the brilliant writing. Highly recommended!

The book follows three friends who have gathered to celebrate their friends wedding. The plot is good, every character is given adequate back story. They all have their own secrets, one of them has a kid they've not told others, one has a financial issue, one is cheating on their spouse.

The writing is great, it is a very engaging read. And I finished reading the book quickly.

Most of the characters were well fleshed out. Ending was also partially predictable.

Set on a car journey up to a remote part of Scotland with a reunion of friends for a member of the groups wedding, to a younger woman they haven’t met before! Events that happen on this journey reveal secrets about an evening which happened when they were all friends.

For me this story got much better in the second half but I didn’t find myself reaching to find out what happened.

My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Reunion’ written by M A Hunter in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A group of friends, Zoe, Lily, Dan and Rod, are travelling in Lily’s dad’s car to the Scottish Highlands for Rod’s marriage to Bella at his family’s ancestral home. During their time at university their friend Saul was killed in a hit-and-run accident and although they know what happened they made a pact not to tell anyone. During the journey to Scotland they’re mysteriously involved in an accident that sets off a series of events and threatening messages.

‘The Reunion’ is a story of mystery and intrigue where a group of friends reunite and doubts emerge as to which of them can be trusted to keep their secret. This is the twelfth thriller I’ve read by this author writing under the name of M A Hunter and I’ve enjoyed every one, and although this latest novel has a plot that kept me involved, I didn’t find it of the same calibre as those previously. It’s well-written with sporadic occasions of drama and suspense, but the characters didn’t grab me and the plot at times seemed to go round in circles. Despite this, I read it in a day as I wanted to know the truth about some of the more peripheral characters who came into the story, and when I reached the final pages the epilogue tied up all the loose ends nicely.

Thank you NetGalley! This is my second book by this author. It started out as a typical reunion book where there’s a secret between the characters from their youth. I was sucked in and wanting to know what was going to happen