This is an intense read that drew me in and kept me engaged throughout. I was rooting for the characters...well, most of them, anyway. As the history of the characters is gradually revealed, which was very artfully done, I became more and more focused on the book and the characters. This is one that I didn't stop except for bathroom and food breaks, and I think most people would find it a very entertaining book. The last couple of twists were AWESOME! I want more from this author!

A couple sets out on a road trip to try to rescue their failing marriage in the mid 1970s. While on their journey, they stop to pick up two young hitchhikers who are definitely not who they pretend to be. Now, the couple will have to expend all their energy to stay one step ahead of the killers they have inadvertently picked up. Stevens never fails to entertain, always original and never formulaic, this one will please her legion of fans

This book drew me in from the first page! I’ve read other books from Chevy Stevens and I knew she never disappoints!
I also liked the nostalgia of going back to the 70s and the story definitely depicted the time.
The story opens in 1976 and things were definitely different then.! You wanted to warn the main characters Tom and Alice about picking up hitchhikers but it was common for the time.
As the story evolved you couldn’t wait to see what happened next and there was definitely some surprises !
This was a riveting story that wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Chevy Stevens writes a book every few treats and The Hitchhikers was well worth the wait ! It was gritty and filled with twists and turns. I would highly recommend this book to all . As usual all her books are amazing.

In horror and thriller stories, it’s common to want to slap a character on the back of the head and ask, Are you out of your mind, or just stupid? But sometimes, their actions are so mind-numbingly thoughtless that the question answers itself. And that’s frustrating—because if they had even a minimum of brainpower, they wouldn’t have ended up in those situations in the first place. That’s exactly the case with this novel. Barely 10% in, I was already itching to throttle Alice—and seriously considering tossing the book along with her (too bad it’s an ebook). And somehow, it only gets worse. Never mind the unlikable characters, the gratuitous violence, the typos (so many missing “the”s), and the shock-value twist with zero trigger warning—there are plenty of infuriating things about this book. But the worst? The sheer inaction.
There’s a book on storytelling called Save the Cat, and its title says it all: a main character needs to take action—save the cat—rather than stand around waiting for a kindhearted firefighter (or whoever) to do it for them. But whether it’s Alice or Jenny, the two narrators of this story, they don’t take charge. They let the story happen to them. After 80% of the book, all we get is a piss-poor attempt to run from a truck, followed 5 percent later by a dramatic “She was ready to risk everything.”—a bold declaration thta collapses like an uncooked soufflé, just like the rest of this book.

A wonderful read. This was a consistently faced paced book. I felt as though there was no downtime. The story really kept you on your toes the whole time.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, for providing the copy of The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens. This book started out great but slowly devolved into a celebration of violence. It also felt manipulative, trying to make us feel sorry for or like a character only to set us up for a big reveal, or “twist”. I kept reading, because I hoped the ending would make it all worth it, only to be disappointed with a rushed conclusion. I still enjoyed the writing style and I thought the idea of the book was good even though the execution was off. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

4.5, rounded up.

I’ll say this for Chevy, she really knows how to write a book that you can’t put down. I’ve read everything she has written thus far and this one, though not as dark and twisted as Those Girls, gave me similar vibes. The atmospheric nature of the 1970s backdrop where people were truly cut off from being able to communicate or call out for help and everyone trusted far too easily was deliciously thrilling. In comparison with a world where we currently have access to our phones 24/7, you truly knew that these characters were unable to seek help without putting their lives in grave danger.

Pregnant 18-year-old Jenny and 21 year-old Simon, are on the run after they murdered Jenny‘s parents. They are hitchhiking across Canada to put distance between themselves and their brutal crime scene. Unlucky Americans, Alice and Tom unknowingly invite these monsters into their world by simply offering them a hot meal at a campsite and some bandages. What happens from there is a nightmare that gave me serious Bonnie and Clyde feelings.

As they continue across Canada in Alice and Tom‘s RV, bodies pile up and you begin to question what are you really capable of when pushed beyond your limits?

This story takes place in a time when things were cheap. A young couple is on the run after her parents were murdered, by them. They have no money, food, or car. They end up taking hostages and using their RV to get themselves into even more trouble. Jenny didn’t realize how mush Simon enjoyed hurting people. Loved the location, BC and Alberta mountains. Loved the epilogue, glad to see she was able to do the right thing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC of The Hitchhiker.

Unfortunately I DNFed this at 53%. I simply could not get over how unlikable and irritating Alice was. She would find herself in these situations and do absolutely nothing to try and get herself out of them when she had so many chances to get the upper hand. It just didn’t make sense why she was so spineless and I just couldn’t find any empathy for her. She’d already been through hell losing her baby, I’d think this would be a cakewalk compared to that, but maybe not. The plot line moved at a glacial pace as well, and took me too long to get through. I wanted to like this one as I loved Dark Roads, but it was simply a miss for me. I’ll be on the lookout for her next book though!

4.5/5 Stars. Another stellar suspense/thriller read from Chevy Stevens. This book took me on such a wild ride and I absolutely loved it.

This is one of those books that’s just OK—a quick read and a sound one, but not one that will stick with me. I think it stems mostly from its premise not living up to expectations. I was expecting something darker, a grittier fight for survival, but the main antagonist ends up being overly repetitive to the point of annoyance and its slow pace fails to hold interest. There’s a lot of time spent eating/planning the next move than anything else and that takes away from tension that could have been.

Thanks so much to the publisher for inviting me to read and review this ARC through NetGalley.

Chevy Stevens is a master story teller! Once again she has created rich characters, set in difficult circumstances. A young couple attach themselves to an older couple just setting of on their RV adventure. Things turn violent quickly when the young couple's past is revealed and must take them all on the run. Like all her stories, the reader will want to finish it in one sitting!

An intense, unstoppable story of a couple kidnapped by the hitchhikers they met and befriended in a campground. I can't stop thinking about this and what I would do if in the same situation. Chevy Stevens has always delivered suspenseful and memorable stories with characters that are strong and well developed.

Wow! This was an atmospheric, haunting, wild ride and I couldn't get enough. Gosh I love Chevy Stevens- I never know what's going to happen next!

An RV trip around Canada is just what the doctor ordered. Only this trip might be the end for them all. Jump in, buckle up, and hold onto your hats guys, it’s a wild one!

The Hitchhiker’s by Chevy Stevens is an intense suspense thriller. In typical Steven’s fashion, you won’t be able to put this book down and it will completely captivate you. Steven’s was recommended to me about a year ago from a fellow booksta girl (actually two separate peeps - love you both!) and I’ve consumed almost every book by her since.

Alice and Tom are RVing it around when they pass a younger man and woman walking on the side of the road. That night they run into the couple again at a camp ground and decide to give them a ride to the next town, the next day. Tonight, they will camp out with them. Ocean and Blue, not their real names, couldn’t be more relieved to have transportation.

The next day, after they stop at a little store for milk, Alice grabs a newspaper and what she sees changes everything she thought she knew. But Ocean and Blue always seem to be around and she never has any time alone to talk to her husband Tom.

Oof. Loved everything about this book! The building suspense pulls you in. Alice and Tom will remind you of grandparents - though they just recently lost a baby so aren’t that old. Steven’s ability to craft an intricate narrative maker her one of my favorites and this book did not disappoint.

It’s nonstop action makes it impossible to put down and is the type of book you think about when you do have to put it down. Intense but one hell of a fun read.

TW: loss of child, miscarriage, murder, kidnapping, violence, rape, child abuse

#TheHitchhikers

This book was a fantastic, character-driven, suspenseful read.
The story was MADE by the characters, they felt so real that by the end of the book I felt so much emotion! The plot was a slow-burn suspense that made each moment of tension feel well placed and perfectly balanced.

Highly recommend!!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this book. All opinions are my own.

This book had a lot of potential and I was intrigued from the first couple of chapters. However I lost interest due to the repetitive nature of the plot, I couldn’t connect with the main characters and found them irritating and naive.

Summary: It is a hot summer in 1976, and a young married couple load up their new RV for what they hope is a healing and relaxing vacation, travelling the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) throughout Western Canada. They offer a lift to Ocean and Blue, two young hitchhikers. But they are really Jenny and Simon, on the run after the violent and bloody murders of Jenny’s mother and stepfather. Tom and Alice’s idyllic vacation is about to take a detour.

Thoughts: I loved the setting of this suspense novel, in British Columbia during the 1970s, on the open highway and campgrounds in an RV. Tom and Alice are setting out to explore their country on the newly developed TCH which only opened in 1962 and was still a work in progress. Hitchhikers were a regular occurrence and no one thought much about picking them up and offering them a ride. There was no internet, no cellular, and no instant connectivity. People still read newspapers, watched the evening news and wrote letters to each other. It was entirely conceivable that Tom and Alice could go camping in their RV and, unless they had access to a television or listened to the radio, they would not know the identity of Ocean and Blue.

Unfortunately, what I had anticipated as a suspenseful thriller developed into a gritty and violent struggle for survival. The violent rampage continues for the majority of the novel, and is a struggle to read at times. It is far too long and could have been edited down without losing the essence of the story. There is ultimately some redemption and hope at the end of all this darkness, but it takes a long time to get there. I really enjoyed Dark Roads by the same author, so it is a shame this one didn’t work out for me.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a good page turner and kept me interested in the characters. Can you see where this is going? Yes. Has it been done before? Yes. Was it entertaining and well-written? Also yes, and sometimes that's just what you want out of a thriller. I loved Alice's character and even found myself rooting for Jenny to grow a backbone. I do wish we had gotten more resolution on William and Ruth, but overall, I enjoyed it.