Shiver by Allie Reynolds (Paperback Release)

 

Shiver by Allie Reynolds.

Published in paperback 28th October 2021 by Headline.

From the cover of the book:

They don't know what I did. And I intend to keep it that way.

How far would you go to win? Hyper-competitive people, mind games and a dangerous natural environment combine to make the must-read thriller of the year. Fans of Lucy Foley and Lisa Jewell will be gripped by spectacular debut novel Shiver.

When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can't seem to let go.

The five friends haven't seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.

In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

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Five friends meet for a reunion at a small winter sports resort in the French Alps - each of them thinking that a different member of the group has invited them for a little holiday. However, it soon becomes clear that this is not going to be quite the relaxing break they were expecting, when the ski lodge turns out to be deserted, and they are cut off from the outside world by some weird goings on. Someone has brought them back together after ten years in an attempt to get to the truth about what happened to their friend Saskia, who mysteriously went missing all those years ago, but who is it and what do they want?

Shiver is told from the point of view of snowboarder Milla, who tells the tale of this ultra-competitive group of friends in two alternating time lines that swap back and forth between the winter that saw them training and competing against each other for glory in the world of professional snowboarding, and ten years later when they have been tricked into their bewildering reunion. Bit by bit we learn the story of the friction and flirtation that went on that fateful winter season, when they were all trying to get the edge over the competition both on and off the slopes, while we simultaneously experience the darkly delicious legacy of the breakdown of their relationships in the present.

I absolutely adore a snowy thriller, especially one that brings in a locked-room mystery, and this book fulfilled all my ice-capped desires. The suspense is palpable from the moment the starting signal beeps, as the sexual frisson and rivalries within the group both now and in the past spill over into mind games, manipulations and dark deeds, and it snowballs as chaos reigns. There is no let up in the tension as events in both timelines spiral out of control, and result in dire consequences, and Allie Reynolds manages to rather cleverly bring the puzzle pieces together to form the shocking picture of what happened between the group members all those years ago at exactly the same time as we discover who is behind this ghastly get-together - leading to the most fabulous snowy climax!

Reynolds' own background in snowboarding gives the reader an intriguing glimpse into the world at the top of this ultra-competitive winter sport, and I learned so much about the technical moves and lifestyle of the competitors while reading this excellent thriller - although I sincerely hope events were a bit tamer for Allie when she was living the life on the edge in the half-pipe!

Shiver is a cracking debut, and you can now experience the thrill-ride of this pitch perfect nail-biter with the gorgeous new paperback edition. Start the season of snowy thrillers off the right way and get yourself a copy now!

Shiver is available to buy now in hardback, ebook, audio and paperback formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Alara Delfosse at Headline Books for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to part of this blog tour.

About the author:

British-born Allie Reynolds is a former freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada. For those five years, snowboarding was Allie's life. She competed in the British Championships and was once in the UK top ten.

Her short fiction has been published in women's magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden, and South Africa. She lives by the beach in Queensland, Australia. Shiver is her debut novel.

Follow Allie on Twitter at @AuthorAllieR