This was quite the thriller! I just couldn't put it down and read it in only a day. It's The Holiday Home by Daniel Hurst and I received it from Bookouture via Netgalley. It will be out on the first of March.

We follow two families who go on a holiday together to a holiday home belonging to one of the families, a rather wealthy family. The holiday home is way up north in Scotland with absolutely no neighbours around and also, no cellphone reception. And then, some secrets are spilled and someone won't make it back alive.

Again, the author does not disappoint at all. This is the third book I've read by this author and, once more, I liked it a lot. The story is bit predictable, but still entertaining. The fact that you read from different points of view makes it all the more interesting. The twists are executed well and some I did not see. All in all, a great and quick thriller to enjoy.

4/5⭐

I have read previous books by this author and enjoyed them all and The Holiday Home is no exception. It was fast paced, with plenty of twists and turns and it really kept me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

The story follows Nicola as she is on vacation with her best friend and their families. After a rocky start, secrets are revealed, leading to fights and murder. While I loved the twist at the end, I had higher hopes for the rest of the book! Although it was just an ordinary read for me, I will definitely be picking up more books by this author.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review. Thank you to #netgalley and #bookouture!

There are many times when what you suspect may just be true. Our ability to tap into our sixth sense, is scary at times and at others it is infuriating and leads us into territory we don't really want to be in.

Nicola and her husband Ryan, and daughter are anxious to get away so when an invite comes from their wealthy friends, Kim and Lewis and their son, to come to their luxurious cabin they accept. Nicola and Kim have been friends for quite some time, but Nicola suspects something is not quite right with Kim. Add to that the marriage between Nicola and Ryan is on shaky ground so this getaway might be just the answer the need to fix their union.

The get together is not at all as they think it will be as the husbands are seemingly unhappy and not in the holiday mood. It seems like the whole thing is headed for disaster, but little do they suspect what this disaster will spell for the couples.

Nicola learns more of the secret she fears, with one bombshell after another and the surprises come bounding into this story. One gets the feeling that someone will die, but who is that someone is the question?

I have liked Daniel Hurst's stories as they always tell a straight tale with lots of twists and surprising moments. However, this one left me disappointed as it had story holes, lacked Hurst's predictable tension, and just did not fall into the thriller category for me. It's a fast read, one with short chapters that leave the reader with an anticipation of what will come next. However, it just wasn't enough pizazz to make this as exciting as some of his other stories have been.

I didn't think this was Hurst's best effort, but certainly one that was easy to read and see where trouble was quickly brewing.
Jan and I read this one, both disappointed as we easily pointed out the plot holes and questionable outcomes. We are becoming excellent detectives!

Thank you to Daniel Hurst, Bookouture and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out March 1, 2023.

I did listen to this story courtesy of Bookouture Audio and There are many times when what you suspect may just be true. Our ability to tap into our sixth sense, is scary at times and at others it is infuriating and leads us into territory we don't really want to be in.

Nicola and her husband Ryan, and daughter are anxious to get away so when an invite comes from their wealthy friends, Kim and Lewis and their son, to come to their luxurious cabin they accept. Nicola and Kim have been friends for quite some time, but Nicola suspects something is not quite right with Kim. Add to that the marriage between Nicola and Ryan is on shaky ground so this getaway might be just the answer the need to fix their union.

The get together is not at all as they think it will be as the husbands are seemingly unhappy and not in the holiday mood. It seems like the whole thing is headed for disaster, but little do they suspect what this disaster will spell for the couples.

Nicola learns more of the secret she fears, with one bombshell after another and the surprises come bounding into this story. One gets the feeling that someone will die, but who is that someone is the question?

I have liked Daniel Hurst's stories as they always tell a straight tale with lots of twists and surprising moments. However, this one left me disappointed as it had story holes, lacked Hurst's predictable tension, and just did not fall into the thriller category for me. It's a fast read, one with short chapters that leave the reader with an anticipation of what will come next. However, it just wasn't enough pizazz to make this as exciting as some of his other stories have been.

I didn't think this was Hurst's best effort, but certainly one that was easy to read and see where trouble was quickly brewing.
Jan and I read this one, both disappointed as we easily pointed out the plot holes and questionable outcomes. We are becoming excellent detectives!

Thank you to Daniel Hurst, Bookouture and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out March 1, 2023.

I did listen to this book courtesy of Bookouture Audio.

I had high hopes for this after loving The Doctor’s Wife. However, I couldn’t get invested in any of it. I didn’t care for any of the characters, it was very predictable, and I kept rolling my eyes at the obvious foreshadowing. I’m glad it was a quick read.

Thank you NetGalley & Bookouture for sending this book for review consideration.

I received an ARC copy of the Holiday Home by Daniel Hurst.

I enjoyed reading this book! It was a fast-paced book told through multiple perspectives of a holiday at a beautiful home in Scotland that has gone completely and terribly wrong!

When Nicola and Ryan accept a free holiday to a stunning vacation home that their friends Kim and Lewis own, accompanied by their children, what could possibly go wrong? Well, A LOT. Many secrets are revealed throughout the course of the book, and we slowly inch closer and closer to the truth.. but still, everyone is lying and someone will ultimately pay the price with their life.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the book, as I love Scotland! It all seems perfect at first, but then we begin to see a crack between the two husbands, as they do not seem to get along, but put up with each other for the sake of their wives, who are best friends. But was Ryan just glancing at Kim in her bikini when she went into the hot tub? Is Nicola imagining things? What is everyone hiding?

Sometimes the secrets that you find out in the end can be the same secrets that you keep from the world.

It was a quick paced thriller that kept me interested the whole time and I finished it in one day!

Very good read. Kept my interest the entire way. The book kept me thinking on what was going to happen and how things twisted around.

This was an okay story. I did like the little twist at the end. I did like the different points of view.

The plot of this book is proof if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is to good to be true. Nicola and Ryan and their daughter are going on a holiday with their best friends Kim and Lewis, along with their son, Cole. Nicola has always been a little jealous of the apparent wealth of her best friend Kim and her husband. They are going to stay in Lewis and Kim's holiday home in a remote part of Scotland. I do mean remote. No cell service and spotty wi-fi. This would have been my first clue that I was a little creeped out. Everyone needs a little holiday, but you want to be able to get in touch with civilization in the event of an emergency.

Nicola inadvertently overhears a conversation that shatters her life into pieces. She does not really know what to do with this information, so she seethes inside. Nicola is the main character and main narrator. However, there are chapters from the point of view of Ryan, Kim, Lewis and even the son, Cole. It is readily apparent that all are harboring secrets. As you can tell from the teaser, the tension is going to be high and the twists and turns are going to be neck breaking. It was not an action filled plot, but it did play with your mind. You learn the first secret early on, but then the secrets just keep coming out. If you are looking for an action packed thriller, this book will not fit the bill. However, if you are looking for a psychological thriller that will tease your mind, you will devour this book. The characters are interesting and intriguing, and I really felt sorry for Nicola. She is completely blindsided with the secret that is revealed. This book is a prime example that money cannot buy happiness. It is tension filled, and you will not want to stop reading it because you will just have to know what is going to happen.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I gobbled this book up in one day. The story sucked me right in, and if felt like I was a part of things--well at the same time I was very happy not to be! What a messed up holiday weekend this turned out to be. I don't want to say too much and risk spoilers, but it definitely played with the mind and was near impossible to put down. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

I have never read Daniel Hurst before, even though I have a few that are on a waitlist at my library. I did not read the summary of the book before opening it as I wanted to just jump in.
I read this book in 1 day. I really enjoyed the setting and how it written with just enough details to where I could picture it, but not too much where I wanted to skim over it. I loved the characters and how well they were thought out. I was able to jump between their POVs and loved how well rounded the characters were. I am giving this book 4 stars. This is not my typical read as I tend to stray more towards thriller/a little gore etc.... however sometimes it is nice to have a palate cleanser that is just a good book. Will definitely read more books from Daniel!

This is my first book by Daniel Hurst.
The plot was predictable. I didn't feel invested in the story. I was turning pages quickly so that I could finish this and move on to the next one. There were some plot holes or maybe I missed when I was jumping pages, but I didn't bother to go back.

I didn't like the writing too. The first-person narration in Present Tense and multiple POVs is my pet peeve in a book. Most of the psychological thrillers use this form of narration, but I don't find the need to. It just makes the characters unlikeable. (That might the whole point, but it just puts me off)

<i>Thanks to Net Galley,,the Publishers and the Author for the ARC</i>

I love the way Daniel Hurst writes his books in the present tense, while also portraying that the narrator already knows what's going to happen. Hindsight 20/20. This book was full of lies and deceit from multiple characters. Lots of twists and turns all the way to the epilogue. I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel Hurst and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Daniel Hurst has written another gem! This holiday home is NOT a fun place!
Two families on a vacation, and lies, deceit and murder abound!
This was not the beautiful vacation the families expected, at all.
Daniel weaves the lies throughout the story, including previews of trouble at the end of each chapter, keeping the reader guessing. Even the ending has a twist!
Don’t miss this 5 star thriller!
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy. I’m providing this review freely and happily!

Very good suspenseful story! I really enjoyed the way Daniel Hurst dangles information in front of you.. It kept me engaged in the story, even if it was a slower start to the “good stuff”

3.5 stars

"Not everybody who came to this holiday house will be leaving it alive."

Two couples and two children travel to rural Scotland for a long weekend. When they get there, secrets are discovered and what was supposed to be a fun weekend ends in disaster. But who is a killer and who ends up dead?

I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story through the different POV chapters. Each chapter is left on a cliff-hanger, begging you to read on. I really felt for Nicola throughout the book, until the last chapter when another twist is thrown in the mix. For me, this is the final twist that I wasn't expecting. The settings description of the rural holiday home really adds to the story - with the focus starting on what a luxurious and wonderful place, to suddenly realising how alone they are and how deep into the Scottish Highlands the home is.

I've not read a book by Daniel Hurst before and this was a great one to start with! Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Daniel Hurst for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although I have enjoyed other books by Daniel Hurst, The Holiday Home just didn't land for me. The characters (even the children) were unlikeable, the plot dragged on, twists were predictable and the ominous italicized line that ended every chapter felt very amateurish. It was a struggle to finish and I found myself at the and skimming pages to reach the end.

I've read most of this author's work and am very familiar with his writing style. He usually delivers a solid thriller with relatable characters, and his twists are famously done. However, THE HOLIDAY HOME was lacking, perhaps because it read more as a domestic suspense than a thriller.

The premise certainly sounds twisty--a working class couple, Nicola and Ryan, are invited to a holiday home in Scotland by Nicola's lifelong best friend, Kim, and her husband Lewis. There is a fair amount of tension as Kim and Lewis' teenage son Cole doesn't want to on holiday with no wi-fi or phone, and adding to the tension is the ego contest going on between the men. Lewis is proud of his wealth and constantly boasts, making Ryan feel awkward and out of place.

Everything changes when Nicola overhears a whispered conversation from Ryan and Kim. Her husband and best friend have been hiding something so huge, it threatens to derail both families. I found the events that followed to be completely unrealistic, even for a fictional story. I also didn't find any real twist, and the ending just fell flat for me.

Out of his many books, I have enjoyed the vast majority and will always remain a loyal reader of his work. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this early copy. THE HOLIDAY HOME will publish March 1, 2023.

It's clear from checking out Amazon, that Daniel Hurst is a prolific writer of psychological thrillers with a huge following. However, not having ever read anything by him before, I'm not able to compare this with any of his previous work.
The storyline is a good one. Four long term friends (Nicola and Ryan and Kim and Lewis) and their children drive to Scotland to spend a weekend in Kim and Lewis's newly purchased luxury holiday home in the forest. Kim and her husband are wealthy, whereas Nicola and Ryan don't have particularly well paid jobs.. The story, told from multi-character perspectives - mostly Nicola's - touches on the couples' history and backgrounds as they settle into their luxury accommodation and begin to enjoy themselves. It's when Nicola overhears a conversation she shouldn't have that thing begin to go badly wrong.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, although I have to confess there were moments when the narrative went in a direction I had difficulty believing. Nevertheless, I invested enough interest in the book to want to discover how things worked out. During the read I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters. Nicola, as the main story teller, and the one who suffered the most from what was going on, didn't come across as very likeable. .But maybe that was deliberate, as her end of story confession showed she was as bad as the others.

I've given this four stars as I think overall, the book wasn't a bad read. However, I feel The Holiday Home was not probably my best introduction to Daniel Hurst's writing, so it might be an idea to download another of his books, which have attracted a huge number of reviews.
I would like to thank Bookouture, Daniel Hurst and Netgalley for an ARC of The Holiday Home in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one!
Daniel Hurst is becoming one of my favourite authors. He has such a skill for gripping, twisty domestic thrillers!
The twist in this one didn't blow me away like some other Hurst books have. I figured it out pretty early.
I have listened to several of his audiobooks and I find them engaging and suspenseful. I did find the narrator's voice for Cole's chapters too old for the character though, he sounded like he was in his 40s and made me forget which character was speaking. Cole should have had a totally separate narrator in my opinion, and would have made it easier to follow and more believable.
That said, it was a fun and engaging book nonetheless.