I thank Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book, unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. I thought the story was terribly slow, the characters were all miserable people, and the ending was horrible and just made me despise the characters even more.

This novel takes place on a beautiful farmhouse property in coastal Cornwall. This gripping thriller blends the past and present by reuniting childhood friends and having two girls disappear 20 years apart under mysterious circumstances.
Most characters in the book were not likeable. The chapters were super short and I found myself zipping through this one very fast. This novel was told with many alternating points of views. The author was very sneaky with hiding many of the character's motivations.
This was a book that I was invested in solely for the last minute reveals. 3.5 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this novel.

Another twisted tale from Samantha Hayes. Brilliantly written with so much suspense that it kept me guessing till the very end!

I was captivated by this story right from the first chapter. You know that feeling of excitement that comes when you have just started a new book but have no doubt that you will enjoy it? I had that feeling a few pages into this book and I am glad that my initial feelings about the book turned out to be spot on.

The Lucas family is having a reunion. Claire wants to get everyone back at home to help a family member going through a rough patch. The reunion also includes close friends who Claire grew up with. One of the memories that this group shares is the dark day when Claire’s sister went missing. They were all there and now, they are back to the farm again.

I loved the narrative style that the author used. In narrating the story, there were different perspectives offered by the characters. As a reader, I felt that this heightened my understanding of the characters. It definitely made me more connected to them.

Tension in the story builds up slowly until a point reaches where the reveals start coming in one after another. I remember reading this book knowing that something bad would happen to the characters. However, I had no idea what, when or to whom exactly. And then the darkness descended. There were events that simply didn’t cross my mind before they occurred. I enjoyed how the book delivered one shock after the other. At some point, I became obsessed with the story. I couldn’t put down the book. I needed answers and so I read late into the night and for the first time, I actually found myself up very early in the morning to finish the book before work. This book was hella captivating!

If you are looking for an immersive, suspenseful read set in picturesque setting with strong, memorable characters then you definitely need to read The Reunion by Samantha Hayes. Fans of this genre will love this one!

Wow! What a fantastically thrilling story! From start to finish it is full of so much action, almost to the point where your head is going back and forth like at a tennis match, or with your mouth hanging open like those clown games at a carnival. Each character has their own secrets and story to be told, so much sadness and heartbreak, love and compassion, anger and lies. A definite must read.

This book had everything for me. A missing child who has been gone for a lifetime, old friends returning to their childhood home and bringing their secrets with them and enough red herrings to send me down the wrong path several times. I love a book when I don't guess the ending and with this one I was close and completely wrong at the same time (believe me you'll see what I mean when you read it!) A masterclass in misdirection and thoroughly recommended.

Right from the beginning there were so many people involved in this story, usually this would confuse the hell out of me but, The Reunion was different. I felt like I knew all the characters straight away, as soon as I met them, they clicked in my head. Proof that Samantha Hayes is an excellent author. I found getting to know each person so interesting, they were all so different and had a different story to tell.
This book was a complete roller coaster, from start to end, I felt like I flew through some chapters without coming up to air! There was SO much going on, I just didn’t want to stop reading. I often read through my lunch break and it was so difficult to put my Kindle away and return to my desk whilst reading this!
Samantha Hayes did a fabulous job of allowing me to visualise the location and each character, I felt like I was part of the reunion and a fly on the wall observing the chaos which unfolded each day. Throughout I got very bad vibes from Callum, Claire’s husband of many years, something about him just wasn’t quite right!
The ending of this book hit me like a tonne of bricks, I still can’t stop thinking about it! I would have never seen it coming in a million years! It’s crazy how deceptive some people can be, somebody you’ve known for so long to be so different to the act they put on. Claire’s life was completely blown apart within the space of a week, she was such a likeable and strong protagonist.
The Reunion really was an exceptional book, with an incredible, twisty story line, which will leave you in utter shock!!

I have been a huge fan of Samantha Hayes books for a number of years, so I was very excited when she signed up with Bookouture and I was able to request her new book. Wow, what a fantastic read! Certainly one of her best books.
Claire’s sister, Eleanor, disappeared from a beach twenty years ago. Her father is now suffering from dementia so Claire organises a reunion of all her friends hoping this will help him. Things start to go wrong as her friend’s daughter goes missing in similar circumstances to Eleanor. The book then is told in the past and present with different narrators. There are so many secrets and lies to unravel, so many twists and turns that will leave you breathless! Samantha Hayes keeps you guessing right until the end of the book with her ‘jaw dropping twist ‘. This is my favourite read of the year so far, do not miss reading it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A book you just have to finish quickly. Very sad whilst wrong you can see why it happened. Looking forward to another from this author well done

Twenty years ago, August 1996, 13-year-old Lenni Lucas disappears while walking to get ice cream.
Claire Lucas, now Rodway, older sister to Lenni, was 18 years old at the time. She and her friends were splashing about in the water of Trevellin Bay, a normal day at the beach. When Lenni did not return, the Lucas family, their friends, relatives and the police searched and did all the normal things that people do when a child goes missing. To no avail. The only signs were a dropped ice cream cone and a pair of shorts. Lenni was gone.

The family somehow puts itself back together over the next 20 years without the baby of the family. Patrick, the patriarch, is a well-loved husband and father to the Lucas kids as well as to their childhood friends. Shona, mom to all, handles everything -- especially now that Patrick has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Claire and her brother Jason get on with their lives, marry, have their own families -- but still have so many questions. "In the end, our suffering came from not having anyone to blame, from not knowing what happened."

Claire decides that it would be a good time to get some of the old crowd together to help her dad with his memory issues. She has two children (Marcus and Amy) and her best friend from back then, Maggie, has a 15-year-old daughter, Rain. Old flame Nick -- Claire often wonders what might have happened between them had Lenni not vanished. Sets it all up for lots of potential drama considering that Claire has a son about Rain's age. All the relationships are complicated. The big impetus, however, is that Shona wants to sell the old farm because she can't take care of it and her husband too. So, a last little reunion to celebrate and reminisce. Things don't quite go as planned.

Wow, there's a LOT going on in this book. Many different characters and narrations from different points of view. It's hard to imagine all this happening to a single group of people in a small little town, but all the big themes are there. Deceit, betrayal, heartbreak. Not a single character in the book has an easy time of things. It was almost too much, if you know what I mean. I won't say more to prevent spoilers, but despite all the red herrings that the author uses to obfuscate, some things were obvious quickly but one took a little longer to become clear. I am sorry to say that I really didn't like any of the characters in the book very much. Couldn't relate to them. But it was a good family drama story. I am not sure I would call this a "thriller" but more a mystery. I didn't find it suspenseful or heartpounding, etc., but definitely the word I'd use is DRAMA. I did have a hard time putting it down as I wanted to see what was going to happen to this poor messed up group of people next! The ending came a bit abruptly and a few dangling ends were left to my imagination.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review. I think most people will be fascinated by the train wreck that is the Lucas family! Enjoy!

A steady psychological thriller about a missing girl and her family. Every pages holds tention as the interwoven decades give the reader snip bits of past and present.
Claire is a good strong character, loves her family and feels so guilty because she let her little sister out of her sight when they were young. Lenni the sister goes missing and is never found. Now an adult Claire is upset that her mother and father want to sell their house because it’s to much for them to cope with on top of her fathers Alzheimer’s. Claire sorts a party out to bring happiness back to her father, with memories of good times and old friends, the planing and the party stirs up more than she was bargaining for.
This is more of a slow building thriller, than a fast paced one, howeve the tension and the dark writing is brilliant and this is what kept me reading.

"She was like a butterfly trapped in a jar."

This was a carefully told story, the gears slowing turning while each part of the story works it's way in to place. The way Samantha Hayes has written this novel entices the reader to keep going. Chapter after chapter... there's a desire... a NEED to piece it all together. We MUST know what has happened to Eleanor and who's to blame.

Eleanor, at the age of thirteen, wants nothing more than to be free, to be independent like her older siblings, Jason and Claire. After all, she's thirteen, she's not a baby. Only Eleanor is not like everyone else, Eleanor suffers from an undiagnosed condition, she's not like other kids her age. Though she may be thirteen, and by all accounts a teenager, her mind is still a child. Still, when Eleanor wants nothing more than to go get an ice cream by herself on a warm sunny day at the beach, her older sister, Claire, eventually gives in and insists that she come right back and that she stick to the beach where she can be seen and to not take the short cut. Claire and Jason often felt sorry for Eleanor, she was never free to do anything on her own. Her parents were constantly smothering her and if they weren't present then her and Jason were always expected to watch her. Only, on this day, Claire had other things on her mind... or rather someone in particular. She had waited all summer to kiss Nick, could this be her chance?

Claire will never forgive herself for her decisions that day. Eleanor never came back. Police found her ice cream, shorts, and the small pendant she kept in her pocket that was given to her and Claire by their father. Decades have passed and they are still no closer to finding answers as to what happened to Eleanor that day. Is she dead, is she still out there somewhere, is she safe?

Though the Lucas family has moved on, they have never forgotten, and they have made a promise. They have made a promise to remain on the farm in case one day Eleanor (Lenni) comes home to them. So when Claire's mother, Shona, decides she wants to sell the farm, this comes as a surprise to everyone. Patrick, Claire's father has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the early stages of dementia have set in. This has become too much for Shona to manage along with caring for the farm and B&B. Her mind is made up, it's time to sell. Patrick, in his current state is not so inclined to agree. Claire decides that a reunion of all her old friends from childhood might just be what her father needs to help him through this difficult time. To help him to prepare for the move; a way to brighten his spirits and help him remember the good times. Only what Claire doesn't realize is that this reunion brings more pain and despair than any of them could have imagined. This will be the most difficult reunion of all.

This was an intriguing psychological thriller. As you begin to understand the motives behind each decision that is made you begin to connect to these characters more and more. Though there is one thing that I was somewhat bothered by; the author made an attempt to put one of the characters in line as a possible suspect in the disappearance of Eleanor, and even Rain. This didn't work for me because it was a failed attempt in my opinion. This character is actually the last person to see Rain before her supposed disappearance, though they are never questioned by the police, and this person never volunteers information about seeing Rain at the beach. I found this as a flaw in the storyline.

In the end though, I did enjoy this novel. It's very well written, and it's characters are well developed. It's not a story with a happy ending in my opinion, it's what I would call bittersweet.

I want to thank NetGalley, Bookouture, and Samantha Hayes for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review.

THE REUNION is the 4th book I've read by Samantha Hayes, and the first standalone, and I am absolutely THRILLED that I was approved to read it!

The book starts with Claire and her friends as teenagers, enjoying a fun summer day at the beach near their house. She lets her younger sister, Eleanor, walk on her own to get an ice cream cone at the shop not far from the beach. Eleanor never comes back.

Fast forward to present day. Claire and her husband and children live in house on her parents' property, the same beach property from years earlier. Her mother is planning on selling the house to take better care of her husband, who is becoming more and more forgetful. Claire decides to throw a reunion with her close friends from back in the day, her brother and his very pregnant wife, and other family members. She thinks this will help her father remember the good old days.

During the reunion, another girl goes missing, and this opens up a bunch of old wounds, as well as well as revealing long-hidden secrets.

What I loved about this book is each character has something to hide and has a story that all ties together in the end. It made it very hard to put down as the suspense and surprises built up. I honestly did not want it to end, and loved that the ending took me by surprise (that doesn't happen a lot). Samantha Hayes is a wonderful writer, and it shows when writing with this many characters and making them all interesting, and intertwining them so effortlessly. This is by far my favorite book by her so far, and I can't wait for more. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Samantha Hayes, Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel.

I don’t think I have ever been so shocked by a book before in all my reading years.

In my honest opinion it started off quite run of the mill and I wasn’t swayed one way or the other.

By 54% I was quite smug in thinking I has sussed out the plot, the midweek, the motive, everything then BANG the whole book turned I was so so shocked I was literally falling off the chair. I couldn’t stop turning the pages and when I got to the end I was totally breathless

This was a fantastic read I would recommend it to anyone.

This will stay etched in my memory for a very long time!! More of the same please Samantha!

Claire had a very happy childhood, her friends enjoyed being around her family and Claire's father had always made Summers at the farm near the Cornish coast magical. Childhood's end was when Claire was eighteen. Wanting to spend time with her boyfriend, she eventually gave in to the begging of her little sister,Lennie, to let her go get an ice cream by herself. Lennie was a child with special needs. No one saw her after she bought her ice cream and the only clue found were her pair of bloody shorts.

The years went by and Claire's father is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He is forgetting many things and wandering off. Even though he is quite against it, her mother wants to sell the farm. Before that happens Claire decided to have a reunion of old friends hoping that reliving old times will help her Dad's memory. All starts well, until Claire's best friend's wayward teenage daughter goes missing in similar circumstances. to Lennie

Told from two timelines this book is totally absorbing. Slightly slow in places, it draws you in & keeps you guessing until it finally spits you out shaking your head saying "I didn't think of that!!"
I am a great Samantha Hayes fan and this book keeps her on my top author shelf. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & read review this terrific book!

You just wanted an ice cream. Claire was meant to watch her younger sister Eleanor but she let her go buy an ice cream be herself and she just disappeared. They have waited all this time hoping that she would come home but it has been twenty years now. Claire & her brother Jason have had to live with their guilt all this time, they have both tried to move on and now it seems like it is the right time. Their father is sick and everyone is gathered around to remember the good times but everything is about to change. All family's have secrets but how many can one family have? Claire is about to find out that her husband is a rapist and that the victim is her best friend Maggie's daughter and that her father has hidden her sister away all this time. What is going on around them. As the family tries to come to terms with everything little do they knows that Eleanor has secrets that she can't ever tell. Will the family ever recover from this? A really twisted read a solid storyline. My family is mild compared to them. I understand why the father thought he was saving his daughter but to hide her and not to look after her properly is just awful and if he had lost all his memories she would have died all alone. Claire is a strong woman but her guilt has eaten away at all her this time and to know that her sister was alive must have been awful. Jason I just hope that his life will work out he deserves it. Hopefully Nick & Claire will be able to get together as they were meant to all those years ago. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

They were all there the day your sister went missing...Who is lying? Who is next?

1996 - All thirteen-year-old Lenni wanted to do was walk to the store by herself to get an ice-cream. Her older sister, Claire thought it would be fine. Her parents were very overprotective. Lenni just wanted to have some of the freedom that Claire and her brother had. It was just a short walk ….what could possibly happen?

Lenni never came back.

2017 – It has been twenty years since Lenni went missing from the beach. Claire is now married and has two children of her own. No one has forgotten Lenni but Claire has carried around a tremendous amount of guilt for letting her sister out of her sight that day.

Claire’s father, Patrick has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and it seems to be getting worse. Her mother feels that it is time to sell the family farm. Claire is upset…they’d made a promise….

Someone must always be here….

Claire decides that since they are selling the farm they should have one last get together…a reunion. Her friends always loved her father and she’s sure that seeing everyone will cheer him up. The whole gang will be there….including everyone who was at the beach the day Lenni disappeared.

But as more and more strange things start happening...suddenly the reunion that is meant to be a happy occasion….turns into a nightmare.

This story is told from many points of view and did take some time to get going. However, I was really intrigued by the characters and their individual stories. Sometimes with that many characters and side plots, I can find it hard to connect and/or keep everything straight. But I really didn’t have a problem in this case. With each perspective, we were given little hints. I started to question everyone’s intentions and whether or not that they could have had anything to do with what happened all those years before. Once I hit the halfway point, things really picked up and I was engrossed in everything that was happening. I had my suspicions and was eager to see if I was correct or way off base.

“The Reunion” was a story full of secrets, lies, and deception. There was a lot going on, but I found it gripping. I became invested in many of these characters and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

This was a clever and twisted tale with many excellent red-herrings. I thought everything came together fairly well, although there were one or two things I could have used a little more clarification on. But overall, this was a satisfying psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.

I look forward to reading more from Samantha Hayes!

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a read. Brilliant writing that makes you feel you are there in the thick of things. A reunion that hopefully will bring back some good memories for Claire’s Dad as he battles with Dementia. But what of those memories? What do they hold? And what secrets does everyone else carry around too?
Fabulous read with twists at the end that will leave you gobsmacked to the very end
#TheReunion #NetGalley

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I knew it was going to be one I really wanted to read and I can tell you now, having read the book it did not disappoint me at all!!

I loved the plot, it was really well planned out, the characters are great and the writing style is brilliant and works so well for this type of book. There is just the right amount of suspense in the book for me to keep you guessing about what might happen next! Definitely a rollercoaster ride that keeps you gripped!

No hesitation at all in giving this one 5 stars - get your copy now!!!

As soon as I heard Samantha Hayes had a new book out I jumped up and down and said 'yes please' to the blog tour. I didn't know the title, nor had I read the blurb - that is how much I love this author. The first book I read by Samantha Hayes was 'Until You're Mine' and I was absolutely blown away. I have devoured each of her subsequent books and find them totally captivating and engaging. Each one an intricate tale that has you guessing right until the final pages.

My expectations for The Reunion were high and Samantha Hayes met them and some. The Reunion is centred around a group of friends and family brought together by Claire to try and bring back happy memories for her dad who is now suffering from Alzheimers. They are friends that spent more of their weekends and holidays at her parents farm than they did at their own homes. With her mum and dad acting as surrogate parents to them all, that was, until the day they were all at the beach and Leni (Eleanor), Claires sister went to the shops for ice-cream and never came back.

This is a thriller that has a devastating, sad story that appears to be mirrored over twenty yers later. Deliberately or a coincidence? That was one of my first questions as I submerged myself in the plot. The story is told from several perspectives and from both the past and the present.

The Reunion is woven with several plot twists and sub plots that originally seem separate with no connections, they had me guessing at possible solutions only to find I was wrong each time. Samantha has intricately stitched up this story like a patchwork quilt - all of the pieces once put together make for a gut wrenching, heart pounding emotional read. There were so many times I thought I had it all wrapped up only to find I was way off the mark. and when the answers come with the end of the book I sat back open mouthed - words failed me. This is a book that has an unthinkable storyline running through the heart of it. Yet, I promise you'll be as hooked as I was, it that will make you sit back and be thankful it was just a book, it's not real - yet it so easily could be!

In case you haven't guessed, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it - it's a psychological thriller with a plot that is so intricacy woven it will leave you guessing right until the end. I sat open mouthed, just quietly thinking when I finished and i still have questions a week later - WHY? I so need to re-read this again!!