I loved the setting of the news room and the fast paced chase of the story. Some of the situations felt implausible but I enjoyed the ride and liked the strong female protagonist. I found it gripping!

While mildly entertaining for a brief section in the middle (the undercover investigation part), I found this novel to be, on the whole, faintly ridiculous. The premise - rich boys shooting refugees for the experience - is just a little too far-fetched for me. And while the author obviously aims for hard-hitting, it's just a bit overwrought. The female MC is also highly unlikeable - in fact, none of the characters are very sympathetic. There are also these confusing sections of stream-of-consciousness type commentary that really jar the narrative, are almost nonsensical and add nothing/go nowhere. Maybe to other readers this is indication of the writer's talent - I just found it annoying. 
This wasn't the book for me.

This was a fast paced debut. I liked the main character and the author's journalistic background was clear to see in the writing which seemed authentic and believable.  The storyline was fascinating and the characters well drawn. I really enjoyed reading about all the places Cassie and Miranda visited and the descriptions were breathtaking. I also like the way this writer uses ALL the senses to describe scenes which come alive as a result. T
I  enjoyed reading this book and would recommend.

Intriguing particularly as it is written by a journalist who has a real insight into his osiers work. The theme is incredible...... but worth sticking with .

Although the blurb portrayed this as an exciting read, I'm afraid it just dragged for me. It took far too long to get to the main story and I just didn't feel involved.
The concept was a new and interesting one, albeit horrific.

This is a Well written book with good a good storyline and relatable characters. The plot is engaging and I wanted to know more. The characters are well drawn, whether you love them or hate them. I loved the main character, Casey and her can do attitude. As an adventure thriller it rattles along well. I’ve given it four stars rather than five as Infelt at times the writing style was a little staccato for my tastes.

After reading the blurb I thought I would love this book. It’s billed as a fast paced thriller and the premise seemed a bit different to the norm. 

I was surprised at how long it took me to get into the story. I can’t put my finger on why that was, whether I didn’t like the characters or felt it dragged, I’m not sure. 

The main character, Casey, I didn’t warm to at all and found her so selfish and focused on ‘getting the story’ without thinking of others. 

The idea behind the snipers at the refugee camp was something different, if harrowing. It did make me think if there were people that would do that. 

Unfortunately I really didn’t enjoy the story and it took me several weeks to get through. I just found it such a slog. Don’t think I would read the next book in the series.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher’s for the arc, which I did enjoy reading.
This was a fast paced consummate start for a debut author. To The Lions storyline was fascinating and appalling and the characters all seemed very realistic. The places that Cassie visited with Miranda went from the glamorous to the barren deserts and all flawlessly depicted.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
I am also looking forward to reading her second book The Dead Line to see if her journalism characters are as strong and unpredictable in this story.

I was totally engrossed by this swashbuckling story "To the Lions" which also lifts the lid slightly on the moral dilemmas facing investigative reporters.  The main character Casey overhears a snippet of a conversation that could mean a few different things; fearing the worst, she sets off with colleagues following leads and shaking down suspects in a few different countries to uncover a truly nasty plot. She puts herself and colleagues in extreme danger to land the story using all of the resources the paper has to offer. We get some idea of the degree of evidence required to publish the story which makes the main characters and the reader feel very uncomfortable.

I found myself glued to this book; the plot worked well and the characters were entirely believable. I will most definitely look out for the next Holly Watt book.

I liked the writing style the second time I tried to read it. It is a very ambiguous form of narration that can be interpreted the way the reader wants to. This did not work for me with the storyline since it was an investigative reporter and her team who set out to find out about some suspected killing for fun. I would have wanted more guarantees about what I was reading. I was unable to read the entire book, got about 30% in and tried more than two times to keep at it
Since I did not finish the book, I cannot post a rating on social media sites.

I was not quite sure about this book at first as I found it confusing, but was very pleased that I continued to read.  This was not only a well-paced thriller but it was a believable plot, which was quite frightening. Casey's character was quite believable - she would risk anything to follow a story - even her own life. A great debut - perhaps the start of a series?
Many thanks to Netgalley/Holly Watt/Bloomsbury Publishingn for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

not a bad story but I found the style of writing hard to follow and the book fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks tot he publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

strong realistic characters, a tense and thought provoking story with perfectly immersive writing and a page turning quality that grips you throughout.

Well written but the characters and situations felt too generic (eg the cliche of the sweary tyrant editor).  DNF

A well-written tense and thought provoking read. Terrifying at times, but a well-structured plot that grasped my attention from beginning to end. Fantastic read.

Seriously fast-paced political thriller! Thought provoking story with realistic and strong characters. It was not an easy read but very interesting, I don't think this book will be for everyone.

This was a fast-paced political thriller. It touched on ruthless secretive groups, conflicts and moral and ethical dilemmas with regard to the growth of the huge numbers of refugees and migrants that has become such a debatable issue.

"To the Lions" was an incredibly intense and highly relevant, fascinating read.

It was well worth picking this up. Rating: 4 Stars

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Bloomsbury Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

DNF

Sadly, this book led me into a false sense of enjoyment. The description was brilliant and it seemed like the perfect book for me to read but unfortunately, the writing style was too difficult to follow and the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere so I did not finish it

This book was truly awful. The writing style was very messy and the plot made no sense whatsoever. I gave up after the first 20% or so as it was so bad. I couldn't engage with the characters and the terrible grammar and punctuation made it impossible to follow. As an aside, the symbols on every page in the middle of the text was the icing on the cake.

Casey and Miranda are investigative reporters who find evidence of a group that can arrange human safaris. In order to uncover the full story they race against time and into ever more dangerous situations. 

I really struggled with the writing style, indeed the first 20% really didn't make a great deal of sense to me I felt like the author had too many threads and not enough connections. As a journalist the author has obviously taken facets of her job and expanded them into a book but she has done this in the clipped style of a journalist and for large parts of the book I just wanted more narrative.

She has a really exciting, realistic plot line and some of the scenes are done really well. There is definitely horror and thrill within the book it just required better style