This mystery was easy to figure out and I thought it dragged on too long. The first few chapters captured my interest but then the characters became a struggle to find interesting. Just not for me.

Five friends are brought together after ten years. Ten years before, they spent the winter together, but then, there were more of them. They thought they were brought back for a friendly reunion, but things quickly take a turn and no one knows who to trust. Five friends come to the mountain, but just like ten years before, not all of them will be leaving. Who brought them here and who is behind everything that is going on?

Thanks to G.P. Putnam & Sons for the advanced copy of this book.

Milla, Brent, Curtis, Dale, and Heather, were all summoned to the French retreat they used to spend their winters competing on as snowboarders. This book left me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going on and who was behind all the mysterious happenings? Most were reluctant to come back to this place because it holds a bad memory. The last time there were here, someone was killed. No one knows who was behind the death, and that makes it even harder to want to return.

I knew pretty early on who the culprit was. Finding out who that person was along with the characters made the book more interesting. I haven't read anything by Allie Reynolds before, and I don't know if she has more books out there. If she does, I look forward to reading them.

This book was awesome!! As a snowboarder in my previous life, I loved all of the riding references, and hearing about the tricks (which I never in my life have attempted, but only watched in awe). I loved this cast of characters and all of their drive to be the best at their craft above all else. The mystery as to what the heck was going on kept me on my toes until the very end! Plus there kept being more and more twists just when you thought the mystery was solved. Loved this, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Best of luck to you Allie! What a wonderful first book for you to have written. You should be very proud of yourself. :)

If my recent reading list is any indication, the “locked room” mystery/thriller is back in full force. Agatha Christie’s bestseller And Then There Were None may be the earliest-known example of this genre, which features a small number of people who are trapped together in a building (or on an island) and who one-by-one start to die. The escape room craze may have started the latest rendition; The Escape Room by Megan Goldin was published in 2019. Ruth Ware’s version of this story, One by One, came out this past September. Now Allie Reynolds joins this impressive group, with her locked-room debut, Shiver, that prompted a ten-publisher auction.

For the rest of the review, click on the link below:

Fantastic thriller told from now and years ago, set on the top of a mountain in the Alps and with a snowboarding setting. Definitely had me guessing until the end and the small character reveals were masterfully done. Reynolds does a great job of keeping the reader interested in the day to day plot while also trying to figure out the main mystery.

Shiver is a "locked-room" mystery/thriller in the same vein as "And Then There Were None," though author Allie Reynolds, who has a history as a snowboarder, adds a fun/creepy new setting as her characters are at an abandoned resort on a mountain.

Milla and her friends return to what was once a place they spent much time together--but this time, everything is different. This time, someone brought them there, and no one is fessing up to it. The atmospheric tension created by the setting is excellent, and the characters all have a secret of their own. Secrets someone else knows about, and is now using against them.

If you liked the locked room trope and/or snowboarding, you will love this book. An incredible debut by Allie Reynolds.

This particular mystery was just so-so for me. I did not personally find it to be especially exciting or particularly thrilling from the get-go, and it was fairly predictable. I struggled to connect with any characters (in good ways or bad), and just couldn't find the momentum.

I do believe, however, that devotees of the mystery thriller genre will devour this, and will be quite pleased with the offering of this author. This will certainly

I’m always looking for (and mostly failing to find) well-written, snappy thrillers that’s aren’t icky.

Hooray for Shiver, which is exactly the kind of creepy but not icky, fast paced, and sharply accented thriller that I live for.

This one had a lot going for it in terms of setting, hitting on a whole bunch of attributes that I love: Remote/abandoned location, mysterious invite, human vs nature/weather.

It also had an exceptional bonus in that I learned a lot about the world of highly competitive snowboarding.

I did guess the “who” of the mystery pretty early in the book, though it took a while to figure out the “why,” and there was still plenty of excitement and suspense even after being reasonably certain I had most of the elements of the solve down.

Shiver boasts an unusually interesting set of characters for the genre as well. Milla is an excellent heroine, flawed but likable and relatable, especially if you’re an athlete or former athlete. And as for Saskia...well, there’s a reason the suspect pool for her disappearance includes pretty much everyone who knew her. Because who wouldn’t want to murder this girl?! Suffice it to say she was an exceptional villain.

In all, this was loads of fun, smarter than I expected, and devoid of some of the really icky themes that show up too frequently in thrillers. This was the “snowed in with the killer” action/suspense read that I think I wanted Ruth Ware’s One by One to be.

‘It’s that time of year again. The time the glacier gives up bodies’. A decade ago six snowboard competitors trained together and forged a bond, but at the end of their training there were only five contenders left. These five friends return to that same mountain in the French Alps for a catching up weekend. They quickly realize they were lured to an empty resort and an empty mountaintop. Then there is a snowstorm that makes leaving very dangerous if not impossible. They come to realize that at the center of the threat is the sixth snowboarder who went missing all those years ago and was presumed dead. Someone wants to teach them a lesson and make whomever is responsible pay. This is a chilling page turner. It keeps your interest from beginning to end.

Loved this book! Great location, great characters and loved the dark relationships this explored. Read in a day!

I reviewed this on my blog, goodreads, and for AudioFile Magazine. Details provided directly to the publisher in the next round of this process.

I love me a good locked room mystery! This felt semi lair to Lucy Foley and The Hunting Party to me, but still a really stand out debut!! Will absolutely pick up more from her.

Milla is invited to a reunion with 4 of her friends in the French Alps with a cryptic message, but she's intrigued. She hasn't seen them for 10 years and is excited to reconnect. They'll be missing their friend Saskia, however, who disappeared all those years ago. Will they ever find out what happened to her? This is a gripping debut that's not to be missed!

This is the perfect winter thriller to read when you are indoors watching the snow come down. Told in alternating timelines, a group of competitive snowboarders reunite in the French Alps after a decade apart. The last time they were together, one of the members of their group went missing and was presumed dead. They are all back together now, but things seem to be going....wrong. Like the song says, "Strange things are happening here." And indeed they are. Who is behind it? What do they know? And what do they want? It's an atmospheric nail-biter.

Shiver was a very good first novel. The setting and the suspense were very atmospheric, and the characters pretty well-developed. One part of the "mystery" was fairly obvious, but the other part was not at all. It was an engaging read and the plot moved along at a great pace. 3.5 stars.

ATTENTION! Now hear this! Allie Reynolds is ONE TO WATCH and you heard it here first! WOW. Or should I say ... BRRRR! This debut novel is an ice-cold thrilling chiller of a book. Watch out Ruth Ware, Shari Lapena, and Lisa Jewell. If this debut is any indication, Allie is coming for you — or rather your spots on the bestseller lists! If you liked “The Guest List” or “One By One,” this book is your jam.

For me, Shiver came *so* close to a 5-star read. Why no 5 star from me? Well, it’s going to sound petty, but it’s mainly because the word “arse” or “arsehole” showed up 5 times (no joke!) in the first 50 pages. This wasn’t a quote from some rude “bloke” at a bar— it was part of the descriptions (e.g. “his jeans rode low on his arse.”) I just don’t get it - it’s distracting and distancing for no good reason. Yep, I’m from the States, and to me, the word “arse” - well, it’s uncommon in a bad way. It’s nasty sounding. So please, kind author, less arse will be so much better in the long run. Note: I’m *not* saying get rid of “Briticisms” (e.g. interesting accents from Newcastle upon Tyne or other English slang). If you have any questions about my position on this, just arsk! (Yes, I totally stole that joke from one of my favorite books, Horrorstör, and no, I am not ashamed. True love 4-ever for Grady Hendrix!)

The other aspect that kept me from going all the way with the 5 stars was some of the “shark-jumping” these characters do. Hopefully it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that all the snowboard kids are pretty much always having sex with each other or trying to undercut each other, sometimes in cruel and not always believable ways. And the zany conclusion? Well, you might need a ski lift or a gondola to suspend your disbelief as much as you’ll need to to get through the end. It’s a doozy, and it’s a little absurd. But you know what? I didn’t care. I liked the book overall so much that I was able to forgive it.

Ok, what else did I like? The snowboarding! I don’t board myself — tried it once and then ran out of money and time to do anything like that until .... pretty much now, and now I think I might officially be Too Damned Old to Snowboard. (I’ll be over there on the geriatric cross-country skiing and snowshoeing slopes). But, the descriptions were fantastic - I really got that feeling of not just visualizing it but feeling it and doing it. She did a good job of describing the physical discomfort of sporting along with the excitement and the rush. Actually, this is some of the best sports writing I’ve read in a long time.

So, SHIVER: get it, read it, love it. Just make sure you’ve packed your parka and goggles, because it’s gonna be a cold one!

Thank you #GPPutnamSons #PenguinRandomHouse for the #ARC!❤️

A chilling mystery set in the French Alps on a deserted ski resort brings old friends -- and fierce former competitors -- together for a very scary reunion.

It's been 10 years since events that once bonded them all together resulted in all these years without contact. Milla Anderson is a bit apprehensive about catching up, but heads off to Le Rocher with lots of memories. The first strange thing is that the resort is completely empty and nothing seems to be working including the cable cars that took her and the others to the Panorama building on Glacier du Diable. The invitation she received was a bit mysterious, but since it came from her secret crush, Curtis Sparks, she decided to come even though she wasn't sure this was a good idea. Too many bad things had happened the last time they were together during an elite snowboarding competition in this very place. The others, Brent Bakshi, Dale and Heather Hahn, make up the rest of the guests. Five former "friends" now essentially isolated in what soon becomes a deadly fight for survival as all of their secrets and lies are finally revealed. NO SPOILERS.

Wow -- since reading a spate of books set in the French Alps lately, I don't think I will keep it on my bucket list! Nothing good seems to happen there. The author does a great job in this debut thriller of building tension and suspense by alternating time shifts from 10 years ago and present day. I really enjoyed the story and had a very hard time putting it down so read it in a couple of hours. Even though I really didn't identify with any of the characters, and some are really not nice people or are a complete mess, the details about snowboarding and the menace of the setting were so appealing. It was a fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

Wait this is a debut? I would've never guessed!

I was looking for something to make me feel like I could experience winter. Here in Arizona that's not a thing.

This definitely reminded me of The Guest List and No Longer Safe with also some hints of one of my favorite movies The Shining (yes I know it's a book but I like the movie better).

This is an author to watch out for as this really had me engaged and had some really great descriptions of the mountains. Now why only 4.5 stars? I did think some parts were very repetitive and this book could also serve as Snowboarding 101 which can be good or bad depending on what you are looking to read. I did call part of the ending about half way through, but I think I just read too many of these types of books.

Either way, if you are looking for a fun yet chilling read, this is it!

2.5 stars. Opening this book up and seeing the map of the ski resort where all the drama would unfold excited me and helped me envision the landscape of the snow-covered Alps where a murder mystery would soon unfold. I really enjoyed the first half of this book, meeting the characters, finding their flaws, and diving into the world of competitive snowboarding. Like other reviewers have mentioned, no prior knowledge of snowboarding is needed, but snowboarding competitions do play a major role in this novel and it was fun to reminisce about my days on the ski slopes years ago. I was captivated by the descriptions of the glacier, the dorm where so many happenings occurred, and how the friendship and "enemy-ship" waxed and waned. However, one thing held me back from really being able to say, this was a great book. The writing style at times felt quite clunky. I often found myself thinking that I was tired of being "told" what characters were thinking and doing and wanted to be "shown". There were too many unrealistic "thoughts" that the characters had that made it seem like the author needed to include these so that the reader would be able to keep up with what was happening.

I did like the twist of finding out who was behind the madness that went on during this reunion of friends, and I'm thankful who I thought was the culprit was not, in fact, as it made me hang on to my affections for them. The ending left me satisfied and I will certainly pick up another of Allie Reynolds books if she chooses to write more.

And that stunning cover...gorgeous. Worth another star rating in itself.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the eBook in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel makes for a perfect wintry read! It's exciting and the dual timelines really keep the pacing constantly quick from start to finish. Milla narrates this snowboarding, locked-room-esque type of mystery. Ten years prior to the opening of the modern storyline, first brings these characters all together as they train and compete in the snowboarding season. There's lingo about the sport itself that makes me thankful to already be vicariously experienced with it as they describe the events and the tricks. I think that this is the first time that I have ever read a book so focused on snowboarding, so I think that this will definitely be a real thrill for those that are passionate about it - and it also gives this a real modern feel as well. It also distracts a bit from the more predictable parts of the plot. The athletic group is in their mid-twenties in the earlier portion of the plot, but their relationship drama makes them seem even younger and more immature. It's a bit eye-roll inducing sometimes.

But while the modern storyline is more of the locked room feel with the isolation of the lodge and the way they are manipulated, it's not quite a surprise who the mastermind really is. And while the characters - and their choices - make them all somewhat unlikable, this one has some definite Agatha Christie vibes - and is also remiscient of Ruth Ware's latest novel, One By One with the setting. But I couldn't pull myself away from it and am genuinely curious to see what she will write next.