I loved this book. The writing was so great and the entire vibe of the story was so creepy. I loved the setting and truly adored the characters. Suspenseful and shocking!

I want to start by saying there are too many characters and it was too difficult to keep track of who they were and how they were connected.

It was a fairly quick read, with relatively short chapters; I also enjoyed the dual narrative.

I loved the twist of who was involved and absolutely didn't see it coming. The whole storyline was a bit bonkers and far fetched but rather enjoyable nonetheless.

The only other thing to bother me was what happened with the male police officer (his name escapes me) at the end, I just didn't get it.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and M. J. Ford for the copy of this book. All views are my own.*

Sarah Kline hasn’t spoken to her sister in five years. So when police officers tell her that Gemma is missing, and Gemma’s boyfriend is dead, she’s not sure what to think.

Sarah heads to the last location Gemma was seen, a remote village in the Pennine mountains.

Frustrated by the lack of results from local police, Sarah starts asking her own questions, dredging up long-buried secrets. But will she find her sister, or will she be the next victim?

The story is told from the viewpoints of Sarah and Gemma, in alternating chapters. It’s weird because Sarah’s chapters are in first person, while Gemma’s are in third person. It’s a bit jarring to be in Sarah’s head, but slightly removed from Gemma.

The dual timeline kept my interest (and kept the plot moving forward), and the relationship between the sisters was realistic.

As far as the mystery, there were some decent misdirections but I wasn’t shocked at the ending. There were also some clever clues and last-minute twists.

Thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollins for the eARC.

Check out this book if you want a solid thriller with layered characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a coomplimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a pretty good thriller, but not so much twists and turns, but a slow burn. I enjoyed the point of view of the chacters and the book keep me guessing. It was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. I would definitely check out more books by this author

Sarah and her sister, Gemma, have been estranged for a few years but when she finds out that police haven’t been able to locate her, Sarah tries to find her own answers.

The Hiker has a good plot and the characters are (mostly) likable and believable. But, for most of the story the suspense factor is missing and it often seems to plod along. The last part of the book unexpectedly takes off but in a rather unbelievable way.

This is what bothers me about this book. In a village where everyone knows nearly everything about each other and their activities, it’s hard to believe that no one knew or even suspected anything about one of the residents and the activities of several others. Since more than once the protagonist expresses amazement that information travels quickly through the village, it’s hard to believe that no one had any inkling about the secrets that were being kept.

I have enjoyed other books by M.J. Ford, but this isn’t one of my favorites.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Good read but could have had more suspense. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the characters. Gemma and Sarah are sisters. They have been estranged for a few years. Gemma is now missing after going hiking in a remote area. Sarah is about to be married but drops everything to follow in her sister’s footsteps to try to determine what happened to her. It was a bit far fetched for me. The element of the supernatural didn’t fit and the relationships of the characters were not believable. It was an okay story with some twists and turns to keep you guessing but somewhat plodding and banal.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Avon UK for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I requested this, I thought I would be reading more of a survival type thriller based on the synopsis. It turns out that is very misleading. Why this is titled “The Hiker” is beyond me. It doesn’t fit with the actual storyline at all. All you need to know is it’s about a woman who goes looking for her estranged sister who’s gone missing along with her boyfriend.

Expectations aside, I was pretty bored for the first 60% of the book and contemplated not finishing it several times. There was a lot of backstory and nothing really happened. Once things do start to pick up speed, though, the plot takes off and I flew through the last chapters. If the entire book had been like the first half or so, I would have been very disappointed, but the second half saves it. Overall, I’d give this 3.5 stars out of 5.

Holy hell. That scared me! I've been waiting for this book to be accepted and when it did, I didn't waste time! I loved it. Nothing else to say. So good!

Cheers to Netgalley for the copy.

This is my first time reading the work of M.J. Ford and "The Hiker" has guaranteed that I will be on the lookout for more by this author.

The pace was perfect, just fast enough that you wanted to keep reading and reading. The setting, a somewhat peculiar village in the Pennines in Northern England, was vividly described and, truth be told, just a tad unsettling - especially when the mist rolled in.
This is the tale of two sisters, both of whom are in their early thirties. The eldest, Sarah is a successful lawyer working in London who is to be married very soon. The youngest, Gemma, has always been a bit of a loser in life and has become estranged from her sister after a fallout at their mother's funeral. The girls had a dysfunctional upbringing, with a single mother who drank heavily.

When Gemma goes missing in the Pennines, Sarah travels north to help find her. Once there, Sarah finds many eccentric people and a story of another missing girl who vanished without trace sixteen years previously. Dubious characters, an old abandoned manor house, and some questionable police officers all add to the feeling of menace.

Alternate chapters give the point of view of Gemma, and the events that led up to her disappearance.

With a gripping narrative and a high-octane ending, this is a thriller that I can wholeheartedly recommend to all lovers of the genre.

4.5 stars rounded up

Great book, I loved it and read it in one day.
Great sense of mystery and relationships
A good read for fire side reading

In the wilderness, it’s kill or be killed…
MISSING
When Gemma Kline is reported missing after setting off on a solo hike in the remote Pennines, her sister, Sarah, is dumbfounded. How can someone disappear without a trace?
PRESUMED
Travelling to the isolated town where Gemma was last seen, Sarah discovers it’s not the first time a young woman has vanished from the hills in mysterious circumstances. As she digs deeper, it quickly becomes apparent that neither disappearance is what it first seems – especially when unwelcoming locals share chilling tales about what’s really lurking on the moors…
MURDERED
Whatever has happened to her sister, one thing is clear: this town has secrets someone would kill to keep. But even on the fells, nothing stays buried forever…

What a gripping twisted read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

The Hiker has it all – suspense, mystery, and tension. A small-town mystery with the nostalgia of midsummer murders or Jonathan Creek. Not one word is wasted.

Well strike me down – The Hiker is a story that you will not want to read in the darkened shadows of the countryside. It creeps into the mind’s darkest recesses and makes its home; it lays down roots and leaves you searching for the answers.

The prologue set the scene perfectly – a sense of mystery and fear that creeps into the reader’s peripheral vision. I held my breath and attempted to count to ten, I have to say I found it difficult. My body resembled a steel rod, I was wrought with tension, and I was a coiled spring ready to jump. I knew something was going to happen but the where and when was questionable. This is one story in which you find yourself racing to the end to discover the answers to the deep-seated questions that spring up from the actions of questionable characters.

Sarah lives an enchanted life – engaged to her fiancé, Doug, and her wedding is just around the corner. She has a fulfilling career as a divorce lawyer, predominately helping women get their own back on husbands that toss them aside. It hasn’t always been that way, she had a very difficult childhood, with an alcoholic mother and a difficult relationship with her sister – Gemma. She was forced into a parental role, caring for her younger sister, cooking, cleaning, and helping her cross the road, it wasn’t easy and as time passed the two sisters grew apart and the killer blow came at their mother’s wake. She hasn’t heard from Gemma since, until now, when it appears she has gone missing in a small town far from home.

Gemma’s life has been anything but a bed of roses. Her life after departing ways from Sarah has been difficult. She has a job as a care assistant in a residential home for the elderly. Her partner, Mark has got them into a bit of financial difficulty, and they owe money for multiple months of missed rent arrears. They are desperate, they don’t have the financial stability that Sarah has. Mark has the ploy to blackmail some questionable people up north, Gemma has her reservations, but Mark assures her it’s a foolproof plan.

Now you might think you know where this story is going to lead, we’ve seen this path before, rest assured this path is littered with booby traps and red herrings. It’s not a simple case of bad vs good, no, The Hiker is more complex than that – it’s two different sets of circumstances colliding. Gemma felt more fleshed out than Sarah but the discovery of something catastrophic in her personal life added a new layer to her character. Life experiences were explored, and we had the backgrounds of both protagonists it was down to the reader to decide just how black and white they both were or whether there were elements of gray thrown in for good measure.

What a great book, so twisty and atmospheric. I loved this one. I read it in one sitting as it was so hard to,put down. The descriptions were spot on and made me picture the area in my mind. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

2.5 stars. Firstly, the title of the book is a bit of a misnomer. Secondly, while the setting was beautiful and haunting, I wasn't convinced by the plot. Too many obvious twists and turns.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

This book was not what I was expecting based on the title and tag line on the cover of the book. There were great parts of the book and some unnecessary parts of the book. It started slow, but picked up at the midpoint and had a great twist at the end. Overall, it was a decent read.

Thank you @netgalley and @avonbooks for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Hiker was a book that was a little bit different to what I’ve read before but in a good way, making this an at times edge of your seat read.
Sisters Sarah and Gemma Kline they haven’t been in contact with each other for a few years due to a falling out at their mothers funeral. Sarah is getting married in a week and has just received news that Gemma has disappeared whilst in a village in the Penines. The man she was with has been found dead so where is Gemma? Sarah travels to the village to try and help find her sister but things don’t appear quite right when she gets there, from the locals to the police but she is determined to get to the bottom of her sisters disappearance.
This was a really good read and I enjoyed it from start to finish. There are a lot of twists, turns and discoveries along the way which makes this a book that travels at a good pace. The ending was good and left no questions unanswered.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book. The first that I’ve read by the author and will definitely be reading more. Well written, thought out characters and plot. Thank you!

The Hiker is a UK thriller set in the remote Pennines, northern England. It is told by two sisters, Gemma and her older sibling Sarah, who fell out many years earlier and live extremely different lives. But in the lead-up to Sarah’s wedding, her sisterly instincts kick in when Gemma is reported missing, and Gemma’s boyfriend is believed to be involved in a horrific accident. Sarah travels to the town where her sister was last seen and finds a place with deep, dark secrets. Who can she trust, and what will she uncover? Will either of the sisters survive? I would read more of this author and recommend The Hiker as a very enjoyable British thriller with parallel stories and an atmospheric setting.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The story itself was pretty good. A few twists and turns and the killer reveal was unexpected. The only problem I had was with the formatting. I realize it was an ARC and therefore not a perfect finished copy however the bad formatting really took away from the overall enjoyment.
If you are having the same issues I had, I promise the story is worth reading if
You can get through it.

<i>The Hiker</i> is a standalone crime mystery read, and my first from <i>M.J. Ford.</i> I have been intending to start <i>Ford’s</i> Oxford-based police procedurals featuring DS Josie Masters. This tale has a great setting (the Pennines and County Durham, in Northern England) and a heart pounding ending. A great read.

<i>I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Avon Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.</i>