The Hiker by M.J. Ford was not at all what I expected. Based on the title and book blurb, I thought I would love it. However, both the title and blurb are misleading. The book isn't about a hiker at all; in fact, hiking is only a tiny part of the book and has nothing to do with the main storyline.

The chapters alternate between the two sisters. Sarah's chapters are told in first person POV, while Gemma's chapters are told in third person POV. This was a weird stylistic choice.

The book's pacing is slow and doesn't pick up until more than halfway. I did enjoy the second half of the book more than the first half, but the ending was rushed and unbelievable. The Hiker also has one of my least favorite thriller tropes, which knocked this down to a three star read for me because it was so unnecessary.

If you don't mind books with slow pacing, unlikeable characters, and a few crazy plot twists that don't completely make sense, then you might enjoy this book.
Content warnings: kidnapping, murder, animal abuse, and animal death.

*Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and M.J. Ford for the free eBook ARC in exchange for leaving an honest review.

Uff da! I feel bad, but this book was not for me. I typically this is my main genre of reading, but this book couldn’t hold my attention. I kept waiting for something supernatural to happen since the bar’s name was The Headless Women and they mentioned about the furry creature, but nope.

The book was a look too mundane and tedious until the end. Then everything happened all at once and then it was like WTF?! I wish that would have been sprinkled throughout the book.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

The Hiker is a solid mystery-thriller about a woman who travels to a remote area of northern England to find the truth about her missing estranged sister. While the premise doesn't sound particularly original, the story surprised me and takes one through flashbacks, creepy folklore, and eccentric characters - every time I put it down, I picked it right back up. I have added the author's backlist to my TBR. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

One week before her wedding Sarah receives news that her estranged sister Gemma is reported missing and so Sarah decides to try and find out what’s happened to her. Travelling to a small English village, she finds her reception is not always welcoming…..
I must admit, this book was totally different to what I expected, I think I was taken in with the word hiker! In fact I would say it’s more of a police procedural book (without much help from the police)
It started very slowly and in two time lines, one of Sarah’s and the other of Gemma. These were easy to follow but it took a long time to get going.
I like my books character driven and I’m not really sure I had enough character connection for me. But by the middle of the story the pace did settle and I was invested enough to find out what happened.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

This book begins with a haunting prologue which I found hooked me right in.

As the story progresses the reader is introduced to a plethora of intriguing characters. I think that it is the way the author, M.J.Ford, has crafted these characters which makes this such an enjoyable novel.

I like the swift pace at which the narrative unfolds. There are plenty of twists and turns which help to maintain interest.

Suffice to say that not every character is as transparent as they may at first appear. The denouement is fairly gripping. On the strength of this novel, I will certainly look out for future books by M.J.Ford.

Finally I give my thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for a copy of this novel in exchange for this review.

‘In the Wilderness it’s Kill or be Killed’ - cover tag line.

My thanks to Avon Books U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Hiker’ by M.J. Ford.

I have read and enjoyed Ford’s Oxford-based police procedurals featuring DS Josie (Josephine) Masters. His latest is a standalone crime thriller primarily set in the Pennines.

Sarah Kline’s wedding is only a week away when she receives a visit from the police advising that her estranged sister, Gemma, has gone missing. She elects to travels to the isolated small town of Hartsbridge on the border between Northumberland and County Durham where Gemma was last seen.

She discovers that it’s not the first time a young woman has vanished from the hills in mysterious circumstances. Add to this the locals share chilling tales of dangerous creatures on the moors. No further details to avoid spoilers.

The chapters move between the sisters with Sarah’s chapters detailing her investigation into Gemma’s disappearance and Gemma’s chapters recounting the events that led her and boyfriend, Mark, to travel from Brighton to Hartsbridge.

Even though the time frame is kept quite tight in Sarah’s chapters, I did keep thinking about the countdown to her wedding day.

There was definitely some ‘An American Werewolf in London’ vibes to Hartsbridge, including the pub being named The Headless Woman and the locals sharing tales of mysterious happenings on moors.Yikes!

Overall, I found ‘The Hiker’ an engaging standalone thriller that evoked the chilling atmosphere of the moorlands.

I really loved The Hiker. I loved the atmospheric setting, the interesting characters and the many twists and turns. It was definitely a thrilling ride which I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my ARC.

Sisters Sarah & Gemma fall out at their mother's funeral & don't speak again for several years. As Sarah's wedding to boyfriend, Doug, draws closer she decides to send an invitation to her younger sister. When she doesn't receive a reply, she shrugs & gets on with her life as a solicitor specialising in divorce, but the week before her wedding, she receives a visit from two police officers who tell her that Gemma's boyfriend, Mark has been found dead in a burned out car, & that Gemma is missing.

Sarah can't tell them anything about Gemma's recent life, but when she gets home she sees that she received a postcard from Gemma a few days ago. To her boyfriend Doug's annoyance, Sarah decides to go to the area where the card was posted to see if anyone remembers her sister. Travelling to the north of England, Sarah starts to investigate her sister's disappearance much to the chagrin of the local police. She is told about a local legend about wildcats roaming the hills after they were set free from Brocklehurst Hall, a local stately home, now fallen into ruin & disrepair.

The narrative is told from Sarah's point of view now, & Gemma's point of view a few weeks previously. It was an interesting read but I found that the title is not really representative of what the book is about. I was expecting a 'missing hiker' story rather than one that concentrates on a blackmail plot, but it mainly works. The ending is a bit of surprise as in it takes off like a Harrier jump jet out of nowhere into a frenetic & slightly weird finale. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Avon Books UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

In the wilderness, it’s kill or be killed…

MISSING
Gemma Kline is reported missing after setting off on a hike in the 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. It quickly becomes apparent that neither disappearance is what it first seems –
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…

A very swift easy read, I tanked it in a few days, a compelling enough plot to keep you reading.
I think the cover and title lead me to think the hiking theme would dominate the story and I was slightly disappointed that it didn't.

If you're after a crime/thriller that you can get lost in for a few days this is a very safe bet.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon books for an ARC of this book

I enjoyed this one. The dual POV’s were great. It reenforced the differences between the sisters. The ominous presence of the mountain lion lurking in the woods was creepy. The twist was good and so was the ending. Not a bad read.

Sisters Gemma and Sarah were as different as night and day. As a result of a huge fight over money following the death of their mother, they haven’t spoken since.

Some time later Sarah is a lawyer and in the middle of planning a wedding when she gets a phone call from the police stating that Gemma is missing.

She heads to the town where her sister was last seen and begins talking to the locals. Sarah becomes suspicious of the towns people and believes they know more than they are saying.

The Hiker is available now.

Thank you to netgalley and avonbooks for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

My first book by this author but, as this is a standalone, it doesn’t matter.

Sisters Sarah & Gemma are estranged following the death of their mother. However, it is Sarah who the police contact when Gemma mysteriously goes missing. She was hiking alone in the Pennines when she disappeared & Sarah decides to travel there & investigate. Once there, she discovers that Gemma wasn’t the first to disappear from the village of Hartsbridge.
The atmosphere & setting the author creates are palpable & almost characters in their own right. And as for those ‘actual’ characters, there are some crackers.

This was a great read, told from the POV of both sisters, &, in places, I really wasn’t sure where it was going. But, the ending will definitely divide readers, & although it fits with the story overall, it is a tad strange.

My thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for an arc copy to read & give my unbiased review.

When Gemma Kline is reported missing her sister, Sarah is surprised by this and even though she has estranged from her sister following a family argument, Sarah is determined to find out why Gemma has disappeared without trace. However, this is not the first time that a young woman has gone missing in this remote part of the northern hills around County Durham and the forbidding nature of the area is as much part of the story as the disappearance of Gemma especially as the local people aren't very helpful.

The Hiker is told from the point of view of both sisters which gives a unique insight into both of their lives and there is more than enough detail to keep you turning the pages. The story has a complex plot which took me a while to get into but as the twists and turns get ever more complicated I found that there was much to consider and even though the ending was unexpected, overall, I enjoyed trying to guess where the story was heading.

The Hiker is an atmospheric and rather creepy story which is perfect for reading on a wintery night, curled up by the fire.

What started off so promising soon fell flat and I was keen to escape the book like the characters are keen to escape the wilderness. As the plot continued, developments felt over-used and predictable, until the ending was prolonged and over-dramatised.

Throughout the read I was constantly puzzling over the title and now, even as I write this review, I cannot see the significance. It does not relate to the plot and I think there could have been less ambiguous titles to choose from. Without giving too much away, there are no specific walkers in the story and even the final revelations don’t really link to this title. I think the name of the book is quite misleading and I may not even have selected this book to read if the title had been more accurate.

The story alternates between between sisters, Gemma and Sarah, then and now, detailing how Gemma came to be missing in the wilderness. In present day, soon-to-be-wed Sarah is trying to follow clues to determine what happened to Gemma before her disappearance. With little obvious help from the police, Sarah is frustrated by the lack of support and seems to care little for her looming wedding day. I thought this quite surprising considering how the writer really labours the lack of relationship between the two characters; they have grown apart and fell out quite significantly at their mother’s funeral. In this timeline, I thought the story never really took off, being quite slow and plodding. On reflection, I guess this reflects the detached, isolated, rural way of life in such a small village in the middle of nowhere.

To begin with, it was Gemma’s story that was most intriguing. However, about half way through the story, I started to lose interest and thought that the developments were either unsurprising or far-fetched. I was impatient for Gemma’s story to truly get going and disliked her boyfriend for encouraging her into such a dangerous, hopeless situation. Gemma realises that what they are doing is not necessarily going to solve their financial problems and I fervently wished she would gain the strength to walk away from the situation. Of course, this does not happen.

By the time the story starts to explain itself, I was frustrated with how long it took to reach this point. The pace of the story did not thrill me or fill me with suspense. Whilst I enjoyed switching between the two sisters, I don’t think Ford necessarily conveys danger or fear in the narrative. Instead, it was more a plodding enquiry from an older sister who suddenly seems to care that her relation might be in trouble.

This was alright for a read but I was not blown away. Seeking something far more thrilling, this became quite a damp read – a bit like the misty weather on the mountains. Whilst the pathetic fallacy was effective, it was not enough to keep me fully invested in the narrative.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A standalone crime mystery read, The Hiker by M J Ford is a rural noir thriller. Sarah and Gemma Kline are sisters who have not spoken since their mother’s funeral. Police contact Sarah as her sister is missing and so she heads to the Pennines in Northern England to look for Gemma. The narrative switches between Sarah’s efforts to locate her sister and Gemma’s account of her own disappearance. A teenage girl missing for fifteen years, a local fable of an escaped panther and very protective locals with their own secrets, combine to make an enjoyable crime tale. Its flowing narrative, unfolding mysteries and dynamic finale twist, makes this a three and a half star rating. With thanks to Avon Books UK and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

the title i find is very misleading from the actual storyline that i have just read,

gemma and sarah are estranged sisters but gemma goes missing after hiking in the hills

but gemma isnt the only missing person, another girl went missing years ago and was never found but the locals tell some horror stories about what they think happened to her, it did remind me a little of an american werewolf in london...

gemma and sarahs lives are far different from each other and their stories are told in each separate chapters during the book leading to the culmination at the end....

A thriller that kept me turning the pages. Wild moors, an estranged and missing sister, a creepy setting in the middle of nowhere, eccentric and strangely behaved villagers. A great read. I did think the ending was a little OTT though, but overall, a dry enjoyable read.

A girl is running from an unknown pursuer across a Yorkshire moor Twenty years later the scene is repeated. Coincidence or chance? Lifes or deaths? We know from the start about the pursuit of the first girl, Alice, but to the rest of the population she just disappeared, swallowed up by one of the many bogs. The nearest village, Hartsbridge, has never forgotten, many of the locals knew her, went to school with her, worked for her father. After her death, the family couldn’t bear to stay on in the area and abandoned their large, mansion in the hills above the village and its estate Their private zoo sold off or euthanised. The house, falling into ruin remains, looked after by a live in caretaker. Village life revolves around the Inn, and the population are a bunch of assorted characters from central casting.
The second girl, Gemma, had a dysfunctional childhood, looked after by her older sister, Sarah, because their mother was usually drunk and incapable. Sarah had fought to overcome the background to become a divorce lawyer in London, but Gemma had led a hand-to-moth life as a care worker in Brighton. Her feckless boyfriend, Mark, is more o a hindrance than a help, certainly when it comes to earning and keeping money. Sarah, although carrying a burden of guilt, hasn’t heard from Gemma in five years, after a bust-up at their mother’s funeral. Deeply in debt, Gemma and Mark decide to travel to a rumoured Cannabis farm, with some thought of extorting money by blackmail. The farm is based in a dilapidated mansion above the village of Hartsbridge!
The first Sarah knows about the latter situation comes when the police ask her for information about Gemma. A crashed and burned car has been found on the moor – Mark’s car. In it is a very dead male body, and no sign of Gemma. Sarah, with one week to go before her wedding, abandons her fiancé and rushes North. There, in loose association with the police, she starts investigating – turning up copious numbers of clues they’ve missed and generally upsetting virtually everyone she meets.
From a plot point of view, this is a fairly standard “amateur sleuth searching for a missing person” story, although it is on the above average side. It is written, mostly in alternate chapters, from two perspectives: Sarah, in first-person real-time mode, relates the unfolding of events (with some background interpolated); an omniscient narrator relates the motivation and events in Gemma’s story, from the decision to go North, through the events which led to and immediately followed the car crash, to the overlap with Sarah’s narrative. This type of story requires continuing jeopardy and this book has that in spades, from a few small cards up to a royal flush as the final events unfold in excessive, indeed OTT, incidents. The writing remains strong even through this mayhem.
One thing that does confuse me is the title; I can’t identify any character that could be called “The Hiker”.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Based on the blurb/synopsis, this book didn't end up being what I expected. There was very little hiking involved.

The story was interesting, had some twists, seemed a little far-fetched at points. The ending? Eh, seemed a little rushed, but I wouldn't want the book to be much longer.

Overall, a decent read although not one that I'm going to be thinking about months down the road.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Wowsers, this was a bit round the houses and back again convoluted! And the gift that kept on giving really, with an unexpected (to me anyway) ending.
We start with Sarah who is in the middle of planning her wedding which is quite imminent. She is shocked and confused when she is contacted by the police who are worried for the safety of her sister Gemma who is apparently missing. A sister who she has been estranged from for a good while after a nasty argument at their mother's funeral some years since. Estrangement notwithstanding, Sarah had recently sent out an olive branch to Gemma, inviting her to the wedding, an invitation she has yet to have returned. With that and the feeling that the Police aren't really getting anywhere, she does what she perceives to be the right thing and travels up to the Pennines, to where Gemma was last seen to see what she can find out.
And so begins a rather interesting and intriguing tale involving a lot more that at first appears on the surface. Including rumour and legend of a giant cat roaming the moorland... The rest of which I will leave you to discover as the author intends. Be prepared to have your wits about you though as it does all end up a bit convoluted, albeit all coming good at the end.
It's more of a plodder book than a race a minute although it does have its moments. Which are reflected in the pacing which matches the narrative all the way through. The author builds up the layers through sections from the POV of each sister and then, once all is in place starts to peel them off again to reveal the actual truth.
The setting is also almost a character in its own right. Small village, with a tight knit community adds to the claustrophobic, cloying feel of the story being told. It has its own legends and previous unsolved tragedy so the locals are somewhat guarded, deliciously so in parts.
All in all, a thoroughly decent read for fans of the genre. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Gemma is living with her boyfriend Mark and they are barely scraping by when one day Mark tells Gemma he knows of a way to get his hands on a lot of money real easy. The only thing they have to do is travel to a remote village and confront some people with what he (and now Gemma too) knows about their illegal activities. Gemma has sincere doubts but despite Mark not being the brightest, and not being the ideal partner, she loves him and agrees to go with him. And then they disappear…
Sarah is a successful lawyer who’s going to get married to her equally successful fiancée the following week. When she hears about the disappearance of Gemma, she decides to follow in her tracks because although they’ve not been in regular contact over the years, she cannot think about a wedding without having her sister there.
We follow Gemma and Sarah both, because the story is being told from their respective points of view. They both end up in a somewhat creepy little village, where a couple of years ago a young girl disappeared. She was never found again and some of the villagers are certain this is what happened to Gemma too. There is talk about strange beasts in the forest and strange rituals being held in the big house that once dominated the village. What is folklore, what is true and above all: will Gemma share the fate of the first girl that went missing?
A nice enough book but sadly not as gripping and atmospheric as promised. The characters stayed mostly quite flat and I didn’t notice any real surprises, including the ending. The writing was good and with more suspense and better developed characters the book would have earned more stars.