starts slow but improves

Four long-time friends take their annual trip. This time they are hiking a mountain in Norway. They really don't know what they are doing and don't follow the warnings that the weather will be bad. As a long-time camper, I was a little frustrated that they could be that stupid, but it happens all of the time. They have some predictable and unpredictable setbacks.

This started slow and almost gave up on it. The women were too predictable - the organized woman whose life was falling apart, the single woman worrying about having a child, the successful musician who felt like she had lost who she was.... Then there were the good and bad guys, Norwegian brothers whose family owned the lodge they stayed at.

I sped-read the last half and missed how a body, dead a year, got to a spot that should have been visible by hikers and didn't seem to be deteriorated after the year. I could go back and find out what I missed. But I won't.

3 1/2 stars

First Lucy Clarke novel I’ve read, although it appears she’s no stranger to the thriller genre, so I’m surprised I haven’t read one of her novels before. Either way, I was pleasantly entertained by the story - I do believe it could have been a little shorter. There seemed to be a lot of character personality buildup, right along with building tension amongst the same characters. I would’ve liked a little more background to Helena’s “situation” (trying to avoid spoilers) - I thought it was going to tie back in some juicy way, with how much mystery there was surrounding it!

This book grabbed my attention quickly and moved fast! I really enjoyed how quickly the plot moved, there weren’t any parts that dragged. The plot kept my attention and I thought it was a great premise for a book. Four friends set off on a trip together to climb a mountain in remote Norway. While there they hear about the disappearance of another woman a year previous and strange things start happening.

While this book intrigued me and kept me reading I struggled a bit with the believability and a few plot points. Number one, why would a bunch of women who had never hiked choose to start with a mountain in remote Norway and completely by themselves. No women I know would choose to do this. Also, only one of the women brought a phone on the hike (even though there was no reception) and somehow the battery lasted until the morning of the fourth day?

All in all, it was a solid thriller. Maybe 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for GR.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Penguin Group for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This multiple POV thriller set in the Nordic mountains will have you guessing whodunnit by the time you finish reading the prologue!

I thought the setting of this book was extremely unique and I’m officially adding Norway to my bucket list of places I need to travel in my lifetime! The fjords added a level of danger and isolation to the story that increased the overall sense of mystery. I also genuinely love split POV novels, and was easily able to connect with each of the main characters in this story.

This was an action packed and suspenseful read that showed how a girls trip can go from bad to absolutely awful in just 4 days. If you enjoy books centered around friendship, the outdoors, or just like a good thriller you should absolutely check this one out!

Why do girls destination trips end in mayhem and murder? And, I am traveling to Bergen in 2025.

Four English friends step outside their comfort zone to hike in Bergen, Norway. Over the course of a few days, their lives go from enjoying the beautiful landscape to fighting a bad guy in the mountains. Each women has come to Norway to escape the mundane routines of life - husbands, children, careers and some regrettable life choices.

The writing and storytelling were so good in The Hike. Clarke's atmospheric build-up made this a binge worthy read. Not only are things not what they seem on the hike, but the friends have secrets that add to the salaciousness of the thriller.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary copy.

The Hike by Lucy Clarke is an excellent stand-alone thriller, set in the wilderness of Norway. Four best friends (Liz, Helena, Maggie, Jodi) get-together annually for a long weekend getaway, which usually is beach oriented. But, since this is Liz’s choice to pick, she decides on going hiking in the mountains of Norway. Both Maggie and Helena were not thrilled with the idea of hiking in the Norway wilderness, but they will embark on their trip. Jodi, a famous singer, decides in the last minute, she needed to get away from her band, and arrives in Norway surprising her friends that night.

They do receive some warnings from various villagers, about the bad weather coming, a missing girl, and the dangerous mountain climbing; as well as someone possibly following them. Once they get past the first day, things slowly change, especially when the weather changes, and they have to find safety in a cave. What they find in the cave will open the doors to someone who is determined to stop them. The tensions between them rises, with arguments, secrets revealed, some injuries, and not knowing which of the men they run into is the bad man. The danger escalates threatening their lives. Who will survive?

The Hike was an exciting, tense, suspenseful, edge of your seat thriller. In the last half, I could not put the book down. I do not want to give spoilers, as the rest of the way was a mind-bogging thriller. I like all four of the ladies, their friendship, despite some of the trauma and anger between them. The Hike was very well written by Lucy Clarke. If you like psychological thrillers, I suggest you read this book.

Wow, this one got my heart racing! I love a good thriller with a creepy backdrop. And this one was perfect. A group of friends take their annual girls trip in the European mountains. All is well, until the day before their hike when they learn of the woman who disappeared on the trails last year.

Was there something out there? Was it natural causes? Or do the locals know more than they are letting on?

This was a great read. Atmospheric and leaves you wanting more. I was able to read this one I. Just a few hours.

Such a great fast paced read. There are plenty of twists and turns. The character development isn’t that deep but that’s exactly what you want from this type of read.

Since reading my first Lucy Clarke book- One of the Girls- I have been anticipating the next book by her! This book did not disappoint!! Great twists, really interesting characters and the ending was WILD!!! Absolutely loved!

Solid 4 star thriller! Strong sense of place and enjoyed the setting. Author managed to get a lot of conflict in a short amount of pages. Overall I enjoyed and recommend. A few issues with the writing, the constant “heard blood in my eardrums” or phrases of the like were a bit annoying after a while. The ending wasn’t particularly riveting, but a good popcorn thriller! I think I’ll read through the authors back list as a result.

Wish you were here?
Think again . . .

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets.

And now, bound by murder.

They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale.

It’s the perfect place to lose yourself – until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine.

Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there’s a killer on the trail . . .

British author Lucy Clarke gifts her audience with a brand-new wilderness thriller, set in the beautiful but dangerous surrounds of Norway. As story of friendship, secrets, adventure, thrill seeking and underhanded deeds, The Hike is an adrenaline filled tale that I absorbed from the minute I opened this book to the last word.

The Hike is a friendship story that follows four close friends on a wild adventure in beautiful and tranquil Norway. As the women take in the crisp mountain air, the dark forests and the brilliant blue sky, they each set out with different ideas of how this much needed getaway will pan out. As the ladies embark on their hike, they discover that the area has a dark history, a missing persons case still haunts the region. As the group enters the exact zone where the missing woman disappeared, they get the feeling that someone is watching them. This person is hell bent on keeping the women far away from the secret they are keeping. But with the weather coming in and the mountain peak looming, will this foursome make it back alive?

Eight novels in and Lucy Clarke just keeps getting better. The Hike is easily my favorite Lucy Clarke novel to date. I love a good, isolated thriller mystery novel and The Hike is a fabulous example of a destination thriller. Fans of Lucy Clarke and newcomers will lap this one up in no time at all.

Taking on her core theme of friendship, Lucy Clarke presents her readers with another rock-solid tale about a long-standing friendship circle of four women tested by the wilderness. Clarke is an intuitive storyteller and her understanding of how a woman may think and feel is implicitly clear in The Hike. The overarching theme of friendship is a strong force in this tale, making the story at hand incredibly compelling. Each of the four main female protagonists has their own distinct personality and a secret of sorts, which is tested as the holiday in the wilderness unfolds. I loved how each woman had her good points and bad. I was able to find something to relate to or sympathize with as the story progressed. Lucy Clarke fills her cast with a few other outside male characters who contribute to the tension and fear in this tale. With duplicity, danger and protection leading the way, it is unclear who we can trust or fear. Lucy Clarke is known for her great twists and red herrings. I wasn’t disappointed in any way by The Hike.

For me the winning piece was the setting. I would just love to jump on a plane and visit Norway, it’s such a fresh and spectacular part of the world, with an untamed beauty that was described perfectly by Lucy Clarke. The wildness and sense of sheer isolation was expressed with precision by Lucy Clarke, it was my highlight. The setting managed to compound everything that happens in this eventful thriller.

I read this book on a stormy day, and that probably contributed to how much I enjoyed it! Told from the perspective of 4 friends, this story details a hike that none of the women are prepared for, and not all will survive. It had just the right amount of suspense for me!

I enjoyed this thriller! It has a lot of really great elements and I found myself wanting to get back to it while I was (unfortunately) not reading, which is always a good sign!

I think what drives this novel forward are the characters. So often in psychological thrillers I find that the characters are flat and one-dimensional, but I thought all the main characters in The Hike were substantially built out!

The twist at the end was fine, the novel went in a bit of a different direction than I was expecting, which isn’t a bad thing. There were quite a few twists and turns that kept me interested.

Overall, a quick and entertaining thriller for a weekend read!

The Hike is a fantastic read. With expert character development, Clarke in short order, effortlessly builds years of friendship between Liz, Maggie, Joni, and Helena. I truly enjoyed getting to know the group and found the interactions to be authentic. I loved the short, varying POV chapters. They allowed me to stay with each character as the story progressed. The addition of the brothers was an added bonus while more on the peripheral.

My only disclaimer with this novel is I’d define it as more women’s fiction than a thriller. The relationships are the heart of the story. My takeaway from the synopsis was this is an action-packed thriller and while I loved the read I didn’t at any time feel the thrill of urgency or danger. The parts where danger presented itself were predictable.

I'm a big fan of British thrillers, but this one missed the mark for me. I found it a bit of a slog to get through.

Long-time friends meet up for their annual trip away, but this time to hike a mountain that the locals call terrifying, is possibly haunted, has killed a few people, and they are woefully unprepared. They also decide to take off in a storm, despite warnings that they should not proceed. Many stupid mistakes later, they end up in a dire situations, someone (maybe two?) die, secrets are revealed, and their lives are changed for ever!

"No help. No cell coverage. No one to hear them scream."

As I was reading, most if not all the characters has traits that had me rooting for them, but then again, I didn't feel I could trust any of them. There are four lead women, but it wasn't difficult to keep their perspectives separated. This was a great thriller and would recommend to others!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Penguin for the copy of this book.

3.5 stars

I quite enjoyed Lucy Clarke's last book, One of the Girls, and was excited to see that her next one takes place in Norway. As with her previous, the chapters alternate between the main female characters as they set out on a hiking trip... As well as an occasional chapter called The Search. But which of the women are they searching for, and is she still alive?

There were 4 main characters in this book and they were all different enough that I did not have a hard time keeping them straight. Each one has something she is struggling with but still made it to the annual friend group vacation. The chapters are short and once they hit the hiking trail, the story moves fairly quickly. The setting is great and things get tense as the secrets come out and the weather gets dangerous.

While I enjoyed the read, there were a few things that just didn't quite work for me. Some things towards the end just felt a little too over the top. But if you enjoy vacation thrillers and survivalist stories, I encourage you to check this one out!

3.5/5

This book had an interesting premise that follows four women on a hike facing issues due to their inexperience and dangerous men. The beginning was a little slow but it had quite a bit of action to keep you entertained through the rest of it. The dynamics between the characters were interesting to read. I feel like the parts of the book that was The Search/Leif's point of view could have been told better and a little longer. I wish the ending went into specific conversations that were had between Liz and Patrick. Overall, I enjoyed this book but it was just okay and it didn't particularly stand out.

I really enjoyed The Hike by Lucy Clarke! It was my first Lucy Clarke read, and I would absolutely be up for another one! The book is set in Norway, and it follows 4 friends on a hiking trip to Norway, where they end up grappling with much more than the terrain! I loved the setting, although I have a personal fascination with Norway so maybe that’s just me! I loved the Norwegian lodge and the descriptions of the landscape. I was engaged the entire time- I was totally along for the ride with all of the different twists.

There are a few different POVs- there are the 4 friends on the hike, and another from the Norwegian Lief. I feel like all of the personalities and elements of each character’s story were clear and distinct, so that the POVs weren’t confusing and I didn’t have trouble remembering who was who. The themes of friendship and different women’s struggles are present throughout.

I really liked this tense and exciting read that kept me turning pages! I may or may not have stayed up a little too late reading it!