Okay, I don’t scare easily but this atmospheric setting is too creepy to read after dark. There are sneaky people lurking about, hiding behind every tree in the mountains. It was the perfect climate to immerse myself into as I simmer in a typical July heatwave. The terror and suspense kept me shivering!
Four longtime friends make plans for their annual get together. They take turns choosing an adventure each year and this one could be the last. They are ill prepared to leave England and climb a mountain in Norway. This is one trip these women should have cancelled. The timeline alternates between each of the four friends.
Liz is a doctor, separated from her husband, and it was her idea for camping and hiking a mountain in Norway. She selfishly makes decisions and withholds information from her friends. Helena is avoiding potential life altering news. Joni is always on tour, drinking, drugs in some unknown city, lovers come and go. Maggie has left her precious baby daughter overnight with her ex-husband for the first time. She is worried sick and missed her the minute they’d left. Everybody is running away from something or someone. They each have secrets from the others. Relationships will be challenged, damaged, strengthened and forever altered.
The lodge at the base of the mountain range has an eclectic array of locals. There’s family dynamics there and other tourists among the regulars drinking at the bar. Several warnings are issued to the group about the dangerous climb and how another woman went missing. They should have listened. Things do go wrong, they aren’t the only ones on the mountain trails. What really happened to the other woman? Could she still be alive, just left on her own? It soon becomes apparent their lives really are at stake, but why and who? None of my theories came close to being correct. There were many unexpected events and motives I never would have guessed. A thrilling read!
I haven’t read anything from this author previously but would in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “The Hike” by Lucy Clarke and publishers G. P. Putnam’s Sons. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book. I was surprised many times along the way. I would have loved to learn a little more about a few of the characters, but there was certainly enough background. Great thriller.

I love this take on a "locked-door" mystery, but I couldn't get on board with the characters. They came off a bit one-dimensional and the mystery element took too long to arrive. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me, but hopefully Lucy Clarke's next book will be a better fit.

I read One of the Girls last year and really enjoyed it so I was really looking forward to The Hike. The Hike was a VERY slow burn. There’s an ominous feeling that grows with every chapter, but it sure takes its time. I found myself more interested in the characters and the personal issues they were dealing with than the actual hike itself. Well, except for Maggie, she just seemed to be there for an even number. But Joni, Liz and Helena were all very well developed and I enjoyed all of their chapters. But as far as being a thriller, it didn’t really thrill me. The twist at the end, I didn’t expect, but I wasn’t sitting there with my jaw on the floor either. I will say, the last 25% definitely picked up the pace and I was interested to see where it would end. It ended not with a whimper or a bang, but somewhere in between. It wasn’t a bad book, by any means, but it just didn’t grab me the way I like thrillers to. I thought the characters were the best part 100%.
TW: animal death, violence, infidelity, death, suicidal ideation

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this one so much. I liked how fast paced it was. Definitely a page turner and I highly recommend

After absolutely loving ONE OF THE GIRLS last summer I was eager to pick up THE HIKE, the latest thriller from Lucy Clarke. While I found the setting to be spectacular, the characters felt one-dimensional, the pacing languished in the middle of the book, and the ending really went off the rails for me. This kept me mildly entertained but I admittedly had higher hopes for this one. I will still pick up the next book from the author and hope this was a one-off.

Lucy Clarke has such talent for transporting you to these thrilling new places in her books. Hiking in the Norwegian mountains for an annual girls trip sounds great! Until all of the tensions and secrets start coming out that is. I felt like this book was going so strong until about 60% and then things started getting weird. And not necessarily good weird? Between multiple timelines, supernatural elements, and a plot twist that didn't quite make sense, I felt like there were too many things going on for all of them to be done well. But the elements of Nordic Noir were cool and I'll still read her books in the future.

*Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

A dramatic atmosphere with major thriller vibes. Four best friends take a yearly trip together. This year, it’s a Norwegian hike in a desolate location. Four women, no guide, bad weather, drama and a lot of suspense.
Great read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Four women take a yearly trip together but this year they’ve chosen a different kind of trip. Trading the beach and margaritas for hiking boots and tents in a small village in Norway. The people are friendly but also full of warnings before they set off on their adventure.

During their hike the women feel like they’re being watched and especially after making a shocking discovery.

The storytelling in this book had me visualizing the entire time as I felt like I could see everything while it was happening. Also, the main characters weren’t the ordinary good girls and each had their own demons they were fighting which made the book more relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lucy Clarke for approving me to read this is advance for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this arc.
Prepare to be captivated by an enthralling slow burn thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end!
The Hike takes readers on a suspenseful journey, intertwining the lives of four female friends who takes an annual vacation each year. Liz decided this year they were going to go a different route and hike in the Norwegian wilderness. Running in with locals they learned that a hiker who resembles Maggie went missing a year ago on the same trail. Was she murdered? We found out in a nail-biting tale that culminates in a shocking twist.
Each character is uniquely crafted, with their own secrets, desires, and motivations, adding depth and intrigue to the narrative.
The Hike is a gripping thriller that combines the complexities of friendship, secrets, and deception. Fans of slow burn suspense will find themselves fully immersed in this captivating tale of Maggie, Liz, Helena and Joni and the shocking twist that binds them together.

Four childhood friends take a trip together every year.  This year, they decide to conquer a dangerous hike in Norway.  Their stamina and friendship are tested as tragedy strikes, and they attempt to make it out alive.

The prologue really hooked me.  You know there is trama coming but you don't know any of the details.  After that, I struggled to remain engaged throughout the first one hundred pages or so.  There were a lot of characters, and they each had their own POV chapters, and background was built slowly.  I did enjoy how each character had their own problems and were relatable.  Some characters were more likable than others, but they did have a nice friendship where they supported and challenged each other. 

The suspense was pretty good.  There were a few suspicious characters outside of the friend group who kept popping up.  You're not sure who is trustworthy and who is going to cause trouble for the group. I would say the majority of the action happens in the last quarter of the book.  The rest is a slow burn.

If you're looking for an outdoor adventure, a tight friend group, danger, and a missing person, then this is something you should definitely check out.  I scored it a little lower because most of the action happened in the last few chapters of the book, and it was a little predictable even though things were placed strategically to mislead you.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved last year's One of the Girls and was so excited to get an early copy of The Hike! This story is about a group of four women hiking the Norwegian wilderness. This group gets together once a year for a mini trip somewhere but typically does beach vacations - aka - they were not prepared to hike or camp. I had high hopes for this one but sadly this ended up being a miss for me. There wasn't as comparable shock value as in Lucy's previous book and I wasn't very invested in the overall direction of the story or characters. The middle slowed down and was fairly predictable and the red herring felt obvious which took away from my overall enjoyment of the story. I think the audiobook really needed a full cast to help differentiate the women more.

Four friends, tired of work and life, take a short trip to go wild camping in the beautiful mountains of Norway. It's only a four day trip. What could go wrong? The women all have their own problems to deal with, but as the women's secrets start to emerge, so does something else. They are not alone in the wild. Danger is following them.

The book starts out a little slow, but after we meet all our main characters, the mystery starts to heat up. Hold on, push through the slow beginning, because it is very worth it. Completely engrossing, foreboding, with twists that you won't see coming.

Absolutely riveting entertainment until the last page!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received a digital advance copy of The Hike by Lucy Clarke via NetGalley. The Hike is scheduled for release on August 29, 2023.

The Hike begins with the discovery of a woman’s body in the mountains of Norway. The body is in an inaccessible area, and hard to see, so she remains unidentified until rescuers can reach her. The story then shifts to four women setting out on their annual trip together. This time, one of the four has chosen to take them hiking. They are generally unprepared, and carrying baggage beyond what is in their packs. As the story moves forward, we move closer to discovering whose body is found broken on the side of the mountain, and face the risk of others joining her.

This story is narrated by the four women on the hiking trip, with short chapters alternating between narrators. There are also chapters inserted following the rescuers as they move toward the body. I found all four of the women to be believable, despite the fact that they initially present as four “types” of women. Clarke gives each of them enough backstory and secrets to flesh them out. The characters around them are less well developed, which seemed very appropriate for this story.

Clarke has created a fictional mountain and hiking trail in this novel, and overall it worked well as a setting. I did struggle a bit with the weather, as I kept thinking there was snow on the ground when there was not. This was largely due to me as a reader associated snow with the mountains of Norway, but was supported by context of the story. Characters comment on the cold frequently (despite one of them wearing shorts), and a massive storm is key to the story. For me, that combination of cold and storm equaled snow.

I also found the setup that led to the four women being on this mountain to be a bit forced in some spots. While I believed one of the characters wanting to take her friends on a hiking trip, the choice of location did not seem reasonable for inexperienced (and unfit) climbers. I was able to look past this, however, as their actions and decisions once they are up on the mountain mostly fell in with their characters.

Overall, The Hike was an enjoyable suspense story set in the Norwegian wilderness.

I was excited to read The Hike by Lucy Clarke because I enjoy hiking, camping, and outdoor activities. To me this book fell short on the adventure part. I was envisioning a really adventurous book with lots of action but felt there was a lot of build-up and not a whole lot of action.

None of the characters drew my attention and I didn't really feel connected to them. I've heard good things about her books. I won't shoot her down completely but just don't think this book was the right pick for me. However, I will give others a try!

I may have also felt detached from this book because I have visited Norway and it felt surface level and didn't describe how beautiful the area is! I wish it would have been more vividly painted (or maybe my imagination was just lacking while reading this one)
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⭐️⭐️/5

“If the mountains had taught Liz anything, it was that the journey was never about reaching the peak. You climbed - and kept climbing - to push through the struggle and experience the glimpses of beauty along the way.”

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for an early review copy of Lucy Clarke’s new thriller, out 8/29.

First off, what the heck did I just read? The blurb on the front that says “There’s a killer on their trail” is very misleading. And that’s all I will say to avoid a spoiler.

Second of all, these characters sucked. Helena was somewhat decent but the rest were downright awful and pretty selfish. I mean Liz doesn’t give a flying you know what that her friends aren’t ready for, or want to, do this trip on the mountain in Norway but she makes them do it anyways because she “needs” it. Also, the events that take place in this book, would not be for novice hikers. I’m not a hiker but even I know that you need SOME sort of training to tackle a big ass mountain like the one in this book.

Thirdly, there was this sub plot that turned into the main plot that felt so random. It seemed like the author was struggling to get the story out so she threw in a random thing and ran with it, even though it didn’t make sense. Make it make sense!

So much unnecessary drama, that was predictable, in the story. That literally took away from everything else. Y’all are grown and close to 40 and you’re acting like high schoolers. The book didn’t pick up til 75% for me. Granted, it had me on the edge of my seat at that mark but why did it take that much of a book to get me there? It was very mundane up to that point talking about what they were doing that day, what they were wearing, what they ate, and what stupid mess they got themselves in. So boring!

I’ve heard this author’s other books are good but I don’t know if I want to even try it. Maybe my expectations were too high, I don’t know, but I didn’t enjoy this at all.

I really liked Clarke's other book One of the Girls so I was really excited to start this one. But, didn't like this one as much at all. Parts where definitely entertaining at times - there was lots of suspense, short chapters and changing perspectives which I all enjoy in thriller/mystery settings. I felt like there was nothing good happening until about 40% in though, and from there it was okay but was still waiting for something more major to happen. I also couldn't relate to the characters too much.. so that always keeps me detached from books. This wasn't a favorite but I'd still recommend to anyone looking for a fun thriller, and easy to get through. And I'd be interested to read more Lucy Clarke in the future!

One of Lucy Clarke’s best books so far with one hiccup for me hence the 4 stars not 5.
This was an easy read with short chapters that I just could not put down. It’s worth reading to the end. The book contains lots of twists that’ll keep you guessing, thrills, and nervous anticipation. Her atmospheric descriptions make you feel like you’re there, listening to the sounds of the forest and sea, gazing at the majestic mountains ahead.
The four women in the book are east to follow along with. They each have their own problems and personalities that play out throughout the book bringing out the best and worst of their friendships and the lengths they’ll go through to protect each other.
The only thing I felt was a hiccup was how her last 3 books have had some repetitiveness to them. Cue characters falling off cliffs. I really enjoyed this book regardless of that but hoping her next novel will have some different options.

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Four friends engage on an adventurous hiking trip in the Norwegian mountains in this fast-paced thriller. Right away I fell in love with Lucy Clarke's writing style and short "just one more" chapters.

This story centers around four very different friends - level-headed Liz, songstress Joni, high-maintenance Helena, and mother Maggie. The four annually vacation together and this year Liz has chosen wild hiking in the mountains instead of the typical beach locale. This puts a lot of pressure on the four friends as they encounter the challenges that backpacking can present. As someone who has done a lot of backpacking in the past, I could really relate to their struggles, but I did find the resolution a bit over the top. I was also able to easily figure out the twist early on, but I did ultimately enjoy this story and looked forward to the resolution. Highly recommend and I look forward to more from Lucy Clarke!

This story follows a group of friends who go on a doomed hiking trip. Each woman has her own secrets that are revealed to each other along the way. Too much of a slow burn for me, but I appreciated the interesting premise for a thriller.