A somewhat predictable thriller that I enjoyed but not as much as other books I’ve read by this author. A young couple in the late 1970s takes a cross country trip in Canada and inadvertently picks up another young couple wanted for murder. The violence was dark, but the twists not as shocking. A bit repetitive- maybe a tad too long.

Chevy Stevens NEVER disappoints and The Hitchhikers is no exception. I couldn’t put it down from the minute I started it. I took my daughter to see Minecraft in theaters today and I couldn’t stop thinking about this book while we were in the movie. I eventually pulled out my phone so I could continue reading on my kindle app. My daughter was not happy, but I literally couldn’t stop reading it until I finished. The way Chevy tells stories is so engaging and artistic. I could literally feel my pulse quicken multiple times throughout. This is a true edge of your seat thriller that I highly recommend to anyone.

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Another HIT from Chevy Stevens.

An absolutely chaotic emotional rollercoaster.
I felt like I was in it with Alice and Ted and Blue and Ocean.
My heart was racing. I barely breathed for the full 36 hours it took me to tear through this thing.

The twists were brutal and perfectly timed. This book left me staring at the wall like… what just happened?

un-put-down-able.
This is an anxiety inducing and suspenseful story filled with characters that I couldn’t figure out if I was rooting for or against or maybe a little of both. A lot of the anxiety I felt while reading this was the fact that Alice and Tom’s behaviors and reactions felt hyper realistic and relatable. I could see myself trying to behave in similar ways if I was caught in this situation. It felt like I could really understand what they were going through.

That’s one of my favorite things about Chevy’s books - how realistic and nuanced the characters are.

I enjoy thrillers and this started off as an interesting premise but I couldn't get into the characters and the story dragged. I thought there would be more twists than there were but this was a pretty standard kidnapping with a predictable plot.

Chevy Stevens is the author of my all time favorite book and I was SO excited to get an arc for her newest one coming later this year! I loved how quick a gritty this one was! It’s a long story but so much is going on that I zoomed through it. The storyline was unique and kept me hooked the entire time. There were many plot points that propelled the story further that made sense and worked so well.

Thank you to the publisher and author for an advanced reader copy of this ebook.

Rating: 4 ⭐️

Pros:
👍 Likeable characters.
👍 I liked the setting (western Canada) and time (1970’s)
👍 Good twist
👍 Multiple POV format

Cons:
👎 Would benefit from tighter editing
👎Had to suspend disbelief a little bit to make the story work
👎 Ending was slightly predictable, and the part that was predictable was something I kept hoping wouldn’t be a part of the ending as I was reading😩

Always a fun book when it’s not a mystery of who done it but a story of survival. This is my first book by Chevy Stevens but it won’t be my last. Definitely a page turner that I finished in a day.

My review from Goodreads

I got this as an ARC from NetGalley. This is my first time getting a book before it was published, and I was so excited it was a Chevy Stevens book. I love her writing and scenery in her books so much. As a fellow island girl, it makes me very homesick in the best way.

The Hitchhikers is a typical Stevens thriller with some dark twists and Canadian references scattered throughout the book. It can be dark but doesn't have gratuitous gore like some thrillers. While I enjoyed reading this book (as I always do), I wasn't as surprised by the twists as I usually am.

Who hasn't dreamed as a teen of hitchhiking across Canada. Or as an adult of renting or buying an RV and driving across Canada with your husband. I know I have. I feel like this book should deter me from those dreams, but now I want to do it even more. Thanks, Chevy, for another great thriller. I can't wait for the next one

Tom & Alice are a married couple on an RV trip who encounter a young couple in need of a ride. Being kind and friendly (and this taking place in the 70s), they opt to take the young couple to the next town. Alice has a gut feeling though that something is not right and her gut feeling is confirmed when she sees a headline on a magazine when she runs into a store for some milk indicating that this couple is not who they say they are and are very dangerous. A series of events take place that take everyone to a place that will leave their lives forever changed.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I could not put it down and read half of it in a day. The characters were so developed and evoked many different emotions in me throughout the story.

There were a few twists that I didn't see coming! Chevy Stevens ALWAYS delivers an excellent read and this book was no different! A five star read for me!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens. I was so excited to see this book on NetGalley, Stevens is an author who stays with you and the experience of reading her books stays with you long after you have finished reading. The Hitchhikers starts with a couple headed on a road trip through Canada to the 1976 Olympics. Alice and Tom are hoping this trip will help to renew their relationship as the couple suffered a huge loss the past year, their relationship is tested and strengthened over the journey, but not because of the time spent together but because of trying to survive the young hitchhikers the help on the first night of their journey.

I loved this book and coin myself thinking about it during the day, I devoured it in less than 24 hours,

Intensity from the start and never slows down! It's so emotional and feels like it could be a true story.
Great storytelling and character development that you won't be able to put down.
Adding more of Chevy Stevens books to my TBR pile!

This was my first Chevy Stevens novel and I loved it. I've had a few of her other novels on my TBR for awhile but just haven't got to them. I think after reading this, I might have to move those ones up and get to them sooner.

As someone who lives in BC, I really loved the setting for this. I often read so many novels taking place in other areas and it was so fun to be able to recognize the names and actually have a concept of where stuff was taking place.

I really enjoyed getting to read this. It was suspenseful and gave me anxiety at points, but also I happened to just feel sad for some of the characters. I found Jenny to be a complex character, and I loved the depth that she was given.

I also really liked Alice and her portrayal. It felt a lot more realistic to me than a lot of books but yet she still came off as brave and like a strong woman.

I was also really happy with how this ended. Overall, a solid read. I really liked it.

I have published this review on Goodreads, Storygraph and PageBound. I will also post it on Amazon after the release date.

This was my first Chevy Stevens (even though Still Missing has been on my TBR forever), and I went in expecting a dark, suspenseful ride… but it didn’t quite land for me.

There’s a lot of emotional weight here—especially around themes of miscarriage and infant loss, which are handled with care—but the pacing and narrative focus made it feel more like a slow relationship drama than a psychological thriller. The dynamic between Alice and Tom was genuinely sweet and gave the book its emotional core. Jenny, on the other hand, left me constantly frustrated. She felt hollow on the page, and I kept waiting for her to become more than the flat, reactive foil she was introduced as.

Thematically, the book touches on trauma, abuse, and survival, but it never really digs into those areas with the depth or urgency I hoped for. Simon’s emotional spiral was well-written in moments (the church scene stood out), but even that sometimes bordered on petulant rather than powerful.

There were also some weird missteps: the world-building made it tough to picture where we were half the time, and the surprise that it was set in 1976 honestly shocked me—I must’ve missed that early on, but the timeline just didn’t feel firmly rooted. Some plot points, like the reveal around Jenny’s mother, were gross and uncomfortable in ways that didn’t really enhance the story.

Best line? “She didn’t fear death anymore. Life was the punishment.” That hit hard. But ultimately, while there were small moments of impact, the overall experience just didn’t leave much of a mark. Not terrible, but not the suspense I was hoping for.

This is a VERY intense thriller. One of the best books I've read this year! I could not put this one down once I started. It has a little bit of a creepy vibe, right up my alley with the type of books and movies I like. It had some great twists in it that definitely kept my attention and the character development was great!!! A definite MUST read!

The Hitchhikers is not for the faint of heart. If you’ve read Chevy Stevens before, you know to expect that. But wow, The Hitchhikers is relentlessly violent and painful. The entire time I read, I wondered when the violence would come to an end… brace yourself because it doesn’t till the final pages.

Alice and Tom are a sweet, suburban American couple on a roadtrip in Pacific Northwest Canada to see the Olympics. At a camp, they meet a young couple who call themselves Ocean and Blue. Tom, gregarious and warm, offers them a ride. And things go way south. Ocean and Blue are actually Jenny and Simon, on the run for murdering Jenny’s mother and stepfather. Alice and Tom become held hostage on an epic road trip, which becomes a violent rampage.

This is painful reading from start to finish, with a tiny ray of hope at the end. It’s good, but for me, a little too long on the violence. I debated skipping to the end, but persevered (truly) to the finish. Recommended, but only if you “like” this kind of thing. Trigger warnings for just about everything you can think of.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC! Chevy Stevens delivers a gripping story in The Hitchhikers, full of suspense and unexpected twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. The plot is dark and mysterious, pushing you to wonder what’s coming next. There are moments of real tension that make it hard to put down—perfect for fans of intense thrillers. That said, some parts of the story felt a little rushed, and I wished the characters had a bit more depth to truly draw me in. A few scenes lacked the emotional punch I was hoping for, which made it harder to fully connect with their journeys. Still, if you enjoy stories filled with secrets and surprises, this book offers plenty of those. Overall, it’s an entertaining read with exciting moments, but it didn’t quite reach the top for me. Three stars—a solid pick for thriller lovers looking for a quick, suspenseful escape.

A suspenseful read with an unexpected twist at the end. Alice and Tom are on vacation in their new RV trying to reconnect after the loss of their unborn baby. This loss is one of many they’ve experienced and it’s dealt a blow to their marriage. One day they come across a young couple that they feel sorry for and invite to their campsite. This sets the stage for a nightmare for Alice and Tom. The couple , Simon and Jenny, are very young and they are wanted for the murder of Jenny’s mother and step father. Once it seems that Tom and Alice are suspicious, Simon badly beats Tom and the couple become hostages in their own motor home. As they try to travel across Canada, they leave a trail of destruction in their wake and it seems like there is no way out for Alice and Tom. A desperate move by Alice finally brings things to a head.

Chevy Stevens is one of my favorite authors, and her newest book does not disappoint. The plot will keep you guessing from the beginning to the end. The characters are vividly described and well put into the story.. If you enjoy suspense then this is the book for you.

2.5 ⭐️ This book starts off so great, it is gritty, sometimes gory, great 70s setting and reminiscent of an old school horror movie but about halfway through it becomes very repetitive with no new action, consequence or movement of the storyline. By the time I got to the final act, I was very bored and knew exactly how this would play out. It was an extreme struggle to get to the finish line and it took me almost 2 weeks to finish. Once I got to the middle I stopped caring about any of the characters because it was fairly obvious and cliched on how it would end. Overall, pretty bummed by this book since it started with so much potential only to fall way short of my expectations. This does not bring anything new to the psychopathic hitch hiker story, it’s all been done and sadly this wasn’t done very well.

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me permission to read this book early. This book had me hooked from page 1. I enjoyed that the book went between Alice and Jenny’s POV. I couldn’t put this book down. The plot kept me so interested and I couldn’t get enough. There were so many twists throughout this book but, the BIG twists happened towards the end and my jaw was on the floor. I didn’t see any of it coming. This one is probably Chevy’s best book that I’ve ever read. If you’re a thriller lover, YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK when it comes out in October! 🧡