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A really good read! The setting in remote New Zealand was described brilliantly, and the way the characters stayed human (mostly) to each other in a primal situation...looking forward to more by Ms. Pollard.

I am glad I made it back alive, but who else is with me? Exciting reading.

"The Maori call this place Ata Whenua-Shadow Land." Television reporter Callie Brown likes safe places with good coffee. But she joins friends from the past on a trek into New Zealand's most brutal wilderness, in the hope of healing a broken heart. What she doesn't know is that someone wants them all dead. Lost in every sense of the word, the hikers' primal instincts erupt. Surrounded by people who have harbored secrets for a decade, Callie must choose the right ally if she doesn't want to be the next to die...
A superb story that engages you the whole way through - un put downable.

This book reminded me a lot of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen or Lord of the Flies with a sinister twist.

I'm not totally into survival books and I started this one at 2 AM at the beginning of our 12-hour car ride to Colorado, so I'm blaming this book's rocky start on that. Once I really started concentrating on it, though, I was hooked!

Although books about the wilderness aren't really "my thing," I liked this book a lot. It wasn't necessarily detailed in explaining the "living off the land"portion, and it included some sinister elements that made it much more interesting for me. It provides plenty of twists and turns to keep it exciting until the end.

A group of school friends get together ten years after they last met to go on a hike through the wilderness in New Zealand. All have secrets and are tied to a tragedy which happened over 10 years ago. I loved the characters and the vivid descriptions of the trek and the scenery. You actually felt you were there with Bryan, Callie, Rachel., Jack. Erica, Sharon, Kain and Adam. There are lots of twists and turns and the story is very fast paced. One of my favourite reads in a long time.. Looking forward to reading more by Belinda Pollard.

Callie has agreed to go on a trekking holiday with old friends. The Maoris call it 'Ata Whenua- Shadow Land'. So although she's happier in a comfy coffee house- she's committed to spending time hiking through the wilderness in New Zealand with someone who wants them dead! She's actually hoping that she will be getting over a painful break up but soon she's discovering that she needs to decide who she can trust to prevent her being targeted as the next one to die. Everyone has secrets- but who is the danger here?

A real, page turner

Many thanks to Small Blue Dog Publishing and Net Galley for a copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book. It was engaging and I liked how it would flashback to parts of the different characters lives. And it allowed you to see how their feelings of a tragic event of the past had shaped them as an adult many years later.

A tale of survival set in New Zealand. Great writing has you feeling right on the mountain with the group of friends. They are on a trek that one of their group doesn't want any of them to survive. Callie does pretty well choosing a partner but is he the one killing off the group.

Kept me guessing to the end. One that came too quickly and I didn't want it to come! This is one I would read again and again. Gripping!

Callie and her Australian friends haven’t all been together for a decade. When the eight of them decide to have a reunion, and hike through remote and mountainous landscape in New Zealand, far from civilization, and with no phone signal, you just know that it isn’t going to go according to plan. It’s such a great set-up for a thriller, and the author creates a wonderful sense of menace and foreboding from the start with the opening scene.

To begin with, meals around the camp fire, and sleeping in tents, are fun for some, but tricky group dynamics quickly emerge which go back to their school days. These include longstanding tensions and rivalries and – inevitably – people who do not get on. The fitness levels of the group members vary, meaning that some quickly struggle with the uncompromising regime of trek leader, Bryan. Then, when shocking and sinister events start to occur, loyalties with the group are tested. Each person has to figure out who they can trust, and one by one each comes under suspicion. Which is worse, to know it’s one of them or that someone is following their trek? As the story progresses through a series of twists and turns, secrets come tumbling out of the undergrowth, and each person in the group is reminded of the tragedy at school all those years ago, of which they were all a part.

One of the things which attracted me to Poison Bay was the setting and I adored the vivid descriptions of the scenery. Pollard conveys brilliantly its remoteness, its beauty and dangers, and the weather. The clever, multi-sensory details pulled me into the story and I felt as if events were unfolding in front of me. I felt the discomforts and pains of the group as they trudged through the cold and rain. One of the cover quotes describes it as an ‘eco/wilderness thriller’ and I agree. The author uses the New Zealand landscape, Shadow Land, and the inclement weather, as more than just a backdrop. It is integral to the plot, and forms part of the conflict, continually challenging the characters on their hastily-agreed-to trek. The sub-plot with Sergeant Hubble and the mountain rescue operation adds additional suspense and scenes with relatives back in ‘civilisation’ provide good contrast.

With so many characters, it is always a challenge for an author to make them not just distinctive but well-rounded. There are some real gems here, keenly observed and real. I liked Callie, and conservationist, Bryan, is terrific as the weird leader of the group. Hubble fits in well, as a strong character who isn’t connected to the friends, and who combines a maverick spirit without being a loose cannon (which avoids cliché).

If you’re looking for a thriller with a ‘fresh’ setting, I highly recommend Poison Bay. It’s well plotted, the landscape descriptions are transporting, and the characters could be anyone’s school friends.