Book Review: The Hike

By Becky Gulc

‘THE PERFECT DAY FOR A HIKE

Seeking the escape of a lifetime, four friends hike out into the beautiful Norwegian wild – nothing between them and the mountain peak but forest, sea and sharp blue sky.

THE PERFECT PLACE TO DISAPPEAR

But there’s a darker side to the wilderness. A woman went missing here one year ago. Now the friends are hiking into the heart of the mystery. And waiting on the trail is someone who’d do anything to keep their secrets buried – and to stop the group walking away alive . . .’ (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon UK.)

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni are old friends and each year one of them takes a turn to choose what kind of holiday they will have. This year it’s Liz’s turn and she’s chosen something a bit different from the norm, climbing adventures in the Norwegian wilderness, in particular climbing Blafjell mountain. This is a challenge and a half for these friends but Liz is hoping the challenge will help her forget about her worries at home. Each of the friends have something going on in their lives they’re working through and this trek is going to challenge each one of them in every way possible, particularly when things start to go wrong, and suppressed niggles between the four inevitably come to the surface.

Lucy writes ‘destination thrillers’ and I do increasingly enjoy books like this, which transport the reader so well to another place that you’ve never visited, whilst throwing in a good dose of suspense and trepidation about how the plot will unfold. The pace of this book was just right; you become wary of what will unfold quite early on but not before soaking up the setting and friendships, and get a sense of each of the main characters. You quickly become suspicious of certain characters, then not suspicious, then suspicious again!.

The narrative is very clever, we know early on that someone is in danger, that someone went missing a year ago, and I don’t want to say anymore as a spoiler other than this was a great twist. I also enjoyed how we got to know each of the women more, along with their back stories as the book unfolded. This really is an adventure which is going to test friendships and I felt how the story unfolded was the right way for the group, but not one I ever saw coming. 

Lucy’s writing really excels at making you feel claustrophobic in a vast setting, I really felt on edge and was hooked with this book. This was the first of Lucy’s books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. 

Thanks to Putnam for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase The Hike here.

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