September First Reads Review: The Hike

If you’re not familiar with First Reads, it’s an Amazon program that allows Kindle Unlimited readers to get a free book every month. The ‘zon gives you about eight options of books across multiple categories to choose from. This month, I choose one called The Hike by Susi Holliday. (Learn more about Kindle First Reads here)

The book is a psychological thriller/suspense novel about four hikers that get lost in the alps. Here’s a description from Google Books: “Four hikers enter the mountains. Only two return. But is it tragedy? Or treachery? When sisters Cat and Ginny travel to the idyllic Swiss Alps for a hiking holiday, it’s not just a chance to take in the stunning scenery. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with each other after years of drifiting apart- and patch up marriages that are straining at the seams.”

First of all, this review isn’t going to have any spoilers…which might be kind of tricky, but I’ll try anyways. There are important things happening in the book that aren’t described in the description, but that alter how I viewed the book. Kudos to Susi Holliday (or her publisher) for being able to write a description that tells just enough, but not everything. That’s not an easy thing to do.

Even as I discovered the little Easter eggs throughout the book, I still liked it. Sometimes you read a book and the little surprises are not welcome. I haven’t read many thriller books, but they are on my list of things to write, so I’ve been consuming as many as possible. This one went by the common formula of dangerous situation interposed with chapters from the almost end (and that is important) of the book that leave you trying to figure out what’s happening. By the time I got to the end, I was really wondering how she was going to finish this book, but she did it in a way that wasn’t too crazy or unbelievable.

One thing I found interesting was that the author is Irish and, therefore, uses English that I’m not used to (because I know American English). After reading a handful of books written in American English, it was nice to get a different perspective, not only on the language and its uses, but the character building. It reminded me of how different, yet how similar we are as countries and people.

I had some extra ‘me’ time this week and chose The Hike to fill the time. I went out on the back porch with a glass of wine and a candle and read the book in one sitting. It was the perfect length (I got my book fix without having to stay up all night) and was a satisfying read. I would give it a 4/5. I docked one point because I really liked it, but I didn’t love it to the point of wanting to talk about it to everyone I encountered. Which makes me think…maybe I should come up with a rating system. More on that later.

Cheers, Lulie