A surprising, twisty thriller with compelling characters who are fierce but out of their depth, that keeps you guessing until the end. 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. Yet with Magary, getting lost means being chased by dog-faced murderers, crashing into an iceberg, almost getting eaten by a giant, and being forced to build a castle for the undead. I really enjoyed how The Hike blended a murder mystery that kept you guessing right until the end – the implication that there are, perhaps, even some supernatural elements at play added further to the tense atmosphere – with the natural development of each of the characters.

Even though I wasn’t entirely sold on the writing style (just a personal thing), I ended up giving this one 4 stars simply because the thriller aspect of it was so good.It was time for Liz and her to make their pact come true, but the women’s adventure goes from fun to dangerous and this is where the tension begins to build. As you might have gathered from that high-impact opening sentence, a murder mystery element does come into play in The Hike. We get inside the head of each character, so we learn that Cat has actually been cheating on her husband Paul with her sister’s husband, Tristan. Speechify lets you listen to any text, including all books in the world with the best voices out there! The first quarter is slow moving as we get to know our group of friends who are hiking together, but if you can be patient, once that backstory is laid (and this part is arguably important) the real action begins and doesn’t let up until the very last page.

This heightens and deepens the group dynamics which are in constant flux with moments of joy and liberation which contrasts effectively with the building fearful dread and suspense.This psychological thriller will keep you glued to the pages and take you away to the Norwegian mountains where you'll feel you are hiking along with the four main characters of this book, Liz, Maggie, Helena and Joni who are lifelong friends going off on their annual holiday. A tale of reconnecting friends and life’s unexpected turns, it was heartwarming but also filled with true-to-life problems that occur when you put more than two people together in a friendship.

I had initially agreed to review The Hike with no small amount of trepidation, fearing that it might be too “weird” for my tastes. Then he’s kidnapped by a man-eating giantess named Fermona, who forces him to fight Rottweiler-men and dwarves in her gladiatorial arena.

They are joined by their friend Joni, and set out on what they hope to be an invigorating adventure. Funny enough Joni was my favorite one, definitely not a coke addict fan but she had all the right rockstar vibes. I did have my suspicions confirmed for one piece, but there were also some real jaw-dropping moments that absolutely blew me away. The murder has happened well before they arrive, but they find themselves somewhat embroiled in the aftermath while on their hike. Our family are big hikers, we’ve been hiking with our kids since they were babies, and living so close to the mountains here in Alberta, we are very lucky to be less than a one hour drive to some of the most beautiful provincial and national parks in Canada.