Title: Shiver
Author: Allie Reynolds
Published: January 27th 2021
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Pages: 336
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense, Thriller
RRP: $32.99
Rating: 4 stars
In this propulsive locked-room thriller, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover someone has deliberately stranded them in a deserted mountaintop resort
When Milla is invited to a reunion in the tiny resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can’t seem to let go.
The five friends haven’t seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don’t know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth. In an isolated lodge high up a mountain, amid a looming snowstorm, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.
Imagine Agatha Christie set in the Alps and you have Shiver, a spectacularly sinister psychological debut.
Review:
‘Brent’s gaze meets mine. ‘Do you think I did it??’
Something about the way he asks it makes me shiver.’
A state of pure excitement awaits the reader in Shiver, the debut thriller from Allie Reynolds. The author is a former snowboarding champion and has swapped her snowboard for a pen to great success. Shiver is tale of suspense, deceit and intrigue. It delivers a perplexing mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed solving.
Shiver closely follows Milla, a woman who embarks on a reunion at a picturesque ski resort. The memories come flooding back to Milla when she arrives at the resort, reminding Milla of her champion snowboarding days. Milla is drawn not only to the location but the people of her past. One of these figures from Milla’s past is Curtis, a special someone who Milla has been unable to put to the back of her mind. When this group of friends get together again after ten years apart, the haunting memories of the disappearance of their friend Saskia dominates the thoughts of all. In Shiver, the past and present converge as shocking truths are revealed. Will the power of friendship help this group recover from what they are about to discover?
Shiver is a book that I first noticed on my Twitter feed. I observed that this debut psychological thriller was receiving a lot of positive attention on the social media front. After seeing so much positive feedback from publishers and reviewers alike, I was dead set on making room in my packed reviewing agenda to read this one. I’m glad I made Shiver a priority, it proved to be a fantastic read.
What I admired about Shiver was the unique setting and narrative focus. The author has a vast amount of background experience in the snowboarding arena and I really liked how she selected this angle for her first novel. Writing from direct experience has provided Shiver with that extra edge, it is punchy, tense and deeply authentic. This can also be directly linked to the setting depictions that were so well rendered. I felt the chilly air, the snow, the vastness and the threats to human nature in the form of the deadly snowstorms. Shiver was undoubtedly a tense and frosty read!
Shiver is structured in a past to present style format that works to pull the reader in. Dividing events from the present day and back tracking to ten years earlier adds a good element of extended intrigue. I found I connected well to Milla’s central point of view. Milla proved to be a more than interesting lead. I found the interactions between Milla and the rest of the cast to be engaging and unpredictable. I was more than happy to surrender myself to the changeable atmosphere and events of Shiver. The use of succinct chapters that close with a hook encouraged me to read just one more page, until I finally realised I had reached the end in quite a short space of time.
Shiver is a book that offers the reader pure entertainment, it is a visual spectacular that I can’t wait to see on the big screen. Congratulations on a superb debut Allie Reynolds!
Shiver by Allie Reynolds is published by Hachette Australia on January 27th 2021. $32.99.
https://www.hachette.com.au/allie-reynolds/shiver-who-is-guilty-and-who-is-innocent-in-the-most-gripping-thriller-of-the-year
To learn more about the author of Shiver, Allie Reynolds visit here.
*Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Shiver is book #20 of the 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge
