Shiver by Allie Reynolds

Author: Allie Reynolds

Title: Shiver 

Publisher: Headline 

Published: 2021

Pages: 432

Genre: Mystery Thriller

 

     When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps 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 realize they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth. In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

     As many of you who have read my reviews before know, I am a huge fan of thrillers. I like something I sink my teeth into and try and work out what is happening before all is revealed. So in part, this is why my friends and family are prone to suggesting me such title when they have read them. And why not after all no one can really keep up with not only all the latest but also those that have been out for a while. The second reason for me picking up a copy is that it's tied into the world of snowboarding. Through my early twenties, I was desperate to get out there and try it. I would point out it was something I never quite managed to do. But the SSX tricky games and watching runs online were a good staple for me for a long time and I guess something of that still remains floating around in my brain. We all have our reason for first picking up a book a few I would imagine unseen or thought of by writers and publishers alike. but to me, that is part of what makes reading such an enjoyable experience. 

     Milla comes in the line of those great heroes of thrillers we have seen before she is both brave and feisty and also a little broken around the edges.  After all, a perfect hero to me always seems a little dull. You want them to be human and be fallible you need to see them get into scrapes you wonder if they will be able to get themselves out of. Also and I highly suspect this is due to having a female writer we don't get bogged down every five minutes in the curves of her body and effortlessly wafting from one situation to the next. She is allowed to simply be, more time given to what she does and feels. It means that whilst she does tend to find herself in some very difficult situations I was more interested in how she was going to fight her way out of them. It's part of what I love about this book, that Reynolds whilst limiting the number of characters we get to interact with has made sure that they are all engaging. You want to dig into them and find out what makes them tick. You get this need to pull apart the smallest of detail to try and work out what secrets they might be holding onto and how they relate to what is taking place in the present. 

     When it comes to the story for me this was an absolute cracker. I really enjoyed this notion of being snowbound just out of reach of civilization. It means you come to suspect the most mundane of things as being a threat. It's that bump in the night in your own house, you never quite know if it's just nothing or the killer downstairs. At times it reminded me of the classic Kurt Russel film The Thing. Now I don't mean to suggest that they are being stalked by some creature from another planet although they obviously are being stalked by someone. But there is that growing sense of uneasiness that spreads through this group of friends. This very human ability to turn on each other and question old loyalties when put in a high-pressure situation. We are all prone to rash decisions when we feel trapped.  Despite being set in this whole ski resort the author manages to make it all feel very claustrophobic. The endless white and empty corridors work so well when it comes to writing a thriller novel I'm surprised it is not used as a setting more often. But maybe that makes it work for this author all the more that we down feel like it's all been done before?

     It was clear to me that she has put a great deal of thought into her narrative. Each movement feels like a carefully played game. As we switch between past and present the true story of this group comes into sharp focus. As we soon learn not all we know should be taken at face value. After all, if there is one thing this lot is good at it's keeping secrets. For me this I think is the real heart of any good thriller, were as with crime novels we want to see just how smart our detective or killer is. When it comes to thrillers it's the strength of the secret that can make it live or die. And when it comes to Shiver there are some real beauties to be found. The way in which this is all drip-fed to us allowed the author to skillfully build the tension throughout. It kinda feels like this miniature game of clue, but for every time you'd flip a person down think it couldn't possibly be them a few chapters on and you are starting to question that decision. 

     For me, this was one of the most enjoyable thrillers I have read in quite some time. Both its mix of interesting characters and the devious plot kept me flipping pages at a voracious speed. In one book Reynolds seems to have captured everything you could hope for in a best-selling novel. From friends you are never entirely sure you can trust to a snow-bound locked room mystery, this book is sure to keep any reader on the edge of their seat. I can honestly say if this is the stand of writing she puts out I can not wait to see what she comes up with next.