The Hike: The Sunday Times bestseller and brand new crime thriller novel for 2023 from the author of One of the Girls

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Even though it incorporates a number of elements from spec fic genres, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter; it’s going to do its own thing. But the book actually begins with a short chapter on Sunday morning at a police station, introducing readers to the fact that only one woman and one man make it off the mountain, both bruised and bloodied, so we alternate between the Saturday afternoon hike and the Sunday afternoon results to determine what actually happened. This year, Liz, a type-A doctor whose marriage is on the rocks, decides that what she and the girls need is the healing power of walking.

The revelation revealed there made me understand something about this book, like maybe there’s actually some rhythm to this madness, or maybe the madness is just the point. The story is told from alternating perspectives and in two timelines and I liked that we got small pieces to keep putting together to figure out what was going on. Every time I dive into one of Lucy Clarke’s novels, I cross my fingers and hope that it’s going to be just as good as the last one of hers that I’d read. In an interview, the author shared how she had been on a hike in Norway, when she started to think about writing this novel.To what extent are the women released from the areas of their life in which they previously felt “stuck”? Bearing this in mind, you may feel you’ve likely explored this plot before and another book has nothing new to add. But apart from that, I quite liked the characters, flawed as they were, they seemed real, though it baffles me how anyone can agree to a trip into the Norwegian mountains without being properly trained for it. This is enough to put them in a slightly perilous situation, but thrown in a potential killer on the trail too, and you have a very juicy story indeed.

Even as she packs for the trip, she notes “it was pleasing to be able to step out with everything she needed on her back. This time around, not only was that true, but with each revelation, something else was twisted to reveal a new puzzle filled with just as much intensity.

Mostly, it is a reminder of not only how easy it is to get lost but also how difficult it can be to find one's way back. The entire atmosphere of the book is threatening, with ominous signs facing the group at every turn: a buzzard (vulture) following them up the mountain, other hikers warning of loose rocks and potential hazards on the trail, a reliance on a paper map that no one is quite sure how to read. In each book I’ve read by Clarke, I’ve always been particularly blown away by her deft ability to build consistent and ever ratcheting suspense.

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. I received a gifted advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Insta Book Tours.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. En-route, I slept in rustic DNT cabins perched in some of the most remote spots I can imagine, hugely grateful for the warmth of a woodstove, and a bowl of steaming noodles enjoyed after a long day of walking. A touching tribute to the bond between father and child, with resonant themes for Earth Day, Hike is a breath of fresh air.