They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale. It's the perfect place to lose yourself - until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine. A big thanks to Harper Collins UK HarperFiction and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hike centers on four friends who go on a trip together every year, with each friend taking a turn choosing where they go. This year it's Liz's turn, and she's chosen something different than the group's typical luxurious beach destinations: a four-day hike up and down a mountain deep in the Norwegian wilderness. As a doctor, Liz knows that walking does wonders for the body and mind, and she feels the need to clear her head in the midst of a crumbling marriage. But as soon as Liz, Helena, Maggie, and Joni arrive at the lodge, ready to start their journey, something feels indefinably off with the locals. And the friends are harboring secrets from each other, too, which will be exposed as they set off, isolated and vulnerable, into the Norwegian wilderness. 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.This is a really exciting and twisty thriller from the start to the end which will leaving you wanting to hike in Norway too. It is very hard to pull off any kind of story where the entire plot is built on doing things the reader does not expect. Because eventually you're going to find a rhythm and start anticipating the surprises, right? But somehow Magary manages to gradually explain the structure of his book to you and still catch you off guard on a regular basis. Susi Holliday takes her readers on an exhausting hike, there are twists that I anticipated, but didn't happen and things that I never imagined that just seemed to come from nowhere. Trust me, don't ever think you've worked this one out, because if you do, I'll be very very surprised. Pros: well-plotted, brimming with action and conflict after the first 20/25%, strongly written characters

Maggie, Liz, Helena and Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets. And now bound by murder. As I'm reading I can't wait for the psychological twist, when I go "ahhh there it is, this is so great" moment. Sadly to say I didn't get it. However the story was a good, although a little unbelievable, I mean who leaves their phone behind when going on a hiking trip?! Seriously that is beyond stupid and they all deserved to die, ok die is a little extreme, but they should definitely never procreate. The Hike does for casual hiking what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. . . . An existential, metaphysical journey into what would happen if you ended up in an alternate universe that challenged everything you thought you knew about yourself.” The Hike was astonishing, dramatic and tense. Lucy Clarke is definitely at her optimum with this one. In an interview, the author shared how she had been on a hike in Norway, when she started to think about writing this novel. She said…It was pretty weird. Talking crabs and sexy giantesses are among the best supporting characters and I still don't know why they had to be crabs and giantesses. Kind of felt like Magary was just making up weird, random stuff as he was going along. "Hmm... let's throw in a talking crab cuz why not." What Magary is playing with here (beyond fairy tales, beyond an 8-bit videogame structure of puzzle-item-reward that is predictable but as nostalgically comforting as the shape of a Nintendo controller in the hand) are themes of regret, resilience and dedication. All in all, a solid popcorn thriller that was different than the usual "is my husband secretly a killer?" books. The final showdown was ... le cringe, but again, popcorn thriller.