The Hike

By: Susi Holliday

Narrated by: Imogen Church

“Susi Holliday is one of our best and most original creators of tense and twisty tales.”—Ian Rankin

Four hikers enter the mountains. Only two return. But is it tragedy? Or treachery?

When sisters Cat and Ginny travel with their husbands to the idyllic Swiss Alps for a hiking holiday, it’s not just a chance to take in the stunning scenery. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with each other after years of drifting apart—and patch up marriages that are straining at the seams.

As they head into the mountains, morale is high, but as the terrain turns treacherous, cracks in the relationships start to show. With worrying signs that someone might be following them, the sun begins to set and exhaustion kicks in. Suddenly, lost high on a terrifying ridge, tensions spill over—with disastrous consequences.

When only two of the four hikers make it down from the mountain, the police press them for their story—but soon become suspicious when their accounts just don’t add up.

What really happened up on that ridge? Who are the survivors? And what secrets are they trying to hide?

©2022 Susi Holliday (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Imogen Church's spirited narration brings the protagonists alive in this suspenseful mystery and helps make this a standout listen.… Church's strong characterizations differentiate the key personalities, emphasizing their flaws and making them almost a pleasure to dislike. In particular, Church's presentation of Ginny's spiteful, whiny voice is spot-on. Church is careful not to give away important plot points with her narration, and she uses just the right creepy tones to help build the tension as the story moves towards an over-the-top climax.”—AudioFile Magazine

“We inhaled this galloping, twisty read in a single sitting.”—Crime Monthly

“An edge-of-your seat thriller where the sense of menace ratchets higher with every step along the hiking path. Utterly immersive with brilliant storytelling, it’s smart, scary and ingeniously moreish.”—Steph Broadribb, author of Death in the Sunshine

Struggled to hear

Imogen Church is my favorite narrator but this book was a disappointment. I listened through Alexa, perhaps a headset would have been better. I was constantly telling Alexa “volume up”, “volume down”, “go back 3 minutes “, etc. The problem was all the important parts were spoken in a very soft voice which was difficult to hear. The story was interesting, farfetched, but that’s ok, it’s fiction. It was just such a painful listen. I’m not sure who’s responsible, Ms. Church, a sound engineer, Alexa? Whatever the problem, it spoiled the book for me.

Keeps you wondering!

I enjoyed this book. It’s usually not the genre I usually read but I’m glad I took a chance.

Loved it!

Very enjoyable! Loved every twist and turn…and there were a lot! I listened in a lot of stops and starts but it was still very easy to follow.

Twisty!

Like listening to a Hitchcock movie! As the story progresses you realize there are no likable characters and they all deserved each other, but you still have to hear how it turns out.

Very Good

I found this book to be extremely engaging and well written.
The story is believable, somewhat shallow but believable and tense.
I would’ve liked a bit more depth to these characters but, overall found the plot highly entertaining and at times downright creepy.
I just wanted a little more “karma” for these characters, especially at the very end.
I wanted to see a certain character get what was coming before the book wrapped.
But the performance was excellent and the story was great, well told and pretty thrilling.
I’d say it’s worth a credit for sure.

Loved it

Was skeptical after reading some reviews. Usually you can figure out where a book is going fairly early on this one kept you in suspense. I loved this book.

Twists and turns

Usually love this narrator, but some of the characters grated on my nerves. Story was little drawn out, but had me guessing until the end.

Twist, turns, and falls

Excellent plot line that kept you guessing until the very end. Great character development both those that you hate and that you root for.
And, throw in a little revenge. You’ve got the making of an interesting story.

Held my attention but…

…glad it was free. Geez. 15 words, ok. Let’s get better free books on here. Good enough.

Twist and Turn

I enjoyed this one a lot. Just when I thought I had it figured out, it changed.