This thoroughly enjoyable story begins as a pleasant journey for three ladies who are looking for a good time at a spa. For reasons unknown, and become far clearer later in the book, they are stranded in a town which is extremely convenient and inconvenient for all three ladies, but for different reasons.
One lady disappears and this causes the other two to enter into and reaffirm relationships which wouldn't have occurred had they not stopped in this town. The writer keeps you needing to turn the next page and begin the next chapter as soon as possible as the pace and problems are increased. This causes the reader to move from a leisurely pace to a full blooded 100 metres dash to find out the who, what, why and when. Even when you think you've solved it all, the detective may be one step ahead of you.
Unlike many books that introduce a variety of story twists that appear out of place, the twists and turns in this story are all merited and understood and then you will find twists on the previous twists until you finally understand what is happening.
All three ladies are hiding significant secrets and the details are only gradually shared as you turn the pages quicker and quicker. A murder, a disappearance and urgent changes in everyone's relationship standing lead to an extremely tense finishing line. The police, of course, are involved and you will undoubtedly choose everyone to be guilty of something at some stage and change your mind as new information comes to light.
A free copy of this book found its way to my kindle and I am very pleased with the result. For me, the story was different for many reasons I cannot tell you in a review, but as you reach the end of this novel you will be pleased you took the time to find out the big reveal. I doubt this story can become part of a series, but I will certainly investigate this writer to see what exists now and in the future.

An American girlie road trip with newly single Diana and Margaret joining Sam which starts really well with interesting characters, well drawn. However, this weekend away starts to go wrong when their vehicle key gets lost and then the many twists and turns occur.

I half expected a romcom with the girls meeting blokes in bars etc. but how wrong was I !

Apart from a rather complex ending (in my view) this book was a terrific read. Loved it.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the chance to read and review/

A good solid thriller from an author I have newly discovered. Written in chapters from the point of view of the main characters, spanning a few days. Easy to follow the storyline, making it a quick and easy read. I actually read it in two sittings in the same day as I was keen to discover the outcome.

Three friends are all recently in split relationships from their Ex’s so they set off on a girly trip to give themselves a break. Unfortunately, shortly into their journey they stop for a break and to refuel the car and then the car key goes missing! This forces the three friends to book a rental house for the night and then see if they can get the garage to cut them a new key in the morning.

That night, they all go to a local bar and this is where the storyline really kicks in. Sam sees her Ex husband at the bar and they reconnect. Margaret gets chatting with a younger guy and they spend the night together. Diana on the other hand goes missing!

When Sam and Margaret wake the next morning, Diana has still not turned up so they inform the police. What soon unravels is that not everyone is telling the truth and there are old secrets which will soon be discovered, leading to a couple of shocking twists which I didn’t see coming!

Many thanks to netgalley, the publishers and the author for an arc.

If you like a who done it crime story then this is for you, a superb cosy crime that will keep you glued to the pages trying to work out clues and the ending. I did not manage it but enjoyed reading this book. The characters all go so well with the story and each other, with just enough information about them. Definitely, a book to cosy up with in front of the fire on a winters night.

This book was okay, but didn't really grab me. The characters were a bit dull, and it just didn't thrill me .I am sorry.

A fairly run of the mill thriller about three female friends going away for a break. All of them appear to be coming to terms with a life changing event and on the face of it appear to be compassionate, supporting friends to each other. What appears to be a routine break in the journey results in lost car keys and being forced to stop over in a town where one of their exes happens to live, which makes the reader think that not everything is as it seems among this tight knit group. To top it all, one of the three goes missing and there are signs of a violent struggle. It’s an easy, undemanding read with an exciting storyline and more than one unreliable narrator as is the norm in psychological thrillers of this type.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy to read.

So the plot is not a new one. Very American characters and remote setting. But if you are about escapism then this is that book. Didn’t have to concentrate and I just let it was over me. Would recommend as a beach read. Also found I thought about it afterwards so have recommended to friends.

I love thrillers that feature a group of people in an unknown place going missing. These are exactly the kind of thrillers that I eat up but this one wasn’t quite that.

Sam, Diana and Margaret are all fresh out of relationships and looking forward to getting away together. When they end up stranded in the small town of Catskill just outside New York City, Diana goes missing after a night of drinking. Sam and Margaret become increasingly worried as it turns out that Diana is perhaps not quite who she said she is and their presence in Catskill wasn’t quite as unplanned as they first thought.

Margaret was definitely my favourite of our three main characters and she was the one that felt the most real to me. She is very much the mother of the group and she appears to have been swept up in this crazy, convoluted story, in which Sam and Diana are much more intrinsically involved. The protective instincts she extends to her friends and the awareness of their status as women in this strange town depicted her as a genuine, kind-hearted person.

Sam is quite neurotic and clearly obsessed with her ex, Harry. The fact that she is constantly trying to downplay her feelings and insist that she isn’t an intense, unhinged woman proves her acknowledgement of how she appears to us. I was a little afraid of Sam because she seemed really unpredictable and she was clearly holding a lot of pain and anger but I wanted her to find peace.

Sam describes her relationship with Harry as a beautiful, romantic affair and I couldn’t help but wonder whether she was seeing it through rose-tinted lenses now that it was over. I wasn’t convinced that they were good together but without Harry’s perspective, I couldn’t be sure what the truth was. Sam’s unstable mind made her unreliable and figuring out what was happening in Catskill took a lot longer than I expected.

There are plenty of big twists towards the end and a host of shady, ambiguous characters who all seemed to have a hand in what was going on. The full extent of the reveal seems pretty implausible and that made it very hard to finish the book fully satisfied. Everything was tied up but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

The Perfect Escape wasn’t really the closed-door, isolated mystery I expected it to be. Aspects of it were compelling and it wasn’t a easy-to-guess resolution but I didn’t exactly get the ‘oh, why didn’t I realise that before?’ moment that I love with twisty thrillers. If you’re looking for a break from thrillers about female friends getting picked off in a small community, The Perfect Escape could be a new read for you.

Three friends Sam, Margaret and Diana have all just separated from their husband's- all for different reasons and decide to go on a girly holiday. Then the problems start... At a reststop on the way they loose their car keys and end up in a small town where Sam's soon to be ex is living. They go out to a bar that night and one of them ends up missing, the police become involved and soon a body turns up but whose is it and why are they all lying to each other? Will the truth ever come out or will it all be too late?

Loved this novel and will definitely be recommending to friends and family. Have read Leah before and can't wait to read more.

Exciting and thrilling, I flew through this one, desperate to find out what was going to happen next!

Sam is devastated when her husband, Harry, leaves her after only six months; her two friends have their own relationship troubles so when a girls’ weekend away is suggested, Sam jumps at the chance. However, on their way to their weekend getaway, a bit of car trouble leaves them stranded – and in the town where Harry lives. And that’s only the beginning . . .

What an incredibly well-spun story! I settled in to this one very quickly and just couldn’t put the book down. Beautifully written, with realistic, well-developed characters this is a tale which plays with your mind. I tend to take things at face value and was more than a bit shocked when strange things began to happen and I just had to keep reading to find out where it was all heading. Packed full of twists and turns, this is an extremely well planned book, focusing my attention first one way then the other. When the truth finally came out, I was utterly amazed and the phrase ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive’ popped into my mind. This is one very tangled web indeed, and a cracking read which I’m happy to recommend ang give all five stars.

I received a gifted copy of ‘The Perfect Escape’ by Leah Konen in return for my honest review. This is a new author for me, so I was looking forward to seeing my thoughts.

This book follows three women Sam, Diana, and Margaret. They have all recently become separated from their husbands and so decide to go away and have a restful break away from everything.

Their journey starts fine, until at a rest stop about halfway, they lose the keys to the car. They decide to stay somewhere over night and have a night out in the local town.

Meanwhile Sam realises this is the town that her ex-Harry now lives.

The next morning one of the women is missing, and the police get involved.

Who is missing? Are they ok, or has something devastating happened?

The women go through the anxiety of what could have happened to their missing friend, and causes them to wonder who they can trust, including each other.

Where will this trip away lead? Will everyone survive?

I enjoyed reading this book, as it keeps you guessing right until the end. The number of unexpected revelations keeps you moving in different directions to what will happen.

The idea of a getaway in the situation they have found themselves in seems like something many would love to do. The trouble being that the secrets that have been kept, mean that it isn’t all as it seems.

There is a little bit about losing a baby during a pregnancy which may be a trigger for some.

Overall, an intense and gripping psychological thriller, keeping you wondering how the story will end throughout.

Three friends head off for a weekend to the country but then one goes missing and what follows is an untangling of lies and secrets. It certainly is a page turner and as long as you don’t think too much about what is being described you a well enjoy it.
It just wasn’t really for me. All the characters were very one dimensional and in fact downright stupid and interchangeable. Male, female, villain, victim were really all the same. There were more holes in the plot than in a J cloth and is it even legally possible to identify a body from a crime photograph? Most of my other frustrations would constitute spoilers so I will refrain other than to say the use of acronyms is very annoying especially wen you just can’t figure out what they stand for. The pity of it is there was a really good story here to be told, that of Margaret and how she dealt with the loss of a baby.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin UK for this ARC………….an acronym I know!

I found this a 2* OK read.

It's about 3 acquaintances that decide to take a break together as they are all reeling from some relationship issue or other. It's bizarre that they decide to go away together as they know little or nothing about each other and so, when they find themselves stranded in the Catskills and things get dark, there's no real relationship to depend upon and then, one of them goes missing. What follows has twists and turns and as it's written from each perspective, it does hold your attention.

Overall, I found it to be an OK thriller read, but, I'm afraid I found it very formulaic and clunky in parts. The elements do all tie together though and as an easy page turner, if you like the sound of it, go for it and I hope you enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview. Just not one for me.

Three women decide to get away for a long weekend. Margaret is coming out of a toxic marriage from Lars for many reasons which become apparent as the story unfolds. Diana is separating from her husband, Brandon and this also becomes clear eventually. Sam is the only one of the three which does not want her marriage to Harry to end but he left suddenly and when back to his ex wife. They decided on this trip after having a drink in a bar and Diana organised the trip. It was supposed to be a fun relaxing weekend in Saratoga Springs but it definitely did not turn out that way at all. They are on their way when they stop off for fuel etc. When they are ready to head off they cannot find the car key to the rental and that is when the drama begins. They find a house to rent overnight while they organise a garage to sort out a new key. Deciding to go out for food they land up in a bar locally. While there drinking margaritas something changes. Margaret meets someone at the bar and connects. Sam sees her ex husband, Harry, at the bar and they hook up and Diana goes missing. Margaret and Sam are frantic and report the disappearance to the police. Sam and Margaret do some digging themselves as they cannot believe Diana has not been in touch and fear the worst. As the story progresses the secrets between them come out and it is a great and compulsive read. Every page turned what you to carry on reading. The story has some many twists, turns and fear for the three of them and as you are reading it, it is difficult to know where the story will go. Eventually the story is finished and you feel very content with the book. Fab read

A true psychological thriller keeping you in the dark on so much throughout, dropping you shocks just when you think you have it sussed only to completely blow your mind in the last couple pages.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and will definitely pick up another Leah Konen book again!

Sam is on a girls weekend. Her husband walked out on her after six months and she is looking forward to the weekend. Her companions haven't been friends with her for long but they are all the same age and enjoy having a good time.
What could go wrong?
But are they telling her the truth about themselves and although three start out only two return!

This is a book which makes you ask "How well do you really know your friends?"
Diana, Sam and Margaret are the subjects of this book. Three women who all, for differing reasons, want to escape the city and their failed relationships, for a relaxing break in the mountains.
Stopping at a rest stop on their outward journey, the key to their rental car goes missing and they are forced to stop their journey. From here this book unfolds with a plot full of twists and turns. I loved the gradual reveals, which meant this book was full of surprises throughout and not just the usual big reveal at the end.
I can honestly say I couldn't work out what would happen next!
Thank you to Net Galley and Michael Joesph for this ARC.

A complex plot draws you in page by page.
The group of girl friends never make it to their planned break but become embroiled in a murder . Someone is manipulating the group but who and why ?
Pacy plot with well drawn characters.
Very enjoyable read . Highly recommended.

A MYSTERY THAT ACTUALLY GIVES YOU A CLEAR ANSWER IN THE LAST CHAPTERS AND DOESNT MAKE YOU GUESS THE ENDING. YEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!! IM ALL IN. The couple of friends stranded in a small town story has been done so many times but this is a perfect example of it. Claustrophobic and keeps you guessing until the end. I really enjoyed. Not gory or graphic so I think its a perfect whodunnit for any reader.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing throughout and I enjoyed the setting which really added to the drama of it all. It was well-paced with lots of clues throughout. A great read if you love thrillers (which I do!). The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I got confused with the ending. I couldn't work out who was who and it got a bit confusing !