I enjoyed this book alot. There is alot of scene setting and character development in the first part of the book which some may find frustrating if they're expecting a nail biting thriller from the offset. I however liked getting to know all the characters before the 'thrill' started. Each character had their own importance in the story , and it's a credit to the author that I was able to keep on top of who's who and what's what throughout the intricate plot.

Whilst there was no immediate hook, the author did a great job in building up intrigue, by alluding to lots of friction between all the members of the hen party without giving too much detail away.

What followed then was a drip feed of secrets being revealed and pieces of puzzles fitting together, until a big reveal.

Not a heart racing, jaw dropping thriller but a slow and constant tension builder which I thoroughly enjoyed

Try as I might, I just couldn't connect with this book .I didn't take to the characters, or get excited by the plot. Sorry ,not for me.

I am so sorry but I could not finish this book, which never happens to me . There were just to many characters and the opening chapters just got me confused over who was who and what relationship they had to Jen the main character. I could not help but think that if the author had tried to slow down the opening and introduced the characters over a longer period of time, so that it became easier to distinguish this book would have been far better.

This was a very enjoyable read. It is a great mixture between thriller and 'chick lit' that makes it original and surprising at times. Some of the twists and turns were obvious and some unexpected, so as a reader you got to feel you had beaten the writer to the punch while also having the pleasure of being hoodwinked. Well written and great fun.

I felt like this book could have been a lot shorter than it was, but I don't know whether that was just because I felt like there were too many characters to keep track of or not. I'm not the biggest fan of books with a lot of characters; there's just too many story lines to keep in mind, this book especially, through the characters being separated into groups of two.

I have enjoyed a number of Chris Brookmyre's books so enthusiastically applied for a review copy of The Cliff House (2022).

The extent to which you might enjoy this convoluted and twisty tale will very much depend on your willingness to suspend disbelief. The initial set up is a little far fetched however at around the halfway point it stretches the bounds of credulity to beyond breaking point, and by the conclusion it's just plain ludicrous.

The story relies on all the participants of a hen weekend harbouring some pretty extreme secrets, it then gets even more outlandish. If you’re willing to just go with it, as other reviewers seem happy to have done, you might find it a page turner. I'm sorry to report that I found it increasingly ridiculous and, by the end, was profoundly disappointed and was annoyed to have invested time in it.

4.5 stars
An isolated Scottish island and secrets, secrets and more secrets! How could I not get excited about that? I have read quite a few of books with a remote setting but The Cliff House definitely sticks out among the others. I knew I simply couldn't pass up the chance to see how Chris Brookmyre (author of Black Widow and The Cut) would handle one of my favourite settings and if I would be able to suss the biggest secret of all.

Jen is soon to be married to Zaki and she has booked a very luxurious retreat for her hen weekend. She is joined at this remote Scottish island by a few friends from the tennis club (Nicolette and Kennedy), two of her oldest friends (Helena and Michelle), her soon to be sister-in-law Samira and Beattie, the sister-in-law of her first marriage to Jason.

There is instant tension from the get go between some of the characters and a whole lot more tension is added when they start to wonder who has the biggest secret. The plot switches smoothly between all the characters and the twists and turns follow each other up rapidly. In order to find their missing party member they have to work together in pairs and while they are trying to survive until they can alert someone or escape the island old grudges are brought into the open and there are quite a few. The truth flips opinions and there were some great secrets that I had not expected.

This story made me quite paranoid and I was suspicious of everyone, like a good old merry-go-round it made my head spin. I thought I knew where the story was going to take us in the end from the very beginning but I was completely off the mark, the page-turning plot is completely unpredictable! 

The Cliff House was deliciously addictive and I can recommend this novel and this author in general to everyone who thinks they're smart enough to figure things out with ease. Consider yourselves challenged!

I loved that The Cliff House was set in a remote Scottish location, it added to the suspense and the multiple pov gave us not only an insight into each character, but also made it easy to tell them apart with no confusion. The story is dark, addictive, and completely brilliant. I highly recommend to any Ruth Ware fans and anyone that enjoys tense, twisty psychological thrillers.

The story leaps right into action. A girls hen weekend. Seven different characters and a murder. Fast paced and twisty. A good suspenseful read in an eery setting.

At first I wasn't sure about this book as took me till about quarter way through to get into it but once I did wow I couldn't put it down. It swaps between people and each time leaves it on a cliffhanger so u just wanting to find out more. Liked the ending and was no unless questions.

Absolutely loved this book.. I've read the majority of the authors previous works, although not the joint novels written with his wife under their pseudonym, and I've thoroughly enjoyed them. Thus was no different although it's not one of his works with previous characters and is a stand alone work.
Written in sections from the point of view of one of the female characters all of whom have their own secrets to keep. I initially had trouble remembering which character was which but eventually was able to place each of them within their own group.
Plenty of twists and turns to the big reveal however it has been pretty well signposted in the run up to the dramatic conclusion and the reader will probably work out what is going on prior to it appearing on the written page. Far from this being a drawback it's common for this to happen with thrillers and shouldn't ruin the readers enjoyment as there will be elements which hadn't been considered.
5 stars for this and a recommendation to purchase and read this novel. Thanks to the publisher, the author Christopher Brookmyre and Netgalley for my advance review copy.

A clever twisty tale of secrets, betrayals and jeopardy all skilfully brought together by the author.

A perfect sunlounger thriller for Summer 2022.

Many thanks to all concerned for letting me read and review this terrific novel.

Sorry to say I didn’t finish this book , I was waiting for something to happen but it was just concentrating on the relationship between the friend . Maybe if I’d persevered with it it may have improved. Only 2 stars from me I’m afraid.

If the title page didn’t clearly show this was written by Chris Brookmyre I never would have guessed. It’s a well-written psychological thriller with a plot I’d expect from Ruth Ware or Lucy Clarke. Indeed both have written books with very similar plots of hen parties in an isolated location where secrets are uncovered. It’s a very god example of the type, and if it had been written by pretty much any other author I’d be more than happy with this take on the trope. I just can’t help feeling that if I’d tried to predict Chris Brookmyre’s take it would be darker and funnier than the actual result, and I think I’d have enjoyed that version more.

I mean I’ve still given to five stars, because I don’t want my expectations of the author’s style to take away from what is a good thriller.

Review will be published on my blog on 14 July 2022z

I have read great reviews of previous books from Chris Brookmyre so was looking forward to reading The Cliff House. Both the setting, on a remote Scottish island, and the hen party premise sounded promising. From the off we are fairly bombarded with a plethora of characters and as the story progresses the chapters are told from the POV of each of the seven hens so I found it was almost necessary to make notes - or else become very confused! The undoubtably beautiful setting is under utilised and I quickly tired of all of the women who changed their minds as often as the wind. I don’t think I have ever disliked such a bunch of characters in my life! Parties on remote islands seem to be something of a plot craze at the moment and I’ve found others much more thrilling. I guessed the identity of the kidnapper/murderer quite early on so the suspense was missing for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

4⭐️

This is a standalone contemporary suspense novel by a new author to me. An award winning author so I was excited to finally read one of his books.

The get together is on a very exclusive isolated Scottish island, as a hen party prior to Jen’s wedding to Zaki.

It lacks a strong hook to immediately draw you in. The first part of the book lays down the foundation of their characters and relationships, I found it on the slow side. The characters are well developed.
In the beginning it has a lot of names thrown at you to get to grips with of the hens (and their families names) it is only 6 hens but it feels like so many more with all their accompanying appendages. There’s Kennedy, Michelle, Beattie, Samira, Helena, Nicolette. Women who Jen has collected during various stages of her life, some don’t know each other, some hate each other.

The group wasn’t gelled prior to things starting to go badly wrong, at that point they all started bitching and backbiting.
I was slowly drawn into the intrigue of what was going to happen next, although I didn’t fully engage with the characters, probably because they were all depicted as potentially unreliable. Jen was my favourite, the others grew on me more by the end.

They all have their own threads which reveal their secrets, each thread tends to end on a mini cliffhanger which I enjoyed, it left me wanting to return to that thread asap. Each persons thread is given equal weighting to the storyline, it’s like successfully juggling with 6 balls, no mean accomplishment to pull off.

The plot is intricate and well constructed. Once the action starts the tension increases nicely. The pace picks up towards the end.

I really enjoyed it, I look forward to reading more of this authors work.

I started off really enjoying this book. It had me gripped at the beginning. However in the middle I lost my way with it a little bit and felt a little bit bored by it. It didn't grab my attention all the way through unfortunately.

I’m surprised to have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed by this book from this author.
The subject is not very original, this theme having been used by several other authors that I have read.
I was disappointed that so many of the characters were stereotypes; the Alpha female, who expects her own way all the time from her ‘inferior’ companions; the mousy downtrodden one, always eager to please; the money-grabbing, selfish woman, and so on, all supposedly friends.
I had expected more, and I found it all a bit predictable.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

A "locked room" style contemporary thriller with an all-female cast and a wild setting? Chris Brookmyre? Count me in! But...

While The Cliff House started off so promisingly, it rapidly went pretty flat. There were a lot of stereotypes here and because they were all cyphers for "modern women" you immediately doubted that they would all be friends who you'd invite to a hen do. Reactions were predictable, scenes felt too set-up to create a dialogue on friendship, jealousy or trust or whatever.

I have to admit I was disappointed; maybe my expectations were too high as Brookmyre is a writer I admire. There is the essence of a really good book here, but it never quite materialised for me. Fine for many readers as a by-the-pool book as it isn't too testing, but not taut or nuanced enough for me.

The premise of this book was great - we all have secrets but which one would be the deal breaker. I did not know where the book was going and how it would all end. The author took you down some dead ends but it all added to the tension of the book.

A great read.