Entertaining, atmospheric, and well-narrated. A recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

The Hunted is a thrilling and suspenseful novel that follows a group of female friends who reunite for a weekend away at a remote Scottish island lodge. But what they expect to be a relaxing and fun getaway turns into a nightmare when they realize that someone is out to kill them. The author, PR Black, is an acclaimed writer of psychological thrillers, and he delivers a fast-paced and twisty story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The protagonist, Kate, is a successful journalist who has been invited by her old school friend, Rachel, to join her and three other women at a luxurious lodge owned by Rachel’s husband. Kate hasn’t seen Rachel or the others for twenty years, and she hopes to reconnect with them and catch up on their lives. But as soon as they arrive at the island, things start to go wrong. The lodge is isolated and eerie, the weather is stormy and unpredictable, and the women soon discover that they are not alone. Someone is watching them, hunting them down one by one, and exposing their dark secrets.

The Hunted is a gripping and tense novel that explores the themes of friendship, betrayal, revenge and survival. The characters are well-drawn and realistic, each with their own backstory and personality. The setting is atmospheric and claustrophobic, creating a sense of dread and danger. The plot is clever and surprising, with plenty of red herrings and shocking revelations. The Hunted is a highly recommended read for fans of crime, thriller and mystery novels. It is a chilling and addictive novel that will make you question how well you know your friends.

This was a hoot! 🦉Would make a great movie. The narrator's performance was fantastic. Kept me engaged and thoroughly entertained the entire time.

I loved the dynamic between the group of old friends. Great banter and back and forth with the different personalities. Oh, the drama lol.

I liked the humour interwoven to help light the darkness. There were some really great lines:

Leah: "--maybe it just drops an anchor."

(removed due to spoilers)

But I think the cake goes to Debs:

(Removed due to spoilers)

They were imperfect. They all had their assets and their flaws. They were all so human. I loved them.

I cared. I cared about who lived and who died. I actually bloody cared!

Take my stars ✨

The characters are nicely realized and the setting is immersive, however the plot is so straightforward as to be predictable. It's a classic story of "bullied kid grows up and takes revenge" and I was a bit uneasy with the portrayal of mental illness.

I couldn't follow along with this book at all. It was very slow and the build up was forever. This is not a book that I would recommend.

This was a bit of a slog. A group of almost universally unlikeable female characters are hunted by a blast from the past while on vacation on a remote island and occasionally mingle with equally unlikeable locals.

4/5 stars

A group of old friends reunite in a remote Scottish Lodge, only for the trip to suddenly become their nightmare. Death starts to follow them seemingly everywhere and nothing is as it seems. This book had the same vibes as THE HUNTING PARTY (Lucy Foley) and ONE BY ONE (Ruth Ware), and that's really all you need to know.

Talk about a roller-coaster of a book! I truly thought I had it all figured out at like three points throughout and I was sooo wrong. This was a fast-paced, creepy, atmospheric thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. I love a closed-set, winter thriller that causes you to suspect the main characters themselves, and that was exactly how this one was for me.

This book was just ok. I listened to the audiobook which looking back was probably a mistake. I couldn’t stand the narrator and I felt like I’ve read so many similar stories that were done better. There were a number of characters it got confusing, again the audiobook probably didn’t help. I just finished it and already forgot about it.

A group of friends reunite for the weekend at an isolated lodge in Scotland. They are excited to see each other and share what is going on in their lives. However, some of the women have secrets. The kind of secrets that can end a friendship. The kind of secrets that could end up getting you killed. It’s times like this you find who your true friends really are.

Are you a fan of audiobooks? Do you think that listening to the audiobook vs. reading the physical book changes your opinion of the book?

The Hunted is available now.

Thank you to netgalley and sagaegmontaudio for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this. The writing was great, I can’t wait for more I would definitely read and recommend to others.

Thank you, Saga Egmont Audio for my #gifted ALC!

If you are looking for a psychological thriller that you will not want to put down, I highly recommend picking up The Hunted by P.R. Black. Here is what I loved:

1. The opening chapter is going to suck you in.
2. Everyone has a secret.
3. I listened to the audiobook, and I highly recommend it. Narrator did a fantastic job.

I enjoyed this book.
The back story was helpful and kept me looking for more.
I do think it could have been shorter in certain sections.

A very very slow burn.

Strong first chapter, then completely random until about 65% into the book. I wasn’t sure what the plot was for the majority of the book. It was heavily focused on the drama between the friends. The “thrill of the book won’t take place until chapter 30ish.

Not very many twists or shocking reveals.

Listened to audiobook thanks to NetGalley.

I enjoyed the story, but I felt as if the author was trying too hard to make this into a horror novel rather than a psychological thriller and I think it went awry.

I absolutely loved the premise of The Hunted by P.R. Black! Remote settings are my jam! A group of friends, all with secrets and not a little left-over angst from their earlier days head off to an isolated Scottish island for a weekend getaway. What could go wrong?

As much as I loved the premise of this audiobook, trying to keep the characters straight in the beginning was a challenge. Once I got through to the meat of the story, it got much juicier and delivered the intrigue and action I was looking for.

Paula Masterson narrates and does a wonderful job driving the story forward!

My thanks to Saga Egmont Audio for this gifted ALC.

Narrated by Paula Master son ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Paula Master has a fantastic voice for narrating. I'd definitely like to hear more from her.

Story by P.R. Black ⭐⭐⭐ 3.5
If P. R Blacks goal was for us readers to hate these characters then 5 stars for that because these are horrible humans and while some seem to have learnt some life lessons, others deserved what they got.

First time trying/hearing of this author and would definitely purchase a future book.

*3.5 Stars On My Instagram*

"There's something foreboding here."

"When something rankles it rankles."

The Hunted by P.R. Black is a remote Scottish island, reunions are deadly and high school never leaves us story that was a slow ominous burn until the last few chapters that gave me slasher whiplash with its murderous reveals.

Five, once high school best friends, are reuniting after 20 years to catch up without any outside interference. The lodge they are meeting at has no wifi and is accessible only by Ferry or small plane. The creepiness starts right away when Shell picks up a stranded driver on her way there and doesn't make it to the lodge and no one can reach her.

As the four old friends reminisce we learn that they were pretty awful bullies and very self serving teens. As adults they don't seem to have changed too much. In fact I found them obnoxious at times.

Narrator Paula Masterson really brings the screams and evil cackling to life as the few island habitants are viciously slaughtered as the killer makes their way to the four unsuspecting women.

This is a fun somewhat predictable October audiobook that you can listen to while keeping the lights on and eating popcorn. These Mean Girls get the Mike Meyers Halloween treatment and there's a powerful lesson; if you prey on others you may become The Hunted.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Saga Egmont via #netgalley for a fair and honest review.

Oh my soul! Fiona Half-Penny tops the cake as crazy person of the month, that's for sure.

It seems almost impossible that someone can be so ... vengeful, especially after so long. But then revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. This is quite blood thirsty, the squeamish might not approve so if that's not your thing, avoid it (I did have a problem with what happened to Mouse, I reckon that could have been left out).

Other than that, it went along at a nice pace. If nothing else, it's a lesson in thinking twice before getting together with old school friends. Oh, and also forming secret societies that put people in boxes with rubber spiders. I loved Paula Masterson as narrator, but then I'm a sucker for a Scottish accent.

Thanks to NetGalley, Saga Egmont and P.R. Black for my ARC.

Three and half stars.

This one was fun! I admit that it was a little confusing keeping track of the different characters in the beginning, I do think that's a challenge of audiobooks, and often have to make sure I'm focusing to keep up with the different personalities, especially when there's a bunch of different voices.
I am a big fan of books where a secret from the past comes back to haunt people. It's just a great thriller trope, and this one definitely delivers with high suspense, and some shocking twists. I thought "The Hunted" was fun, quick-paced, and surprising!

The friends have been invited to a reunion and for a long weekend away. As soon as its revealed that nobody is sure who actually arranged it my interest was piqued. The storyline really picks up when they play a game of spin the bottle where they tell each other the worst things they had done.

The friends were horrible, I didnt like any of them but I did enjoy seeing it play out. They were unaware that people around them were being murdered until they see the message that read 'Owl Society dinner'. Then it was a race to survive. Entertaining and very enjoyable

Five childhood friends plan a girl's weekend in Scotland as a way to catch up and get away from work and family responsibilities for a while. They had formed a group called "The Owl Society" and each took nicknames of animals. Leah is often referred to as "Mummy Owl" as she is the most responsible and organized member of the group. The others really don't revert to their childhood nicknames except for Mouse, who is never called anything but Mouse. Four of the women make it as planned, but the fifth is delayed.

The members of the group have barely reached the isolated lodge when old resentments and hurts begin to surface. They begin to play games which are designed to draw out memories and reveal things that they may have forgotten about each other. As the cracks start to show, some of the husbands appear to check on their wives, but they soon leave again. The women begin to suspect that someone is watching them and may have bad intentions. Once they work out that they are indeed, being hunted, it might be too late to escape -- and escape to where, as they are isolated and (surprise, surprise) have no phone service.

I enjoyed the narrator, Paula Masterson, and the Scottish lilt she gave the characters. The story did have a lot of twists and turns and it was very suspenseful. The backstory went on too long (as did the fact that one of the women, Debs, was outright cruel most of the time, so why anyone would want to spend an isolated weekend in her company is the real mystery!). Once the women realize they are in danger and are trying to formulate ways to escape, there's also an overabundance of squabbling among the group that serves to draw out the story but not add much tension. The story ended somewhat abruptly, but otherwise it was an interesting, twisty thriller.