My second book by Daniel Hurst. It tells the story of a weekend break of two couples in the Scottish Highlands. The book is described as a psychological thriller. The book disappoints. The lack of thrill and tension makes me question the genre of this book. The plot is not engaging and predictable. Probably my last book by this author.

Well, this was… a bit of a letdown.
The Holiday Home is supposed to be a thriller about friends who go for a short weekend trip to the holiday home of one couple in Scotland. But once there secrets and lies start to surface.
Nicola is our main character and you follow most of the story trough her eyes. All though small chapters in the book are told from different other characters point of view.
Problem for me with all of the characters, even the kids was that they were so one dimensional. No debt what so ever. And the overall storyline was a been there, read that…. Even the plot twists seem to be reused time and time again.
In a market that is overflowing with thrillers, I don’t think this non to original domestic thriller will stand a chance. And that is a shame, because it had a very good premise and it is clear that the author has a talent for describing a setting! I really felt like I was in Scotland.
SO yes, I was a bit let down. This book is like a good cup of tea that just sat out to long and is now a luke warm brew. Not bad, but just mediocre.

A good read overall despite the slow start. Once it got going I raced through it, secrets and lies, what’s not to like?!

Best friends with their husbands and children go away for the weekend.
Secrets get overheard & things start to unravel. Life changes for forever after this trip to the holiday home.

At chapter 33 I felt like things picked up a little, for some tension. I really didn't like any of the characters but it was an easy read with a few twists to keep me reading until the end.

I love Daniel Hurst’s books and this one is no exception. A bit of a slow read at first but once you getninto itnyour hooked. I loved everything about this book. The twists were great and i cant wait for Daniel’s next book.

Thanks netgalley and publisher.

All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Holiday Home by Daniel Hurst

Published: March 1, 2023
Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Fiction
Pages: 253
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Daniel Hurst is the author of several bestselling psychological thrillers including 'The Passenger,' 'We Used To Live Here,' and 'Til Death Do Us Part.' His books have been the #1 Psychological Thrillers in the UK and Australia and regularly feature in the Amazon Top 100 charts. He is also the creator of The 20 Minute Series, the series of psychological books which readers have called “original” and “addictive” and 'like a soap opera in book form."

“By the time the sun sets tomorrow night, everything will be different.”

Nicola is excited to be going on a weekend trip with her best friend, Kim, and their husbands, Ryan and Lewis, and children, Emily and Cole. She never expected secrets to spill. A single text message has quickly spiraled into a deadly game, and there may not be any survivors.

HOLY BUCKETS. This was terrifying. The way this story is twisted and the way things are revealed is so smart. Daniel Hurst is a brilliant storyteller.

I liked Nicola. She is strong, intelligent, and loves her child. Ryan is a putz from the get, and Kim seems shady. Lewis has a secret, but who doesn’t?

I loved the mix of secrets and the weight they bear throughout this novel, from the innocent to the deadly. Daniel is a fantastic storyteller, and this tale is a fast-paced heart-stopper.

I could not put this book down, and I tried. I could not stay away from this book. I had to know what happened and how things played out, and I found it addictive. From the first page, this is a dangerously twisted tale of lies, greed, selfishness, and self-preservation.

I love the way Daniel Hurst tells a story. His twists come out of nowhere and slap you so hard. But there is no time to dwell because where there is one twist, another soon follows.

This utter workhorse of an author does it again - another fantastic page-turner that I would place in the psychological thriller genre.

This book is written from the perspective of Nicola, who, along with husband Ryan, and daughter, Emily, find themselves hosted in a stunning holiday house, in an idyllic, yet very remote, location in the Scottish Highlands. The hosts are Nicola's best friend, Kim, Kims husband and son. The promise of events taking a dire turn is alluded to at every opportunity, and this plays out in quite a spectacular fashion.

This is a novel that shows the devastation that can be cause by long standing secrets. It is utterly addictive, and I would expect no less based on previous reads from Daniel Hurst. An easy 5 stars from me!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

This book was easy to read and fast to get through but it did not wow me as some of his previous books had. I enjoyed reading it but nothing really stands out to share that made it extra special. Give it a try yourself, and see what you think!

The Holiday Home
by Daniel Hurst
Pub Date: 01 Mar 2023
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers

With a secluded house and mysterious characters, The Holiday Home is an edge of your seat adventure. Chapter by chapter, Hurst unravels this book to a shocking conclusion full of red herrings and plot twists.

Daniel Hurst is one of my favorite psychological thriller authors. Every time he releases a book, I read it and am never disappointed.

Rating: (4.25/5)

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for sharing this thrilling arc with me. Your kindness is appreciated.

#TheHolidayHome

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book by Daniel Hurst before the publication date of the 1st March 2023.

Another absolute belting read from Daniel, everytime I read one of his books I am wholly sucked in and cannot put the book down until the end. This one was of the same ilk as everything else I have read from the author.

Greatly written, captivating story, set in the back of beyond in Scotland, 2 couples with many secrets. The book had many twists and turns and the ending was not seen coming right until the final pages.

5 stars and would recommend this book highly.

Two couples with their children go on a holiday home for a vacation--Nicola and Ryan with their daughter Emily and Kim and Lewis with their son Cole. However, while on holiday Nicola learns a deep secret about Ryan and Kim--a secret that might ruin them or...someone might end up getting dead.

Initially, the first part of the book was slightly boring but when Nicola learned about Ryan's relationship with Kim and when Nicola confronted Kim about it, things got a bit interesting. There were not many twists or turns, the story was a little bit of a slow burn but overall, it wasn't very bad either. This was a good thriller that will keep you hooked till the end and the interesting part starts from the middle of the book. There wasn't much suspense and since the characters are less, the story itself is quite predictable.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and this worth three stars in my opinion!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Another great read from Daniel Hurst. The build up of the story and the characters adds to the intrigue as I knew there would be some kind of revelation that would turn this plot on its head. I wasn't wrong. . From the revelation the tension was heightened and continued. Once again an unexpected ending .

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this read! It was good. It had great pacing and I enjoyed the writing. I have to say, ,I like how Daniel Hurst created the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. It just makes you keep going on and on. I could not stop reading it. Towards the end, I found it dragged a bit with fillers but I was invested at that point so I kept going.

It was a 4 star read for me.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

Book Title: The Holiday Home
Author: Daniel Hurst
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: March 1, 2023
My Rating: 4+ rounded up

When Nicola’s best friend, Kim, and her husband, Lewis, invite Nicola, her husband Ryan and their eleven year old daughter Emily to their lake side luxury log cabin on the outskirts of Glencoe in rural western Scotland, it’s an offer Nicola cannot turn down.

A holiday with Kim, Lewis and their fifteen year old son Cole doesn’t seem ideal to Ryan ~ he hates to look a gift horse in the mouth but he is thinking ~ if someone offers you a free holiday, know that it is going to cost you … in more ways than one!
Nicola is excited about spending time with her friend so Ryan goes along with the week-end trip.

The week-end starts good but soon becomes a nightmare as secrets are revealed and before the week-end is over someone doesn’t survive.

This is my fifth author, Daniel Hurst novel.. The first couple I read were okay. I became a big fan when I read "The Couple in the Cabin" then "The Doctor’s Wife" ~ (now this story ranks among my top "likes!")
Daniel Hurst gets better and better.
Certainly I am looking forward to reading his next psychological thriller!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for granted me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 1, 2023

Lacking tension and suspense

It kept me entertained as an easy popcorn read, but I was relieved to have finished.

The characters were bland but believable. Some parts grabbed my attention; however, for the most part, there was limited thrill.

The foreshadowing at the end of each chapter got a little tedious. The final twist felt a bit thrown in for the sake of a twist. If you’re going to play the surprise hypocrite card, then at least have the protagonist herself commit villainy disguised as justice.

Daniel Hurst has done it again the ‘The holiday home, a fast-paced thriller.
Nicola and Kim have been long time best friends, when Kim invites Nicola and her husband Ryan and her daughter a weekend away in a remote part of Scotland. Kim’s husband Lewis is doing well for himself and owns his own company. They brought a luxurious cabin for a getaway. At first, Ryan is hesitant as he is not that close with Lewis. As he always boats how much money he has. But for Nicola’s sake he agrees.
So when they arrive, they all head for the hot tub and everyone seems to be having a good time. But when Nicola takes he daughter Emily out of the hot tub she hears something between Ryan and Kim that changes her life forever.
Thank again Bookoutre, for a copy of The holiday home. Told in several points of view this is a exciting, tense thriller. I liked the short chapters as it kept me guessing what was going to happen next and throughout. 5 stars from me.

OMG ya'll this was straight 90's talk show gold! I was waiting for Steve to pop up and drag these people off the stage for acting a fool.

This story follows best friends Nicola and Kim vacationing with their families at a super fancy secluded holiday home in Scotland. Full transparency I struggled with the first 3 chapters. Our FMC Nicola was describing the landscape and providing the background for the couples, everything from friendship history to financial status. All very important info but not really exciting to read.

However, once we got past the much-needed staging for the story things popped up. I devoured this story in one sitting. It has multiple POVs, twists, and got me all heated AF. Some of these characters got a lot of audacity. I found myself talking to my kindle, cussing a few of them out. LOL

This is a great, fast paced, thrilling, dysfunctional family, read. I highly recommend.

A very suspenseful slow-burn domestic drama by Daniel Hurst! His writing just gets better and better. He's a new favorite of mine.

Nicola and Kim are longtime best friends. Nicola is our main narrator but we hear from nearly everyone at some point on this sordid holiday.

Nicola and her husband Ryan and daughter Emily are joining Kim and her husband Lewis and their son Cole at the new holiday cabin of Kim and Lewis. Things start off a bit rocky because Ryan thinks Lewis is pretentious and a show-off. Lewis thinks Ryan is kind of lazy. As you have probably gathered, the husbands aren't besties like the wives are, they're just there for the ladies.

Nicola feels a bit insecure because Kim is richer and more fit than she is but she loves Kim so much that she doesn't let it get to her until she stumbles upon a secret. Instead of confronting it head on, she sits on it until she's sure of what to do.

When you only have lies and partial truths to lead you, the narrative is going to spin out of control and by the time this holiday ends, someone will be dead.

This was compulsively readable, I HAD to know what happened. There were times it moved a little slow for me but it did build suspense. This will make the perfect spring break read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

Fast-paced and twisty but very predictable and similar to other couples-go-on-a-holiday-together books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC.