I think this book just wasn’t the right fit for me at this time, but I’m sure that’s more on me than the book itself. The timeline’s shifts were a bit challenging for me to follow, which made it harder to stay fully immersed in the story. That said, I can see how others might really enjoy its unique structure!

The story starts with an exciting premise, combining the thrill of survival with an exploration of human resilience in the face of isolation. The icy setting is vividly described, creating an atmospheric backdrop that pulls you in. However, while the story begins with promise, it struggles to maintain momentum. The characters, though intriguing at first, often feel underdeveloped, and their motivations sometimes seem inconsistent. I found myself wanting to connect more deeply with their journeys but felt held back by the pacing and some overly predictable plot twists. The author’s descriptive writing and unique premise deserve credit. The Ice Retreat is an enjoyable read for fans of survival stories, but it left me wanting more emotional depth and tighter storytelling.

A remote and controversial wellness spa at the top of a Swiss peak, only accessible by multiple cable cars, surrounded by acres of snow, towering mountains and no-one else around.
Podcaster Hollie Jensen is famous for debunking health and wellbeing myths and she has the ice retreat in her sights. People pay thousands of pounds for extreme coldwater therapy but she believes its just a con. Eventually she is invited to the spa to visit for herself. They try to show her that there's nothing dubious there but she can't shake the feeling that there is something amiss.
As her investigations continue, she finds herself in some life-threatening situations- what is being hidden and why is it being protected?

An entertaining read which is best read under a snuggly blanket!

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚁𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙸'𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎! 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑👌

This is the perfect (or maybe too perfect) book for the current weather with its icy surroundings, creepy vibes and uneasy nature. Ruth is such a good writer and makes you wonder what’s going on all of the time. As usual I didn’t guess the ending and the twists until they were practically revealed.

Hollie is a bit of a different character, I didn’t feel overly connected to her but I think this is how she would be in reality as well, hard to read and get close to because of the barriers she’s built up. I think Martyn was the character who I felt for the most, he seems so genuine and in need of the help that I really wanted to know what had happened and where he had gone.

If you’re looking for a chilly winter thriller then I would recommend adding this to your list, but then also ensure you’re wrapped up toasty and warm! It definitely gave me similar vibes to The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse so if you enjoyed that then you’ll like this one too.

I love a destination thriller and at this time of year there is nothing better than a snowy thriller - and having read and enjoyed her previous two books, The Villa and The Escape, I couldn’t wait to read The Ice Retreat.

Hollie Jenson presents a television series about alternative wellness therapies and uses her scientific background to call their efficacy into question. Her latest target is former Olympic skier Ariel Rose’s retreat in the Swiss mountains which offers ice rebirth treatments. Hollie interviews the mother of a young man who has gone missing following his stay there - and when she gets an invitation to visit Hollie can’t pass up the opportunity to expose Ariel. But when she arrives it soon becomes clear that there is more going on at the retreat than even she expected ….. and why is Hollie so invested in uncovering the truth?

Kelly creates a wonderful sense of place that leaps off the page, using the remoteness of the setting to create a sense of unease from the outset. The narrative switches between Hollie and two of the patients at the retreat, Florence and Martyn. With some interesting characterization - Hollie and Ariel are both flawed but intriguing - the tension mounts as the plot takes some unexpected turns. There is no shortage of surprises and the pace ramps up as the story heads to its dramatic conclusion and it certainly got my heart racing and my head spinning.

Healer, Lair or Killer

Hollie is on a mission to expose Ariel Rose a wellness guru who claims she can heal chronic pain through ice rebirth. Hollie is invited to the retreat to experience it for herself but soon realises the secrets go much deeper than she thought and she may not make it home alive.

This book got its hooks in me right from the start. I literally could not put this book down. The story had me on the edge of my seat I had no idea where it was going to go. Hollie is a slightly annoying character but I think that fits with her life experiences. This was my first Ruth Kelly I will definitely be reading her backlist.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan and Ruth Kelly for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for a unique and fast-paced thriller with a cold twist this winter? Then look no further!

The Ice Retreat follows an exciting premise as a documentary maker seeks to expose a healing retreat set in the Swiss mountains. I really loved the setting and got a great sense of this striking building and the freezing temperatures.

The tension and sense of dread are strong throughout, and I was constantly curious to find out what was going on. You can constantly feel that something wrong is happening behind closed doors and that there are a lot of secrets being kept, so my intrigue was high throughout.

I found the revelations a little too unpredictable to be really impressed with them, but it's definitely an original thriller with lots of twists.

I would have liked a little bit more character development as, although I feel like you get to know the characters well, I wanted to understand Hollie's emotions more and uncover Martyn's motives more. I just felt like they had a lot more to them, and I wanted to find out!

But overall, it's an entertaining thriller, and I always love a chiller twist, so I would recommend it if you're looking for a snowy read this festive season.

‘The Ice Retreat’ by Ruth Kelly is a sharp and compelling thriller that explores the controversial intersection between medicine, wellness trends and influencer culture. We follow the journey of ex-scientist and investigative TV journalist Hollie as she descends upon “The Ice Retreat” - a luxury retreat promising holistic healing from chronic pain, armed with a series of tragedies and a determination to uncover the truth behind the resort, and its mysterious founder Ariel.

The narrative style, which shifts between multiple perspectives and timelines rather than linearly following Hollie, is gripping, with addictive cliffhangers and lurching twists. The subject matter and plot were topical and fascinating, and I admired how vividly the author described the Swiss mountain location and the glass-fronted ice baths… I truly felt like I was there - then thanked my lucky stars that I wasn’t.

The pace certainly picked up towards the end of the novel, with a few transformative reveals in quick succession. I feel that the pacing could have been slightly more even, and I would have loved to hear more about the aftermath of the explosive events described in the final chapters.

Overall, this gets four stars and I recommend to anyone who loved ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ by Liane Moriarty, ‘The Midnight Feast’ by Lucy Foley, or Ruth Kelly’s previous novels.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Pan MacMillan via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

4.5⭐️ Hollie Jenson is the presenter of the smash-hit docu-series Bad Medicine, which exposes the perils of extreme therapies. Her next target is a new retreat run by wellness guru Ariel Rose, who claims to have discovered the secret to healing pain through her three-day ice rebirth treatment. Acting on a mother's plea to find her son, who vanished soon after his stay, Hollie ventures into the Swiss mountains where the retreat occupies a former observatory. There she hopes to expose Ariel as the charlatan she believes her to be but, there is much more to the retreat than meets the eye…

I devoured this book in just one sitting, I didn’t want to put it down! The fast paced writing style, something that I enjoyed in previous titles by this author too, means the chapters flow succinctly into each other, leaving you wanting to know more and more as each one ends.

The description of the ice retreat, located in an isolated spot in the mountains in Switzerland is described so perfectly, I visualised every single element as Hollie encounters it. I honestly felt if I was there in the freezing cold with her! The storyline, set against this descriptive prose, is complex at times but I enjoyed learning more about the elements discussed, it is evident the author has put a lot of research into this title for this.

And then the twist, well I’m obviously not going to give that away here but, if you’ve read previous titles by Ruth, then you will know you won’t be disappointed. The last quarter section, just wow, safe to say I definitely wasn’t expecting that! And that last line, it sums everything up beautifully.

This is a spine-tingling, heart-thumping, crazy ride of a thriller that you can’t miss out on, a must read!

A bit slow to start but definitely got going mid way through. Good crime/thriller for a weekend escape.....

Look at the cover, isn't it fantastic? That mountain that resembles the Matterhorn is so majestic. Add to it shadowy a là medical therapy facility and nosy ambitious journalist and it seems like a solid bestseller.
Well... first of all the writing isn't the best. The story is told from multiple POVs and in the first person. From the very beginning, we read many, many times how scary everything is, and how scared the characters are. There's fear, confusion, scream.
"This is kidnapping. I am someone and people will notice I'm gone. No. Wait. A fog mists my memories (...). I was someone. Years ago. and then I hid myself away because something ghastly happened to me, but what?"
"Something cold and spidery crawls across my skin. Maybe we made a wrong turn?"
The thing is, all of this does not build a thrilling atmosphere, it makes the readers roll their eyes. The overdramatisation doesn't work.
In chapter 16 when Martyn tells his part and here he reaches the Ice Retreat for the first time it says that it`s at 1600m above sea level. "The retreat is so high in the mountains that the journey up must be broken into two halves." "(...) the air, it's so much thinner up here. Martyn's read up on altitude sickness (...), but he didn't anticipate it would be this difficult to get oxygen into his lungs." WHAT? Altitude sickness at 1600 meters? Medically speaking we can start talking about it from 2500m onwards, however most people can feel changes from 3000m. HAPE and HACE (pulmonary and cerebral edema can occur in different people at different altitudes, but statistics show that medical intervention is usually required at 5000m+.
Chapter 17 states, "At 3200 meters above sea level, it was one of the highest atmospheric research stations in the world." We are talking about the same Ice Retreat! "We are above the permanent snowline, which means we have it all year round. It never gets warmer than minus five." So, in one chapter the retreat is at 1600, and in the next one at 3200m above sea level. Which is it? How come nobody caught such an obvious error?
The characters are awful. Hollie is an arrogant, cocky, constantly angry young woman who behaves in a very immature way. Every other character in this book is just as unpleasant. Only Hollie's ex-husband came across as a fairly nice guy.
Overall, this book did not meet my expectations at all. What seemed to be a good idea and a great setting, came out as a poor story without any thrills and filled with annoying characters. Hopefully next time we will get a much better book.

This book offers an engaging and fast-paced narrative, culminating in an impressive twist at the end. The central premise is particularly intriguing, focusing on an investigation into a wellness retreat that appears to be connected to a series of deaths and disappearances. The main character, Hollie, is depicted as ambitious and deeply invested in her quest for the truth behind the story.

As the investigation unfolds, the revelations regarding the retreat become increasingly unconventional and thought-provoking. However, the narrative may sometimes feel overwhelming due to the numerous themes and ideas it seeks to explore. Each component is compelling in its own right, but the combination can lead to a sense of complexity that may challenge readers' understanding.

Overall, while the book showcases many powerful aspects and has the potential to be highly impactful, a more focused approach to its themes could enhance clarity and strengthen the reader's engagement with the story.

I read and loved Ruth Kelly's previous two novels (The Escape and The Villa) so I was excited to start this! I found this another highly original thriller that I raced through in just over a day!

I loved the premise of the Ice Retreat. This was a place where people stayed to get cured of intense physical pain through a specialised and extreme, ice treatment programme. This programme seemed to defy scientific explanations but was it safe?
Hollie Jenson is the presenter of a documentary series, Bad Medicine and she sets out to find a missing boy and expose both the Ice Retreat and it's founder Ariel Rose for the phony and corrupt place she believes it to be.
The Ice Retreat is a dangerous and remote environment however. Will Hollie survive her visit and uncover the truth?
This was such an atmospheric (and chilly!) thriller. The cold, remote Swiss mountains created the perfect locked room scenario.
As with Ruth Kelly's previous novels, there were plenty of great twists, making it impossible to predict! The ending wasn't what I was expecting at all!
A great suspense thriller that is hard to put down!

I definitely did not know who to trust which made reading this book very suspensful, it kept me hooked until the very end.

A LOCKED ROOM TYPE THRILLER

A scientist turned investigative journalist plans to uncover rouge medical practice… The ice retreat aims to cure pain and combat addiction!

Cults. Coincidences. A missing person...

Dark. Original. Sassy &Sinister… I completed raced through the pages. A jaw dropping twist you don’t see coming ends the story perfectly!!

Perfect for those who enjoy:
- Pacy thrillers
- Strong storylines
- Twists and turns
- The perfect ending

If you enjoyed Richard Armitages’ Geneva, you’ll enjoy this one!

Hollie, a presenter who exposes the truths behind extreme therapies, sets her sights on The Ice Retreat, a wellness retreat that promises to rid you of pain, which is run by guru Ariel. She jumps at the chance to visit when she is invited to see what they do, however when there she realises that it may be more dangerous than she first thought.

Ruth Kelly has been a go to author for me since I read her first book, The Villa. This was another great offering by this author, turning out to be a tense, entertaining thriller. The story starts strongly and straight away I was drawn in. I found the premise of extreme therapies fascinating and the atmosphere was superb, you could feel the eeriness and isolation. I enjoyed the Swiss setting and could imagine the cold environment.

The characters, especially the lead, were written well and had interesting personalities, despite being frustrating at times. There were plenty of twists and turns, some which I surprised myself by predicting, although others I didn’t see coming. The story gets a bit crazy by the end with plenty of action and suspense. Overall this was another fun, well plotted thriller by this author and I can’t wait to find out what’s next. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this, and as the autumn nights draw in this was a great read.
Our main character, Hollie, is angry and determined to use her role on social media to expose those who are doing wrong. Having already had a hit show, her target this time is former Olympic skier Ariel who has become the face of a wellness retreat. The Ice Retreat is shrouded in mystery, but there is talk of bizarre practices and a number of former guests have killed themselves. After talking to the mother of one of the guests Hollie vows to learn the truth about the resort.
There are definitely secrets, and Hollie finds herself in increasingly dangerous territory as she tries to work out what is going on. We’re kept as much in the dark as Hollie and the shifting perspective means we’re not allowed to see what’s going on until quite late on.

I love high concept thrillers with vivid and evocative settings and a cast of characters living lives I can only dream of so, having read and loved "The Villa", I was immediately intrigued by the concept of this book, with its isolated and secluded Wellness Centre setting and an almost cult like figure in the form of Wellness Guru, Ariel Rose.

And overall it ended up being a solid 3 star thriller for me. The concept and mystery drew me in immediately and I knew there had to be a twist or two along the line which kept me reading, unfortunately what knocked it down was the characterisation of main character, Hollie which just didn't work for me at all.

I really dislike characters who are written to handle their trauma by using alcohol as medicine, it makes for a contrived unreliable narrator trope which for my reading preference is really irritating. With Hollie we also had another pet peeve of mine, her inability to communicate effectively, making for more contrived ways to keep the plot moving forward.

Normally I wouldn't have continued reading as the main character is obviously a major figure throughout, however the dual timeline with other character perspectives broke up Hollie's chapters and added enough intrigue to keep me on the hook and keep reading to figure out what on earth is going on.

The final reveals of the truth of the situation did stretch credulity and required a lot of suspension of disbelief. It also didn't all quite flow and come together in the way that "The Villa" did. However overall I can say enjoyed the ride, it was what I needed at that moment and I will go back and read "The Escape" next as having read two books now from Ruth Kelly I can see the patterns of style, tone and pacing and setting and I like it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a digital review copy of "The Ice Retreat" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

A thriller based on a fantastic ice retreat in the Swiss mountains, it all sounds pretty good, if a little bit “come in Mr Bond” about it. However I enjoyed it and it was different. It all goes a bit into the realms of fantasy as the bodies pile up. A good read for winter, by the fire