Cover Image: The Split

The Split

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Member Reviews

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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Pure thriller book in every sense of the word. Had every component that makes a book especially a thriller genre a great read.
From the characters, the plot , writing style it just married together.

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This book is amazing. It is captivating, exciting and full of twists
This is a complex thriller with amazing premise. The pacing is perfect. The character development was so good
A fantastic book

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How far must one run to get away from your past? Apparently sometimes not even the most remote island is even enough. This was such a good read, thrilling until the end! Can't wait to get my hands on the next one!

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This was a great read and i powered through it over a weekend. The story is told through the eyes of multiple people/characters and is actually quite confusing in places, but Sharon tied it all up beautifully. The chapters are relatively short and sharp, which is something I love, and it really works to give the book its fast pace. It’s set in some unusual surroundings, that are described brilliantly, and really help to set the scene. Highly recommend.

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A DNF from me at 25%. I love Sharon Bolton & was looking forward this one but I just didn't get on with it, I wasn't fussed about the characters 🤷

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A very enjoyable read made Alltwen more enjoyable due to the atmospheric settings. Great characters and smart plot.

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What a rollercoaster ride! This is such a cleverly thought out plot. I loved the setting of South Georgia and the thought and detail put into the setting. I won’t spoil the story for you here but I could never have predicted the ending I couldn’t put it down! Absolutely brilliant!

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Thank you Orion Publishing and NetGalley
Oh my what a great story - another brilliant read from Sharon - how does she do it!
Please keep them coming I have found an author I love and want to read more

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I’m just finding my way out of a horrible reading slump and this book was exactly what I needed to remind me what it’s like to get completely lost in a great novel. The Split opens with the main character, Felicity, at work in Antarctica. She is on edge about a passenger cruise that is due to arrive and she decides to leave her station for a little while. The novel soon goes back in time to nine months earlier in Cambridge, which was a real jolt but I was soon absorbed in what was going on there. I had my suspicions about elements of what was going on but I didn’t see the whole picture until it was revealed to me. I was completely along for the ride with this one and that was the best way to read it. Felicity is struggling with absences and she finds herself in places without knowing how she got there, and she feels like someone has been in her home. She has to go and see a counsellor, Joe, and we follow his perspective too. My favourite character in the novel is Delilah, a police detective who is Joe’s mother. She does not suffer fools and always says what she thinks. This was a dark read at times but also such a fun novel to read. I definitely recommend it!

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Based in the very inhospitable and glacial environs of South Georgia one could very well mistake this novel from the opening as an action novel with a lot of fleeing and a lot of chasing. Just who is on board the ship on course for the islands, why is Freddie there with a wound and why is Felicity, the main character, so anxious to get away from one of the passengers?
The reader is immediately enveloped in a sense of disquiet and troubling questions start forming in an attempt to work out who is who and what on earth they are doing.
The descriptions of a place I have never been to, or will ever visit myself, are dramatic and powerful and create a sense of imminent danger, whilst the dialogue adds to a chilling and unnerving view that someone just might die.
The story moves quite quickly from the isolated and icy land and seas where Felicity is studying the movement of glaciers, to Cambridge where she studied. We are introduced to other characters here; Delilah a Detective Inspector and her son Joe who is a counsellor helping patients manage their illnesses and who gives his spare time to supporitng the homeless.
Felicity has to see Joe after having an accident in order to be cleared health-wise prior to her trip to South Georgia. Delilah is looking out for Joe because he has recently been a victim of crime. Strange and perturbing incidents occur which Delilah in her police role investigates and in which Joe becomes embroiled because of an inability to detach from the needs of those he helps.
The book is definitely an original and lives up to its title The Split. All is not quite what it seems which, when you read this book, and I URGE you to do so, you will discover is the understatement of the century!
This is the sort of book that you will sacrifice sleep for. This is the sort of book that will tie you up in the most complicated knot you have ever experienced. Don’t struggle because the knot will unravel and you will be left gasping at what amounts to an incredible feat of storytelling.
With a superb ending this is A MAJESTIC read and really does deserve 10 stars!

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This book is in four parts and set across two very different locations, South Georgia and Cambridge.

The description of South Georgia and the bleak, dangerous atmosphere was so well done. I had an image in my head of what it looked like and when I searched for photos they were very close to what I thought.

Felicity is a glaciologist and has taken up a two year posting to South Georgia. She has a passion for studying the ice and the landscape, but it’s clear from the outset she’s utterly terrified of someone coming to the island. This fear is enhanced by the desolate landscape. The parts of the story set there are tense and there’s an underlying feeling that something sinister is waiting to happen.

‘...the moaning of the wind has taken on an almost human tone and there are times, with a particularly strong gust, when the human voice sounds close to insane’

The story then moves to Cambridge, in the months leading up to Felicity’s trip. We learn more about her and can begin to piece together the possible reasons for her fear.

I liked the characters, although at first I wasn’t sure about Felicity. I felt they were well done and distinct from each other so it was easy to follow.

I thought the concept of the novel was very good and the title has multiple meanings within the story.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed to have worked out the twists before they were revealed. I wasn’t shocked or taken by surprise and I was really disappointed about that, especially as I’m normally way off with my guesses!

Despite this, I still enjoyed the book overall and I found it an easy and engaging read.
I would certainly be keen to read more by this author.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

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This book starts and ends in the frozen wastes of South Georgia but spends much of its time in Cambridge. This slow burner gains momentum until it reaches its thrilling conclusion. A very interesting concept of split personalities within the main character. Highly recommended.

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I loved this atmospheric psychological thriller, particularly the snowy isolated setting. I felt that I was there myself, feeling the biting cold and walking on the desolate landscape. I loved the medical/psychological background to the book too - this is the second book covering multiple personalities that I have read in the last couple of months. Great interaction between the characters and some good twists meant I couldn't put this book down.. I bought this in paperback, forgetting I had it from NetGalley, and read that version instead!

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I’ve never read anything by this author but I definitely will be after this. I really liked it and was drawn in from the start. Kept me guessing whilst thinking I knew what was going on! A great combination! 4/5.

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I read The Split as part of an online readalong with 60 other members of THE Book Club on Facebook. Having read Sharon’s previous standalone thrillers I knew we would be in for a twisty ride and boy was I right!

If you haven’t read any of Sharon Bolton’s books before then you are in for a treat. Atmospheric, creepy, twisted and dark in places, The Split keeps you glued to the pages and double-guessing throughout.

Set primarily in the Antartic, on the small island of South Georgia we meet Felicity Lloyd – the resident glaciologist who is fascinated by icebergs and all things icy! However it soon becomes apparent that Felicity is also petrified of someone finding her and is in fear for her life.

The book is split in to 4 parts and the reader is taken back to Felicity’s past in the UK and slowly we begin to learn what or who has driven her to this remote, isolated island.

With several narrators and storylines running alongside each other, we meet Joe, a likeable therapist who treats Felicity when she is found dazed and confused after an apparent attack in Cambridge. Joe has his own secretive back story and has personal issues to deal with when meeting Felicity brings up a troubled past which he has to face.

Joe’s mother is also a prominent character in The Split – Delilah, a feisty and strong police detective who is looking into a spate of killings of homeless women when the attack on Felicity makes her a potential witness/victim.

There are so many elements to this story that take the reader on a dizzy ride through the freezing temperatures of the Antartic and back to the cobbled pavements of Cambridge, following Felicity on her escape from her past with glimpses of her troubled childhood and fragile mental health.

Twisty, gripping and atmospheric – another “chilling” story from Sharon Bolton.

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It's been a while since I read a Sharon Bolton novel and I saw the blurb for The Split and I thought I must read that!

The Split is a masterful piece of writing, starting off slowly, building the tension, then ramping it up until you can't stop turning those pages. I hope one day that this becomes a TV show or even a movie; I think it would be brilliant.

What I love about Sharon Bolton's writing is she captures the atmosphere of a place, whether it's the wildness of South Georgia or the bustling city of Cambridge.

There are a number of different points of view through the story which I'm not usually a fan of but each POV really adds to the story and creates twists and turns throughout.

I had a little inkling of what the ending might be, but everything wasn't clear until those closing chapters.

The Spilt is atmospheric, additive, and a definite must if you love psychological thrillers.

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The Split is the first of Sharon Bolton’s books that I’ve read and it won’t be the last – I really enjoyed it! It’s a great thriller to settle down with over winter, since it’s partially set on the Antarctic island of South Georgia where our protagonist, Felicity, works as a glaciologist. Just reading about the Antarctic conditions made me want to snuggle even further under a blanket and dig out my fluffy socks!

The book opens in the South Atlantic, where it becomes clear that Felicity is living in fear that convicted murderer, Freddie Lloyd, will turn up on the next ship looking for her. After a fairly intense and pacy few chapters there, we flashback to some months earlier when she was living in Cambridge and regularly seeing therapist, Joe. The events leading up to her research trip are strange and fraught to say the least! With Felicity not being entirely open, Joe struggles to work out what’s really going on and, along with that of his police officer mother, Delilah, his life becomes entangled with hers.

I couldn’t get enough of this book, and I mostly had no clue what was actually going on! Felicity is a very complex character and, like Joe, I really struggled to figure her out. I enjoyed seeing how her professional relationship with Joe developed and how it slowly started to evolve into a more personal one.

What I thought was particularly well done in this book was how it blended some quietly sinister chapters with more overtly thrilling, high adrenaline ones. There were some moments that I found mega creepy, when both Felicity and Joe believed that there had been people sneaking round their house when they were asleep! Worst nightmare. And then there are some more high octane sections where Felicity is fleeing from her assailant. Whatever type of thriller is your jam, there’s something for you in The Split.

I guessed parts of the ending before they were revealed but that didn’t really impact on my enjoyment of the book. I would also say that perhaps some people might think that parts of the storyline are a little far-fetched, but I didn’t mind at all. I thought it was a smart and well-plotted thriller, great writing, great locations – thumbs up from me!

With thanks to Trapeze for sending me a copy to review.

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I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

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Wow. A game of cat and mouse set in the Antarctic - that's not something you read every day! Sharon Bolton always manages to come up with a gripping, original storyline, and this is no exception. Really good.

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