This is a complex story about trauma, mental illness and whilst it was well written, I did find it hard to connect emotionally with any of the characters. Felicity Lloyd is part of the British Antarctic Survey team, living in the remote island of South Georgia. Frozen, isolated and bleak, she has come to this place to escape what we believe is her abusive ex-husband.

Part two of this book moves us back in time to Cambridge, and Felicity's therapy sessions with Dr Joe Grant. She is experiencing fugue states, where she loses time, and feels like she is being stalked. As he tries to unravel what lies at the root of her distress, we also learn that there is a killer targeting homeless people.

When the action moves back to South Georgia, Joe and his mother Delilah, a police officer, are frantically hunting Felicity. Is she a killer or a victim? Joe finally figures out what lies at the root of Felicity's fugue states, and is desperate to find her to ensure her safety.

As with all of the books written by Sharon Bolton this was an excellent novel. A little slow to start with but worth persevering.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for a review. I will be putting this review on Amazon too.

She's got nowhere else to hide...and now he's coming for her.

The story begins with Felicity Lloyd, a glaciologist, working as part of a specialised team on the remote island of South Georgia, situated between the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. She has taken this trip because she's running away from someone and we learn that this person is someone from her past, but why is she running and will they catch up with her in the end?

This is the second book I've read by this author, after reading The Craftsman I was really looking forward to this one. The Split starts off slowly with the author talking in depth about the island, I nearly gave up on it at one point because I didn't think it was my thing but I'm so glad I persevered with it because it's a very well crafted plot with a great twist, and by the end of part one I was hooked.

The author's description of this beautiful place reeled me in and, in my minds eye, I was right there on that island. The story is told mainly by Felicity and Joe, with a smattering of chapters by others and is split between South Georgia and Cambridge where Felicity lives. Bolton weaves this story together so intricately, bringing in the somewhat taboo subject of mental health and delivers it perfectly, it's a very dark read but extremely enjoyable, I definitely recommend it.

I'd like to thank Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Felicity is a glaciologist. She is in South Georgia (the Island not the state) studying sink holes in glaciers. When we meet her the last cruise boat is due before the scientist settle back for the winter but there is a name of the passenger list that has her desperate to get away from the base to another part of the island in order to escape.

Back to Cambridge before Felicity went to South Georgia. She is worried about strange things that seem to be happening to her & she is feeling scared & as if she is being watched. She goes to Joe, a psychotherapist to try & get to the root of the problem. Joe is recovering from a nasty attack on him so he can appreciate her fears. The homeless community is also scared after an attack leaves on of them dead. Joe's mother, Delilah, is a detective & worries about her son's charity work with them. Felicity becomes more convinced she needs to escape & wants the job in South Georgia.There are gaps in her memory, she is hearing voices & she is scared she might- or may have hurt someone. Delilah is suspicious of Felicity.

Return to South Georgia. The mysterious man Felicity is scared of appears to be her husband. Joe & Delilah are also on the ship as it seems Felicity is wanted in connection to the homeless deaths. Felicity has left the base & a hunt is on for her.

South Georgia is almost a character in the story. The atmosphere is captures so well, you feel you are at the abandoned whaling station. The feeling of menace & confusion kept me enthralled right to the end. I had guessed what was behind the title but that did nothing to detract from the enjoyment of this gripping book. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A brilliant story with a Nordic vibe and glacieric atmosphere, this book marked my foray into the dark icy world of author Sharon Bolton. The depth of the research that the story demanded had me looking at the author with awe. A part of me was also freaked by the splitting synapses in the author’s brain which drummed up this tale.

Felicity was a glacierologist, who was researching the glaciers of Antarctica. Her stalker, Freddie Lloyd managed to reach her on the last ship before the storm. She needed to escape. What better than the crevices of the icy mountains? The entire mystery started 9 months ago in Cambridge in the offices of the psychiatrist, Joe, to whom Felicity had consulted for her frequent memory lapses.

My first book by this author, and BANG! I was hit by the force of the story as I read the first few pages. Intrigue coated the words, hiding the secrets in its depths. The relationships between the characters and the changing dynamics caused my pulse to spike. Added to this was the Detective Delilah, Joe’s mother, who was investigating a series of murders, slowly being linked to the main characters.

The author’s writing caused me to gasp at the way the hidden plot loops were connected. A master strategist was she to think up the subplots. The descriptions of the South Georgia, Antarctica, transported me to the stark and cold landscapes, where storms and avalanches were the norm. The author sure did choose a dangerous setting for the story. That made the story all the more exciting.

I was so pulled in by the written word that I quickly got the audiobook. The narrator Katie Scarfe made the story come alive with her expressions and intonation and the different voices for the characters. I was pulled into the swirling vortex that the story was.

Twists were seen after every few chapters; the story was kept me gripped to my kindle. A few reveals got me thinking about the hidden areas of the brain. The final action scenes were doused with adrenaline, raising the pitch to a heart-stopping climax.

A story which I couldn’t stop listening/reading from the beginning to end. I loved the audiobook version more, thanks to the narrator.

The talented Sharon J. Bolton has written an intense, awesome and truly remarkable thriller.

In an electrifying story taking the reader to South Georgia and Cambridge, England, I could not imagine two more contrasting locations. Glaciologist Felicity Lloyd, is part of a research team, currently working on project studying the theory of the meltwater plug deep beneath the glaciers that slowly drain and empty filling the nearby lakes. Also a professional diver, she's highly dedicated along with her work partner, Jack. They are part of BAS (British Antarctic Survey) assigned to the area. She is currently awaiting the last cruise ship of the season, the Southern Star, and praying that her husband, Freddy, recently released from Durham prison after completing a sentence for murder, will not disembark. She has plans to escape from Grytviken should her abusive husband turn up on the ship. But just as the reader assumes they know where this story is headed, Sharon J. Bolton suddenly deviates from this course going back nine months to Cambridge, England where the reader finds Felicity living a slightly different lifestyle. She is seeing Dr Joe Grant, a psychotherapist for some problems she's been having. What unfolds is a terrific tale that takes Felicity to the very edge of sanity.

In The Split I was awed by the unique locales of South Georgia with its glaciers and icebergs contrasting with the beautiful university city of Cambridge. As the plot unfolds Sharon J. Bolton's vivid descriptions were so good that I could easily envisage being there with Felicity. The tension builds in monumental peaks and there are all manner of occurrences and strange happenings, some of which were immensely creepy and alarming. The characterisation by Sharon J. Bolton is first-class. The end is positively breathtaking and to merely describe it as 'good' definitely doesn’t cut the mustard, so feel free to insert your own superlative! Get a copy and prepare to read this eye-popping thriller.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request, from Orion via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion. Thank you also to Pigeonhole and Sharon Bolton for the opportunity to read this book!

The dangerous and cold landscape of South Georgia makes a fantastic setting for this suspenseful new novel by Sharon Bolton. Where is South Georgia? Geography is not my strong suit so that’s the first thing I thought when I first read the blurb of the novel. South Georgia is an island in the South Atlantic, between the Antarctic and the Falkland Islands. As one of the characters explains in the story, it is one of the most remote places on Earth so it’s the perfect place for a woman to hide, or at least try to hide. However, what’s more dangerous? The man who is chasing you or the unpredictable island where nature follows its own rules?

The story starts with researcher Felicity Lloyd dreading the arrival of a boat in South Georgia, a boat that may be carrying her ex-husband Freddie while Bamber, a woman carrying a knife, is ready to do anything to protect Felicity. We then go back in time, nine months earlier, when Felicity was still living in Cambridge, but she was getting ready for her brand new job in South Georgia. Felicity is seeing a therapist, Joe, to help cure the episodes of amnesia she is having. While Joe is worried about Felicity and facing his own demons, his mother Delilah, a police detective, is trying to figure out who is killing homeless people on the streets.

I love Sharon Bolton’s novels. Her stories are so twisty and dark and The Split is twistier and darker than ever. There are so many questions I asked myself while I was reading. Why can’t Felicity remember hours of her life? What did Freddie do to her? What happened to her when she was little? What is she hiding? And who is killing the homeless people? And when everything was explained… WOW, I was completely shocked and taken by surprise and I LOVED it. The plot is gripping with some disturbing storylines and with chasings amidst glaciers that gave me the chills and kept me on the edge of my seat.

The Split is an addictive and suspenseful story that once you start reading you won’t be able to put down until you get to the end, so go and grab a copy, you won’t regret it.

Sharon Bolton sets the scene skilfully - providing detailed descriptions of her settings, indicative of extensive (and meticulous) research. "The Split" is a chilling and perplexing read. The chapters are short which makes it easier to sell yourself the "just one more before bed" lie. I really couldn't work out what was going on and was kept guessing until the final chapters of the book. Very, very well done.

This novel is superb!  It's full of twists, turns and heart racing thrills and the most difficult part for me is telling you about it without any spoilers.  

 Our main protagonist Felicity is working in South Georgia (the island not the state) as part of a research team.  From the beginning Felicity is jumpy and nervous, checking the manifest for an incoming cruise ship and deciding to disappear.  A few clues are given to who she is running from but the reader is kept in the dark a little at this point. 

The setting description of South Georgia is stunning and vivid and I felt as though I had been given a virtual tour of a place I didn't realise existed.  I'm sure at some points I was holding my breath and actually listening out for sounds.

Now, as much as I was enjoying this part of the story, for me the intensity and thrill really picked up when we flash backed nine months previously.  At this point I couldn't put the book down.

We learn more about Felicity in this part as she is still the main narrator.  Her character development is fascinating and her narration is unreliable, leaving the reader desperately turning pages to find out more and what was really going on.  Other narrators include Joe the therapist, Shane the homeless murder suspect and Freddie the ex.  As much as I liked Felicity's character and felt great empathy towards her there was always a nagging in the back of my mind.  Sharon has done a fabulous job of developing characters that have an vulnerability to then but also an edge.  It's not black or white in this novel.  It's not clear who to be fully rooting for.       

Each short chapter reveals a little bit more but there are so many possibilities and options the plot could take it's hard to actually predict what is going on.  It's a complex plot, drawn from many perspectives but it flows so well and this doesn't interrupt the reading.  The use of short chapters is gripping and 'just one more' turns into endless reading.               

My review is very vague I know.  It would spoil it if I gave more details however this novel is absolutely fabulous.  It's a very intelligent thriller with an unpredictable and compelling plot.  You will not be disappointed.

The Split is mainly set in South Georgia, a small, isolated island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Felicity is a specialist in ice, she has come to Georgia to work, but also to hide.

But Freddie has found her!

Will Felicity be able to escape before Freddie arrives?

The story is told in two timelines, Felicity’s present and past. It builds her story and you slowly learn why she is hiding……

This is a murder mystery with a really unique edge, there are the murders of rough sleepers, home invasion and yet it also deals with abuse, mental illness, homelessness and fear. There’s a clever, complex plot with some really creepy moments too…..my windows are all shut and locked that’s for sure….! Dark, tension filled and a thoroughly chilling read. I loved every minute.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eCopy of the book. This is my honest and unbiased review.

My thanks to Orion Publishing Group - Trapeze for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Split’ by Sharon Bolton in exchange for an honest review.

First, I do feel that this kind of psychological thriller is best read ‘cold’ so I am not going to say much about the plot in order to preserve this.

It opens on the island of South Georgia, where glaciologist Dr. Felicity Lloyd has taken on a two-year research project. She appears very nervous about the arrival of the last ship of the season that will bring supplies and tourists to the community. When it arrives a name on the passenger list spooks her and she runs off.

We then move back in time nine months to Cambridge where Felicity is preparing to take up the offer of the Antarctic trip. After being found by the police in a confused state with a concussion, her GP wanted a psychiatric assessment before certifying her okay to return to work. She is seen by Dr. Joe Grant.

Dr. Joe is also concerned about the recent murder of one of the homeless that he was trying to assist. His mother, Delilah Jones, is a Detective Inspector investigating the murders. The third part returns to pick up the action in Antarctica.

This is quite a complex plot and at some points along the way I will admit that I felt a bit confused though happily things did come together in the final chapters.

Delilah was a wonderful character. As for Dr. Joe, his behaviour struck me as unprofessional as he got far too close to his clients. It’s a common trope with psychiatrists in fiction. I also didn’t warm that much to Felicity herself and some elements of the story strained credibility. Still, the descriptions of Cambridge and of South Georgia were breathtaking.

It was one of those novels that was perfectly fine but just didn’t wow me.

I would rate this book as a high 3 stars. Although it was good I thought that it was predictable in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

If you like a puzzle, then this is the book for you. From the extreme, isolated landscape of South Georgia, to the city of Cambridge nine months earlier, the reader is taken on a journey through a multi-layered narrative with a fascinating unreliable narrator.
The narrative seems disjointed for a substantial part of the book, but stick with it, it mirrors the central plot and the narratives will come together in a tense climax that will have you holding your breath!
This the story of Felicity, who is a glaciologist and a young woman on the edge; she is living in fear and we first meet her when she is working in the freezing waters of South Georgia with her colleague Jack. What soon becomes clear is that Felicity is running from someone, and that person is close on her trail. Before we can learn more, the narrative shifts back to the past.
There are several interesting characters, some more mysterious than others, I liked the character of Joe, the psychologist and councillor; he is not without flaws, but it makes him a more realistic character. I enjoyed finding out about his work, his relationship with this police officer mum, and the difficulties he is dealing with. Both he and Felicity have suffered trauma, and both are battling with their demons.
Also embedded into this story is a murder investigation in the rough sleeping community, this adds yet another dimension to a multi-layered plot and narrative voices. There are several subtle clues along the way, and I would recommend using a notebook and working on your inner Sherlock!
This was not the expected read from the blurb, in fact it is completely different story to what you’d be expecting, but it’s a super puzzle of a novel. I always enjoy Sharon Bolton books, and this was no exception.

My Thoughts: this book was a slow burner at first, which helped build the atmosphere really well.

Felicity is running away from her ex husband who she thinks she has seen after her. She’s a glaciologist and has taken a job in Antarctica on the last boat of the summer with the think that he won’t find her and she’ll be safe, little does she know that no matter how far you run, some things will always catch up with you.

The story is told within 2 timelines, eventually meeting up so it’s just the one, the first is the ‘before leaving where we follow felicity through her therapy and slowly start to see how she’s got to the point where she feels she has to run, the second is the present day, where we see her getting ready for her trip.

The book is told from different perspectives, all people who seem to have felicity’s best interests at heart, but are they all as they seem?

Once the story got going I couldn’t stop reading, and devoured it pretty quickly because I needed to know where it would end, would she get away? Would Freddie find her? would we ever find out why she felt the need to run in the first place?

This story was full of so many twists and turns that I didn’t know wether I was coming or going, but I’m the best way possible.

Felicity Lloyd is so scared of Freddie Lloyd that she has signed up to work on the remote island of South Georgia. The problem is Felicity can't remember why she is so scared of him. Who is Freddie, what did he do, and what will he do if he catches up to her?

The story starts off on South Georgia before going back a few months to Cambridge in the UK. Most of the book takes place in Cambridge, with chapters in South Georgia bookending. It was a fairly good read - after a slow start it was pacy with quite a few twists to the story. The blurb says "Tense, gripping and with a twist you won't see coming" - except you probably will. It really is quite obvious. Also, this is the second book I've read recently where therapists seem to very quickly forget professional ethics and cross the line. It's not a good look. Overall I found it a slightly disappointing read.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Orion Publishing Group / Trapeze, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I enjoyed finding out about life on South Georgia and glaciers very much. I was quietly pleased that the tension released somewhat with a change of country to Cambridge but then the tension ratcheted up again. If anything, I think this was the reason why I didn’t particularly like the book because I was always on edge with adrenaline but with no way to expend it. I found the ending, again very dramatic but almost too much. The neatness of the last few pages irritated me and I felt it was slightly unbelievable that a policewoman and her son were tasked with going to the other side of the world - and don’t get me started on the lack of medical ethics! For these reasons I can only award 3 stars

A brilliant psychological thriller that takes you from the spires of Oxford to the glaciers of the arctic. Felicity Lloyd is on the run, but who from and why. Told in clever flashbacks through her life in Oxford and the present day, the writing and characters had me gripped from the start. WIth some genuinely spooky moments and powerful evocative writing about the after effects of severe trauma, I could not put this down and I thought about it for days after. It's definitely so far from the standard trope of a woman trying to escape a man that it almost re-writes the trope. A powerful read, this is one to curl up with and ignore everyone else. I went on to read Bolton's backlist as a result of enjoying this so much.

From the arctic conditions of South Georgia to the city of Cambridge, I was engrssed in this book. Bolton knows how to structure a novel and The Split is perfectly structured. Linking the narrative of Felicity Lloyd who is working in near isolation on a frozen landscape with rough sleepers being killed in Cambridge is pure genius. The narratives take place over two timelines and are preciselt plotted. I became so invested in the characters and was absolitely thrilled by the ending. I don't want to give too much away as this novel is really one to get your teeth into. The way Bolton leads us gradually to awareness of what's really going on and then flips it had my heart hammering in my chest. In short, this is just not to be missed. Absolutely breathtaking.

My first read of Sharon J Bolton and it was certainly and enjoyable read overall. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Our main protagonist is Felicity Llyod, a glaciologist. We find her in the setting of South Georgia in the Antarctic on a two year research mission. As far away from humanity as you can get. And Felicity has good reason to be as far away as possible it seems. She is consumed with fear that she will be found and that a figure from her past life will track her down.
After spending the first quarter of the book in this setting(which I loved by the way and would have liked more of it there)we go back in time to Cambridge England to get Felicitys back story and what has led her to seek a job that is so far removed from humanity.

This is where things get complicated as Felicity seems to have huge memory loss about her past and suffers blackouts regularly during her day to day life. When she starts seeing a therapist - Dr Joe Grant she finds herself second guessing her memory and her perceived reality as Dr Grant becomes more and more concerned about her safety as well as her mental health.

I really enjoyed this one overall although it wasnt without its faults.

Going in blind I really enjoyed the opening quarter and the setting of South Georgia. I was then transported to Cambridge England for a huge chunk of the book and, while it was essential to tell the back story to give some context and also "reveals" I found myself wanting to go back to South Georgia.

The story does unravel and tie up nicely at the end. It did feel a little convoluted at times and a couple of the characters were a little unbelievable and didnt sit well in the story because of it.
I also found the character of Joes mum, the police woman extremely one dimensional and not well written.

Having said that the final act was exhilarating and really ramped up the tension to the finale. I was glad to spend more time back in South Georgia!

A solid read that was flawed but enjoyable overall. 3.5 stars marked up to 4 as it is defintely better than a 3 star review for me. I look forward to reading the author again in the future.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group and Sharon J Bolton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Great book, had a confusing start, but once you got into it all became clear.
Interesting insight into split personalities.
Would highly recommend this book.
5 stars