You can't lame a lion for being a lion. An animal has no wickedness; it knows only how to survive. But a man who fancies himself a lion to excuse his depravity? Well, he's no more than a predator.'

I was over-the-moon excited when I was asked to join the blog tour for the debut pulse-racing thriller @thekatstjohn. It's a dramatic read with all the components that a thriller needs; suspense, uncertainty, dynamic characters and one helluva twist! Set on the supposedly idyllic environs of a luxury yacht in the Riveria, an exclusive birthday celebration turns sour as secrets unfurl and the night turns ugly. Although the gorgeous locations had me yearning for a holiday – lockdown blues taking full effect! – you do not want to go on holiday with these girls! (And the only lion I want to come across is our little one snoozing above...🐱)

A compulsive masterpiece of thriller writing, I couldn't put it down and neither will you!

The Lion’s Den by Katherine St. John is published by Headline, eBook out now.

Thank you to the author and publisher @headlinebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. #gifted

The perfect summer read and I loved it! Just be warned, if you enjoy a glimpse into the lives of the ultra-rich, set in beautiful surroundings, combined with the twists and turns of a well-paced thriller, you may find it hard to put it down.

Belle is invited on an all-expenses holiday on a yacht in the Med to celebrate her old friend Summer's birthday, hosted by Summer's much older, wealthy boyfriend John, but it quickly proves not to be the holiday she expected. The well-written story cleverly alternates between the present and the past and the twists keep coming, and I was gripped to the end. Entertaining escapism that I will be recommending as an ideal holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

So when I read the blurb for this book I thought it sounded a bit mysterious, when I first started reading it however I wasnt sure it was going to be my type of book, a boat on the Riviera sounded a bit too light reading for me as I'm more into thrillers, however once I started reading it I struggled to put it down!
It had me hooked throughout, and I liked the way it went back to before the boat and to now so you could understand the back story as well as the now.
I loved Amethyst and Belle, would love them to be my friends and I loved I character of Summer!
The slight twist in it was good and one I didnt see coming, I enjoyed reading this book more than I thought I would!

Luxury Holiday,Intimate Guestlist, Sumptuous Yacht.....
Luxury holiday, intimate guest list, sumptuous yacht - an invitation you can’t refuse? Belle certainly couldn’t. When Belle and six other women board yacht, ‘Lion’s Den’, owned by billionaire boyfriend of old friend Summer, dream holiday turns treacherous. Fast moving, claustrophobic suspense and an ideal escapist read.

I can’t give this book a bad rating, because joe wasn’t a bad book, the writing style was great the story just didn’t sit well with me. I think it’s just that the partner of the main character is controlling, the girls don’t even get to pick what they are eating.
One even got a glass of water taken off her because she ordered it herself, it just doesn’t sit right with me I was finding it quite uncomfortable to read :( - I just kept thinking I’m only half way through. how much worse is this going to get.

The Lion’s Den is the compulsive and thoroughly gripping debut thriller by a new name in the genre game and is the ideal beach/holiday read perfect for a spot of escapism given our current predicament. As we are becoming acutely aware that holidays may not be an option this year, either foreign or domestic, this gripping and addictive page-turner is your next best thing as it’s set where sun, sand and secrets are each in plentiful supply it seems. It tows the line between being a crime thriller and a women's fiction/chick-lit novel well enough that I can see it appealing to many readers.

From the first pages, the delicious darkness and sinister atmosphere are impossible to ignore as they capture your attention rapidly. It had my pulse racing and my fingers feverishly flipping the pages and the twists, turns, misdirection and reveals kept me on my toes from the moment it began until the conclusion. It's a quick, easy and entertaining read and one I highly recommend. This is an exciting author to watch for the future. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.

Wow, I was massively intrigued by the cover and the premise of this book and so thankful to have received a review copy because it well and truly stood up to the hype.

Intriguing, twisted, thrilling, I simply could not put this book down. We start off waiting with main protagonist Belle at a private airport waiting to be whisked off to Europe by her best friend Summer for a week of luxury on an opulent boat. As much as we are excited for Belle, and dream of being right there with her, we are soon happy and received to be safely at home and far away from "The Lion's Den' as possible. Things feel 'off' from the start, Summer's wealthy much older finance takes control freak to a whole new level and the danger increases with each day.

I absolutely adore a thriller, especially one set in such gorgeous surroundings and this one had me hooked from the start, the twist three quarters of the way through the book is one I absolutely did not see coming despite being on high alert and the ending felt so right for all the characters.

Thank you Katherine St John - an absolute 5 star read!

If you want pure escapism and an entertaining read then this is for you! Yes its far fetched buts its so much fun. If you love the Real Housewives franchise, you'll love this! It has great characters and kept me guessing until the end. Definitely one to be enjoyed with a cocktail or glass of champagne!

Remind me when lockdown ends never to go on a yacht with friends, anyone I know or anyone at all to be honest. These people do and OMG not all of them survive.

I do like these locked roomed/stranded on a boat type thrillers and this was twisty. I struggled with the names of the characters though which for the most part made me feel as if I was in the middle of a YA novel. I do realise the author is American but these felt like characters from something like the bad US version of (insert your least favourite reality show here). One of them in particular seems really really dim. Can't say more for fear of spoilers but I would have thrown her off the boat myself.

However, this book did get me reading and wanting to know what on earth was going on. There's some weird stuff happening here. Some people have warped goals and twisty turny secrets. There is A LOT going on below deck and I was reminded of that film where the guy from the titanic captures Nicole Kidman and Sam Neil.. The sense of foreboding and suspense was nicely done and I was drawn to the fact that the yacht kept moving from one port to another. This raised the tension for me - chances to escape or not? - and this helped to set the scene as they were really well evoked and described.

So a good plot and writing/tension and travel themed. I just found the characters not as well developed as I would have hoped for.

This is exactly the type of book you need right now to get you through lockdown. The perfect escape into the lives of the ultra-rich for whom private jets and Mediterranean yachts are the norm. The author’s descriptions throughout the book easily make you feel that you could quite easily be one of those women on the trip.

Belle is invited on holiday by her best friend Summer to celebrate Summer’s birthday. The trip is based on a yacht with six other women travelling around the Mediterranean which is owned by Summers billionaire “older” boyfriend John. As the trip progresses things start to go wrong and secrets come out with various twists and turns.

This is an addictive page turning read with each chapter being cleverly told though the past and present, all leading up to a brilliant ending.

The morale of the story is that you never truly know someone and that some people will do absolutely anything to succeed….

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this perfect beach/lockdown read.

I loved this book. I found it a little slow to start but once I'd got into it, I tore through it. What's better than rich people behaving badly? The characters were almost caricatures yet written so well and I loved how the plot kept twisting and turning.

What a fabulous read! This book is true escapism and the ultimate page turner. The scene and character setting is well developed and the plot kept me engaged.
Even though it’s only April, I know that this will definitely be one of my favourite reads of 2020.

I know it's only April, but this book already made it to my top 3 of the year and it's become one of my favorites ever. I loved every page, I empathized with the heroine (Belle) so much that I was literally shaking every time she put herself in danger. I didn't expect to care for her all that much, I thought this book would have been an entertaining read (as it surely was) and I was looking forward to it, but I didn't imagine to develop such a deep emotional connection with the main character. Well, I adored her. But really, every character in The Lion's Den is so well develop and distinguishable that I couldn't ask for anything more. And what about the plot? Just genius. Sometimes I thought I had something figured out, which obviously I didn't. And I loved it! I couldn't stop turning the pages and I actually forced myself to put my Kindle down (expecially in the middle of the night, when even seeing my cat move made me jump and almost scream from my bed while I was reading), because I didn't want it to end. Eventually, I had to (I wanted to know how everything unfolded!) and it didn't disappoint. The only thing that slightly disappointed me was that it had to end. But I will certainly reread it, I already plan to, and I'm recommending it to all of my friends. I will literally force this book on them when it will officially come out! Many thanks to the publisher, Headline, for sending me this amazing novel, and to the author, Katherine St. John, from who I expect many many other incredible novels!

As soon as I read the description of this book, I simply had to read it right away and it made its way to the top of my 'to read' list.
This truly is 'impossible to put down' and such a binge worthy book.
I kept finding excuses to read this rather than do anything else.
It taking place on a glamorous vacation and yacht in the present and then taking you back in time to when Belle and Summer were growing up, right up until present day, makes these characters feel completely real.
It's so much more than your typical beach read!
There's several great twists, particularly when you find out why Belle really did agree to attend, despite how Summer is now and that's before everything concludes with Belle unsure who she can trust.
Whilst most of it is self explanatory, it can be a little difficult to keep up with the amount of French and Italian that is spoken, without much translation but that is a really minor point.
I absolutely loved The Lion's Den and I'm already excited to see what the author does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. I really enjoyed it. We have been sin lockdown for almost a month so I am missing the outdoors! The description I book made me feel like I was on a luxury boat. I could almost smell the sea! Aside from that the storyline was fast moving & ever changing. It was a great read

The Lion’s Den by Katherine St John
Thanks @netgalley @headlinebooks for my arc. Out 19th May 2020
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This book is the perfect escape from reality. Set on a super yacht in the Mediterranean. Six people brought together by one common friend. Chalk full of secrets and mysteries, this book is amazing. The yacht is called ‘The Lion’s Den’ for a reason 😃highly recommended xxx

This was an excellent novel that kept me literally entranced. The character depiction was on point and the story was fascinating and well developed.

This is a gripping and unputdownable book which has pulled me in and made it utterly impossible to put down. I have loved this book, initially attracted by the cover and this is a new author for me but it’s been fab. I’d definitely recommend this one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. At first I kept questioning why someone would go on this trip if they didn’t even like their friend. But so many surprising twists and secrets were revealed it this book and it all comes together in a very shocking ending. Good book. The author made these characters come to life so well. Summer made my blood boil numerous times. I did feel it was a little long and found myself skimming certain parts but it kept my attention and was great!

Six friends on a luxury yacht. Only five are coming back..A dream vacation turns deadly in this pulse-pounding, twisting revenge thriller set on the Riviera about dark female friendships.
Its narration was good in comparison to its characters but overall it's a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for giving me an advance copy.