The story follows a group of privileged and entitled young people who cary out a dare that goes drastically wrong. One member of the group steps up to take the blame. But now she's back. And she wants payback.

This was a really good thriller! The twists and turns kept me gripped throughout. It was intriguing, suspenseful and fast-paced. The plot was just... wow! I loved the idea of the plot, it was original which made the book so hard to put down!

The characters were so easy to dislike. They were arrogant, selfish and wore their privilege in their actions. But that was the point. The author didn't want us to like these characters and she did a very good job at making sure we didn't!

If you haven't read any of Sharon's work then I highly recommend you do. This was so gripping and fast-paced and I cannot wait to see if her other work lives up to the mark!

Thank you NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review!

This book was intriguing and kept me gripped right until the end. The characters interwoven lives were realistic and although shocking events had taken place they were still believable. I was totally knocked sideways by the surprising end. Well written with surprises around every corner.

Fast paced throughout this book had me racing through the pages. It’s up there among the best books I’ve read. An excellent read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

A fast-paced thriller that I couldn’t put down! I was kept guessing right until the end and the story was not short of action!

I LOVED this! It was a twisty, fast paced psychological thriller that kept me intrigued and engaged from the start. I flew through it in about 24 hours. The concept drew me in immediately…. What a plot! I loved the overall concept of Megan taking the fall for the group in exchange for favours when she was released from prison, and of course they were never going to be simple favours were they!

There is a complete sense of vulnerability and naivety in the first part when the group is younger, the incident happens and Megan takes the fall. Then we move to the second part and there is a dramatic sense of foreboding within the friendship group before Megan is released, and when she is, their world starts to unravel, and we are hit with surprise after surprise.

This is my first book by this author and what becomes clear immediately is that she is extremely talented; the plot is razor sharp and clever, the characters are compelling, particularly Megan who is intriguing and the twists keep on coming. This is a story of friendship, betrayal and revenge, with a brilliant ending that I did not see coming at all.

Would highly recommend this and will be working my way through this author’s back catalogue ASAP!

„The Pact“ is a fast paced, gripping psychological thriller, that explores the dynamics of friendships and the loyalty among those. Great unexpected twists and turns, that keep you glued to the pages as well. Super addictive summer-read 🌊.

Thank you NetGalley / Orion Publishing Group for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing and Sharon Bolton for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow, I don’t know where to start. This book is an action-packed scary thriller. I was a little scared reading towards the end. This has to be one of the most intense psychological thrillers that I’ve read this year. This is the first book written by Sharon that I have read. I will be checking out the rest of hers too.

A great concept and well written book that had me guessing (or at least trying to guess) how it was all going to end. A mad night, six friends and one life changing event that affects all six for the next 20 years. An honest look at friendships and school ties. Not all the characters are likeable but that just adds to the drama. I’ve already recommended this book to my friends and can’t wait to hear what they have to say - I’m sure they’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

If you are after a fast paced summer read that you'll want to read in one sitting... look no further!

"Let the games being"...

A novel based around 6 very privileged Oxford students, this is definitely a read that takes you away from the 'norm' and over to the way that the 'other half' live.

I really enjoyed the fact that even though the characters and setting are a far cry from my average/normal life (I'd much rather be normal lol) the characters are all relatable in their own way. They are all really well executed and sensitively written.

The build up of tension was created amazingly and left me with this feeling of dread the whole way through.

An atmospheric, twisty, dark and engrossing read with a brilliant ending.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the ARC.

The Pact is a story of secrets and revenge. A group of privileged teenage friends who all attend a private college are awaiting their A-Level results and decide to do something stupid. The drive down a major road in the wrong lane in the wrong direction! An oncoming car is forced to swerve off the road and as a result it hits a tree and ends up on fire with the family trapped inside! The group of friends really don't want to deal with what has happened so when one of them, Megan, says she will go to the Police and solely take the blame the rest of them are relieved. They're sure Megan will be charged with dangerous driving and won't get into too much trouble but she actually faces a much more serious charge and many years in prison. And when she is released...... man is she pissed and out for revenge!
What then follows is utter chaos. Megan descends on their lives and brings devastation along with her. Even as a reader I could feel how unstable everything seemed. Kind of like a house of cards where you know just one wrong move and it can all come crashing down. Each character was unreliable for different reasons which had me constantly doubting my own theories. I was convinced I'd figured out what was going on but then a twist would happen or a bit more of the story would be revealed and then I'd be convinced I NOW knew what was going on, for definite this time..... except here comes another twist and oh bugger it I give up ha ha ha.... I did enjoy the feeling of being batted about between possible outcomes and not knowing where it was going to end. I do feel like there was some sort of commentary on how money can't buy you everything and how the rich aren't above facing the consequences of their actions.
A thoroughly enjoyable thriller that had me invested in the story from the beginning.

Bolton’s writing is so sharp and tight it’s incredible. In the first half of the book, she totally nails the sanguine laziness of the expectant young adult and never veers into cliches. Yes, these perfect Oxford prefects are probably complete ar*ehats and people most of us would cross the road to avoid, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In lesser hands, what happens to these teens would be written with an air of smugness – a ‘haha the toffs deserve it’ kind of narrative. Yet their story is told to elicit empathy and pure horror at not only the victims’ plight but also theirs. In mere minutes, they know their actions will have life-changing consequences for all of them. During the scenes immediately after the incident, as they desperately try to work out what to do, you can feel the tension and fear filling the pool house where moments earlier they were discussing their futures. This escalates during a fantastic section (probably my favourite) where the teens are all interviewed by the police. Almost cinematic in its depiction, each character has their own chapter of interrogation where everything comes out of the woodwork and it’s some of the best writing I’ve read this year.

The theme of sudden fear and everything changing carries on in the second half of The Pact as after Megan’s release the other five have to face that evening all over again. Megan is determined to make them pay, but she’s also going to make them sweat. None of the friends has any idea what Megan is going to ask of them, and neither does the reader until the bombs are dropped subtly and suddenly into conversations, upending the character and the reader in equal measure. Megan is such a good antagonist, written with such ambiguity that you’re double-checking everything she does or says. As she inserts herself into their lives it begins to get deliciously creepy and unnerving, often evoking cries of “Oh. Oh no. She’s not going there is she?” from this reviewer.

When events begin to explode and the revelations come thick and fast Bolton never ignores the extensive characterisation that made up the first half of The Pact. While there’s action abounds, the friends stay true to their beliefs and ideologies, even if what they are being asked of is completely wrong. You can see the traits of the young people still present in the adults, and that’s such a refreshing change in generational story-telling.

The Pact is a fantastic thriller full of believable characters and circumstances that will keep you page-turning until the end. The incredible twists and turns will keep even the most hard-boiled and ardent thriller fan shocked and surprised.

I'm normally a huge Bolton fan and whilst this was a great read and well written - as you might expect - it lacked, for me, the twists and interesting elements (like snakes or witches or glaciers) that made her other novels so unique. A good read even so.

Absolutely amazing book, I love Sharons writing style and this book did not disappoint, I was hooked from the start and it left me with a book hangover haha

For six intelligent eighteen-year-olds just out of school, the world is a sensory paradise: sunshine, days on the river, festivals, lager, drugs. Most teenagers share some or all of these experiences, but Talitha, Daniel, Xavier, Amber and Felix are set apart from other young people by the immense social privilege they enjoy. As one of them points out, they are ‘not Plan B people.’ The world is their playground, so it is unimaginable that Plan A might not happen. Therefore, there is no need to consider the effects of their actions on other people. The outcome of this mindset is brilliantly explored in The Pact by Sharon Bolton. ‘They were the chosen ones, to whom the world belonged.’

The sixth member of the friendship group is different. Megan is the odd one out, accepted by the others only because she is Head Girl of their prestigious school, predicted to achieve stellar A-level results. It is significant that Megan, a scholarship girl whose mother is a single parent on a low income, is described as looking ‘more siren than mermaid’ in Talitha’s parents’ swimming pool. She carries a subtle threat to the group’s status quo even before their world is turned upside down.

Thrill-seeking during an idyllic summer, the group combine their expensively nurtured brainpower to dream up ‘the coolest dare imaginable.’ Some of them are reluctant to take part, but peer pressure ensures that everyone has to take their turn. When their fun goes horribly wrong and three innocent strangers die, Megan takes the blame. In return for her sacrifice, she demands a high price. After twenty years, she comes back to claim what she was promised, and the shiny worlds her former friends have built for themselves begin to crumble.

I enjoyed The Pact tremendously. It is the first of Sharon Bolton’s novels I have read, and I look forward to reading more of her work. All the characters are sensitively drawn and relatable, and I thought the end was original and convincing. It is a cliché to call a book a page turner, but I honestly felt compelled by the well-turned plot and fast pace of The Pact to keep on turning those pages.

Twenty years ago, six talented young adults were nearing the publication of their A level results. Xav, Felix, Daniel, Amber, Talitha and Megan all attended a highly thought of school in Oxford and all were expected to achieve the highest grades. To relieve the nervous tension on the night before the results were due, they had been drinking heavily. They decided to take a drive…...the wrong way down a major road, at speed. Unfortunately, a car was also travelling down the road in the right direction. This car hit a tree and burst into flames.

The six friends were devastated at the consequences of their actions and were trying to work out what they should do, when Megan offered to say she had been driving the car on her own. She said she would do this for them in exchange for each of them agreeing to grant her a favour on her release from prison. They all signed a piece of paper agreeing to this and a photograph was taken of them holding the paper.

They had all expected that Megan would be charged with dangerous driving and be released in a relatively short time. However, this was not to be.

On Megan’s release, the question arises: what will Megan demand of these five successful adults?

I had high expectations of this novel by Sharon Bolton, as I have read several of her books and enjoyed them. The opening section was so promising; I felt it captured the emotions and tension experienced by the friends. However, when the story moved on in time, I was not so engaged and found some of it confusing and contrived.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion publishing for providing the copy in return for my honest review.

Sharon Bolton writes an irresistible novel examining the nature of love and friendship amongst a close-knit group of young friends after the end of their A level exams. They attended the exclusive All Souls School in Oxford and are looking forward to their glittering futures, continuing their lives of privilege. But between the six of them, Xavier, Felix, Daniel, Amber, Talitha, and Megan, one makes a terrible mistake when a dare goes badly wrong. Megan offers to shoulder the blame, leaving the others free to fulfil their hopes and dreams, but they will have to pay a price for her prison stay. Twenty years later, the five have successful careers and Megan is released, but she is no longer the friend they remember, as she comes to collect on their promises.

The Pact is a brilliantly plotted, twisty, atmospheric and disturbing thriller. I had a growing sense of dread as the drama, the individuals' personalities and the group dynamic are slowly revealed. This is a stupendous read that the author's fans will love.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Six teenagers who have just finished their exams.
They decide to do a dare which goes terribly wrong and kills a woman and her children.
Megan one of the teenagers decides she will take the blame but on release from prison they all owe her a favour.
On her release from prison her friends with all high flying careers she’s about to claim back all the favours they owe her.
This is told in the past and present.
This book will have you hooked .
A great read.
Thanks NetGalley.

What an addictive and darkly twisted book this is. When the synopsis mentions Megan being released from prison and the line "Let the games begin" follows, well that is intriguing enough. After reading the book I now appreciate how important that line is!

Megan is part of a group of students that are top of their class. They are a small but compact group and they spend a lot of time in each others company. After a game of dare goes wrong it is Megan that takes the blame. The full reasons as to why are told later in the story. But as the synopsis says, the rest of the group now owe her a favour.

This was a brilliant story and one that I found myself getting hooked on pretty quickly. Starting the story when the friends were younger. At uni, they excel in their classes and do the usual evening partying.

When Megan is released after serving her sentence the author began to expand on her story. She manages to portray anxiety from the rest of the group as they are left to wonder what Megan will ask of each of them. On the whole, they are successful, they work, have nice houses and they all have a lot to lose.

I adored the way the author very subtle builds up tension, it starts early on and then as the stake get higher she then builds it up more openly. Wondering what will happen and if the group will agree to terms or demands is great. But, there is something else going on, it is dark and it caught me out.

I loved the tense psychological aspect of this story, it kept me on my toes and the story is so addictive. If you have read any of this author's books before then you know you get amazing reads from her. This one is no exception it is a mix of crime, mystery and thriller with a brilliant psychological edge to it. It is one I would definitely recommend.

We first meet the six friends whilst they are at school, just finished their GCSE’s, on the verge of collectintheir results and heading off to their collective university choices to embark upon the world – its currently their oyster, they are all young, clever and gifted.

Amber, Felix, Daniel, Talitha, Megan and Xavier – friends since childhood, now all 17, nearly 18 – technically adults in the eyes of the world. They find themselves facing a moral and life changing dilemma, after a night of drinking, a silly risky dare goes terribly wrong and a woman and her children all perish, at the friends hands. They were all there, all involved, all to blame, all as responsible as the other. But the driver isn’t willing or able to take control of the situation and one of them steps up to take the blame for all of them. But at what cost.

Promises are made, The Pact signed, sealed and hidden. All of them as guilty as the other. Police and parents, solicitors and the remaining 5 fear what will happen, the ‘guilty’ one that takes the blame and takes responsibility faces jail. The parents tell the children to separate, to not be seen together, to carry on with their Uni plans and let the guilty take the blame, do their time in jail and it will all be fine. So, they do…… but 20 years on, time served, the guilty one is back and wants what was promised, whats theirs to claim.

The very nature of the requests, it seems is nothing is too much to ask. But some are simple, a job, some financial help, but would you, after 20 years, knowing that you made this pact as an individual, they now have lives, families, jobs. Between them they must chose, what is possible and how they can help, none of them are willing to give anything being asked of them, so what now?

I loved the characters, appearance is everything to them now, but underneath so devious and unrelenting. With so much to lose, will any of them keep to The Pact they made? The pace of the book raced along and kept the story going. I live near Oxford so know lots of these areas and street names and this always adds to a book for me, when the areas are real and you can identify with them, it really brings it to life for me and adds such a sense of place. I really enjoyed The Pact, and I know you will too.

It’s the night before A-level results and a group of six friends have gathered together as they’ve done most nights of this gorgeous summer, to make the most of these last weeks they’ll all be together before going off to their various Universities. They’re confident they’ll get the results they need for they’re the cleverest group in their expensive, academically-renowned school. A privileged childhood lies behind them and now they have a golden future to look forward to. But drink and drugs and youth are a dangerous combination, and they all agree to one last mad escapade that results in the death of a woman and her two young children. Panicked, they flee the scene, but they’re sure the police will soon trace the car they were in. And then Megan, the quiet one, the outsider, offers to take the rap for them all. She knows she’ll likely go to jail, but she’s willing to do that on one condition – that the other five promise that when she gets out, they’ll each do her one favour, whatever she asks. The others grab this lifeline and agree. Fast forward twenty years… Megan is back, and she’s ready to call in the debt…

Goodness, when Bolton’s on form there’s no one to touch her for truly thrilling thrillers! This one grabbed me right from the start as I watched these six kids – selfish, yes, but also programmed to be high achievers by pushy parents and ambitious schools – do one stupid thing and then follow it up with another, even stupider. Even though the blurb reveals this early part of the plot, the tension that Bolton creates is irresistible, the definition of page-turning.

It slows down a little in the middle as we learn what our five remaining golden people have achieved in their twenty years. Tal has followed her father into the legal profession and now runs his well respected law firm. Xav is a successful investment manager. Amber has gone into politics and is being spoken about as a probable Cabinet Minister of the future. Felix has used his chemical expertise to set up his own business, from which he’s made a fortune. Dan is the least successful – he’s “only” become Master of the school the group once attended. But as we get to know them, we discover that beneath the glittering exterior of their lives, the memory of that night has affected them all to one degree or another. And now that Megan is back, all the feelings of guilt and fear are also back at full strength – maybe even more so now that they each have so much more to lose. And they don’t even know yet what favours she’s going demand in return for her silence.

After that slightly slower section it ramps up to full speed again, and never lets up till the end. I don’t want to say any more about the plot, since most of the fun comes from not having a clue what will happen next. So I’ll limit myself to saying that although Bolton dragged me far over the credibility line, it’s such a relentless ride I didn’t have time to worry about that at the time – nor even to really notice it. I believed in the characters and in their actions as they were happening and didn’t stop to analyse too deeply (and this of course is why thrillers work best when they are fast-paced).

Other things I loved, that made this work for me when so many other contemporary thrillers don’t (including one or two of Bolton’s own). Third person, past tense throughout, allowing Bolton to let us into the characters’ minds or keep us out as she chooses – and she uses that brilliantly to lead us on and misdirect us. It’s also much easier to put up with unlikeable characters when you’re seeing them from the outside. No “that day” nonsense – Bolton starts by telling us exactly what happened on that day back then before she brings us into the present, and what a difference that makes. She builds suspense on the basis of what might happen in the future, not by refusing to tell the reader what has already happened in the past. Similarly, no dual timeline – Bolton tells us about the past and then about the present, rather than jumping back and forward between them. And although the characters are all pretty unlikeable, they all feel believable – self-absorbed and selfish, yes, but their instinct for self-preservation is understandable even if it’s not particularly admirable.

I loved this one and raced through it, and the climax had all the thrills it needed and then a couple more. I wish all thrillers were written like this! Highly recommended.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Orion via NetGalley.