What a brilliant read, a story about consequences played out with more than ample tension.

Back on the eve of the day six friends are to receive their expected A level results, they embark on a dare that has fatal consequences. In the aftermath one girl, Megan steps forward to take the blame, the others now owe her.

The majority of the action takes place in the second half of the book, some twenty years later. We meet up with Amber, a Member of Parliament, Talitha a respected attorney, Xav an investment manager, Felix a business owner and Daniel a Master at the school in Oxford where they had first met as children.

The tension within the book is palpable, the characters exquisitely drawn and the plot line ingenious. Definitely one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

3.75* which I’ve rounded up.
I am a fan of Sharon Bolton’s books, so was keen to read this.
A stand alone thriller.
It begins on the Eve before A level results are due. A drunken daredevil game between 6 friends ends in tragic consequences, a woman and her 2 children are killed. Meghan takes the blame, leaving the others to get on with their promising lives. The other five promising to pay a ‘favour’ on her release from prison,
I question why Meghan was so ready to take full responsibility so quickly when she wasn’t driving.
That set alarm bells going for me pointing to either plot weakness or Meghan being highly manipulative.
My first thought on the others letting Meghan take the blame and their attitudes was what a bunch of self entitled twats.
The story jumps to 20 years later. Meghan reappears in their lives, but seems to enjoy playing mind games with them while deciding to tell them what the favours are that she is calling in.
Meghan has faired badly in prison, her health is not good. The others outwardly seem to have been successful, but they all have issues.
They are all in a state of panic, just what will they be prepared to do to keep Meghan quiet.
Amber seems the nicest of the characters, I can’t say that any of the others are likeable. 20 years on, they are still a bunch of self entitled twats.
The pace and interest level start off good,but slows after the initial revelation. It picks up pace and tension in part 2 with the reappearance of Meghan. The tension starts to take on darker tones too.
It’s a cleverly constructed plot.
The favours Meghan announced are like WTF! And what are they going to do??? At 65% the tension has just
gone stratospheric! and the atmosphere very dark and threatening.
Ok, so I got over excited too soon, because the ending was disappointing for me.
So overall I found it a decent read, but not a great one.

I never repeat the blurb. Another unique, original and gripping tale from Sharon Bolton. You think you know what's going on and then boom! A twist! Good stuff.

This book.was compelling, and gripping! The characters I enjoyed reading about! Amazing writing! Like amazing! The story had me turning the pages and I honestly didn't want it to end! Why I love a good book and the writing!
Looking for a dark, twisty read!!!! Read this baby here!

When Megan and her 5 friends decide to drive the wrong way on a motorway at night, not for the first time, they have no idea this decision will change their lives forever.

A car swerves to avoid them and crashes. The occupants are killed.

Megan, never quite fitting in to the group, offers to take the blame in return for a favour from each of her friends when she is released from prison. They agree.

When Megan is released from prison 20 years later, she seeks out the friends who have never contacted her or visited her in prison. She has found out everything she can about them and worms her way back into their lives. She is calling in the favours which are beyond anything the friends could have imagined.

They can’t follow through with their promises.

Then one of them is found murdered.

I enjoyed Sharon’s last book so much I had to put this to the top of my pile. This one is a slow burner which builds up to a nail biting, heart racing conclusion.

Many thanks to Trapeze Books and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. Publication date 27/5/21

A story about a group of friends who do a crazy dare one night and one of them takes the blame as long as everyone else will do her a favour when she gets out of prison.

This was a fast paced read, it was creepy in parts and the tension built up as the story moved along. I enjoyed the story right up until the end but then the ending was a bit of a disappointment. I had worked it all out before the ending so I was expecting another twist somewhere but it just wasn’t to be.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A fast paced thriller that keeps you guessing until the end. None of the characters in this story covered themselves in glory and were mainly unlikeable. This did not detract from my enjoyment of this book and I read it in about two sittings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Orion Publishing Group for the advance copy of this book

I devoured this book - it was compulsive reading and whilst slightly over the top at times, it twisted beautifully to its conclusion. The characters were largely unlikeable but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. I would definitely recommend it. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, i whizzed through it and couldn’t put it down........ Suspense throughout!!! Twist & turns and keeps you guessing up until the final few pages.

A group of friends drinking too much after exams decide to drive a car the wrong way down a motorway which ends in tragedy.. Megan takes the wrap for the rest under the premise that they all owe her a favour when she is released from prison,

Fast forward 20 years, no one has visited Megan and they are all getting on with their lives... it is a tense read!!!!!

Thanks to netgalley & the publisher for an ARC of this book!

The Pact made for an Unsettling and compelling read, and if you enjoy a twisted psychological thriller with unlikable characters, then this may just be the book for you. Friends will be there for you through thick or thin unless you are six friends involved in a dangerous game that went horribly wrong, and a woman and two children are killed. At this point it’s every friend for them-self, each member of the group believe they are entitled to a bright future, and shouldn’t have to give it because they’ve made a ‘mistake’. Lucky for them 18-year-old Megan agrees to take the blame, she is on a scholarship so in the group’s eyes her future isn’t as important and thus she’s ultimately insignificant to the group. Megan has one strange stipulation though, each of her so-called friends must do her a ‘favour’, payable on her release from prison.

Bolton has created a bunch of characters that beg to be disliked, their arrogant and their sense of entitlement grates, but it was my loathing of them that made this book such a compelling read. I couldn’t drum up any sympathy for Megan if I’m honest. As an adult she has traits that make her unpleasant. I also admit I struggled to believe that anyone would have made such a sacrifice in the first place! As adults any redeeming traits our characters had have vanished, their selfish, full of self importance and more than happy to throw Megan under the bus to protect their privileged lifestyles, I couldn’t help hoping that karma would catch up with the despicable group. 

On Megan’s release from prison, the book really takes off and an inescapable sense of dread washes over the reader. Megan’s use of psychological torture to taunt her friends adds multiple layers of suspense to the tale. You find yourself second guessing along with the group what “favours” Megan would be demanding. The Pact isn’t a fast-paced read by any means, in fact there were parts of the story that I felt were a distraction, but what it lacks in pace it more than makes up for in suspense.

Many thanks to author, Orion and Netgalley for offering this ACR in exchange my honest review.

I did love this book very much. It kept me up all night. Sharon Bolton is a genius author who master the storyline very brilliant. It's full of dark, twisty and suspense. that made me impossible to put it down. A group of 6 friends are just at the end of their exams. But a stupid reckless decision make a fatal mistake that will haunt them for years. Their lives are changed forever. It's compelling and ingenious plotting as perfect as it is. It had me absorbed from the beginning to the end. The final outcome is unpredictable and perfectly plotted. Perfect writing with layered twists interwoven along with the story. Definitely it would hold your breath till the final page. Highly recommend. It keeps you on the edge of seat.

A clever crime thriller, set in the more privileged parts of Oxford and its surrounds. It all kicks off with six unpleasant eighteen year olds, three boys and three girls, wasting away their last summer holiday, from their highly rated independent school, where good A level results and top Uni spots are expected. Five are from wealthy families, and they lounge leisurely around the pool, entitled, bored and drinking too much, until one of them comes up with a reckless life threatening dare that ends up killing three innocent victims. One of the gang, Megan, agrees to take the blame in exchange for future favours, in order to spare the others, and she gets vilified by the press and 20 years in prison. Upon her release, the friends are now thirty eight, and we learn why she was not granted parole. She then visits each of the friends, who have become more obnoxious than their teenage selves. Megan is like a mournful ghost of what she could have been, betrayed by her five childhood friends and others, she gives each one a chance for redemption and as this unravels the plot thickens with murderous consequences and turns from a whydunnit into a twisty whodunnit. I enjoyed this book, it was a page turner about betrayal and revenge and despite not liking any of the characters, I felt sorry for Megan at times and I wanted to know what would happen next and why it all happened, and on that front, I felt that the ending was somewhat rushed and several reveals were missed. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Orion, for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very dark thriller about how one moment in time can change lives forever.

I always enjoy Sharon's books and this one didn't disappoint. The characters, while not very likeable, are really well developed and the storyline does keep you gripped until the last moments.

Another excellent read from Sharon Bolton. Gripping thriller again. Will look forward to future books.

On the eve of getting their A Levels results, six privileged students on the verge of academic success carry out a silly dare which ends in a woman and her two children being killed. Between them they make a pact that one of their number will take the rap, and they will owe her a favour at a later time - a favour that she will need once she is released from prison.

Twenty years later, she is released. Her five friends all have successful lives. It's time to repay those favours...

I liked the premise of the book, and I quite enjoyed the story of the five who had literally got away with murder having to face up to the consequences of what they did, further compounded by abandoning their one friend to take the full blame. I liked the way that the story was developing, right up until a rather silly ending that was clearly designed to provide a sensational twist, to avoid anticlimax I suppose, but for me I would have preferred something more low-key, concentrating on the emotional states of the characters rather than all out action. As it was, some of the characters merged into each other for me, and I would have liked them all to be a bit more defined.

Oh how I LOVE the psychological thrillers from the pen of Sharon Bolton who never once comprises on quality of writing or characterisation to deliver said thrills but always creates scenarios you can actually imagine happening to people you believe are real.

So we come to The Pact, in which a group of young friends with their whole lives ahead of them make a fatal mistake that will haunt them for years. One of their number takes the blame, letting the just as guilty rest off the hook. Yet she doesn’t realise what she’s letting herself in for and 20 years later a whole plethora of pigeons will come home to roost.

There’s your highly addictive premise and this is a book you inhale. The group dynamic the author creates is absolutely riveting, with characters you’ll love to hate to love, will root for and the opposite – plus the final outcome is unpredictable and intelligently plotted.

The writing is superb, the gently layered twists delivered pitch perfectly – themes of privilege and self esteem embedded within and a story that holds you enthralled until you turn the final page.

I loved it. Set in and around Oxford, a place I know well, only made it more real and the authentic scene setting was another huge plus here. Great cover too.

Highly recommended. Make sure you dont miss it fellow fans of psychological drama.

Oh yes. Right here is a book that has everything you could wish for - an impossible "what would i do" situation, unlikeable characters, tension galore and sweaty palms (just me)....

As usual this is an absolutely outstanding book from the Queen of thrillers that I couldn't put down and devoured as usual and just reasserts why i curtsied by accident to Sharon when I was lucky enough to once meet her.

Highly recommended.

5*

If you are like me, drawn to books involving a group of close friends who happen to share some kind of a secret, then you shouldn't miss out on the latest Sharon Bolton novel. You certainly won't be disappointed!

Felix, Xav, Amber, Talitha, Megan and Dan have just finished their A Levels and all have bright futures ahead of them...Until one summer night when a dangerous driving game goes wrong and a woman and her two children end up dead. Panicked and scared the six friends flee the scene and Megan volunteers to take the blame for all of them. In return the rest of them must agree to owe her a favour for when she gets out of prison. Twenty years later, they all have successful careers except for Megan who was just released from prison and is ready to collect her debt.

From the moment I saw the synopsis of this book I knew i had to read it. It kept me at the edge of my seat the whole way through and when I thought I knew what was going to happen I was proved wrong. 4.5 stars from me!

# The Pact # Netgalley
OMG, I have literally finished the Pact it 9.20 am Saturday 10th April I want to thank Netgalley and Orion books Sharon Bolton for having been given the privilege of reading this prior to release. I can honestly say with hand on heart. As got to be the best book I have read in year’s. I am still trying to pick my chin up off the floor from a ending you couldn’t possibly guess in years. Now I pride myself on guessing the ending of books and normally I am right but oh no not this time so very very wrong it’s a extremely well written Novel about 6 students, all very close friends did something they had done a few times prior, all for a thrill. When one night it went wrong. So very terribly wrong... That then would have a massive impact on all there lives. No one was going to escape although one only would take the wrap for everyone else. She actually went through with it too. It’s twisty turney book with more terns than a corkscrew which takes you one way another way. I genuinely do not want to give away spoilers. It’s hard to write a amazing review without doing so. I just really do not and will not give spoilers I was riveted to this nook I stayed awake all
Night reading if. I honestly was doing to next next chapter telling myself time and time again until I seriously couldn’t put it down before I had got lost in a track of time that I looked at the time and was shocked to see the time I noticed I was only a few pagers for me to finish and thinking of getting a few hours sleep, I decided to continue, to read this you will be totally knocked out by this book I do hurge people to read you will never regret it never.
Lobe if your into mum

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Loved this book. All of the scene setting is brilliant but the ending felt rushed which was a shame