Who wouldn't love to get away from the weekend? A break in the country sounds lovely. But when Ruth, Jayne and Emily head off to Dark Fell Barn in Northumberland, a remote barn and the weather changes, no-one is enjoying the turn of events that happens once they arrive.

The story is told from the point of view of the characters, and theres a fair few to keep up with. the main one being Ruth, Jayne and Emily though, with their husbands - Mark, Toby and Paul. But also Edie and Imogen. Edie and her husband Rob used to be friends with the others, until Rob died. And now it’s just her and Imogen, their daughter. She didn’t want to go away on the weekend, but she also doesn’t want the others to enjoy it. The boys and Edie are old school friends, well Paul was their rugby coach and Edie's parents taught at the school too.

Emily is the reluctant one of the bunch, being the late comer to the group, she's younger and finds it hard, with the in jokes and knowing they have a shared history she finds in hard to fit in. But to keep the peace and Paul happy she goes along. As soon as the three women arrive at the barn, escorted by the Farmer who owns it, John Elliott. They know it was a mistake going. No phone reception, the husbands are due to arrive the next day. And when then find a package left by Edie, is when it all really starts to break down.

Superbly atmospheric, scene setting, dark and thrilling, what ever you think might happen, won’t. Gillian Macmillan builds tension using the characters, whose combined lives can’t help but thrust the story along. Which all adds to the story and pulls the reader in.

2.5 stars

It was a very strange kind of book. I really do love when there are multiple points of view. I think it adds a lot to the book and how I perceive it and the characters in it. Having all that in mind “The long weekend” should be just on the spot for me. Well, it entirely missed the point of multiple characters having their say in a novel.

It drove me crazy that there are no obvious parts in the book. No real chapters. The parts that were happening in different places and times weren’t very much separated either. However that might have just been a case of an unfinished version as my book was a eARC. That’s fine. What I cannot stand though is the way this book was written. Changing point of view in the middle of a conversation from one character to another? And two sentences later it’s yet completely another person? That doesn’t make any sense at all and just creates unnecessary confusion. I would accept that if it was an exceptionally good book or if that changing point of view this often was justified by what was happening in there. Neither of those two was true so I suppose it was written this way utterly to make it hard on readers.

Apart from that, I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters. After reading a whole book I don’t even know much about them. Neither do I care. There were so many of them, speaking over one another, that from time to time I wasn’t able to tell who’s with who and how that relates to the plot. The author made them virtually as uninteresting as possible and her description of their actions didn’t have much to do with who they were supposed to be. I think that was the main source of my confusion over them. There wasn’t any connection between who they are and what they’re doing. If that was put deliberately to make it harder to guess who’s the bad guy in all this mess, well, it didn’t go as planned. At all. Most of the time I was bored with what’s happening and felt nothing in response to neither good nor bad events unfolding before me.

I’m a little bit afraid that “The long weekend” is the case of a book that just wasn’t for me. From the blurb it was looking interesting enough, but in the end I couldn’t stand the way it was written and it ultimately rendered me indifferent to anything that was happening there.

I am maybe a bit fed up of stories where friends go off for a weekend/ holiday/ cruise and the friendship fails dramatically and unpredictably ( is that even a word?). This book was more of the same with a few added extras and a lot of unrealistic behaviour in the face of potential disaster.
I’m not sure if the lack of chapters was deliberate or just because my copy was an ARC but I hope the latter because it was very off putting.
Some of the characters had real potential but the scenes with Edie are practically comic.

I really enjoyed this book, just the suspence i needed to get into....Front the first page i was gripped and couldnt put it down until id finished reading. I felt i was sitting on the edge of my chair all the way though, loved the twists and turns love the way it made me feel the excitment. It was a fast paced book .

This was my first book from this author and certainly won’t be my last!
This was a fast paced physiological thriller that’s has some great twist, dark moments and is very tense.

The plot was very well thought out with brilliant atmospheric description.

I struggled a little with not having any chapters as such, having to re read the line before to know and make sure I had read the last ‘chapter’ and I didn’t really warm towards or route for any of the characters except for Imogen.

If your looking for a fast paced page-turner with a who is it feel right to the end then this book will certainly be for you.

I am definitely keen to read more books from this author in the future!

Thank you to @netgalley and @centurybooks for this gifted ARC

Can’t wait to get a physical copy of this book, it is striking and draws you in which is what you want. Although it is what’s inside that matters and that’s also fantastic.

Three couples. Two bodies. One secret.
Dark Fell Barn is a “perfectly isolated” retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need.
The women arrive for a girls’ night ahead of their husbands. There’s ex-Army Jayne, hardened and serious, but also damaged. Ruth, the driven doctor and new mother who is battling demons of her own. Young Emily, just wed and insecure, the newest addition of this tight-knit band. Missing this year is Edie, who was the glue holding them together until her husband died suddenly.
But what they hoped would be a relaxing break soon turns to horror. Upon arrival at Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note claiming one of their husbands will be murdered. There are no phones, no cell service to check on their men. Friendships fracture as the situation spins wildly out of control. Betrayal can come in many forms.
This group has kept each other’s secrets for far too long.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own hone\st voluntary review.

I have read a few books lately about friends away for a weekend and strange things happening. This is a good plot but a little far fetched. It also seemed a little off that four couples who have been fiends and holidayed for years all fell apart at once. A good, twisty read nonetheless. A few red herrings to throw the story and provide a punch.

3 women head off for a long weekend (with their husbands to join later), the same as they do every year, but this time they are one couple down since the husband died in a tragic accident. They are staying at Dark Fell Barn, a completely isolated 'retreat' in acres of farmland. A package has been left for them that changes the course of their trip and what follows is an unravelling of secrets and search to find out the truth.

This book is told from numerous different points of view and initially it is hard to follow. Once I got a better understanding of who all the characters were, it became much easier to read.

This is the kind of book that leads you in one direction, only for events to take a turn in the complete opposite one! I enjoyed the character depth and found myself reading faster and faster to find out what had happened.

Overall, I enjoyed this and will look to read more titles from this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is fabulous in my opinion! It doesn’t have chapters, and the storylines switch every few paragraphs- this would normally confuse and really annoy me but it doesn’t in this book - what it does is intensify the story, it makes me panic a little bit, keeps me on my toes and slightly frightened ALL OF THE TIME!!

The plot just twists and one minute I think I know what’s happening then the next sentence absolutely throws me.

It’s absolutely brilliant! Read it!

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Three couples are meant to be enjoying a weekend away in a remote cottage, but the men all have things come up and are running late, so the girls travel together the day before the men. They are all looking forward to a nice weekend away, but they soon realise that they aren't really all friends and that they may not know each other as much as they thought they did.
Their weekend takes a very quick turn as soon as they arrive at the cottage, as they are met with a letter telling them that one of their husbands is already dead. With no phone reception and no way to get back due to horrific weather, they are left panicking and trying what they can to get to the bottom of things.
I love the twists and turns that happen through the book and it really kept me on the edge of my seat. Some things may have been a bit far fetched but it was still really enjoyable, and it kept you guessing all the time about what the truth actually was.
I would definitely read another book by Gilly Macmillan.

When Ruth, Jayne and Emily arrive at the isolated cottage they have booked for a couples getaway weekend things soon go to pieces. For one reason or another, all of their husbands have given them excuses for not making it the first night. The couples often head off for time out together and have done for years. One of the group hasn’t been invited this year, she was the only female friend of the three men that were all mates at university. She used to bring her husband along to these getaways but they all feel awkward since he died, so she has been left out.

The weather has taken a turn for the worst, and the reception for their phones is non-existent. They haven’t got their own transport and was taken to the cottage by the owner. When they arrive, they find a note which tells them that one of their husbands will be dead by the time they are reading this. They don’t know how to take this, is it a sick joke? As time goes on, they begin to panic and wonder if it could be their husband that could be dead, or even is it their husband that has left this note, which could make him a murderer! It’s going to be a long night.

This story takes no time before you are dragged into the mystery, as it is told by each of the characters, including the person responsible for the note. You don’t know who is behind this voice. It is a small cast of characters in the story, so you don’t get confused about who is married to who. Each tells their life and why things are changing now.

The thing about the women at the cabin is they have only joined the group through marriage to their partners. They wouldn’t be friends if not for their husbands. As the story unfolds, you get to know how each couple tick.
I enjoyed this story and loved playing the who’s done it myself. I liked how the author let me know certain things, clues that the other’s didn’t have, although to be honest, there are some pretty creepy characters in the group to start with, once I was inside their heads. It is a chilling read, not knowing who is doing what. Fabulous story. Loved it!

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book that I have reviewed honestly.

This was my first time reading any books from Gilly Macmillan and I think it was a great start! A weekend that's gone wrong, told by different PoVs (I always need a bit to get used to the different characters) and kept me turning the pages. Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc

I really wanted to enjoy this book and I did for the lost part but I didn’t enjoy that there wasn’t any chaptering to the novel so it was a constant run on which I’m not a fan of. Overall the book was good and I enjoyed the narrative of it

Firstly the cover for this is fantastic it immediately draws you in and makes you want to devour it! Secondly.. the premise of the story sounds so captivating I was so excited to read it!
I struggled a little with the lack of chapters but did enjoy getting to know the characters and understanding where Gilly was going in the book. I loved the location as my dad is from Northumbria so it made me feel very homely reading about all the locations and settings and imagining them all. This did keep me entertained but I found it slightly far fetched at times but overall a good read I’d still recommend!

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was the first book that I have read from this author. Whilst I liked the story and thought it was well written, I was confused by it having no chapters and the way the story kept changing. Was this the style or just the ARC not being fully edited, was what I thought! I kept having to read paragraphs again to see whose story it was about.This lessened my enjoyment for a lot of the book and for this reason I deducted a star in my rating.
In the last part of the book however, the pace picked up and with twists and turns, the unravelling of the plot was exciting and kept me interested. Overall 3.5 stars

I know this setting has been done many times before - remote house, no phone, bad storm - but I still found it to be a good page turner with a different plot. The lack of chapters is going to be like marmite, but I personally found it a reading challenge and soon got used to the constant changing from one character to another. As the story progressed it became a real domino effect of one disaster after another and I liked the individual stories within it. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for letting me read and review this book.

3.5 stars

When three friends arrive at the barn they gave booked for a long weekend ahead of their husbands, there is a letter waiting for them that threatens to ruin their lives, not just their weekend away. With no phone signal and a storm incoming, the three friends all try and come up witht he best way to get themselves out of the situation, without much success! They all have their own secrets and issues that the others don't know about, but their common is to find out if their husbands are ok.
There is also a thread running throughout narrated by the unknown character who has set the whole thing up for their own ends.

The plot for this story was interesting enough and the women were all realistic characters, I did start to get a bit fed up of the mystery character though. I think they were kept secret a bit too long and the lack of chapters made it feel little bit relentless.

Is your husband safe? ★★☆☆☆

Ruth, Jayne and Emily arrive in Scotland for a long weekend, already tired of small talk and ready for their husbands, who gave all been delayed, to arrive. However when they get to the lodge there is a letter waiting for them. A letter claiming one of their husbands is about to be murdered. The letter is seemingly signed by Edie, one of the original members of the friendship group who was widowed in a terrible accident the year before.

With no phone signal and an incoming storm, the three women gradually start to panic in different ways. Ruth turns to alcohol, ex-soldier Jayne starts to experience PTSD blackouts, and Emily, the much younger newcomer, wants to try and walk to the farm in the storm. Is it an empty threat or are their husbands really in danger?

The plot is interesting particularly as we don’t know whether all or none of the husbands might be involved and it keeps us guessing until the last moment. The women are all complex characters with relatable problems and we root for them as they gradually open up and share their worries and secrets.

However, the killer comes across as an underdeveloped and slightly comic book villain and their fixation on Imogen is odd and erratic. There is also a real disjunct between this point of view and the true identity of the killer. Whilst we never truly know one another such an unhinged personality could not hide successfully behind any of the faces of the group.

A light thriller which lacks a developed villain.

It isnt often a book makes you take a very large intake of breath followed by a loud 'Oh My God' but this one did!! My son came rushing into my bedroom to check i was ok lol. What a book! I loved it and couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. My only downside was there was no chapters and I had to keep rereading bits as I didn't realise it was a different person but apart from that really enjoyed it