I requested this book because I grew up in Maldon and know the area. But the book left me disappointed. Some parts were just so slow with introspection that I ended up skipping pages.
Then when it is revealed that the conversation with her sister are not real, I wondered if this was a story of supernatural or mental distress. Either way, it wasn't enjoyable.

i've read all of S.K. Tremayne's previous books so would definitely consider myself a fan. I really enjoyed the premise of this one and the atmosphere was great. I did really feel for our main character Hannah who is stuck on an island with a deep fear of water after a traumatic event took place one evening. I'll be honest I did struggle with how the women were portrayed in this - Hannah obviously had her issues and made some irritating decisions, and her sister was made to be a complete caricature - she's suuuuper hot and knows it, men fall at her feet etc. Sure! I also never want to hear words like 'holibobs' etc again.
I'm still a big fan but suggest picking up any of Tremayne's other works before this one.

Hannah is a prisoner on Dawzy Island. A prisoner of her water phobia which came on after a drowning incident 6 months previously. An incident which involved her sister whose body has not been found. She is convinced that Kat is alive, after all she talks to her? Hannah works at the Stanhope Hotel on the island and is aware that she is on thin ice with the management. She has a supportive fiancé and a new therapist so she's hoping to be able to get off the island soon.
Strange things start happening and bookings for the island are suddenly cancelled which cause the management to decide to close the hotel for the winter with only a skeleton staff. Hannah has plenty of time to figure out what is going on with her own mind and finds out that all is not well with the hotel. One by one the other staff leave and she is left alone with the dog she rescued from the river.
The book builds the suspense and tension very well. A slow start, but turns into a page turner.

This book had an intriguing description which drew me in as I have not read anything by this author before and so knew nothing about their writing style.

It has an unusual storyline, part ghost, part thriller, about a woman trapped on an island due to an incident in the past which involved her sister.

I have to admit that for most of the time, I was a bit confused as to what was going on, what was physically real and what was Hannah´s imagination or her being paranoid.

This is one that I will have to re-read at a later date and hopefully it will flow easier for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed the authors previous novels but not this one. Irritated by the writing style and unsure of its genre - ghost story or thriller? Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Fabulous way of understanding phobias, fiction well researched is always helpful to non academic understanding ! The writing style is so well done and accessible and the storyline races along.However I did hope that someone would take control and solve the poor girl’s immediate problem rather than leaving her to deal with the isolation by herself. Although totally understand that the phobia did need professional help. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

I was really looking forward to this book after the author’s earlier book, The Ice Twins. However the only similarity they have is their author. I found this book slow and irritating. The secret language between the sisters was quite frankly annoying and put me off. I did carry on reading but unfortunately for me the story didn’t get much better.

I had to abandon this book at a third of the way through. The premise was intriguing (an island with an isolated hotel on, a female member of staff unable to leave because of something happening there in the past)., But the book was slow to develop with characters who were two-dimensional at this point. The slang talk of the two sisters annoyed me, and likewise the name she gave to the dog. Also I don’t like reading thriller type books with animal characters in, as they make me sad. The main character also didn’t look after her dog properly at this point, not knowing where he was in the woods for over two hours, whilst lost in her own head.
I’ve read and enjoyed other SK Tremayne books before, so it is probably this subject matter and me. Apologies, but not every book is good for everyone.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is such a step away from the authors other books which I loved. The sentence structure was a struggle for me and the "dogs" and :bons" things was just incredibly odd and made me hate anyone who ever talks like that. I wanted it to be atmospheric and creepy but I really struggled to get past how annoying and weird the characters were. It was a bit like a combo between ghost story and thriller and didn't really manage to oull off either. Definitely don't be put off by this one because the authors other books are amazing. This wasn't for me though

I wonder if the author realises how many readers will struggle with the sisters’ cutesy language. Sisterbobs. Hannadogs. Awful, toe curling, unbelievable cringe. There must be other ways of showing that two adult sisters are close.

In order to move the plot along, the story relies heavily on the supernatural… but the story itself isn’t a ghost story, it’s a run of the mill psych thriller. Her subconscious and ghostly noises steer the main character in the right direction far too often.

And too many strange happenings are left with no explanation, but were a key part of the story - the puppy being found in the sea?

We’re told often about the amazing wifi on the island, but the therapist comes once a week by boat to see her rather than do a session over Zoom! (I assumed this would be explained… he was in on it, didn’t want to sessions recording, wasn’t actually a therapist… but no, another loose end where he just stops answering her calls).

Too. Many. One. Word. Sentences. Chapters and chapters were written like this to make it suspenseful. ‘Hide. But where’. Draining. Very quickly.

Things I liked? The setting, the history, the weather, the premise. But the sisters’ languagebobs killed all this before it even got goingydogs.

A very dark book. Very atmospherically written and beautifully descriptive. Touches upon witchcraft, Tarot and other mystical aspects of life. Family, working and personal relationships are complex and will everything unravel at the end?
Will Hannah escape?

Wow. Wow. Wow. I loved this book despite it heavy, heavy subject matters. I was thinking about Hannah incessantly and I just wanted to see how it played out. And wow. I would so recommend this book, it’s probably S K Tremayne’s best yet!!!!

Trapped on fear island ★★☆☆☆

After a terrible tragedy where hotel guests drowned following her sister into the riptide, employee Hannah is trapped on the island by an incapacitating fear of the water. However, something sinister is going on at Hotel Stanhope and Hannah needs to leave before it’s too late.

The weird behaviour on the island and the mystery surrounding her mother’s death and the accidental drownings are compelling although we would probably not have guessed the real scheme lurking behind the hotel’s façade.

However, the way the sisters speak to each other – adding “dogs” and “bobs” to everything – and the twist regarding their phone conversations and the current whereabouts of her sister is irritating, undermines an otherwise sinister story, and makes Hannah an unreliable narrator.

I’m still a big fan of Tremayne’s first novel “The Ice Twins” but this one is not for me.

I loved this storyline and how it unfolded piece by piece. I couldn't stop reading as I needed to find out what happened. Really well written and kept me hooked throughout.

A big disappointment. If this is “Gripping, atmospheric and twisty … An unputdownable psychological thriller …” then count me out. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but sorry, this is not for me.

Set on a part-fictional island across the Blackwater from Essex, The Drowning Hour centres on Hannah – the PR Manager at the island’s notorious Stanhope hotel.

Once a popular party hotel, the Stanhope is falling into disarray following a terrible tragedy in the summer where several guests were drowned in the sea after going swimming during a party night. After the trauma she has witnessed, Hannah has developed a crippling fear of the water, leaving her trapped on the island and trapped in the hotel.

Through conversations with her sister, a guest at the party that night, and flashbacks to their childhood visits to the island and the hotel, Hannah begins to piece together sinister goings-on at the hotel and realises that she is far from safe there.

I loved how the atmosphere at the hotel became more and more tense and frightening – I could really feel Hannah’s claustrophobia and fear as the novel progressed and felt genuinely scared in some parts!

It was a very clever book – when the truth was revealed, I was shocked – at times it did get a tiny bit silly, but I certainly didn’t guess what was going on!

A very enjoyable read but a little unrealistic in places especially towards the end of it but all in all still a good book..

I was very pleased to be sent an ARC of this book as I'd read several of the author's books before and really enjoyed them. The Assistant in particular is excellent. I didn't like this one as much though;

Hannah is working at an elite hotel which is on an island. The hotel is very exclusive with VIPs coming to it all the time for the privacy it offers. But not so much since several people drowned in an incident earlier in the summer. Since then, Hannah has been unable to leave the island because of the phobia for water which she has. The story of that night is told in flashbacks with frequent references to Hannah's sister Kat who seems to have deliberately led guests into the water. The language that the sisters use in their exchanges is especially irritating, Hannahbobs this and sisterbobs that, Added to this was the incessant ruminating of Hannah. I've read several books recently where the narrator goes on and on and on about their predicament . This serves no purpose other than to slow the action down and it feels as though nothing happens for the first half of the book. A supernatural element is then added to the story which some people may find creepy. I didn't. Overall I found I couldn't empathic with Hannah and none of the other characters really came to life. The story is also quite similar to another book I read recently. I didn't much like that one either.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Tormented by a terror of water, Hannah is stuck on the island over winter. Whispers about That Night begin to circle.
Someone knows what really happened in The Drowning Hour and Hannah isn’t safe… This author has a knack for writing the perfect thriller and delivering it at the perfect pacing. I am immediately identified with the main characters.

The Stanhope is a classy, expensive hotel, set on an island in the Blackwater River. It is a magnet for the rich and famous, where their every whim is catered for.

The blurb reliably informed me that this book was going to be “Gripping, atmospheric and twisty.” Wrong! It was dull, boring and silly.

There have been lots of books set on islands recently, but this was not a good example. It was such a slow burner that it never really moved on, and the narrative was, at times, cringeworthy. Bobs and dogs ok if you are a child, but really? And to use them continually and repetitively was too much.

Sorry, but this was a book of repetition, no action and bad characters. Apologies to the author, but not for me.

Thank you NetGalley.