The Lodge

Whoa. This book has it all. Creative horror.  Perfect length - grabs you, keeps you, freaks you out, the epilogue - Firelight Inncin the Colorado Rockies -- chills. Done. 
Now I'm looking around my house for what can get me. 
A hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands has recently opened and is hosting a classic Scottish Highland Christmas for their guests. Alan dies first- choking on a quail bone.  But he hadn't eaten his quail. 
Andrew recently graduated from police training and requests an assignment in the Highlands. He receives the call as an epic snow storm is about to start.  Andrew, the guests and lodge owners are all stuck until the weather clears. 
The animals start getting restless. And by animals - I mean the taxidermy animals, the kill trophies decorating the lodge. 
I had with Elena, the young woman who assisted the owners.  Yeah. 
Great story. Great suspense and horror.

Interesting and unusual idea,that the hunted animals attack back.
Gory in parts,but also very light hearted.. so not sure what tone it was trying to set.
Short fun read,but I couldn't take it seriously.

A fast paced thriller reminiscent of early 80s stephen king.  Once I started reading I couldn't put it down and found myself needing to finish it right away.  Awesome read!

Thank you netgalley for this arc

Amazing thriller that rivals the Most Dangerous Game.  It kept me on the edge of my seat until the last.  I highly recommend this book.

152 pages

3 and 1 / 2 stars

What a fun book. (Its purpose might not have been for me to have a good time with it, but the animals getting back their own was a treat.)

Constable Andrew, fresh out of the academy just seven months earlier, requests an isolated post in the Scottish Highlands. He is not at all sure why; he hates the cold and snow. It is close to Christmas when he gets a call out to a lodge of a death. He drives to the lodge in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. 

One of the hunters has died after choking on a quail bone. But he never touched his quail. What is going on? More strange things begin to happen. How will this whole situation turn out?

The book is fairly well written and the plotting is very good. I liked Andrew, in spite of how things turned out. I liked Elena, but was disturbed at what happened to her. The end of the book was simply delicious.

I want to thank NetGalley and Troubador  Publishing Ltd. for forwarding to me a copy of this fun book to me to read, enjoy and review.

All I can say is wow!  First of all this book appealed to me because I love Scotland so I naturally gravitate to books that are set there.  Horror novels can be a little hit or miss.  Sometimes they are just a little too extra.  But The Lodge hit all the right notes.  Gruesome death, a little humor, excellent setting, and an unusual antagonist.  The twists toward the end were amazing.  I feel like I can't say enough good things about this novel.

I never would have thought I could label a book 'cozy horror', but this one fits the description quite well. The setting, ambience and slight romance build an ideal stage for a cozy mystery, while the gruesome murders and the unnatural nature of the murderers put the story into full horror mode. I loved the idea of animals getting back to their human hunters. Intertwined with this intriguing idea was another story altogether, where a man sought questionable justice for some past stroke of fate. However, I could have done without that additional story-line and would have rather enjoyed some straightforward 'animals fight back' splatter horror. Together with the alternating chapters which presented retrospects of the involved people's backgrounds to explain what caused the whole intrigue it could have easily created an interesting book of its own. I enjoyed reading this surprising and original book.

Wow this book is something else, but I really liked it! There is a lot of story in this little book. The characters al get a backstory and it al makes (kinda) sense in the end. I'm a vegetarian and happy they were included in this story.

I don’t know if I have the right words to say how much I liked this book.

This is a unique idea. I’m not a horror fan but this caught my attention. Animals getting revenge. Yes please. I’m almost positive the reason I love this book so much is that I’m a vegan so I didn’t see the villain as the villain. Oops. Unpopular opinion.

This was creepy and well done. I liked it so much I finished it in just one day and have not been able to stop thinking about it. I genuinely enjoyed the horror aspect and the entire story. I think it’s is well done.

I actually found this funny too since I was vegan when the animals were taking their revenge. So maybe this is also why I loved the book, it just seemed funny to me.

Honestly such a unique book I will be recommending to all of my friends and vegan friends too. This book is awesome.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Trubador for the advanced review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Decent story, easy enough to follow.  I would read more books by this author.  Overall, I liked the characters, the plot, the dialogue, and the wrap up.

3/5 Stars

When I started this book, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was about a cop at a hunting lodge, some characters died, and I saw someone make a comparison to an Agatha Christie novel. I was hooked for the ride, even if I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen.

This is the story of Andrew, a cop with a dark backstory that gets revealed over the course of the novel. Our story begins in the Scottish highlands. Orphaned as a young child by a fateful car wreck with a truck transporting animals, Andrew doesn’t know why a dark cloud seemingly hangs over him. On Christmas eve, he receives a call while on duty from a remote hunting lodge that offers all-inclusive stays to their guests. A guest ended up dead, so Andrew goes to investigate.

There he finds the knew owners and Elena, the daughter of the previous owners, who explain what happened. They were eating dinner together and the man suddenly collapsed, choking. The death is considered a tragedy with no foul play. Andrew begins interviewing the witnesses as to the events leading up to the death. The whole time a nasty snow storm is brewing outside. Andrew discovers by talking to Elena that the man had choked on a bone, however he wasn’t eating any meat at the time. Andrew thinks it odd, but not terribly suspicious.

That is until everyone gets snowed in at the lodge and the body goes missing. At this point, Andrew understands there is more to the story than everyone is letting on. Then the mysterious events start happening. One of the owners gets surrounded in the basement by taxidermied animals that attack him. The Christmas tree keeps growing, rather aggressively and wounding people. The Christmas geese come to life. And the body appears again surrounded by animals.

It is then revealed that the dead animals don’t like those who kill and eat them. As it turns out, the guests at the lodge all have some connection to Andrew. One guest is a surgeon who killed his high school girlfriend through negligence. Another man covered it up. The last man was the owner of the trucking company that was responsible for the negligent driving conditions that lead to the car accident that killed his parents. And it’s revealed that Andrew led them all there by claiming they’d won the trip as a prize.

In another twist, Andrew once went to a safari themed hotel where everyone ended up dying as well. He allegedly didn’t put the connection together until the events of our story unfolding. However, he was hoping for some revenge on these people who he sees as ruining his life. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the animals kill everyone accept Andrew (even poor Elena who was a vegetarian, thanks to Andrew feeding her meat “accidentally”).

The novel ends once the cops get there, at which point, the lodge explodes. In the epilogue, there is a different hunting lodge, this time in Colorado. They have a similar all-inclusive hunting package for Thanksgiving. At the end, it is revealed that Andrew has signed up for the holiday, thus imply the events will happen again.

All in all, I liked this book. It was a fun and engaging read. While suspenseful at times, the book was not scary. I’d recommend this to anyone who likes murder mysteries, especially classic mysteries like those written by Agatha Christie. I thought the author did a good job of keeping the reader engaged throughout the story. I was consistently excited to see what would happen next and be revealed about a character’s back story. It was a fun and suspenseful book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A quick read that captured you as you flipped the page. I was impressed by the concept as well. I haven’t personally read anything surrounding the concept of animals hunting back.

Good pieces of horror/thriller literatures. I personally enjoy the setting a lot. The general plot might not have been perfect, some minor flaws here and there, but totally enjoyable le and worth reading! I would recommend it!

The premise of this book and description is one that I have not heard of before and stood out. The author has something original with this story line and it has paid off.  The story does get gory at times and has a thriller you need for a horror story. The book did drag I some places and it was hard to keep interested once over the premise of the book. I would recommend and suggest to others.

The stag on the cover promised a story set at a Scottish Lodge and from reading the blurb, I expected a police procedural.  I liked the structure the author chose, which alternated between the main story and the back story of the various characters.  In particular, Andrew's back story was well written and would have made a great short story in itself. In the first section of the novel, I felt there was a lot of telling, where it could have been shown through scenes/dialogue. Elena kissing Andrew on the first night felt a bit premature for me.
 As the story unfolded, it became clear that there was another level to the narrative. The awful, gory deaths were being executed by animals- both stuffed and real. It was clear that this is where the author's skill lies. The elaborate descriptions brought the story to life and  I found the remainder of the book engaging and fast paced. The story came together very well at the end.
 Although this wasn't my usual genre, I did enjoy this read . It would make a great horror movie/tv series.

Beware All You Meat Lovers!

The story takes place in the remote Scottish Highlands while a blizzard is happening during the Christmas holidays.   Andrew, a young constable is called to the scene of an accidental death at an exclusive lodge twenty miles away from the village.   The lodge is filled with merriment with Christmas lights everywhere and the largest Christmas tree Andrew has ever seen but somehow the scene doesn't appear quite right and not because there's a dead body in the dining room.   A hunting lodge with animal heads decorating the walls and chandeliers made of deer antlers and other unusual and disturbing pieces of animal furnishings that were quite odd.   Naturally there isn't any mobile service available and the land lines are down because of the storm, so young Andrew will be stuck at the lodge for a day or two until the weather subsides and he begins to think it might be quite nice not to have to spend the holidays alone as originally planned until he notices some subtle changes in the lodge that has him questioning his imagination and as time goes on even his sanity!

This was a deliciously, devilish and quite imaginative horror story where I was squirming and shivering at many of the details of this book.   The writing and storytelling were wonderful and I could feel the bitter cold and almost hear the creepy sounds that were prevalent throughout.   The story was told with a lightness at times but it failed to shed light on much of the horror that took place which really made it very scary at times and I would be holding my breath at what would occur next.   I highly recommend this delectable story to all horror readers and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I want to thank the publisher "Troubadour Publishing Ltd. / Matador" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this marvelously, creepy book and any thoughts and opinions are completely unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this very creepy story a rating of 4 Horrific and Hunted 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader  guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

Horror / Mystery
A well told story , which keeps your attention.
Andrew's back story holds you, as real time events take bizarre turns.
would recommend

Spoilers!

I enjoyed the premise of the book and the main character! The way the author carved in the character back stories was helpful and flowed nicely between the chapters. However, the ending didn’t do it for me. It was predictable and killing off Elena seemed unnecessary to me. Also, the book was a weird length to me. Either it needed to be condensed to just the basic plot or lengthened to give more character development. Additionally, I wish the author gave more character development to the other guests! I had no feeling during the attacks because I had no emotional investment in those characters. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and it kept me entertained!

Nice, quick read! I enjoyed this book. It reminded me a bit of House on Haunted Hill. It was a bit too predictable to give it a 4 star rating for me, but still enjoyable.

A winter horror in the middle of a secluded mountain lodge? Sign me the hell up! I was super excited to get to The Lodge, but many things stopped me from enjoying it as fully as I wanted. For the most part, the writing style felt a bit confused, like it didn't know what tone it wanted to set. I wasn't sure if I should get fully invested in the gore and horror bits, or get invested in its lighthearted campiness. Somehow, I couldn't get fully immersed in the story. However, like I said, it's campy fun, and the characters carry the story fairly well. Looking at other reviews, it may have just been me and my own expectations that ruined my reading experience. The Lodge is still a solid reading experience, and a fun one to pick up now that we're in the thick of winter!

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hunting, vacation in the Scottish Highlands, all inclusive B&B...what could go wrong...until someone dies. When the police are called, Andrew heads up to the lodge and then gets snowed in with the other guests. Then some interesting things start to happen....the animals start fighting back. 

I really enjoyed this concept for a story. Some things that happened were a little too far fetched but all in all and enjoyable read. I loved the backstories and surprising twist in the end. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher/author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the premise of this book, the “food” fights back. What a terrifying thought!
The story was great but I don’t think I needed all the backstory on the characters as much, at least it could have been shortened. 
I didn’t find any character particularly likeable which usually makes me dislike the book but I was actually still intrigued to see what happens and keep reading.
The relationship between Andrew and Elena was a bit weird, it progressed so fast that I didn’t feel any realness to it.
I wish the book would have stuck to the plot of the animals fighting back, it went a bit of a different way and then came back at one point. I was a bit confused of is this the animals doing, the characters doing, or something else all together.

I enjoyed this thriller. It was a unique twist on the hunter becoming the hunted. I felt like it was a little too long. It dragged towards the end. But all in all, a decent thriller.

This was definitely an unexpected read. It wasn't at all what I thought was going to happen after the first two chapters. It was good though and kept you wanting to read to find out whats going to happen.

The idea and storyline of this book is really unique and I was drawn to it because who doesn’t love a book set in their home country! It is a horror, it is a bit gory, but it is also quite lighthearted and humorous in areas, with a little bit of romance chucked in for good measure. 

I struggled with the believability of some of the characters actions (rather than any paranormal activity) particularly around the romance part, it just didn’t seem particularly believable and it was very quick, though it is a shorter book. I didn’t really feel much towards the guests, I’d have liked to have found out a bit more about them and their backstories a little earlier on, even to see their view on things that happened.

It’s also quite a short book, but the perfect length to keep you reading and interested throughout, whilst also being able to tell the story. I do, however, think that the ending seemed a little rushed and there wasn’t any pausing or thinking time for the characters, they just automatically knew what was happening... 

I’d recommend this as a shorter read though I have been a little scared to eat meat since reading this!

Brilliant thriller. Loved that you felt like you were in Scotland. Twists and turns with every turn of a page. Cant wait to read more by this author

Thank you to @troubador_publishing and @netgalley for this copy of The Lodge. This book was extremely unique. Set in the highlands of Scotland in a remote B&B, the guests are snowed in, the phone lines are down and the guests are dropping like flies. What began as a Christmas hunting trip sees the hunted animals become the hunters and no one is safe....unless you're a veggie😂
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This was a really unique concept. To begin with I assumed it would be the classic remote b&b, dead guest, whodunnit? Format until the animals began taking their revenge. At times this read like an 80s horror movie and bordered on ridiculous but it was a fun read and I really enjoyed how each of the guests stories were linked 👌
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#troubadorpublishing #matadorbooks #netgalley #netgalleyuk #thelodge #chriscoppel #creepyreads #goodreadschallenge #readingislife

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2021
I think this has to be the first vegetarian horror book I have ever read. Set in the Scottish Highlands during Christmas, a young constable is called to a new lodge to investigate the death of one of its guests.
Within hours, the snow sets in, trapping the young constable, owners and the hunting parties for who the lodge is specifically aimed at. Now confined amongst the numerous hunting trophies decorating the interior and the freshly killed animals waiting to be devoured, the body of the first victim disappears without leaving a trace.
It is a gory, fun book that does not take itself too seriously and eventually throws everything at the reader as the pace starts to step up a gear. This is a book you could read in one sitting and if you do not want every facet explained to you and accept you are being taken along for the ride this is a hugely enjoyable book.

What could be cozier than Christmas in a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands? For newbie constable Andrew, the inn owners, and a handful of well-paying guests, the tables turn when the hunted animals take revenge.

The Lodge by Chris Coppel is a bullet of a book: fast, compact, and impactful. It's a short revenge tale that teeters on the edge of splatterpunk. There's plenty of creative gore and atmosphere, but not a lot of creepiness. The lodge and the surrounding countryside are as beautifully visual as the deaths are gruesome. If you're in the mood for something quick and grisly in an idyllic landscape, The Lodge is for you.

It reminds me a bit of a 90's whodunit: a big spooky house, a locked-in atmosphere, and plenty of mysterious bumps in the night. Every now and then, a character would hear a shout from another room, rush in, and immediately ask what happened. Oh dear, it was the deer!

Like any good horror story, The Lodge doesn't take itself too seriously. The bizarre reanimated animals are nightmarishly weird and creative in their retribution. Even the Christmas tree gets in on the action! And the human characters are good for a laugh: desperate for a positive Yelp review, the owners do their darndest to metaphorically sweep the deaths under the zebra-skin rug. The reader enjoys plenty of that "I know something you don't know" feeling when the characters find themselves in a pickle.

I think it would have benefitted from being either a little bit shorter or a little bit longer. There were some gaps in the backstories and I think they all could have been either fleshed out or summed up. However, I did enjoy knowing the backstories and after learning the guests' histories, I'll admit it sparked a bit of a grinchy smile when karma caught up with them. Once everything started to make sense (sort of) it did feel a bit rushed and too tidy. A bit over the top, but what else would you expect from a story like this?

I can't quite decide which genre The Lodge belongs in. The cover says it's a thriller, it reads like horror, but it's more of a vegan revenge tale with gore in it. The spook-factor is a little low, so there's not a lot of dread, but plenty of revulsion. The reader can see everything coming from a mile away. In a vengeance tale, I consider this a good thing.

Whatever it is, The Lodge is just a lot of fun! Probably not so entertaining if you're an avid hunter, but if you're in the mood for a jolt of gross-out horror, this is just the ticket.

I read this book during a blizzard. And yes, I did make a vegan dish for dinner.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Lodge is an inventive horror story depicting what happens when the hunters become the hunted. This novel has stunning imagery and paints the picture of isolation vividly.

First of all just wanted to say wow this book was not what I expected.. The murder s where very brutal. This story is about a lodge in Scotland round Christmas time. Guests go to the hotel and events happen and a police man went up to investigate but the snow was thick and he had to stay there with them until the snow went. 
This is horror story and the things that happened I did not see coming. I was shocked what happened to a few of the characters in the book who I liked. 
I think this book could been a bit shorter and I liked how you got to find out background on the four characters. 
Thank you NetGalley and Chris Coppel for letting me read this book.

What an unusual slightly strange story, but that is no complaint

I was intrigued with the storyline right from the beginning, and just had to find out what was going to happen 

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for Arc

I love a good horror, especially a strange one. This was a both gory and funny. It's a good intro to horror book for people looking to step into the genre. It was super entertaining, and I loved the plot. It was really easy to follow and I read it in day.