Kind of reminded me of The Guest List. That same vibe...I liked it. Kept me guessing and turning pages.

Wow! This is one of the best written, complex, twisty, extra smart and most intense stories Gilly MacMillan created! The deeply layered, flawed, broken characters she’s developed catch you unguarded. Most of them are not likable but you still feel empathy for them after learning more about their problematic pasts. Entire progression needs your full attention because POVs of the story changes without giving any warning. And there’s a big twist is coming at the first third hits you so hard: you ke...

The 3000 acre isolated Northumbrian farm belonging to the Eliott family is the location for the long weekend. The Elliotts own Dark Fell Barn, a holiday rental, to which Jayne (ex army intelligence), Ruth (a doctor and struggling new mum) and Emily (a much younger new bride) arrive a day in advance of their husbands. The husbands are the glue of the group as their friendship goes way back to school days and this soon becomes very apparent. The fuel added to the fire is a note and gift delivered

3.5 stars, rounded up.Was kind of eye rolling in the beginning but as the twists started being revealed I liked it more and more. Surprising thriller!At first, I thought it was kind of a silly, basic thriller setup. Three couples are supposed to go to a remote, isolated location for a weekend away. The husbands all have things come up so they send the three wives ahead with the promise to catch up with them the next day. When the women arrive, there is a note from another woman--Edie--who was pa...

EXCERPT: Behind her, something approaches, not quickly, but deliberately. She swings the torch wildly in its direction but sees only foliage, teased by the wind. A shudder ripples through her. Lightning strikes, but it only confuses her, white light glancing off every tree trunk, picking out every leaf and thorn and bramble. She feels spotlit by it, intensely vulnerable, and takes off down the hill, running as quickly as she can, not caring what she steps on, or whether she risks falling. She fe...

A relaxing long weekend away for three couples goes horribly wrong, becoming instead the weekend from hell. From the outset, this annual long weekend planned as an idyllic break for three couples got off to a bad start. For various reasons the three men, Paul, Toby and Mark, were unable to get away until the following day so their wives went ahead to spend the night alone in the off-grid, refurbished barn they had booked on a remote farm in Northumbria. A cosy fire, a good meal and a few glasses...

Finished! That’s the only unequivocally good thing I can say about this. I struggle to find any deeper meaning. I suppose the plotting was okay, but I didn’t like the style of the author revealing more a little at a time, in annoying bits and pieces. All the characters were either vile or whiny, or both.The premise sounds intriguing. Three ladies go for a weekend - of course isolated and without network coverage. When the arrive to their far away borrowed barn, they find a note that one of their...

It’s a hoax! Or is it?Couples’ weekend has gone seriously wrong. When all three of their husbands are delayed, Emily, Jayne and Ruth set out to the remote Dark Fell Barn for their couples’ weekend alone.However, things turn sinister when they arrive and find a gift with a suspicious note claiming that one of their husbands will be murdered.The fourth member of their group, Edie, didn’t join them this weekend due to the recent death of her husband. Did she write the note?When the weather takes a

I struggled with how to rate this one. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was ok. I thought it dragged a lot and then something interesting would happen, then drag again. I struggled to finish it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more reading the physical copy? 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is the second book that I have read this month called The Long Weekend, but this one was so very different to the first! This Long Weekend is absolutely one that I am glad I wasn't part of. I don't think that there was one character in this book that I liked or cared about. But in this case I feel that it didn't matter, It was a dark and pretty intense read that kept me guessing until the end. This book does jump around a lot., between time periods and characters. Once I got used to that it...

Such an absolute middle-of-the-road, mediocre read. And for once, I don't even think I'm an outlier here in my opinion, as most reviews I've read seem to have similar thoughts.In a nutshell, three woman, whose spouses are all lifelong friends, do a weekend getaway to an isolated, remote, refinished barn. All three of their spouses have something come up at the last minute (not suspicious at all), so the three women go on their own. Of course there is a storm that knocks out cell service yatta ya...

A mystery told through multiple characters POV’s, full of twists and turns and once you get into the characters is a good read.Three couples decide to go on an isolated retreat, deep in the Northumbria moors, the three women arrive early for a weekend getaway with their husbands due to join them the following morning. Well that was the plan, because when they get to Dark Fell Barn the women find a note claiming that one of their husbands has been murdered. With no phone or internet coverage in t...

Rating: 2.0/5Three women find themselves in a secluded retreat in deepest Northumberland, with their respective husbands due to be joining them the following morning. But when they receive an ominous message saying, "By the time you've read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands" the mood amongst the group of friends changes very quickly.The premise sounded appealing - not completely original - but the kind of basis that has formed a solid foundation for many enjoyable mysteries I have read...

3.5 stars rounded up to 4Dark Fell Barn is a "perfectly isolated" retreat, or so it says on the 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 to the tight-k...

Ominous, absorbing and atmospheric, The Long Weekend is psychological suspense at its finest! A gorgeous thriller about obsession and dark secrets that threaten to destroy a group of close friends who all have an awful lot to hide. As always, Macmillan summons a dark magic on the page, with a haunting setting, compelling plot and prose so vivid it paints the story in intricate detail. This one shines!The book is boldly structured with multiple characters and time periods moving abruptly about, s...

A fast paced read with an unreliable narrator and a weekend getaway with friends, what could go wrong?Jayne, Ruth, and Emily are our main characters although you do hear from others and one is a mystery. The one issue I had with this book is the character often changed within a chapter with no indication of the change, and I found myself trying to figure out who was speaking which was confusing. I did really enjoy that first twist!I have enjoyed all of Gilly Macmillan's previous books and althou...

tђє l๏ภﻮ ฬєєкєภ๔ 🏚⛰🏚By GILLY MACMILLANRelease Date 03/29/2022Emily, Jayne, and Ruth arrive at Dark Fell Barn, run by Maggie and John. Three thousand acres, 800 sheep, and the middle of nowhere. Ruth is a doctor and a new mom, married to Toby. Toby has been distant since their son Alfie was born. She’s also a closet drunk. Emily is married to Paul, an older man; she’s the outsider of the three. Younger, naive, and Paul is just full of surprises. Jayne is ex-army and married to Mark. Edie, the 4th...

I love Gilly Macmillan's novels but admittedly this is not my favourite. It is still a very good read, atmospheric and a little disturbing as a group of friends on an isolated holiday receive a strange message...one of their husbands is dead...It is a tale full of twists and turns, a difficult to predict mystery and a really edge of the seat finale, in most respects the type of page turner you want in a psychological thriller. A couple of small, subjective issues lessened the impact for me perso...

Three strikes and I’m out. This author and I do not mix well. I can understand her popularity, but her books are just not for me.

In The Long Weekend, the author introduces three women, whose only true commonality is the lifelong friendship their husbands share. Each not particularly fond of the other, they count the minutes before their husbands’ delayed arrival at Dark Fell Barn, an isolated retreat, within England. Upon check-in, a menacing note awaits Jayne (ex-military), Ruth (physician and overwhelmed neo-mom), and Emily (diffident new bride), which imparts a death threat directed at one of the husbands. Angst quickl...