cover image Shiver

Shiver

Allie Reynolds. Putnam, $27 (400p) ISBN 978-0-5931-8783-8

Milla, the narrator of Reynolds’s exciting if uneven debut, and four other friends travel to an abandoned ski lodge in the French Alps, where they met 10 years earlier, for a reunion. Back then, the five participated in a grueling snowboarding training session, along with another snowboarder, Saskia. Milla had an exceptionally bitter rivalry with Saskia, who vanished without a trace. Soon after their arrival, their cell phones disappear, a snowstorm hits the lodge, and an icebreaker game reveals that one of them may be a murderer. Milla and company discover that their invitations came from a mysterious source, and they also begin to suspect they aren’t alone. The story alternates between the current predicament and the events a decade ago, revealing overlapping conflicts among the characters. Though the action is slow to start, and no one makes a serious effort to escape, Reynolds, a former competitive snowboarder, brings authenticity to her Alpine setting with her detailed descriptions of the sport. Fans of locked-room mysteries will have fun. Agent: Kate Burke, Blake Friedmann Literary (U.K.). (Jan.)