Ten years ago, Milla was a professional snowboarder hoping to climb the ranks during an event in the French Alps. That competition proved fatal to one of their number and career-ending for another. Milla has since given up the sport, but now she accepts an invitation to the resort to meet up with the old group. When she arrives, the resort puts on parlor games that accuse guests and expose their secrets without naming names. Sasha, the missing--presumed dead--member of the group had given everyone reason to dislike her; does that mean she was murdered? When group members begin dropping dead, Milla realizes they have run out of time for secrets. Someone wants revenge. The story unfolds in chapters that jump between the present and the past, narrated by the unreliable Milla. Narrator Olivia Vinall switches character accents effortlessly, but her skills can't make up for the unlikable cast. Reynolds is a retired pro snowboarder, and her first book includes a lot of technical details that slow the plot. VERDICT The denouement of the locked-room mystery, which is a little disappointing, comes out of left field. Libraries may want to order on request, but it isn't a crucial purchase.--Jodi L. Israel, Orlando, FL

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.)

Competitive snowboarding is the backdrop to this mystery, set at a resort in the French Alps. Ten years after a group of competitors were last there, they're back, but the reunion is far from fun. There's nobody else at the resort, and once snowboarder Milla and her somewhat spoiled old friends have reached it, there's no way to leave, as the cable cars have been disabled. One of the group, Saskia, disappeared on the original visit--a whirlwind of training, competition, partying, and relationships--and she may be behind the frightening new circumstances. Finding out what's going on tests the physical and mental endurance of Milla and the rest of the crew. Winter-sports fans are in for a treat here, as are all who enjoy a tale of extremes; the fierce competition between women characters is also a bonus. The answer to who's pulling the strings here is a little incredible, but overall this debut is an atmospheric winter treat. Recommend it to those who enjoyed recent tales of reunions gone awry, such as Laura DiSilverio's That Last Weekend (2017) and T. M. Logan's The Vacation (2020).

Deep in the breathtaking winter bleakness of the French Alps, revenge--and perhaps even murder--is most definitely afoot. In a remote, off-season snow lodge, five former friends--Curtis, Milla, Brent, Dale, and Heather--gather for a weekend reunion, but from the get-go, it's unclear which of them is actually behind the invitations. They're encouraged by a teasing note to disengage from their phones, but when their phones disappear, they realize they are completely cut off from the rest of the world. The action in this disturbing thriller shifts between the present-day reunion and a time, 10 years earlier, when four of these five were professional snowboard competitors along with several others, including Curtis' sister, Saskia. The outlier, Heather, was a bartender who became Dale's girlfriend. At that time, a tragic accident and Saskia's disappearance put a damper on their burgeoning clique, which had already been slightly riven by an underlying element of sinister malevolence. Now, the five leftovers (so to speak), trapped in their present-day snowbound digs, find it harder and harder to trust one another: A supposed icebreaker game contains accusatory secrets; the lodge's electrical power proves iffy; food supplies vanish, not to mention knives; and windows are left mysteriously open. The sometimes-grisly action has a palpably visual immediacy to it--it comes as no surprise that this debut novel has already been picked up for television--while the mostly breakneck pace of the narrative lags only on occasion. This suspenseful debut thriller by a former freestyle snowboarder contains both style and substance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.