BLOG TOUR: The Bay by Allie Reynolds

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

'A tense, twisty, addictive read' JO SPAIN'Nail-bitingly tense...leaves you gasping for breath' SARAH PEARSE
The waves are to die for. It's a paradise they'd kill to keep.There's a darkness inside all of us and The Bay has a way of bringing it out. Everyone here has their secrets but we don't go looking for them. Because sometimes it's better not to know.
Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend, shocked to hear she's going to marry a guy she's only just met. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride.
Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and disappear from life. How will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced?
As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees the extremes they are prepared to go to for the next thrill. And everyone seems to be hiding something. What has her best friend got involved in and how can she get her away? But one thing is rapidly becoming clear about The Bay: nobody ever leaves.
'A high octane, addictive summer read' LUCY CLARKE'Gave me the same sinister-yet-wish-you-were-there vibes of The Beach' AMY MCCULLOCH'A compulsive page-turner . . . had me until the very last page' SALLY THORNE
Readers love Allie Reynolds:'A knife-sharp locked room mystery' HARRIET TYCE'An exciting, twisty page-turner that will keep you guessing all the way to the end' C. L. TAYLOR'Sensational ' PETER JAMES'A white-knuckle ride' ERIN KELLY'Full of atmospheric twists and turns' SARAH PEARSE'Thoroughly compelling and deliciously twisty... I flew through it' B. P. WALTER'Fresh, thrilling and original with complex, believable characters' KAREN HAMILTON

The Bay promises a tranquil visit, it promises clear oceans, it promises sandy beaches, it promises murder. Reading this story promises you such emotion you feel as though you have run a marathon. You’ll sweat, you’ll ache, and you’ll feel out of control. Endorphins galore, this is the best kind of story and when you find one with such pleasurable pain you are going to want to shout about it!

Allie Reynolds captures the beauty of Australia without scrimping on the danger because with all beautiful things, the threat will also be creeping in the shadows. There’s no Ying without the yang.

Kenna arrives in Australia, her friend, Mikki is worrying her. Both characters were the perfect candidates to survey. Kenna seems meek and mild but has a will of steel when it comes to protecting those she loves. She’s learned from the past even though it still haunts her waking hours. A lost love that has changed everything she was. Surfing used to be the air she breathed; it was her passion until an accident broke her into a million pieces. Now she’s existing with a heart pieced together with Sellotape. A sports therapist, now she mends those who have wrecked their bodies.

Allie Reynolds uses reality to mold a story so dark that you’ll be searching for the flashlight in five seconds. The characters aren’t perfect – they are all flawed. They have experienced loss, traumatic childhood, and made mistakes that are forever etched in stone. They were all drowning in stormy waters until they were introduced to The Bay.

Mikki and her fiancé, Jack introduce Kenna to this surfing spot that no one else knows about. They have the waves to themselves, and they can bask in its solitude. It’s a surfer’s dream. She meets Sky, Ryan, Victor, and Clemente. They appear to be hostile to her arrival, but why? And why have they all dropped off the face of the earth, why are they so keen to leave civilisation behind? They spend all day training for that huge wave to hit whilst living off the land as much as they can. Kenna has her reservations and wonders why she recognises one of the tribe as a missing person? Does The Bay harbor more than secrets?

The story is full of grey areas, and I was in my element wondering why Kenna just won’t leave. The tribe members all act suspicious, and I found myself asking why a lot!

Things with Mikki don’t add up. She seems to be rushing into marriage with Jack, not that he doesn’t seem like a nice guy. He’s knackered his back from professional surfing and seems to be living off Mikki’s inheritance. She has this ugly tattoo of a moth on her wrist, when she is scared of moths and never liked tattoos, it seems like a huge change. She needs to convince her to come home to Britain before it’s too late.

The Bay doesn’t let up for a second. A visceral portrait of friendship and obsession, Allie Reynolds takes you into the darkness of the hearts of her characters and leaves you with only a match to make your way out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I was once a freestyle snowboarder in the UK top ten at halfpipe. I spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada.

I taught English for fifteen years. I’ve also been a London primary school teacher, bookshop assistant, barmaid, nanny and French teacher/translator. My short fiction has appeared in women’s magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa. I’ve been a full-time writer since 2018.

Born and raised in Lincoln, England, I moved to Gold Coast Australia in 2003. I live near the beach with my two young boys.

Allie Reynolds