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Mark Edwards

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The Retreat Kindle Edition

by Mark Edwards (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 26,461 ratings

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An Amazon Charts bestseller.

A missing child. A desperate mother. And a house full of secrets.

Two years ago, Julia lost her family in a tragic accident. Her husband drowned trying to save their daughter, Lily, in the river near their rural home. But the little girl’s body was never found—and Julia believes Lily is somehow still alive.

Alone and broke, Julia opens her house as a writers’ retreat. One of the first guests is Lucas, a horror novelist, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. But within days of his arrival, the peace of the retreat is shattered by a series of eerie events.

When Lucas’s investigation leads him and Julia into the woods, they discover a dark secret—a secret that someone will do anything to protect…

What really happened that day by the river? Why was Lily never found? And who, or what, is haunting the retreat?

From the bestselling author of Follow You Home and The Magpies comes his most terrifying novel yet.

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Mark Edwards Collection Amazon Publishing


	Follow You Home	The Magpies	Because She Loves Me	Here To Stay	The Retreat
	See Details	See Details	See Details	See Details	See Details
Customer Reviews	46,793	41,080	32,030	48,251	26,461
Price	$5.99	$4.99	$5.49	$4.99	$4.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The supernatural hauntings will leave you questioning reality. Beware, this book messes with your head.” —The Sun

“Utterly compelling. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.” —C. L. Taylor, author of The Fear

“One of those books that I needed to start again the minute I finished it…Thoroughly spooky, intriguing and compelling.” —Liz Nugent, author of Lying In Wait

“Mark Edwards is a natural born storyteller with the darkest of imaginations…One of the creepiest books of the year.” —Fiona Cummins, author of Rattle

“Vintage Mark Edwards; authentically everyday people trapped in uniquely frightening events.” —Paul Finch, author of Strangers

“What a ride! Full of twists I completely failed to see coming.” —Simon Lelic, author of The House

“Edwards’s best one yet. Twisty, turny, addictive reading.” —Cass Green, author of In a Cottage In a Wood

“A deliciously creepy read that will have you hooked!” —Sibel Hodge, author of Look Behind You

“Twisting and terrifying, the kind of haunting, pacy, spine-chiller that Mark Edwards is the absolute master of.” —Chris Whitaker, author of Tall Oaks

About the Author

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people, and is inspired by writers such as Stephen King, Ira Levin, Ruth Rendell and Linwood Barclay.

He is the author of five #1 bestsellers: Follow You Home, The Magpies, Because She Loves Me, The Devil’s Work and The Lucky Ones, along with What You Wish For and six novels co-written with Louise Voss.

Originally from the south coast of England, Mark now lives in the West Midlands with his wife, their three children, two cats and a golden retriever.

Mark loves hearing from readers and can be contacted via his website, www.markedwardsauthor.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B074W8K55L
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (May 10, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 10, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3231 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 365 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #38,302 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #396 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books)
- #505 in Psychological Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #1,057 in Psychological Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 26,461 ratings

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Mark Edwards

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Welcome to my Amazon Author Page! I write books in which scary things happen to ordinary people, the best known of which are Follow You Home, The Magpies, Here To Stay and The Retreat. My novels have sold over 4 million copies and topped the bestseller lists numerous times. I pride myself on writing fast-paced page-turners with lots of twists and turns, relatable characters and dark humour

I live in the West Midlands, England, with my wife, our three children, two cats and a golden retriever.

To make sure you never miss a new release click the Follow button on this page.

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4.3 out of 5

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KiraH

An engaging read from start to finish...

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2018

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Lucas, a writer in the midst of grief decides to head to a writer’s retreat located in his childhood hometown in Wales. He recently wrote a bestselling horror novel and is hoping this writer’s retreat in this beautiful home helps him find his creativity again.

He arrives and finds a grieving Mother, Julia - the proprietor of the retreat (who he finds himself increasingly attracted to), a young aspiring author, an overconfident and smug author who may or may not be cheating on his wife with the young aspiring author) and a self-published author who is a pothead.

As he tries to focus on writing his new book, he stumbles into a mystery regarding the disappearance of Julia’s young daughter and the drowning of her husband along with a local legend involving the disappearance of children every 35 years.

His focus is taken away from his book and onto those things and mysterious happenings around the house. Will any of these things inspire another successful novel or will he find himself entangled into finding the sources of the odd things and solve the mystery of Julia’s missing daughter, Lily?

This book had quite a few twists and turns. What a great read! Mark Edwards has done it again. He has the knack of making everyday happenings into something that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. He tells the story from the both Lucas’ (present day) and Lily’s point of view (back to the time leading up to her disappearance). It is done in a way that is not confusing and keeps you invested. I cannot wait for his next book.

8 people found this helpful

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Jamil Moscoso

Well-developed story

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2020

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This thriller is quite entertaining! On some days I would read as many as 30 pages in a matter of a few hours!
As you may read in the description, this book is about a novelist who checks into a writing retreat in Wales to write his new thriller. Little did he know that he would find himself resolving a years-long mystery around the disappearance of several individuals.
I do have one piece of criticism, and it concerns one of the main characters, Julia. Throughout the novel there is very little character development for her. She is only shown being angry, tearful, and, at times, overbearing. Given the rich story developed by the author, I think she should have been given a more interesting overall personality.
As a final word, I would absolutely recommend reading this novel as the story will keep you thinking about many possible scenarios around the mystery contained within its pages.
Congratulations, Mark!

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2023

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Had know idea who it was. Kept you wondering if she was dead or alive. Love a happy ending. Good read.

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Pisces51

ENJOY PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS BY EDWARDS, THIS WAS JUST MY LEAST FAVORITE

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2021

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THE RETREAT [2018] By Mark Edwards
My Review 2.5 Stars Rounded To 3 Stars***

This standalone psychological thriller features a not especially sympathetic male protagonist named Lucas. He is an author who writes genre horror fiction and although he can boast a bestseller which is being adapted to the big screen he is presently afflicted with “writer’s block” and harbors a deep-seated fear that he may be a “one hit wonder”. Lucas is subjected to a certain amount of pressure from his publisher to produce a new worthwhile work of horror fiction. It is pertinent to note that Lucas had been financially assisted and emotionally supported by his lover during the writing of the book which became a best seller. However, she didn’t show up for work one morning and Lucas was justifiably alarmed. She had ridden her bike as usual, and he retraced her route only to be the first on the scene to discover her twisted and broken body where a callous hit and run motorist had hastily hidden it off the roadway where it wouldn’t be readily spotted by passersby. This is significant because our stressed author still carries the pain of her loss. The tragic death of his life partner a couple of years previously also spawns a storm of guilt and regret because she was not alive to see him succeed as she always told him he would.

The plot involves the main character of Lucas returning to his childhood home in Wales for solitude at a writer’s retreat in an effort to facilitate the flow of his creative juices. The narrative unfolds from the viewpoint of Lucas, and the story line gradually develops against the creepy backdrop of an isolated location that is heavily sheltered by the woods, near a raging river, and steeped in gory if not chilling folklore and superstition. Julia, the owner of the retreat is the lone survivor of an out-of-town family who relocated to the area and purchased the house and land named Nyth Bran. Two years previously she had been the victim of a double tragedy. She and her husband had taken their 8-year-old girl Lily for a walk beside the roiling river. The couple were arguing again about his hitting the booze and the daughter Lily had wandered off on her own. The frantic parents realized she was no longer with them only to subsequently spot her trademark stuffed toy cat floating in the fast-moving currents of the river. The half-inebriated father not only jumped to conclusions but literally jumped in the turbulent waters to save his little girl. In short, he drowned but the daughter Lily was never located dead or alive.

It is perhaps not surprising that the lovely Julia who owns and manages the writer’s retreat is a bit volatile and a lot emotionally challenged. She is initially perceived as a sympathetic character because of her continued existence in limbo, that is not knowing if her daughter is dead or out there alive somewhere. That said, her reactionary outbursts and unpredictable process of sorting information with vacillating conclusions about the input counterbalanced my compassion. Lucas shares the retreat with several other colorful characters, including the insolent and overbearing Max who has written a respected work of literature a decade ago, but meets the criteria for a one hit wonder more accurately with each passing day. Max is tutoring a young woman at the retreat with her self-published works of fiction (suspected to be doing a lot more than “tutoring” in the category of writing). Then there is the resident young female writer who depends upon substance abuse for her muse, and later a self-proclaimed psychic named Ursula who allegedly communicates with a spirit guide for the other side.

The most important thread that weaves in and out of the entire narrative as it slithers along in stops and starts is the specter of The Red Widow. The origin story of this truly frightening evil spirit is indeed chilling. It instills even more dread somehow when the reader learns that the bestselling book and hottest rental at the library is “Folk Tales and Urban Myths”. The Bible, Harry Potter, and the Twilight chronicles take a real backseat to seemingly an entire village of folks who live and breathe to the merciless drum beat of the heart of myths and superstitions dating back generations.

This is not intended to be a synopsis of the book, just my overall impressions to jog my own memory about my feelings that were engaged during the reading experience. Mark Edwards already established that he has the writing chops to turn out truly top shelf psychological thrillers. I loved HERE TO STAY, and followed up with his recommendations to read FOLLOW YOU HOME and THE MAGPIES. This novel has an intricate and complex plot, contains the requisite twists and turns in the narrative, surprise plot twists, and a “knock it out of the ballpark” shocking conclusion with an unexpected jab to finish it off. Oh—and by the way there is a sufficient body count that should satisfy any fan.

I read the Author’s Notes at the end and really enjoyed them. It explained succinctly yet touched upon all of the most critical puzzle pieces from real life that he decided to weave into this novel. It was fascinating.

Finally, I can offer no single reason that this tale “didn’t do it for me”. One issue may have been the multi-generational components of the mystery and whodunit. The numerous characters in the book to keep straight was challenging at times. By the 52% mark in the book, I was still not engaged, and had this novel been written by a new-to-me author I would have read to the 25% mark (my personal approach) and figuratively filed it on the DNF Shelf. By around the 75% mark I felt like the momentum picked up somewhat. It was like putting the paddles to the chest and seeing a “blip” on the monitor though. I wasn’t shocked back into a sinus rhythm. This work by Edwards didn’t click with me, but it was a worthwhile educational journey to underscore the devastation and horror that superstition and irrational beliefs can engender in otherwise normal people. I felt there were some plausibility and credibility concerns in this aspect of the plot, but I am clearly an outlier on this one. Edwards is a talented writer and as a fan of his, I will certainly be reading more of his works.

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Kindle Customer

Suspenseful!!

Reviewed in Canada on November 3, 2023

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Enjoyed this read very much. Had a hard time putting it down.

Jean Williams

THE RETREAT

Reviewed in Spain on September 18, 2018

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Lucas has a best selling book to his credit but is struggling to move along with his next novel. He goes back to a little Welsh village where he was born, to stay at a writer's' retreat. Julie opened her house as a retreat after her husband drowned and her little girl Lily disappeared on that same tragic day. Presumed drowned too, when the police couldn't find no trace of her. Julie never has given up hope of finding her alive. Old myths and superstitions abound in this Welsh valley. Of witches and disappearing children. As the book unfolds so does the drama of the story. Lucas embarks on the task of trying to solve the mystery which takes him and the other writers at the retreat into danger and deaths. An exciting and frightening thriller. Highly recommended.

AlessandraMARS

secondo libro di mark edwards: ne leggerò altri!

Reviewed in Italy on August 23, 2018

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e' il secondo libro che leggo dello stesso autore e lo trovo semplicemente fantastico, un vero thriller in quanto tiene davvero con il fiato sospeso, fa sospettare elementi di paranormale che però poi hanno spiegazioni scientifiche (ma ovviamente rivelate solo all'ultimo) insomma un libro da leggere!

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JenMedBookLover

Dark and creepy thriller- loved it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2018

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I absolutely devoured this book. Totally a one afternoon sitting kind of a read. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was going to have to set aside any other plans (which were in fairness rather limited) and just devote myself to reading as I was hooked from the off. Mark Edwards set the scene in the most dramatic of ways - the disappearance of young Lily. So small, so innocent, a scene so totally shocking that took me completely unawares and I was compelled to read on to find out what was going on and why.

Cue the main body of the story. Writer Lucas is trying desperately hard to write a follow up to his massively successful horror novel but struggling to find muse or focus after the loss of his long term partner. Booking himself into a writer's retreat near his hometown, he has no idea of the history of owner Julia, and the tragic story which haunts her. The longer he stays at the retreat, the more he finds out about Julia and her missing daughter, Lily, the more determined he is to help her find peace. As Lucas starts to look into what happened on that fateful day years ago, terrifying things start to happen, not only at the house, but in the neighbouring community, events which put everyone's lives at risk.

Man, oh man, what a story. The whole idea of a missing child is bad enough. Who would abduct a young girl and, in spite of what her mother may believe, can she possibly still be alive after all this time? But when you take this most harrowing of circumstances and give it a Mark Edwards twist, you are assured of a read which is not only thrilling but, in this case, totally chilling too. Capturing some of the uncertain and creeping edge which underpinned The Devil's Work, and there is a nod to that book in that Julia used to work as an illustrator for Jackdaw, Mr Edwards has pulled together one hell of a read with an undercurrent of unease from start to finish. Mysterious noises in the walls, spirit guides, unexplained voices singing in an empty bedroom - the atmosphere in this book is eerie to say the least, the mystery compelling.

What I love about Mark Edwards' work is the way he is able to make you so invested in the characters. He has quite the mixture here, beginning with Lucas, damaged by his personal loss and able to easily identify with Julia as a result. He was a character I warmed to immediately, and this is just as well as the majority of the story is told in first person from his perspective. Julia was harder to get to know but as a quiet character, easy to sympathise with her and her overwhelming sense of loss. The other writers, Karen, Suzi, Max and eventually Ursula make up a real mix of characters, from the slightly odd to the downright rude, but all felt real. Then there are the villagers, all trying to keep their own counsel as secrets from the past, gradually revealed, do not make for good reading.

There is a sense of the otherworldly about this novel, local superstition and folk-lore informing the story in surprising ways. So many suspects to divert your attention and so many people who had made such grave errors in the past which now begin to impact the present. The pacing of the book was spot on, matching the story with slower periods of reflection contrasting against the high tension, heart thumping moments of peril. Skin crawling characterisations kept me on high alert and as segments of the story moved to Lily's perspective in the months leading up to her disappearance, I could feel myself being drawn deeper and deeper into the story. This was quite probably my favourite book so far by this author. Top stuff combining all the things I like in a story - chills, thrills and a good old-fashioned mystery.

And then that ending ... Just desserts? Quite possibly but not what I was expecting. Bravo sir.

11 people found this helpful

Nat S

Great thriller with a fresh plot

Reviewed in Australia on May 30, 2018

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I have been a fan of Mark Edwards’ books for a while now and was looking forward to this novel.

Going straight to the point, I really enjoyed ‘The Retreat’. I loved the setting and beautiful presentation of the place. I absolutely adore Wales and the book reminded me of my travels there. I loved all the mysteries and how the plot was revealed in a good, dynamic pace. The best quality of Mark’s books is that it is hard to guess what is really going on, there are so many twists and turns that keep the reader entertained and glued to the pages. That’s what usually happens to me – if I start Mark’s book, I can’t stop until I finish it. Work and life get in the way, but I stay focused 🙂

I also enjoyed an element of the urban legends. It reminded my childhood where we all heard some old stories and were retelling them in different words to the younger ones, adding some particularly scary details. The interesting thing about the urban legends that they founded on something real that often has a simple explanation but a complex reason.

The main character Lucas is quite relatable. He struggles with writing his next horror novel, hence, comes to this new writers’ retreat. I am always curious about the life of the authors, their challenges and successes, so it was good to read a little bit about that as well.

There was one thing that wasn’t believable for me but I keep it a secret not to spoil a book for you.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller with little flashes of horror (but not too many ;). Mark’s plots always bring something new and keep you entertained.

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