SHIVER Book Club Kit by PRH Library

BOOK CLUB KIT

READING GROUP GUIDE 1. Shiver is told through interweaving past and present story lines. How did switching between timelines affect your reading experience? What clues from the past informed the present, or vice versa? Did reading about the characters at different ages change your perceptions of them? 2. Which of the main characters in Shiver is your favorite? Did your impressions of each of them change over the course of the novel? 3. Athletes are often known to use intimidation strategies, play mind games, and “trash talk” their opponents. Do you think this is “fair play”? What exactly is “fair play” in a sport? Is there a gray area between what’s fair play and what isn’t? Are the rules always clear-cut? 4. Why do you think that so many people were drawn to Saskia? How does she manipulate each of the characters in turn, and why? 5. How does the setting—the French Alps— impact the novel? Discuss the effects that the isolation and extreme elements have on the characters. 6. What makes Milla and Saskia successful snowboarders? Do you think that being an elite athlete requires certain personality traits? If so, what are they?

7. Discuss Milla’s choice not to pursue a relationship with Curtis during her snowboarding days. Do you think that was the right decision? Would you have made the same choice? 8. How do each of the main characters cope with competition, both within their sport and outside of it? How does competitiveness shape their actions and their relationships? 9. Milla often feels the need to hide her competitive streak. Do you think it’s more socially acceptable for men to be competitive than women? 10. Each of the characters in Shiver is guilty in some way, whether it is directly related to Saskia’s disappearance or not. How does guilt color each character’s actions? Is anyone relieved of their guilt by the end of the novel? 11. Who do you believe is the real villain in Shiver, if there is one? Why? 12. What do you imagine happens to Milla after the novel’s end? Her final sentence in the novel is “I’ve won.” Is this true?

A CONVERSATION WITH ALLIE REYNOLDS What is Shiver about?

Milla Anderson and four former friends are invited to a mountaintop reunion in the French Alps, in the tiny ski resort of Le Rocher. Ten years ago they were freestyle snowboarders competing and training in the resort until tragedy struck. On the morning of the biggest competition of the year, one of their group went missing— presumed dead. The friends haven’t seen one another since. It’s the off-season now. As they go up in the cable car to the isolated reunion venue, there’s confusion over who invited them. When they reach the top, the ski lodge is dark and deserted. An icebreaker game has been laid out for them. The game reveals their deepest secrets and suggests their friend’s disappearance was no accident—one of them is a killer. But the cable car is no longer running. There’s no easy way down. If Milla wants to get off the mountain alive, she must decide whom to trust and figure out what really happened that fateful winter.

A majority of the story takes place at an elite snowboarding competition. As a former freestyle snowboarder, how much did you pull from your own experiences, and why did you decide to stop competing? I spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada, training and competing at snowboard half-pipe. I experienced firsthand how dangerous the environment was. The high mountains themselves are full of dangers—avalanches, crevasses, cliffs, and changeable weather, and in an extreme sport like freestyle snowboarding, accidents happen all the time. This environment seemed perfect for a thriller. I’ve never known anything as thrilling—or terrifying—as a run down the half-pipe. I wanted to share this dangerous white world with readers and let them experience what it’s like to throw your body through the air above the ice. Top athletes fascinate me. They’re often driven and ruthless, which again seemed ideal for a thriller. Fortunately, the snowboarders I met and trained with were the loveliest, most supportive bunch of people, nothing like as competitive as the characters in Shiver. But this is apparently not always the case in other sports, where athletes are known to play mind games with their opponents to get ahead. Shiver imagines what might happen if athletes play mind games in a dangerous sport, in a dangerous environment. My passion for snowboarding vastly outweighed my natural sporting talent. I had sponsors, then tore knee ligaments and my sponsors dropped me. By then, two close friends had broken their necks doing the tricks I’d need to try if I wanted to climb further up the rankings. They were told they’d never walk again. Fortunately both recovered, but it made me question the risks I was prepared to take, and I decided I valued my mobility too much. Plus my age was against me—I was 26 by then—so I reluctantly pulled out of snowboarding to get a “real” job. Looking back, I’m glad I gave up when I did. I feel fortunate that I left the sport relatively unscathed. Even so, those five winters were unforgettable, and I think I left a little piece of my heart in the mountains.

Shiver centers around a group of friends

and former snowboarders who reunite for a reunion weekend in the French Alps. Could you describe each friend, and if you had to pick a favorite character, who would it be and why? The main character, MILLA Anderson, is a highly competitive feisty feminist. A total tomboy. She’s 33 when the story starts. Ten years ago, at 23, she desperately wants to beat Saskia at half-pipe in the upcoming British Snowboard Championships. She’s attracted to Curtis, but he’s the brother of her greatest rival: Saskia. Ten years ago, Milla’s main rival, SASKIA Sparks, is devious and even more competitive than Milla is—in an underhanded way. She disappears at the end of that winter. In the present day, the characters are haunted by memories of her and their guilt over their roles in her disappearance. Ten years ago, CURTIS Sparks is three-time British half-pipe champion and Saskia’s older brother. “One of the most competitive people on earth,” according to Dale Hahn. He’s fiercely protective over his sister, yet he knows her failings and fears what she might be capable of. His attraction to and liking of Milla means he feels torn. He’s an alpha male, a perfectionist control freak. BRENT Bakshi has a ‘go big or go home’ tattoo. Ten years ago, he’s a rising star in the snowboarding world. In the present day, he still has his boyish charm but seems worn and tired and has an alcohol problem. Milla has a casual relationship with Brent in the past tense scenes. Brent and Curtis are best friends and close rivals, competing for Milla’s affection as well as in the half-pipe. DALE Hahn has his own sense of style—in his clothing, his snowboarding, and in life itself. He’s quirky, creative, and strong-minded, and ends up in frequent power battles with Curtis. HEATHER is the odd one out in that she hates snowboarding. Ten years ago, she’s a law student working in a bar in the resort when she meets Dale. In the present day she’s married to him but their marriage clearly has issues. My favorite character is Curtis! I’m always fascinated by top athletes—how driven and focused

they are. I admire them and at the same time I’m intimidated by them. I want to try to figure them out—to understand how they function, how they can block out all else and put winning first. Curtis is also interesting because he’s torn in so many directions—between loyalty to his sister, his friendship with his best friend Brent, his rivalry with Brent, his attraction to Milla, the need to protect Milla from his sister, and his own desire to win above all else.

This story has a really atmospheric setting: the French Alps. Why did you decide to set Shiver there? I love France! I spent two years of my life there in total. My first winter season was in the iconic French resort of Chamonix, and my second was in the smaller French resort of Risoul. Before that, I worked there as a teenager for several summers as a nanny. France has so many ski resorts, including some tiny ones with picturesque villages, and some very high ones with dangerous glaciers, so it seemed a good choice. I created a fictional resort—Le Rocher— because I needed certain features.

All of your characters, especially the main character, Milla, are so driven and will seemingly do anything to get ahead in the competition. Could you talk a little bit about the role competitiveness and friendship plays in the story? I’m fascinated by the relationships athletes (especially extreme-sports athletes) have with their friends, partners, and rivals. In some cases, they are close friends with one of their rivals. Which do they put first: their friendship, or their desire to win? There were various aspects of my winters that I thought would be interesting to explore in a novel. I dated a couple of fellow snowboarders, and it was terrifying watching them attempt dangerous tricks and sometimes suffer serious injuries. On one hand, I wanted them to succeed, but part of me didn’t want them to jump at all. Athletes in many sports only encounter their rivals at competition, but winter-sports athletes can end up living in the same tiny village with their

rivals—snowed in with them even. One of my ex-boyfriends of two winters ended up dating one of my rivals the following winter. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to have a cast of characters torn between attraction, friendship, and rivalry. In Shiver, the female characters are just as competitive as the men. In society we often see outwardly competitive men, but (in my opinion at least) women, if they’re competitive, seem to hide it, so it was fun to write such competitive women.

What is your writing process? I have five previous novels in the drawer, all unpublished and unfinished. I finally figured it was because I never planned them. That year, I read every book on writing and story structure that I could get my hands on. Shiver was the first novel I planned. I spent an entire month planning—sketching scenes onto Post-it notes and shuffling them round and filling out extended character questionnaires. I also found it useful to watch YouTube videos of ski resorts and athletes’ interviews. I write longhand in pen on good ole lined paper, then I type it up in Word. I edit over and over as I go along— slow, but I can’t help it. I’m a very slow and messy writer! Saying that, it helped tremendously to plan before I wrote and I completed the first draft of Shiver in under six months.

What is your favorite mystery/thriller? And what authors do you look to for inspiration? It’s so hard to pick just one! Maybe Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None because of its incredibly clever plot. Some of my favorite thriller authors are Lee Child, Erica Ferencik, Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, Clare Mackintosh, Karen Dionne, Harriet Tyce, C. L. Taylor, Jane Harper, and many more. I love debut novels, high concepts, and interesting settings, especially dangerous natural environments like mountains and forests. I also enjoy reading romance and love it when there’s strong chemistry between the leads. I like to write romance subplots with chemistry and sexual tension in my thrillers.

What’s next for you? I’ve just started writing my next thriller. It has a very different setting: an Australian beach.

BOOZY HOT CHOCOLATE INGREDIENTS 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 6 ounces milk, heated 1 1/2 ounce spirit of choice Garnish: mini marshmallows

STEPS 1. Put the chopped chocolate in an Irish Coffee mug. 2. Pour the hot milk into the mug and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir with a spoon until smooth. 3. Pour in the spirit of your choice and stir to combine. 4. Garnish with mini marshmallows.

Recipe by Liquor.com liquor.com/recipes/spiked-hot-chocolate/

POKER FACE | Lady Gaga NUMB | Linkin Park FREESTYLER | Bomfunk MC’s YOUNG FOREVER | Jay-Z, Mr. Hudson

SWEET BUT PSYCHO | Ava Max

WHERE IS THE LOVE? | Black Eyed Peas LOSE YOURSELF | Eminem

SHIVER

RADIOACTIVE | Imagine Dragons

PLAYLIST

RUN | Snow Patrol

GLOSSARY 180 / 360 / 720: When the snowboarder jumps and

spins, the number shows the degrees of rotation. 180 is half a rotation, 360 is one full rotation, 720 is two full rotations, etc.

Backside/Frontside:

describes the direction of a spin, similar to clockwise or anti-clockwise. Frontside means the snowboarder spins so that their body turns to face the jump first. Backside means the snowboarder’s back turns to face the jump first.

Method Grab: One of the most iconic snowboard grabs! The snowboarder grabs their snowboard on the back edge, between their heels, with their front hand, and tweaks their board up behind them.

Nose Grab: The snowboarder grabs the front tip (nose) of their snowboard.

Quad Cork: when a snowboarder flips four times in the air in a corkscrew motion.

Big Air: a snowboard discipline in which the snow-

Quarter-pipe: a ramp that goes to nearly vertical.

boarder jumps off one big jump, as opposed to a series of smaller jumps, or a half-pipe.

Snowboarders ride up it, jump into the air, and ride back down it.

Binding: the plastic straps that hold the snowboard-

Rail Slide: when a snowboarder or skier jumps onto

er to their snowboard.

Bubble Lift: a small cable-car that people sit or stand inside to travel up the mountain. It typically holds 4-12 people.

Chairlift: a ski lift with seats suspended from a moving cable. Typically holds two to six people.

Crevasse: a chasm or hole in the snow or ice. Crippler: a 540-degree spin with a flip. Glacier: an area of ice, sometimes found on mountaintops, that remains there year-round even in the summer.

Grab: when a snowboarder reaches for and holds their snowboard while airborne.

Haakon Flip: a 720-degree spin mostly upside down. Half-pipe: a long U-shaped channel in the snow, with near-vertical sides, that snowboarders and skiers zigzag back and forth down, jumping out of the sides. Similar to a skate ramp, except it is sloped downhill and usually over 100 meters long.

Indy Grab: The snowboarder grabs the front edge

of their snowboard between their toes with their rear hand.

Inverted: upside down; ie., the snowboarder flips

upside down. For example an inverted spin, an inverted 540.

McTwist: The snowboarder flips forward and spins at the same time, usually spinning 540 degrees.

a metal rail, slides along it, then jumps off.

Rewind: when a snowboarder spins one way then spins back the other way midair.

Season: Snowboarders often talk about doing “the

season,” which of course means winter! The ski season in France is typically December to April. Outside that is the “off-season,” when the ski lifts aren’t running.

Shifty: a snowboarder rotates 90 degrees midair, then rotates 90 degrees back the other way.

Slam: a fall. Snow Park: an area with a selection of jumps and possibly rails and other obstacles.

Stalefish Grab: The snowboarder grabs the back edge of their snowboard, between their heels, with their back hand.

Tail Grab: The snowboarder grabs the back end (tail) of their snowboard.

T-bar: a type of tow lift, with a T-shaped handle that two people can lean against as they are towed up the slope.

Tow Lift: a type of ski lift with a moving cable and

suspended handles that people can hold on to and be towed or dragged up the slope.