The Hitchhikers transported me straight back to 1976 in the most vivid, immersive way. From the setting of the Olympics to the prices at thrift shops and grocery stores, every detail felt authentic and alive. Rotary phones, hitchhiking culture, hippies passing joints on the roadside—Chevy Stevens captured it all. I was hooked from the very first page.
The story follows Tom and Alice, a couple on a road trip, who cross paths with Ocean and Blue, two strangers camping under the same summer sky. What begins as an act of kindness soon turns into something far more dangerous. Tom and Alice couldn’t have known that their friendly gesture would thrust them into the lives of two young people fleeing a violent, chaotic past—leaving behind a trail of unpredictable chaos and death.
Told through dual points of view—Alice and Jenny (a.k.a. Ocean) —the novel explores the inner lives of two strong women, each shaped by their own trauma and survival. Their voices are raw, compelling, and heartbreakingly real. I loved the way their backstories were slowly revealed, adding tension and emotional depth as the story unfolded. It reminded me that life is like a chess game: every move is a reaction, and the past always has a way of catching up.
What stood out most to me was the unshakable suspense. Stevens expertly weaves a psychological thriller that is not only chilling, but deeply human. The realism is partly what makes it so haunting—the fear and vulnerability of hitchhiking in the '70s, inspired by real-life dangers, feels both distant and disturbingly familiar.
If you're a fan of character-driven thrillers with immersive settings and emotional weight, this one delivers!
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