There’s no doubting that Sharon Bolton’s latest will receive a lot of praise. And it’s well deserved. The Split is an unpredictable and fast-paced thriller that is sure to leave you with palpitations. But my feelings towards it are very much split.

Beginning in the desolate and ice-capped South Georgia, Bolton details her Nordic setting brilliantly. I’ve seen sliding glaciers in real life and the book perfectly captures the sharp-white landscape that bleeds hues of electric blues, and I could almost feel the frost on my fingertips from the opening chapters.

But what starts as a classic chase thriller in a unique setting is abruptly interrupted when the story goes back nine months in time. Obviously this was needed as we’re eager for answers, but I would have liked more time to get to know Felicity. I was just starting to like her when the book shifted back in time, where she has so much going on that I didn’t know whether to trust her not.

I think I would have preferred it if the chapters were interlinked so that part of the story remained in South Georgia, as the middle section is so farfetched at times that I couldn’t completely engage with her character.

It’s certainly a complex thriller and there are a lot of “WTF?” moments. Some of the twists are impressive, but most are too unconvincing, building up to so much that needs answering that the story starts to feel a little heavy. But to Bolton’s credit, she answers every question we’re left with and the final moments are full of suspense. I had guessed some of what was going on, but there’s so much going on in the story that I was still left surprised.

Although it was a little too extreme for me at times, The Split is still an easy-to-read and enjoyable thriller that showcases Bolton as a great writer.