Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Chevy Stevens, the beloved New York Times bestselling author of Still Missing and Those Girls, returns with her most breathtaking thriller yet.
With its relentless pace and unforgettable twists, The Hitchhikers delivers what bestselling author Karin Slaughter calls “a frightening and viscerally chilling road-trip-gone-wrong story.”
Desperation is a dark road…
It’s the summer of 1976. Alice and Tom set out on the remote Canadian highways in their new RV, hoping to heal after a devastating tragedy.
They’ve planned the trip perfectly, every detail accounted for. Then they meet two young hitchhikers and offer them a ride. But Simon and Jenny aren’t what they seem. They’ve left a trail of blood, destruction, and madness behind them.
Now Alice and Tom are prisoners in a deadly game with nowhere to turn. As the tension builds, the lines blur, and the question becomes:
In whose heart does evil truly lie? What secrets are Jenny and Simon hiding? And who will live another day?
A chilling, twist-laden ride to the final page, The Hitchhikers is that rare novel that will break your heart as it holds you in suspense.
The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens is an emotional mystery thriller filled with seemingly endless action and adventure.
The story takes place in northwest Canada after beginning in Seattle in 1976. There are vivid descriptions of the land traveled as well as the locations they spend time in.
We are caught up in multiple storylines told from April and Jenny’s points of view. April’s husband, Tom, gets them involved with the danger posed by the hitchhikers they offer a ride to, whose paths they cross on a trip intended to bridge the gap caused by a personal tragedy.
We learned a little at a time what caused them to run, and there were often surprises as details were revealed. Everything goes south as anger, rage, and memories spur Jenny and her boyfriend Simon on. A string of crimes are committed until the hitchhikers are forced to end their violent spree of death, serious injuries, destruction, and theft. Is anyone safe whose paths they cross?
My heart was racing throughout, and I often had tears flowing. There were so many twists and turns, along with evil thoughts and deeds. Some outcomes and crimes committed were expected, while others took me by surprise.
April and Tom often tried to be the voice of reason, but most of the time to no avail. But if even a small amount of their pleas made it through, could it be the difference between life and death?
There was closure with an unexpected twist in the epilogue, set fifteen years later, but the ending felt very rushed. When arrests were finally made, the outcomes of some of the crimes weren’t revealed, nor whether some of the victims lived, which left me looking for answers.
The Hitchhikers is a tale of death and destruction that had me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Have a few tissues handy.
Chevy Stevens lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and daughter. When she isn’t working on her next book, she’s spending time with her family and their two dogs. Her books, including Still Missing, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, have been published in more than thirty countries.
