Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. This is exceptionally well written and it is a debut! I sat down yesterday to read the first few pages to help decide what I might read next and I just continued. The quality of the writing was simply wonderful. You were caught up in the story and their lives just wondering how this would turn out. Hal is now on the list of must buy next novel. Very happy to recommend.

Among Friends is a powerful work of literary fiction, spanning the lives of two families of lifelong friends. It is beautifully written, shocking without using shock-value, and the plot is completely engaging (if slightly slow and a little disjointed to get started). I felt completely frustrated and disappointed by the end, which is a compliment to the writing; it is an ambiguous ending which actually works in this book. Overall, this is a very elegant and immersive novel.

Amos and Emerson have been friends for decades. The kind of friendship that looks unshakable from the outside—woven into the fabric of their families, their shared history, their children growing up alongside each other. But time has a way of testing even the strongest bonds, and during one weekend away, a single act cracks everything open. Hal Ebbott’s Among Friends is an astonishing debut—psychologically intricate, emotionally devastating, and written with a precision that makes every sentence land like a well-aimed blow. The novel peels back the layers of a friendship that has endured through competition, quiet resentments, and shifting power dynamics, revealing the fragility of the connections we assume will last forever. "Once he was sure, it seemed as though he’d known forever. Not that his friend would do this, but that he could." Ebbott’s writing is as sharp as it is elegant, moving seamlessly between past and present, between moments of deep intimacy and unbearable tension. The novel is full of the kind of lines that stop you cold: "What was the point of transcending one’s past if the cost were giving those same hurts to his child?" There is no melodrama here, no cheap twists—just the slow, painful unravelling of certainty, as the characters reckon with betrayal, power, and the uncomfortable truths that have always been there, just beneath the surface. The prose is exquisite, delicate but unflinching. The novel meanders through its characters’ internal landscapes, capturing the weight of knowing and the ache of choosing whether to act. "It wasn’t enough just to be gentle and nice, to bring her tea or go for long walks. One needed to do something—he had to do something—to behave like someone who believed what she said." If I have any criticism, it’s that the final stretch indulges a little too much in reflection, slightly dampening the novel’s relentless tension. But then again, maybe that’s the point—resolution is rarely clean, and reckoning with the past is never as simple as we want it to be. Among Friends is a novel that unsettles, infuriates, and refuses to be forgotten. It is about the silences between people, the things we don’t say, and the moments that change everything. It’s hard to believe this is Ebbott’s debut—his prose is so mature, so intricately woven, it feels like the work of a writer who has been doing this for decades. Simply unmissable. Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan | Picador and NetGalley for the ARC—this one will be sitting heavy in my mind for a long time.

4.5 stars rounded up This is a fantastic debut novel, and a riveting portrayal of a friendship on thin ice. Starting with a weekend get-together to celebrate a birthday, the relationships between life-long friends Amos and Emerson, their wives and their teenage daughters is quickly put under a microscope. Despite knowing each other their entire lives, it’s clear right off the bat there’s a lot of underlying resentment at play; chapters from every character’s perspective allow you to explore all the second-guessing, over-analysing and petty points-scoring going on below the surface. I won’t spoil the nature of the ‘incident’ mentioned in the blurb, but it really does an excellent job of unravelling the emotions and priorities of each character. What do they all truly want, and whose corner are they going to stand in when the going gets tough? It’s a story where every character sits in a morally grey area at one point or another, and I found myself going back and forth on who I trusted and who I wanted to get their way. My only drawback keeping this from a 5 star read personally was the volume of internal monologues and flashback reminiscing in the final quarter of the book. It’s ironically the exact same thing that made this story so engrossing at the beginning, but I found as the plot moved towards its conclusion the reflective pondering of each character killed the pacing somewhat for me. Still, an excellent read if you like your morally ambiguous characters put in difficult situations, and believable plot dilemmas with no easy path forward. Thank you to Pan Macmillan and to NetGalley for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott Amos and Emerson have been friends since they were at university together 30 years ago. They gather for a weekend to celebrate Emerson's birthday with their wives and daughters. But a shocking event threatens to unravel everything. I raced through this book but it's testament to the author's brilliant writing that I wasn't always enjoying it! I was physically shocked by the event that happens at Emerson's birthday get-together. And the way each of the (unlikeable) characters seeks to explain, deflect, absolve themselves afterwards is repulsive. I haven't made it sound very compelling but it absolutely is! Very highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.