Title: An Unwanted Guest
Author: Shari Lapena
Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Pages: 304 (Paperback)
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Publication date: August 7th, 2018
Synopsis from An Unwanted Guest's Goodreads page
A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away.
It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing - maybe even romantic - weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.
So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off all electricity - and all contact with the outside world - the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.
Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead - it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, everyone starts to panic.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something - or someone - is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm - and one another.
Synopsis from An Unwanted Guest's Goodreads page
A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away.
It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing - maybe even romantic - weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.
So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off all electricity - and all contact with the outside world - the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.
Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead - it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, everyone starts to panic.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something - or someone - is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm - and one another.
THOUGHTS
Thank you to the always wonderful Penguin Random House Team for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!
I. Loved. This. Book.
It's fall, it's cold and rainy and dark, so what better book to read than that huge pile of psychological thrillers sitting on my bedside table for these very days???
This book was amazing for so many reasons. I loved so much of it.
The characters are all amazing. We see the dark sides of every single one of them, even though they all started out as charming, lovey dovey couples, lonely lawmakers, and determined writers. They all seemed so innocent, so charming, and then, once the first murder occurs, we start to see that dark sides of all of them. The panicky sides, the worried sides. That is exactly when we see writing flourish, and writing at its best. I loved every single one of the characters - innocent and evil.
The setting was also absolutely perfect (very cliche though, but in all the best ways). A cute, quaint little hotel in the middle of nowhere, snowed in over a weekend. Very old fashioned, no wifi, and cell service is very limited. The perfect set for a group of murders.
The suspense was also amazing. I find sometimes with thrillers, they are suspenseful enough to finish reading the book, but they take a few days. In this case, I needed to know who the killer was, and why they were doing it right away (and it resulted in me reading the entire book in one sitting). I absolutely loved the suspense fullness, and it definitely kept me on my toes the whole time!
The characters were great, the setting was perfect, and the suspense was wonderful. My only qualm (and the only reason that it wasn't a five star read) was because I needed more!!
I've had some of Shari Lapena's books on my shelves for awhile and not read them, but after reading An Unwanted Guest, I will be digging them out and reading them ASAP. Her writing is amazing!!
Overall - ★★★★☆.5
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