Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Guest in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio
Published: February 20, 2024
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author B. A. Paris captivated psychological thriller readers everywhere with Behind Closed Doors. Now she invites you into another home full of heart-pounding secrets, in The Guest.
Some secrets never leave.
Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris’ clothes, even rearranging the furniture.
Laure has walked out on her husband—and their good friend—Pierre, over his confession of an affair and a secret child. Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive of their friends, but as Laure’s mood becomes increasingly unpredictable, her presence takes its toll.
Iris and Gabriel’s only respite comes in the form of a couple new to town. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past. Soon, secrets from all their pasts will unravel, some more dangerous than they could have known.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of B.A. Paris since reading her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors, which has remained one of my favorite books. I find that she really does write such great psychological thrillers, each one so different and unique that you definitely aren’t getting the same old from her time and again.
This one sneaks up on you in the best way possible. It’s a slow-burn to start where the stage is set and while it does feel like nothing is happening, believe me when I say – it’s worth the wait because when you get to that second half, things really take off! But this is also the type of book where you don’t really want to know too much about the plot itself before going in because it could ruin the book, so I’m not going to say too much about that.
I will say that that characters weren’t all that likeable but that’s ok because I actually don’t mind reading about unlikeable characters. It sometimes makes a book more interesting in fact. I loved the twists, and while I did see a few coming, I was also blindsided by others. And that epilogue is one of the best ones I’ve read in a while! So much was packed into that that I did not put together and I loved it!
While this does start off slow, I found myself hooked from the beginning and could not put it down. I ended up finishing this one in a matter of hours…it’s that good!
Audio thoughts:
This was such a good one to listen to and the narrator, Emily Joyce, does a fantastic job narrating it. Her pacing it pitch perfect and she was able to infuse just the right amount of tension and emotion into her voice as needed.
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