The Other Guest: A gripping thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author of The Whispers

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I don’t know how I feel about this. I went into it excited and ended disappointed. I didn’t like the characters and the story was all over the place. It read like one of those Lifetime movies. This was one cat and mouse game no one won. Sandberg, Bryn Elise (2017-01-14). "Greg Garcia's TBS Comedy 'The Guest Book' Sets Cast". Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2017-05-06. A luxury Italian resort with a dark side. A cast of suspicious, secretive characters. The Other Guest is an eerie and atmospheric mystery that kept me guessing from start to finish.”– Allie Reynolds, author of Shiver C.L. Pattison's The Guest Book offers the readers to delve into the hidden mysteries of a guest house and how it uncovers the dark realities of human psychology.

It is a lot to live up to. When the missteps are never discussed, every descendent is completely unprepared for things to go wrong. The shield of their grandfather is buried with him. Bad things are simply not supposed to happen to a Milton. Olivia’s dad never actually has any discussion with his daughter but he assumes one killed the other because of a tiff on a camera. As soon as I read the premise of this book, I knew I had to read it. Set in Northern Italy at an opulent resort, it had the makings of an unforgettable and intense domestic suspense. Unfortunately, it fell quite a bit short of that. After several failed IVF attempts Laila and her husband James decided to take a break to a luxury island resort in Ixos in Greece. They use the money saved from their treatment to get away and recharge and rekindle their relationship, as the couple’s relationship is currently strained.

This is one of those books that you start to read and right from the outset it becomes completely addictive.' Metcalf, Mitch (November 14, 2018). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.13.2018". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018 . Retrieved November 14, 2018.

I am not the biggest fan of whodunit's (mostly because the ones I read are not done well) however I did really get into this. Laila and her husband arrive for a week's holiday in Greece in desperate need of a reset. Laila, who has gone through multiple rounds of IVF with no result is using this trip to heal her relationship with her husband James who in turn is hiding a deep trauma. This holiday that is supposed to be a fresh start for them turns out to be the worst decision they made as a murder takes place and questions everything Laila has ever know. Anyway, despite all this I was really enjoying it and could not wait to find out who or what was behind the strange happenings in The Anchorage. Until the end. What was that? It was completely disjointed! There’s nothing I hate more that when we’re just told the resolution without any involvement from the characters. I think the same thing could have been done in a different way and be much more organic. And to top it off, the last twist was not that surprising and left things hanging open a little bit. Heidi Perks has a gift for ratcheting up tension and suspense in her books, leaving this reader gasping for breath with the lights on in the middle of the night. Bravo!' Liz Nugent

This is a bit of a slow burn, as things deliberately unfold and just as one timeline/storyline gets exciting, then we switch over to another. Overall, I liked the book and the plot. There are some instances that are very far fetched, but others are intriguing and interesting and kept me invested to find out what was going on. I liked Joanna, but I didn't really like Leah or any of the other characters. Negatives aside, I did read the whole story and felt it was readable and an okay story. I just felt a but misguided from the beginning when I expected so much more. What did I like? It was interesting enough that I listened to the end. Btw, that end was a little disappointing and nothing about this book was anything but depressing. Helen Cooper follows up her debut novel, THE DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR, with THE OTHER GUEST, a twisty thriller composed of three parallel storylines. Note: A big thanks to Random House UK Vintage, C.L. Pattison and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of “The Guest Book” in exchange for an honest review.**

Aside from being absorbed by the dynamics of a family of 4 (mum, dad and two teenage boys) and a couple of newly-weds who don’t seem to act very much in love, Leila also has her own relationship struggles, a relationship that feels strained from the start. It didn’t help of course that James decided to spend their money on this getaway while they need money for another round of IVF. Leila's desire to get pregnant is something that weighs on them and defines this couple in the story.

Sarah Blake’s writing is beautiful. Her prose is elegant, powerful, poignant, and almost hypnotic. The characterizations and dialogue are so incredibly vivid and devastatingly realistic. The trappings of wealth, the narrow- mindedness of class distinctions, the half- lived lives, the progression and changes of the times unfolding through the years, stripping away decades of racism and prejudice is mesmerizing. Laila loves watching people and soon becomes obsessed with one of the families at the resort. She is so jealous of Em and her husband and their two boys Theo and Issac. The series premiered on TBS on August 3, 2017. On September 13, 2017, TBS renewed it for a second season, which premiered on October 23, 2018. [4] To say it's categorised as a thriller, I didn't find it very thrilling - excuse the pun. It's a bit mysterious, maybe, but honestly, all that build up for, in my opinion, is not a fantastic ending. I was really waiting for some big plot twist or a seriously dramatic turn of events. Sadly, it never came.

Metcalf, Mitch (September 22, 2017). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.14.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017 . Retrieved September 22, 2017. Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer team up to exonerate a woman who’s already served five years for killing her ex-husband. Overall, yes it does have twists, yes it does have some atmosphere, yes the Cornish setting is good but no, it doesn’t fulfil its obvious potential and that’s s real shame. Also, wondering about the title as the guest book is only a very small part of the whole???? Although I liked it it didn’t deliver everything it promised. First of all, why is the title The Guest Book when said guest book plays such a small part in the whole plot? Halfway through the story stalled a bit. Things didn’t seem to go anywhere and one of the things I dislike most in this kind of stories started happening. Why does the husband always trust more the opinion of strangers than that of his own wife?As the storm rages on, phone lines are down, transport links cut off. Grace is desperate to leave, but Charles remains unaffected by the eerie stillness of the house. Is it just Grace's imagination or do the owners, and Charles, have something to hide? Another thing I really enjoyed was being transported to the seashore Cornish town of Saltwater. The whole atmosphere was well constructed and I felt like I was there – even more so, I want to go there! The eerie vibe of The Anchorage was also masterfully built. The Other Guest by Helen Cooper is available on July 26th. I look forward to reading more from the mega-talented Helen Cooper.