A darkly riveting psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Call Me Evie, In the Clearing and Tell Me Lies.
Ever have the feeling you’re being watched? I do after reading this.
Lina and Cain are doing their best to stay afloat. Money has been tight since Cain returned from active duty, and starting a family is proving harder than they thought. Putting Lina’s inherited lake house up for rent on weekends seems like the solution to at least one of their problems. The secluded house is more of a burden than a retreat, anyway, and fixing up the old place makes Cain feel useful for once.
But letting strangers stay in their house might not be the best idea. Someone is watching— their most mundane tasks, their most intimate moments—and all the things Lina and Cain want to keep hidden will be exposed.
Melbourne-based author J.P. Pomare had a breakout debut in 2019 with the bestselling Call Me Evie and has delivered another two brilliantly multilayered psychological thrillers since. His third novel, Tell Me Lies, only hit the shelves late last year, so it’s exciting news for his burgeoning fanbase that he already has a fourth offering for them. And what a read it is!
The Last Guests is a smart, unsettling, and utterly unputdownable literary thriller. The New Zealand setting is a refreshing change for a thriller, and Lina and Cain are well crafted, deeply flawed characters, with many secrets. Cain’s army career ended after he was injured, and he is struggling with civilian life. As the novel unfolds, we’re privy to shocking events that occurred during his time in Afghanistan. Paramedic Lina’s struggles with her marriage lead to her own complicated secrets. What should be a way to relieve some of their issues, by letting out rooms on WeStay, actually leads to horrifying consequences. I’ll never approach an Airbnb stay in the same way again. Ever.
I could say that Pomare has hit his stride here, but he hit it with his debut and has now shown he can maintain that exceptionally high standard. Like his previous novels, The Last Guests blends together excellent writing, great storytelling, suburb tension building and, most importantly, unpredictable twists. Especially the final one.
Pomare has delivered again. And considering how it’s been less than a year between novels, we can only assume that we won’t have long to wait for his next thrilling read.
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