The Guest

If I were to sum up “The Guest” in one sentence, it would be Benjamin Franklin’s wise saying that “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” This latest novel by B.A. Paris features her trademark twists and turns, upending things just when the reader thinks they have figured out the puzzle. It is always a pleasure to read a thriller that does not have an easy, obvious solution, but rather relies on subtleties and revelations. Also, despite containing potentially disturbing topics, the story is primarily psychological and devoid of gore. Three couples form the primary characters in “The Guest,” each with secrets of their own. Iris and Gabriel are the main focus, and through them, especially, readers see the show more debilitating effects of holding onto secrets, contrasted with the fallout of bringing those secrets to light. As with lies, secrets pile up: “It seemed to Gabriel that roots, like lies, were insidious.” Just how insidious, and just how far some might be willing to go to keep their secrets, readers will have to find out for themselves.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley and was not required to post a favorable review. show less

B. A. Paris has written a great thriller with The Guest!
Iris and Gabriel have returned from vacation to find their friend, Laure, in their home. She claims her husband, Pierre, has a secret child, and she plans to leave him. They reluctantly allow Laure to stay with them, but her stay becomes longer and longer. Then Pierre is found dead, and Laure is a suspect. Meanwhile, Iris starts to admire the gardener, Joseph. Yet, when he doesn't return her feelings, she becomes jealous. A young boy dies, and things start to come up from the past. Secrets may be revealed, and someone must stop that from happening.
This will keep you guessing.

If you want to read a very suspenseful thriller, then read The Guest by B.A. Paris which is released on February 20, 2024. This ARC I received from Netgalley kept me reading every spare minute day and night till I found out what happened between the main characters Gabriel and Iris Pelley, their family, friends, and neighbors. After arriving home from an extended trip to Scotland, the couple find a friend, Laure, staying in their house. When you find out why and all the drama involved, and especially the ending! OMG! I never guessed! Blew me away!

The Guest, B. A. Paris, author; Emily Joyce, narrator
The discovery of a teenage boy, dying at the bottom of a quarry with his twisted bicycle around him, by Gabriel, has a traumatic effect on his life. Once he had been the boy’s coach. The once idyllic life of Iris and Gabriel, even after two decades, was now scarred by this discovery because of a message the dying boy asked Gabriel to pass on to his mother with his last breath. When the police asked Gabriel if the child had any last words, he had lied and was haunted by his actions.
Then another discovery came crashing into their lives. Gabriel and Iris had met a lovely couple on their honeymoon, Laure and Pierre, from Paris. Even after the twenty years, they were still great friends, show more as close as family. Pierre and Laure decided to have no children, but Iris and Gabriel had one daughter. Laure is their daughter Beth’s Godmother. When they returned home from a vacation, they found Laure in their home, without any prior notice. She was bereft. She said she discovered that Pierre had a child from a one-night stand. No further information was forthcoming to Gabriel and Iris, but of course, they allowed her to stay with them as long as she wished. In the past, they had gone to each of their homes often.
Laure was heartbroken, since she would have wanted to have a child, but Pierre did not. Now he possibly wanted to have this child in his life. She did not know if she could cope with it, and he refused to fill in all the blanks about this discovery. Her mind had created all sorts of conspiracy theories. She had few clothes with her and said she would only stay for a few weeks. Then she decided to get a divorce when he called her to reconcile, but was not at home when she arrived. She decides to stay longer with Iris and Gabriel, and the situation gets a little tense with the lack of privacy. Although Gabriel has tried to reach Pierre on numerous occasions, he responded rarely, and then not at all. The situation was really unclear and not getting any better. It began to cause a bit of friction in the household along with all the other issues they were facing. Laure’s influence on their home sometimes felt too intrusive and too controlling. Iris felt a distinct lack of privacy and space. Iris and Gabriel’s once close relationship had also grown more and more distant with Gabriel’s grief over Charlie, and since he found himself unable to be warm and loving toward her. Iris was struggling with her own emotional issues, as well as Laure’s and Gabriel’s.
Meanwhile, a new couple had moved into town. Esme and Hugh, and Gabriel and Iris, hit it off as if they had been friends for years. Esme is just around 40, close to the age of Iris, and she was having her first child. One of her old childhood friends, Joseph, is helping Hugh get the garden ready for the newborn and is living with them temporarily. He is a recovering alcoholic with anger issues. A wonderful swing has been installed in a tree on the lovely property, and that is how Iris discovers Esme. Soon Joseph is hired out to help Iris and Gabriel restore their walled garden, and to help get Gabriel back on his feet. He is a doctor who left his practice to recover from the effects of finding the dying teenager, Charlie. So many of the characters are struggling with traumatic events in their lives.
To complicate matters further, Maggie, Charlie’s mother has been advised to meet with Gabriel to achieve some kind of closure after the death of her only child, but Gabriel does not want to meet her because of his lies about Charlie’s last words. Her disclosures shine a light on many of the unknowns, but do not solve the mystery.
As the story gets more and more complicated, and as the coincidences become more and more common, the many themes might seem to be a bit contrived and convenient, but this author has a gift for knitting them together so seamlessly, and so without guile, that they flow smoothly and meaningfully into the narrative, keeping the reader on the edge of the seat, always guessing, never criticizing. I always await her next book eagerly!
In the end, there are so many secrets revealed and so many accusations considered, that the reader is made aware of the fact that we all accuse others of our own sins, one way or another, in most situations. The end is a surprise to some, but perhaps not to others. Misinterpretations and misjudgments often led to the wrong conclusions and unnecessary suspicions so that the characters could not see the forest for the trees. show less

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Iris and Gabriel, return from a holiday in Scotland only to discover someone has been living in their home while they’ve been away. It turns out to be a friend, Laure, but the intrusion annoys Iris. She’d spent the two weeks of their vacation trying to get her husband to open up to her, but he’d been in a difficult place since discovering, during a morning run, Charlie Ingram lying at the bottom of the limestone quarry. Despite his medical training, Gabriel was unable to save Charlie; now he’s haunted both by his death and by the young man’s last words. Add this to the recent passing of his father and an oppressive workload and Gabriel now finds himself on compassionate leave.

Laure has show more brought her own problems with her: her husband, Pierre, has revealed that he has a child with another woman and he wants to connect with his child. But things become more and more complicated as those around Iris and Gabriel all have complicated secrets of their own. Slowly, hidden truths reveal themselves, relationships are strained, and things begin to unravel.

What will the secrets of their past do to their present?

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Although they are well-defined, the characters populating this suspense-filled tale are complex and, for the most part, particularly unlikable. Guilt and trauma play a large role in this unfolding narrative. Laure’s presence in Gabriel and Iris’s home adds an ever-growing undercurrent of tension to the telling of the tale.

In the riveting plot, filled with twists and turns, readers will find surprises popping up unexpectedly. But it’s in the unraveling of long-held secrets and labyrinthine relationships that the narrative shines. Readers should expect the unexpected from the denouement that neatly ties up all the loose ends.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#TheGuest #NetGalley show less

It’s a while since I read a B A Paris book, but this book shows she still has the talent to write a good psychological thriller.

At first this book was hard to get a handle on, especially in audiobook form, as there were three different couples introduced in quick time and it took a while to get them all right in my head. Once I did I enjoyed the interplay between the characters and the element of suspense that was thrown in, following a potential marriage split up, and a French wife having left her husband landing herself on Gabriel and Iris. They themselves were having their own marriage difficulties, following the trauma Gabriel had gone through.

The surprises keep coming in this book, along with the possible theories as who was show more guilty of what. Overall I found it difficult to empathise with any of the characters, none of them seemed to be characters you truly cared for, but that didn’t stop the enjoyment of the book. I particularly like the epilogue to the book and the great reveal, with some shocks thrown in that others may have guessed but I didn’t.

Overall I’d give this book 4 stars as a good book, but not the best in its genre. I felt the audiobook narration did help with the story once I’d got the characters right, and I did enjoy the narrator. So overall I feel able to recommend this book to those that enjoy a good psychological thriller. show less

I really enjoyed this book. I read Behind Closed Doors and absolutely loved it. This book was no different. It started off with a bang (literally). I loved the various layers to the story. It was so many separate elements with a lot of mystery surrounding them. I really struggled to put this down once I started it because it hooked me so easily. I think all the characters were written incredibly well. I honestly wasn't sure who to trust the entire time. I had so many theories and everytime the book would do something to discredit it. It was actually a super enjoyable reading experience because of that.

I loved all the different ways the characters were connected and the reveals the author would give at random times to make you show more suspicious of another character. I really thought I had this one figured out. It was not at all what I thought. And I loved that. Once we got that reveal it made sense and you could see how the pieces tied together. I will say that I thought some parts were going to be much more important than they were... but they just ended up being elements not completely necessary. It felt like they existed simply to distract you from the major drama that was unfolding.

Mostly though I just loved how this one sucked me in and made me want to keep reading. The author is pretty good at ending chapters on that give me more point. Not to mention who doesn't love short chapters! I would recommend this book for people who like a nice psychological thriller with a twist you didn't see coming. show less