Not the Best Place to Relax - An Unwanted Guest Review

TITLE: An Unwanted Guest
AUTHOR: Shari Lapena
PUBLISHER: Pamela Dorman Books
PUBLISHING DATE: August 7, 2018

FROM GOODREADS: A remote lodge in upstate New York is the perfect getaway. . . until the bodies start piling up.It's winter in the Catskills and the weather outside is frightful. But Mitchell's Inn is so delightful! The cozy lodge nestled deep in the woods is perfect for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. The Inn boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a book and someone you love. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in for the long haul. The power's down but they've got candles, blankets, and wood--a genuine rustic experience! Soon, though, a body turns up--surely an accident. When a second body appears, they start to panic. Then they find a third body. Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. They can't leave, and with no cell service, there's no prospect of getting the police in until the weather loosens its icy grip. The weekend getaway has turned deadly. For some couples, it's their first time away. For others, it will be their last. And there's nothing they can do about it but huddle down and hope they can survive the storm.

MY THOUGHTS: I read "The Couple Next Door" when it was first released and really wasn't impressed by the author's debut effort.  However, I didn't mind her writing and had always wanted to give her another chance.  I'm glad that I took that chance on "An Unwanted Guest" because it ended up being a quick, atmospheric mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed.

A group of individuals have all scheduled weekend getaways at a remote lodge, Mitchell's Inn, for different reasons.  You have the lawyer who was recently cleared of murdering his wife, a prominent heir and his new fiancee, two best friends with more secrets who apparently love keeping secrets, a husband and wife trying to rekindle their marriage, another random couple, and an author.  They manage to all arrive in the middle of a snowstorm which quickly turns into an ice storm which knocks out all power and any way into and out of the lodge.  And to top it off, suddenly there is a rash of murders and before the reader knows it, they are thrown into the middle of a struggle to survive.

This book definitely has a setting that I adore which I am sure led to some of my enjoyment.  An out-of-the-way inn as well as a snow/ice storm.  It also had a cast of completely unlikable characters but I did find one or two who I became interested in enough to want to see them survive.  I won't lie, I was rooting for some of these people to die - especially the creepy innkeeper's son Bradley.  The book ended up keeping me guessing right up until the end.  I had a few suspects, who eventually ended up dead themselves, and the author kind of surprised me by throwing in a special little twist at the end. 

Overall, "An Unwanted Guest" was a solid read and considering I pretty much devoured it in 2 days, you could say it kept my interest.  I will definitely be keeping an eye open for future Lapena works because even though I'm still not sold, I am more interested than I was after reading her first novel.  If you like winter settings, survival-like tales and stupid people doing stupid things, then give "An Unwanted Guest" a shot.

RATING: 4 PAWS