This was kind of confusing throughout. I’m trying to decide if the confusion came from the authors writing style or the story itself. However, it was a mildly entertaining story.

I enjoyed Mr Roe’s character and Ronni’s as well, but that was pretty much it. Everyone else in the story just seemed to be thrown in there randomly. I was confused, like I said, throughout most of the story, so I’m thinking this was supposed to be a crime thriller, which aren’t my favorite.

Again, it was an ok story, very quick but very confusing.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was another killer read by a very talented author. I have read a few of David Mark's books in the past, and will do so again in the future. Recommended.

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

I didn’t really know how to rate this book and I had mixed feelings about it.

This book started off as an ok read but then it got quite messy and confusing.

It has nasty characters in a spooky setting. The book was full of tension.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

“How much would you pay to survive?”


This is only the second David Mark book I have read, both of which have undergone re-publishing after title changes and both reportedly the first in their respective new series, although as yet there are no signs of #2 on the horizon, which is a shame because they were both so darned good!

I am totally in tune with David’s brutal style of writing and the lugubrious characters he creates, who are just begging to be hated by everyone. The thriller junkie half of me is convinced that “Nicholas Roe” would work really well as an adaptation for a television series, whilst my nicer, kinder side thinks that his style of action might just be a little too dark and complicated to squeeze into an hour long programming schedule.

So, typically I try to assign four distinct segments to my ideal thriller reading experience: a storyline which hits the ground running and grabs my attention; a plot which moves along a fair pace without too many ‘flat’ spots; an ending that neatly ties up all the loose ends; oh! and I don’t really like my main protagonist to have got themselves killed off! – This one ticks just about all those boxes, although I was a nervous wreck by the time I closed the final page, as how close you can come to getting yourself killed and still live to tell the tale, is a very moot point.

The chapters were relatively short, succinct and well signposted, although there was quite a bit of backwards and forwards in time zones, so I did need to be on my toes with keeping track of who was who, as names were not always used and even if they had been, I could never have been sure if it was a genuine name or an alias. However once the twisted plot began to unravel somewhat, all became much more clear and easy to piece together, although those red herrings and twists just kept coming. So if I was confused, just spare a thought for poor Ronnie, probably the only person who was actually the ‘real deal’, unless you count three young children and the village gossip, who definitely got more than she bargained for!

Some lovely descriptive narrative definitely set a truly visual sense of time and place, with real locations that I could check out on the map, adding an authenticity to the entire storyline. A Scottish coastal area, which despite is alluring tranquillity and rugged beauty for much of the time, can turn in the blink of an eye, into the wild, stormy maelstrom which dominates the period of this story, making the place as ruthless and unforgiving as the characters who are temporarily calling it their own. Boats navigating its churning waters with their illicit cargo and human sacrifice. Guest lodges which are isolated places offering solitude and anonymity for those who want to stay below the radar. A castle undergoing ‘renovation’ although despite speculation, nobody quite knows into what and it’s probably just as well they don’t!

A gripping and disturbing, covert police and NCA operation, meant that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, was in very short supply for most of the time. Officers were so deeply undercover as to be almost unrecognisable to their own mothers and I had a list of characters to whom I had assigned ‘guilty’ or ‘innocent’ labels, just to try and get things straight in my own mind – You have no idea how many times those labels got swapped around, with the innocent becoming guilty, the guilty becoming innocent and just about every permutation in between. I’m certainly pleased this wasn’t a game of ‘Cluedo’, because I would have been out after the first round of guessing!

This compelling, powerful and truly multi-layered story, is well structured, highly textured, extremely intense and with no holds barred in the violence game, although it is completely in sync with the ruthless nature of the perpetrators and in no way gratuitous. You don’t take risks in such a high stakes endeavour, which has extensive and fatal penalties should you get caught by the authorities, or fail your masters, without being prepared to defend yourself to the hilt at the first signs of trouble.

David has created a well drawn and developed, dour, duplicitous and highly manipulative cast of characters you can’t help but dislike, even though they might try to wheedle their way under your skin and appeal to your better nature. It’s as though they suck all the air out of a room when they are near, leaving you feeling claustrophobic and gasping for breath. Even Ronni and Callum’s three young children know that something isn’t right with the new family scenario they have been presented with, so there are no joyous moments to break the tension and definitely no reasons to invest in, relate to, or empathise with any of them. I know that this is the beginning of a new series for Nicholas Roe, so he is meant to be the star of the show, although whether he will live to solve another case is anyone’s guess. I’m sure that it’s only the sticky nicotine tar from his chain smoking which is holding body and soul together like a glue! However for me, Ronni was the stand-out character and it may be that we have not seen the last of her, such a good impression did she make on Roe’s superior officer. She was feeling quite vulnerable and displayed a very complex jigsaw of human emotions, although she was just about the only person who started out totally innocent of any crime. Once she had worked out that Roe and Bishop, the new man in her life were not quite who they purported to be, she finds herself getting drawn into their web of lies and deceit. However when plans go wrong and Ronni finds herself at the mercy of a very unsavoury gang, who treat torture like a favourite pastime, she fights like a lioness, against all the odds, in an effort to get back to her children and protect them from harm.

I’m not sure if there is just a glimmer of hope that Ronni and Callum might in some way be reunited, as although he was duped and coerced by the police, he was very far from being an innocent party to events. It still remains to see if his shattered body and mind will heal and recover and whether Ronni can ever forgive him for bringing trouble to their family door. Perhaps she will discover a new personal strength to take her on her journey alone with her children. I can’t wait to find out if Ronni’s ‘Guest House’ takes on a whole new meaning in the future!!

*Thank you to NetGalley, David Mark, and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-guest-house/

“..when you mess with somebody’s fingers or toes, you mess with their whole being. Don’t get me wrong, when you slash a fucker’s mouth you know you’re messing them up for life, but if you hurt somebody’s fingers or feet, you know that even years from now, when they’re trying to tie their laces on a cold morning, they’ll look back at the mistakes they made and wish it had all been so very different…”

David Mark loves flawed characters; disfigured, down on their luck men with an alcohol problem who always rise above. This is my second book by this brilliant author, and it was amazing. Mark writes crime fiction and wonderful, interesting characters who prove more and more endearing. Set in Scotland on the remote Ardnamurchan peninsula, Ronni Ashcroft is a 35-year-old mother to three children, Lilly, Atticus and Poppy, all with unique personalities. She is running a guest house by herself after finding out her husband is cheating on her. She has fired her cleaner Theresa, a character in her own right, who still shows up every day to clean, despite being fired many months ago. Through all of this chaos, Ronni has a potential boyfriend – a drifter called Bishop. When Bishop disappears and the police come to question her, Ronni finds herself caught up in a battle to save herself and her children from the dark world of illegal organ transplants, crime lords, and evildoers.

Nicholas Roe is currently a houseguest of Ronni’s. Similar to Rowan Blake from Into The Woods, he is an alcoholic in a bad way. We never find out what he is dying from, but he is quite literally the walking dead. This marvelous character is sick, broken down and oozing of death, decay, and deception. R A wonderfully atmospheric and riveting crime read, underpinned with a dark sense of humor, that I think will appeal to many crime and mystery readers. David Mark’s descriptions of odors, teeth, skin color are on point and the reader can almost smell these characters. The Guest House is a great story but can get confusing. As one reader put it, the good are bad, but the bad can be good, too. But when they are all trying to outdo each other, the reader can get lost. All the characters have these enormous personalities, which can sometimes be hard to follow.

The Guest House is a dark book. It takes place in a desolate area of the world, in which the majority of the time is dark and very grey. It can be graphic with torture and death, and the darkness only adds to that theme. Some readers may suggest making it less complex, but the complexity makes this story work so well.

This book was full of some very nasty characters, with a very tense and creepy setting
The book is very high in tension, throughout the book, leading to a very satisfying conclusion
I have not read anything by this author before, but they are now on my radar
Thank you for the advanced reader copy

This book started off ok for me but then it all got a bit too confusing and mashed up. It didnt really appeal to me as my type of book. I liked it but I couldnt say I loved it.

As normal i picked this book after having forgotten the blurb.

Unfortunately i have to say I actually have.no idea what was going on or what i read! By the time i got to this point i was already far enough in that i felt like i had to finish.

I enjoyed the writing style from what i could pick out but i needed a clearer sense of who was talking on each chapter

A great thriller with some great twists. the story had me hooked from the start and I didn't want to put it dow, it was fast-paced and cleverly written.
The characters were intriguing and felt realistic, and although I didn't like some of them I think they all fit well into the story.
Thank you NetGallery and the Publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an intriguing novel with many twists and turns. I did find the storyline a little confusing to keep up with at first, especially with the introduction of many different characters and trying to figure out what relevance they had to the story. The beginning bit confused me as I get why it makes sense for the story but it is never followed up on - do those men from the submarine get away?

With the title being The Guest House, I expected the story to be centred more around the guest house itself rather than it just being a base - all the true action occurs elsewhere so it does make me question why this title was used.

I found Ronni quite whiny and annoying - constantly moaning about her ex and his new 'squeeze' then moaning about her new man and wanting her ex back a page or two later. Not that her ex, his new girlfriend or the new man were any better by a long shot though!

I would love to see more from Nicholas Roe though - he was a very interesting character and described in vivid detail. I will definitely check out more from the author.

I was so excited to receive an early copy of this read! The synopsis was so intriguing and this was an awesome read. Fast-paced but still well developed. Definitely a thriller with a twist!

This is the first book I have read by this author, and my last. I could not follow the storyline at all. I kept checking the reviews to see what I was missing, apparently a lot.

The beginning of the book is about a submarine of some sort that the writer says is not a sub with 4 people on it with drugs. Next it jumps to a woman running an inn of some sort far from nowhere in Scotland. She threw her husband out after finding pictures of him with another woman. And then there's a bunch of odd people staying at her inn.

I failed to see what others have enjoyed about this book.

This is a really good thriller which grabs the attention from the intriguing and puzzling start! I recomend reading it.

Great standalone thriller by David Mark with some familiar names from Aector McEvoy series! Absorbing story with strong characters.

Unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to complete this book. I attempted to pick it up a couple of times, but just didn’t get to read it all. I will definitely look to pick this one up as the premise seemed interesting!

This was a new author for me and I will definitely be reading more of his work. Loved this story, it was full of suspence and I didn't want to put it down. This was definitely a different kind of book than anything I had read before and when I read the synopsis here on Netgalley I knew I had to request it, it did not let me down. A very gripping plot which centered on a subject that I was not sure I would like, but this was so well put together you could not be put off by a few body parts flying around. At times I was not sure what was going, the plot was intense and I could not stop reading as I needed to know how this was all going to come together. There was a fabulous array of interesting characters and the author did a great job bringing them to life, I was really quite invested in each one and what would happen to them. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

I couldn't put this one down! I don't know where to begin with this thriller thrill ride. Twists and turns, surprises to keep you on the edge of your seat. David Mark knows how to keep readers engaged.