Loved it!!! This is my favorite book by the author. I was hooked from the start and couldn't wait until the truth behind the murders was finally revealed. I didn't put the book down because I needed to get to the end and find out what really happened to Becky and the Doyle family. The ending was amazing and I never guessed the truth about Wylie or who was behind everything. I couldn't imagine why Wylie would want to stay in such an isolated farmhouse all alone. I would have been scared every night, especially when the storm started and the power went out. I wouldn't have even wanted to venture out to the barn to get firewood. I was scared every time Wylie left the safety of her house or opened the door to strangers knocking on her door. I enjoyed how the book alternated between the present, twenty years ago when the crime occurred and the mother and daughter. Josie was lucky to survive that night. The little girl was the bravest one in the book.

Definitely recommend the book. It was a great mystery/thriller. Loved the story, writing style and characters. The story kept me guessing until the very end. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin Trade Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

For me, a book by this author is immediately put on the top of my to be read list. Once again, Heather Gudenkauf has written a bone-chilling, heart-stopping thriller! I read this in one day because I simply could not put it down! Loved it!

Heather Gudenkauf’s books just get better and better! I have read and enjoyed many of her novels and The Overnight Guest was another terrific, page-turning story that I loved from page one until the last page.

The setting of a remote cabin and a snowstorm was just perfect. I love a story set in the middle of nowhere especially when the weather takes a turn and the character is stuck there with no help. Eeeeeek! Scary!

Synopsis:

She thought she was alone…

True-crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.

While I have enjoyed Heather Gudenkauf's previous books, this one just wasn't for me. I didn't care for the was the story was told in different points of view - seemed to disjointed for me. I loved the premise of the book but was disappointed overall. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read.

This book hooked me from page one! Wylie is a true crime writer and working on her next book when a snow storm hits. She finds a body in the snow and a truck crashed.
It’s told through three story lines, each one a page turner. It certainly kept me guessing and on the edge of my chair.
Definitely recommend! I really enjoyed it!
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I have a deep appreciation for books that are told through the eyes of different people. It gives me more of a three dimensional look at events rather than the flatter, one-point-of-view story does.

The characterization in this book is so startling realistic that I started to feel as if the events were unfolding in front of my eyes. At time, they were so realistic I felt fear for some of the characters, and a desire for them to make it through the events okay.

I wanted to like this, but there was too much jumping around to keep track of who was who. Ending up just skimming.

The Overnight Guest was something different that I needed. This has a dual timeline plot with a third past to current storyline. This was a story of strength, mystery/suspense and so much more.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Be sure to add this one to your TBR pile. Pub date: January 25, 2022.

A terrific thriller perfect for winter weather. It’s an enthralling read about a crime writer who chose a rural remote location to finish her book. The blizzard has cut her off from people, yet a few show up. Who are they and what is their connection to Wylie? Stoke the fire and grasp yiur deink of choice for a wild read about a murder and betrayals.

4.5 stars

Current day: Wylie is a true crime writer who has left her son with her ex-husband to head to an isolated rural area where she has rented an old farmhouse to be able to better concentrate on her writing. On a cold, blizzardy, freezing-rain/snow-filled night, she finds a little boy curled up in the snow outside the house. She brings him in to warm him up, but he’s not talking as to how or why he was there.

2020: 12-year olds Josie and Becky are best friends, but tragedy strikes when Becky stays overnight one night. The farmhouse then houses two murdered people and two people have disappeared. Josie is the only one who managed to get away.

Timeline unclear initially: a mother and daughter are kept locked in a basement, with an abusive man/father coming to visit occasionally.

Wow, this pulled me in right away and I wanted to keep reading! Unfortunately, for me, I was reading before bed (twice) and especially the first night, I had a hard time getting to sleep! (Which, really, in a thriller or horror book, is a good thing!). All three storylines were appealing to me, and the author brought them together very well.

The story is told in multiple POVs, which I really enjoy. However, it didn't work for me in this book, and I had a hard time engaging with the storyline or connecting with the characters. I found it to be quite predictable, as well, and I found myself skimming over some parts. I've never read anything by this author, though I've heard good things about her prior book. I'd be willing to check out future books.

The Overnight Guest is a tense and highly atmospheric thriller and held my attention to the very end.

Wylie, a true-crime writer, is finishing up her latest book about two murders and a missing teenage girl that occurred about twenty years prior in the town of Burden. And she has decided to complete this project in the isolated farmhouse where it all happened.

But a snowstorm is brewing, and as Wylie prepares to tuck in for the night, she notices a child lying on the side of the road. After Wylie brings in the child, she tries to coax answers from him and figure out how he got there on this bone-chilling night.

It’s probably best not knowing more than that when going into this gripping thriller.

There are three main perspectives across three different timelines, plus a few extra scattered throughout. The distinct voices and even the use of italics for one narrator made it easy to follow along with each POV.

This book hooked me right from the beginning and delivered a few surprising twists. The settings in this book were what made it so atmospheric. One timeline takes place during the heat of summer and another in the dead of winter. Each had me sweating and freezing in turns.

The middle section dragged ever so slightly, but the majority of it had me on the edge of my seat.

This was my first time reading Heather Gudenkauf, and I am now excited to read more books by the author.

Thank you to Park Row for the arc provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

VERY well done...my first book by Gudenkauf, although I've wanted to read her for quite some time. Set in Iowa, during a mean ice storm, you can really feel the bitter cold. I enjoyed the alternating chapters and the sense of menace that runs throughout the book. Josie is a great character, too. A few surprises pack punches, one or two I saw coming, one I did not. Highly recommend.

P.S. Thanks to Publishers Weekly Grab-A-Galley, HarperCollins and #NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow, this was such a whirlwind of a read! The characters were very relatable and their extremely compelling. There were no parts of this story which felt like they dragged on. The twists left me breathless. This was such a good book!

Heather Gudenkauf is one of my favorite authors and this far exceeded my expectations. A writer, Wylie, is living in a house that was once the scene of a crime in rural Iowa in order to research and write her next book. A blizzard strikes and Wylie finds a child out in the cold snow. From then on, an unfortunate series of terrible events relating to the past put both their lives are in peril. This had me hooked right from the very beginning. Gudenkauf offers us 3 parallel time periods, which at first don't seem to relate, but as the story progresses, they become intertwined until the spectacular ending when everything falls into place. Gudenkauf's prowess as a writer is evident throughput and she pulls off an absolutely unputdownable, brilliant psychological thriller.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Park Row and Heather Gudenkauf for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. The way the timeline jumps back and forth keeps you guessing. When trying to piece together who is who and when and where...it all just deepens the mystery and kept me so engaged. Twists and turns abound. If you enjoy a mystery with jumps in time you will love this book.

3.5 stars. I picked this book up because I love any thriller set in a snowstorm. Overall this was just an average thriller for me, but had plenty of aspects that I enjoyed, especially the multiple timelines. Definitely kept my attention. Not a standout for me, but would recommend for someone looking for an exciting story to get lost in on a snowy night.

I usually enjoy this author's books but I was not really a fan of this one. An author secludes herself in order to write her next novel. A child shows up at her cabin. There are three stories told during this book but I really did not feel involved with the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Overnight Guest" by author Heather Gudenkauf. Told through three storylines - including one in the present and another from decades earlier, the current storyline is the story of writer Wylie Lark. Trying to finish her latest true crime book, she left her family behind and came to an old house in the country for the quiet she needs. In the middle of a blizzard, she finds a child nearly frozen to death outside the farmhouse. With no electricity and the phone lines down, she decides to care for the child through the night and get help once the plows can clear the roads. But unable to figure out how a small child got out in the middle of nowhere in the weather, she goes out to explore. What she finds will change her life forever.

The house she's staying at is actually the exact location of the crime she's writing about for her latest book. Decades before, a young teen girl was the sole survivor of a mass murder that killed her parents and brother. Another teen girl, who was there for a sleepover, disappeared that night as well. Wylie hopes visiting the house might lead to a clue as to where that girl went. When she learns the truth, it's unlike anything she could have imagined.

I loved the alternating storylines and I loved the main character Wylie. With her flaws, she's very realistic. She knows she's not the mother she wanted to be, as she practically deserted her son to come to the old house to work on the book. The secondary characters are all intriguing as well, including the police, the town residents, and even the dog. I think my heart even raced at several points in the story - I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Any lover of thrillers will enjoy this novel.

THE OVERNIGHT GUEST garners high praise from me as a can't-put-down breathtakingly suspenseful mystery with two tautly convoluted parallel plots and well-achieved characterization. Reading it at seemingly breakneck speed was akin to hovering above two diagonal railroad tracks leading to one roundhouse and viewing two speeding freight trains simultaneously approaching that just-out-of-sight destination where the parallel tracks converge. You know it's going to be ugly, but you can't turn away.


THE OVERNIGHT GUEST possesses the same cutting edginess I mentioned in my review of WINTER CHILL: you think you're reading a cozy domestic thriller with the only way out-of-joint aspects being normal teenage rebellion, and oh yeah, the bad boy stereotype, the company your children shouldn't keep. Hah! You're in for a surprise, Gentle Reader, a whole barn-full of Surprise.