Reading this book was like entering a labyrinth or maybe a tangled spider web inside a spider web and I felt like the fly. I was captured from the beginning as I dove deeply into this intricate story of family relationships and unknown darkness. Wow! Just wow! Hannah and Mako are siblings and both have secrets. One of them has a secret that can kill. Together with their spouses and two friends, they go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere just to get away. But they soon find out that you can run but you can’t hide. The premise of this book is clever and intriguingly original with so much happening that it held my attention the entire time I was reading. I could hear the sound effects portrayed and jumped when the thunder roared, just as I’m sure the characters did. The theme of good vs. evil was definitely a part of the story, but it is mostly a story of accepting your family and knowing that you are an individual and cannot change where your roots are. I especially liked the characterization and how there seemed to be two different story lines that were flowing down different rivers, but they seamlessly merged into a giant waterfall at the end. The imagery was fantastic, creating an environment that was perfect for the story and for my mind to go wild as I built up the scene visually. The characters were well developed but a bit confusing until I caught on that there were two storylines and dual time as well. I didn’t have a favorite character since I enjoyed getting to know all of them. Some, of course, are more likable and relatable than others, but they all realistically portray human actions and reactions. Buckle up for a wild ride and prepare for a long night when you pick up this book because it will hold you in its grasp until the final satisfying sentence. Dynamic, energetic and twisty spellbinder that every fan of thrillers should read.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. (I also preordered my own copy because I love Lisa Unger’s books.) I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

I liked this book pretty well, not my favorite of the authors, but still a good read. It tells the story of three couples at a cabin and the back stories of three other people. One of which, Bracken I am not sure if it added much to the story and could have been left out. A vacation gone wrong, a spooky cabin with a bad history and lots of complicated relationships. It raises issues of whether biology is destiny and what do we really need to know about ourselves to live good lives. Think there would be useful discussions among my students

Another hit by Lisa Unger! This book will suck you in immediately and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout! If you are a fan of Lisa Unger's books, you will not be disappointed in this one!

While it might be relaxing and peaceful to vacation at a secluded cabin, remember that it can also be difficult to get help if the need should arise. Unfortunately, Hannah and her companions didn't take that advice to heart. The six people in the book who head to the secluded cabin of the title are Hannah and her husband Bruce, her brother Mako and his wife Liza along with her best friend Cricket and Cricket's new boyfriend Joshua.

Hannah and Bruce are new parents and somewhat uncomfortable about leaving their young daughter Gigi, even for a weekend. Bruce is a workaholic, employed by Mako's video game company, so Hannah thinks a weekend in the woods would help him relax. Nothing can help Mako relax, however. He is a larger-than-life personality who charges ahead and everyone else follows in his wake. He has arranged and paid for the entire weekend trip, so the others feel they have no choice but to accept.

Once they reach the cabin, things immediately take an odd turn. An impending storm threatens to cut off access as the roads are prone to flooding. The owner/builder of the cabin seems friendly, but the lack of information about him online is troubling. Hannah and Cricket are also alarmed by stories about a murder committed on the grounds of the house and the rumors of ghosts in the area. Not to mention that the men all begin behaving oddly: Bruce is tied to his computer and phone; Joshua has to run into the tiny local town; and Mako begins flirting openly with Cricket. When the storm knocks out the power and a tree cuts off access, the six in the secluded cabin begin to wonder if there is someone else out there.

I enjoyed the suspense of trying to figure out what was really going on with the spooky, isolated house. There were chapter woven in with other characters who fit into the story somehow, but it took until the final pages of the novel to figure out how.

A beautiful home in the woods that's not quite off the grid, but close to it. Rest, relaxation, luxury, personal chefs. Spending quality time with family and friends. It's a dream getaway, so what could possibly go wrong?

I devoured this book! It checked off so many boxes for things I personally enjoy in a book. Family drama - check. Mysterious characters - check. Locked room vibes - check. Intense suspense - check. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is told through multiple points of view during different periods of time. I'm a huge fan of this type of narrative. I LOVE seeing how different people and their stories all come together and connect at the end. And let me tell you, I could not figure out where this one was going until it was right in front of my face. At 400 pages, it felt like a quick read since I was racing to the end to find out what would happen. I love the way Unger tells a story!

This was quite the wild ride. The six people you meet who intend on getting away for a weekend all revolve around Hannah. Hannah's very generous and wealthy brother books this amazing cabin for Hannah and her husband, he and his wife, and even tells Hannah she can bring her best friend and the guy she's currently dating. It all sounds amazing, Hannah's in-laws will watch their 16 month old for the weekend and everyone is blown away by the beautiful cabin away from reality and a little off the grid for a weekend getaway. But someone has other plans and suddenly, being in a secluded cabin off the grid is awfully foreboding. As secrets are revealed and the desperation to leave is thwarted by a storm that downs trees that block the roads and something's wrong with the generator and the owner of the house is really creepy, and well, this one's a page turner! Enjoy the ride!

This was definitely a page turner. Unger did a great job keeping the reader interested and trying to solve things before the reveal. A good read!

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is an enjoyable read with twists and attacks.
Thank you Emer for the review copy. I've included Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six in my Buzzfeed roundup.
Congrats to Lisa Unger on another successful publication.

Just as the title suggests, most of this book takes place in a secluded cabin in Georgia. However, way more than six people end up coming together, and not all of them are there to rest and enjoy a vacation.

Hannah feels pressured to leave her young daughter at home when her brother, Mako, invites her on vacation. Plus, something is going on with her husband that worries her. Mako’s wife, Liza, is hiding more than just her secret pregnancy. Hannah’s best friend, Cricket, joins them and brings her new boyfriend, even though she and Mako seem to enjoy more than a platonic relationship.

Other characters’ lives are intertwined with the story of the six. Henry’s mother is brutally murdered and he starts looking for family members through his sperm-donor father’s side of the family. Trina, Mako’s former employee, seems to have nefarious intentions. The vacation property’s host, Bracken, has hidden cameras all around the property. And is that a woman in white they glimpse in the trees, rumored to be the ghost of a mother who was killed on the property? The tension builds as a storm rolls in, threatening to strand everyone without cell reception, electricity, and passable roads.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six packs quite the punch. This story is unsettling but action-packed. With so many points of view jumping around through the decades, I couldn’t wait to see how it all came together. The characters are all incredibly well-developed, even if deeply flawed. I was rooting for some of them, anxious about what would happen to others, and a few I really disliked. I was completely drawn into their lives. The consumer DNA testing kit aspect of the storyline was really interesting as well. So many things about this book turned out not at all how I expected, which was refreshing. This was my first Lisa Unger novel, but I would definitely be interested in reading more!

✨SECLUDED CABIN SLEEPS SIX✨

5⭐️

Thank you so much @launger and @parkrowbooks for letting me read the @netgalley arc! I’m a huge Lisa Unger fan, so I was very excited to read this early!!

Image being in a secluded cabin in the woods hours away from home, no cell service, and a huge storm is on its way.

First off this book was SO creepy!! I couldn’t read it before bed in the dark! It’s been a very long time since a book has done that to me! Secondly this book was WILD! I thought I had the twist figured out, but nope!

I already knew I loved locked room mystery’s, but it can be hard to find a good one. This one blew it out of the water!

I can’t recommend this book enough! If you need a past paced thriller with multiple twist, then read this book!! 👏🏻

This author might just not be for me. I found the switching of point of views bogged down the story. Some characters perspectives felt unnecessary. Due to these perspectives, some actions even felt out of character. Otherwise it felt pretty predictable, besides the stories that went no where.

My review will be posted to Goodreads closer to publication date.

A “suspense” novel about a bunch of Peeping Toms….? Not really my jam. This story is VERY jilted. It has too many alternating narrators. Some of whom you have no idea who they are or why they are even speaking. Too many silly, inconsequential details are told that could have been spared. Same words and descriptions are often repeated, which also annoyed me. I honestly did not care about what happened to these people. Axe murderer coming through that cabin? Get ‘em! A wild grizzly bear? Eat ‘em! No one is worth saving because you don’t get to know any of them.. Everyone is a horrible person. Also, the premise of the DNA testing could’ve been a thing on its own and way better!

Thanks to NetLibrary, which gave me an advance copy of this book in return of an honest review.

I haven't read Lisa Unger before, but I generally like the genre she writes in. This book was a little hard for me to get into initially. I started reading it, got distracted with other things, then had to force myself to come back to it. I think a big part is that all the characters are fairly unlikeable. While reading, I found the alternate story about Henry more engaging then the story of Hannah, Mako, et al. In fact, I would have liked to seen a whole book dedicated to Henry. Bracken's story was unnecessary and icky - I'm not sure I ever want to spend time in an Airbnb without extensively looking for illicit cameras.

I think there were a lot of things that didn't work for this. The alternate story of Henry didn't make sense of why it was included until literally almost the last page, which was disappointing - his story was very engaging, like I said, but I also wondered why it was being included, up until the "big reveal." It's hard to care about what happens to the majority of these characters when I didn't like any of them, so that was difficult. And there were some things that didn't add up - I don't know why Cat's story was in 1st person, or why she felt she was the best one to make the decisions about other people that she did.

One thing that worked was further convincing me to never willingly give my blood to one of those ancestry origin sites that tell you where your ancestors are from. That's just opening a whole can of worms, so best to be avoided.

It wasn't a bad book, but it's not as stellar as other books in the genre.

This book didn't work for me. There are a lot of pov's and at times I could not keep track of who was who. None of the characters grabbed my attention. I was hanging on waiting for something to happen but by the end I was bored.

This book’s plot is fascinating and inventive: what role does genetics play in one’s disposition? however, the locked room, cabin in the woods trope is unnecessary and really adds nothing to the story. Many of the characters are despicably drawn, giving readers pause to suspect any of them. Then there is the dual timeline narratives. Henry ended up being my favorite character, but I would have liked to have known more about his childhood. This book is character and plot-driven and substantive enough without adding the cabin in the woods theme. Less is more. But good book! thank you to Harlequin and Net Galley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved this book! Truly suspenseful. I felt like I was guessing the whole time, and the ending was perfect!

I loved the premise of this book and was quite excited to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't grip me. This was a 3 star for me. i liked but it left me wanting more.

Hannah's brother rents a luxury isolated cabin for them, their spouses and 2 others for a fun weekend. It seems most of them all are hiding secrets. Hannah is reluctant to leave her baby for the first time but is also looking forward to the getaway. Learning a murder happened there along with a creepy rental host and an approaching storm, Hannah and her group are in danger. In other chapters we learn about Henry. His story is heartbreaking since he became an orphan as a teenager but went on to lead a successful life. Somehow he is tied into the story at the cabin. This is a book full of mysteries and even though Henry is a minor character compared to Hannah, his character was the one I wanted to survive.

Loved this one! One of my new favorites by Lisa Unger! I'm a sucker for a character-driven locked room mystery and this one delivered. Loved this setting and definitely loved the twists!

This was far fetched, wild, and crazy. It reminded me at first of a locked room mystery, a la Lucy Foley, but it veered in another direction very quickly. Bad people doing bad things, good people trying to stop them, good people doing bad things, and bad people trying to stop them. What a rollercoaster.