Absolutely loved this book. Unger delivers over and over with unique, page-turning thrillers. Family drama, friend drama, and an exploration into why people behave the way they do — all with enjoyable prose and deep insight. There are many layers to the story, and even if you think they can’t possibly all come together, they do. It’s hard to talk about it without giving away spoilers. So brew yourself some coffee, find a comfy spot — ideally, NOT in a secluded cabin — and enjoy the stormy ride.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is the latest mystery by bestselling author Lisa Unger. This novel focuses on three couples staying at a luxurious secluded cabin in the woods. Mako is the highly successful owner of a tech company and his wife Liza, a new age yoga instructor, pays for the weekend for everyone to enjoy. Joining them is Hannah, who is Mako’s sister and her husband Bruce as well as her childhood friend Cricket with her new boyfriend Joshua. Once at the cabin they meet the strange owner and learn about the disturbing, haunted past of the place. Soon after they arrive a powerful storm causes the power to go out and any communication to the outside world is impossible. As the night progresses, people disappear and suspicions are cast on everyone and dark secrets are revealed.

What I liked about the book:
-locked room mystery
-the creepy, isolated setting
-multiple narrators with different timelines
-short chapters
-twists and turns and a buildup of tension
-family dynamics
-the role of DNA and whether a personality is mostly due to nature or nurture

What I disliked about the book:
-a little too character driven, I felt it could have been condensed to be more impactful
-it started really strong but in the middle it fizzled a little but had a strong ending
-I had some trouble connecting with the characters, not many redeeming qualities especially with Mako and Cricket
-I felt like some aspects were unresolved and could have been explained further

My rating: 4 out of 5

Potential Trigger Warning- sexual assault, rape and harassment

My final takeaway:
This is an enjoyable read if you are a fan of locked room mysteries that take place in secluded, creepy locations.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC.

Another great thriller by Lisa Unger. As always, her books grab your attention super quick and keep the reader turning page after page. Her latest, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, has the perfect thriller "not sure what's going to happen" plot and characters that keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Highly recommend!

Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller. It was full of surprises and intrigue that kept me reading into the night. I completely recommend this for anyone looking for a good mystery.

Started a bit slow for me, but then it grabbed me and didn't let go. Took a bit to get into the dual timelines and multiple POVs but once I did, it flowed well. Lots of twists, turns and bends in this one.

Thank you NetGallery and publisher for my e.arc book.
I really thought this would be a good mystery or horror story,duh,not either. Just a group of people,with money spending a weekend in an expensive rental away from everyone so we’re led to believe. The author has many novels to her name and probably has a big fan base and fortunately I am not one of them. As the king said about Amadeus,”too many notes” and this book had,too many unnecessary words just to add length to a boring premise. The characters were not interesting and I felt I didn’t care about any of them. Many times I wanted to give up reading but did follow through to the very end which didn’t come soon enough for me.

This was a twisty, dual timeline, multiple POV thriller that gave me tons of Find you first and Rock, paper, scissors vibes! A serial killer/rapist fathers a number of children through donated sperm and someone is trying to track them all down and eradicate his bloodline. Cue lots of potential killers and a great atmospheric cliff-hanger when a group of couples are trapped in a secluded rental. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is a fast-paced thriller. There are two stories going on simultaneously. The first and main story is of the group of people staying on the cabin, all of whom have secrets. The second is about a boy named Henry who’s mother is murdered when he’s child. This second story line was really interesting and the part of the book I liked best. There were a lot of different pints of view which always makes a book interesting and faced paced, The only thing I struggled with was that there were some details that didn’t fit and just felt like loose ends. Overall it was a good read. I love Lisa Unger and was thrilled to get to read this early.

An Interesting and suspenseful premise, executed with the help of a crazily complex web of strange and compelling characters (most of them harboring deception and secrets), and an intensely creepy setting, this book’s initially engaging start fell somewhat flat for me on the final go-round.

Hannah, our main protagonist, is a mother, wife, sister and daughter. An all-around nurturer and “good girl”, Hannah has always been the one everyone counts on to make things right. For as long as she can remember, Hannah has cleaned up her brother Mako’s messes - soothing jagged family dynamics along the way (including the moods of her always-prickly mom) so effortlessly that it has now become pretty much her second nature.

Living the good life in Florida, blessed with Gigi, her cherished nine-month old daughter, and her gorgeous (but strangely enigmatic) husband Bruce, Hannah’s world, unbeknownst to her and all of those she loves, is about to embark on a crash-course with destiny.

A mysteriously-gifted DNA-testing kit, a voyeuristic patron, a party girl with a new lover, a voice from the past seeking answers, a dangerously-vengeful and oddly-matched duo - when Bruce and Hannah are invited to join an all-expense-paid weekend at a luxurious cabin situated deep in the backwoods of Georgia, (an invitation extended by her tech-magnate, always over-the-top brother Mako) , the stage is set for these and other seemingly-unrelated events to play out in a final series of twists and turns (which this reader did not find as satisfying as the original premise implied).

If we cannot choose our families, can we, at best, choose our reactions?

As the author plays out the perhaps unanswerable question - is biology truly our destiny? - for this reader, achieving an only moderately successful treatment, which was clever in parts, compelling in others, but inconsistent and somewhat insufficient in the final telling.

A great big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher @HarperCollinsca for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

***three and a half shiny stars***

Thank you to Netgalley and Park Row for a preview copy of this ebook.

Six couples, some related, rent a secluded cabin for a weekend away. The cabin comes with a hot tub and a private chef. What more could you want?

Mix in lots of drama and secrets, ghost stories and a violent storm on the way. Then add some extra characters, one with a vendetta and she’s ready to kill to make things right.

Unger never disappoints, but I felt this title had a bit too much back story. And manipulation of names.

The atmosphere was chilling and made me not want to rent a secluded cabin. So, she did well with her descriptions.

I do recommend this thriller but be patient with it. You’ll get a pay off at the end.

"Family is not who you are, but it's what you do." The theme of family, given or chosen, is a big feature of this book. As is genetics and how it pre-disposes our behavior. AND it's an awesome locked room thriller.

From Amazon:

Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller byNew York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.

What could be more restful, more restorative, than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s loving and generous tech-mogul brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It’s his birthday gift to Hannah and includes their spouses and another couple. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R, far from the chatter and pressures of modern life.

But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare. A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep.

I went into this novel mostly blind, which I think is the best way to experience it. The book is very evocative. It has secrets upon secrets and holds many of them close to the vest until the end. I was constantly intrigued and desperately wanted to find out how it all came together. I won't say much more because I don't want to spoil it. Many thanks to Park Row and NetGalley for providing the advanced reader copy. It will be published November 8, 2022. Pre-order a copy. This book was a stunner.

A group of friends and family head to a secluded cabin for a getaway weekend. They’re looking forward to unwinding, reconnecting, and enjoying themselves. But their host is a little strange, the cabin has a gruesome history, a storm is brewing, and almost everyone has a secret. What could go wrong?

This was my first time reading a book by Unger, and I really liked the chilling, atmospheric setting. There were a few times late at night that I got a creeped out while reading and had to put it down. There weren’t any huge twists, but I still enjoyed it. It’s a quick read that is perfect for Fall. If you prefer a lighter thriller, I think you will enjoy this one.

I have to say, I don’t really think this is zinger’s best work. Confessions on the 7:45 this is not. If you’re looking for a decently quick book that doesn’t take a lot of brain power, this book is for you, I found a lot of the twists to fall flat.
There was one this that drove me insane though, and never left my mind, even though it was a small detail in the beginning of the book. In a chapter supposedly happening in 2001 a detective states he has entered a case into a new database called Namus. Namus didn’t exist until 2007. This was an easily verifiable fact and as someone who works in that particular field- it’s a bothersome fact that was gotten wrong.

A fun thriller to read. Couples rent a very upscale cabin without much access to the outside world in the Northeast. From there, the novel takes.twisty ride to a shocking ending. Highly recommend!

Looking for a book with lots of atmosphere and a group of friends and family that are extremely unreliable? Then this would be for you. Hannah has been gifted a birthday getaway from her brother to an exclusive cabin. Hannah and her husband join her brother, his wife, her good friend and her second half for what should be a relaxing, fun-filled time. However, each person isn’t quite who they pretend to be. As chaos begins can they get away from this dream cabin before their nightmares start to come true? I found this story to be a bit contrived but full of twists that keep you reading. The characters are so unreliable that I was almost fearful to cheer for any of them. I also just had a sick feeling with some of the twists. While I generally like locked-door thrillers, this one was just not for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Suspenseful read, creepy atmospheric setting, characters with a past history check check and check. Lisa Unger's new book delivers an interesting tale based on your past origins. Sometimes you never really know where you came from. Told in alternating chapters from different points of view, the story wraps up and builds to an exciting ending. An excellent suspenseful read for chilly autumn nights. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Still one of my favorite thriller authors, but this one was NOT for me. The pacing was weird, so much of the book felt like nothing much was happening., even though the cabin has scary ghosts/invasive surveillance/creepy locals/actual villains all at once. There weren't really any twists in the story, the baddies are exactly who you think they are from the beginning and their motive is exactly what you think it is, too. I kept reading thinking "this must be the cool misdirection! Here comes the twist!" and then... the book was over.

A weekend getaway turns into a nightmare when three couples rent a remote luxury cabin in the woods. With a storm brewing and a rather persistent host, Hannah's birthday weekend is off to a terrible start when the cabin's personal chef reveals the cabin's spooky history. As long-buried secrets come to light, the friends must decide how much they can trust each other.

If you want a good fall thriller to curl up on the couch with as the weather starts to cool, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six delivers a fun, yet unmemorable, read. The plot is over-the-top and complicated, with backstories of mystery characters involving DNA testing and a serial rapist. By the end, you basically hate everyone. Still, the twists and turns keep you guessing and provide some mindless entertainment to enjoy.

What a fabulous read! This book kept me wondering the whole time. I was drawn into the characters, especially Henry and Hannah. I was so suspicious of Bracken! Great book with current concerns and family mores. How far should you go to protect the ones you love? Thank you, NetGalley and Lisa Unger.

3 couples, 1 luxury cabin, and a storm ⛈
What could go wrong….


If you like a good locked in a room style mystery, I think you’ll like this book!

While I usually enjoy multiple POV I had a hard time keeping up with this one. This would have been 5 ⭐️ for me but I had a hard time keeping up with all the characters

Thank you @netgalley and @htpbooks for the ARC