Loved this twisty, dark thriller! I loved the atmospheric feel of this, and it was a perfect slump buster. Great twists and turns as well.

This book was unique, interesting, and fun to read. While I enjoyed reading it for personal reading, I will not be adopting it for my classroom. Thank you to the publisher!

A weekend away at a luxury cabin in the woods for 3 couples turns into a nightmare. Hannah's tech mogul brother has planned and paid for the entire weekend. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and some R&R. They start with a hot tub, personal chef and spectacular views, but as they learn the spine-tingling history of the property, things look different. The friends have their own complicated pasts. Someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?

This book kept me guessing, nothing was as it seems. I really couldn't guess much of what was coming. It's a book full of awful people which, although they're hard to relate to, is more enjoyable in a way, especially in a plot like this. I don't want to imagine myself in a similar situation. The cabin sounded stunning though - am I weird that this book makes me want to book a weekend away in the wilderness? LOL

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thank you to the Killer Crime Club on Facebook for my e-copy.

This started off so strong I felt really invested in the beginning. However the second half fell flat and I was regretful of not feeling invested in the writing.

I had the hardest time getting invested and DNF’d around the 35% mark. There was so much going on with each character but so shallowly that I just didn’t care and the voyeurism of the cabin owner was off putting on top of everything else that was happening.

A group of six people, tied together by love and family, are invited to a weekend retreat in a secluded cabin. Throughout the book, we follow several characters and timelines, some of which are definitely more interesting than others. This book had a lot going on, and a lot of information thrown at the reader. In the end, I didn't think it was an amazing thriller and the twist was just ok. This is my third Lisa Unger book, and I enjoyed the others. This one just didn't have an impactful plot or any sort of message that stayed with me.

This was my first thriller by Lisa Unger, and it certainly won't be the last! I love secluded cabin mysteries...there's something about the forced proximity and "claustrophobic" feeling that lends itself so well to a thriller, and Unger definitely knows how to manipulate this trope to her advantage.

Locked room mystery, I am in!

I went into this book completely blind and it works for this one! I would definitely recommend going into this one knowing nothing! Not knowing the plot or where the story was going kept me invested and unable to put the book down.

The first have was a bit of a slow burn, but then it really starts to take off. Suspenseful, unexpected, and brilliant! I had so much fun with this one.

I love a locked room thriller trope, and I have heard great reviews about Lisa Unger, so I had to give this one a go!

I was a little confused in the beginning with the multiple POVs/storylines, but I feel like that is bound to happen with a gang of characters. I felt like it was a bit of a slow burn too but so necessary for plot development. I felt like i was intrigued throughout the whole story, even with the characters that I didn't like so much. The DNA testing part was super interesting, and I loved how unique some aspects of the story were.

Overall I really enjoyed this one!!

I have to start by saying that I love Lisa Unger. Her writing is stellar and her books always keep me captivated until the very end. For some reason, though, I was not that fond of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. I can't put my finger on it, especially since it caught me right from the beginning and held my attention to the very end. I'm not sure if it was the characters that I didn't like--although I believe some were written that way on purpose--or if it was that there seemed to be way too much going on with each character, I just felt kind of disappointed when I finally finished the book. I completely get having flawed characters, but it seemed like every character in the book had so many flaws, I couldn't keep up. And I'm not really sure that we even needed to storyline about the man who owned the house--that seemed a little forced and just thrown in the story. This will not keep me from reading whatever Lisa Unger writes, however!

I've enjoyed previous books from Lisa Unger and I wanted to love this one more than I did. It was good, as in entertaining enough to keep my interest until the end, but ultimately not a favourite. It was quite slow burn for a while and I kept waiting for it to pick up. Thankfully, I got to a point where it did which definitely intrigued me.

Let's talk about what I liked...
I did really enjoy the multiple view points. It's a way of reading that always works well for me. I also really liked the atmosphere of the book. The author was able to paint a pretty vivid picture which I appreciated. There were also a few characters that I loved to hate. I've read a few books lately with a DNA/ancestry theme, so it didn't feel as fresh as I would have liked, but I still found it interesting.

What didn't really work for me...
That whole slow burn thing. I don't mind a book that starts off a bit slow, but in a thriller I do expect to get to some of the action a little bit quicker and there were times here where it dragged a bit. There was a large cast of characters - so many that it did take me a while to be able to keep track of everyone and sort it all out. Once I did, it was fine. Speaking of the characters, many of them weren't likeable and were hard to connect to.

Basically, this book was fine. It kept my attention but I felt like it needed more. Maybe a really epic twist would have given this one an extra star. If you like the author's other books, you'll probably like this one as well.

Lisa Unger delivers another page-turning story centered around a group of privileged family and friends who get more than they bargained for at an upscale vacation away from it all. As unknown entities force a reckoning with a revelation of long-buried secrets, it is evident that life will forever change for each of the vacationers.

A two star read is one that is just okay to me, and that unfortunately is what Lisa Unger's new thriller, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, is ... just okay. This dramatic suspense novel caught my attention in the first chapter where we are introduced to Hannah and her peculiar family dynamics over the holidays, but then failed to captivate me throughout the rest of the book.

This story about a group of family and friends who rent an isolated luxury cabin in the woods only to have their relationship put to the test amid a raging storm, spooky things happening around the property, and their lack of trust in themselves and each other, is a tale with many moving parts, all grinding against each other disjointedly to create a novel that just doesn't work.

I immensely disliked the amount of characters and points of view in this book. Just as we are settling into Hannah's family and getting to know them better, we are abruptly thrust into the lives of several seemingly random characters (although you know they must be connected somehow because why else would they have entire chapters devoted to their lives) whose backstories we also have to learn. Not to mention that the writing here feels shallow, unevenly paced, and entirely trope-ish. This is a book that tries to do too much while doing too little.

I have read a few Lisa Unger books and have always enjoyed them. This book was just okay for me but I'm not sure what I didn't love about it. I thought there was just too much going on. Too many red herrings, too many characters that didn't really need to be in the book. The DNA thing started out as very intriguing and then I lost interest. Nobody was even that likeable. It was confusing at times.

The other thing that annoyed me was that the author went to Goodreads to rate and "review" her own book. Too me, that's trying a little too hard, especially with a well-known author. I'm immediately put off when an author or a family member, relative, or friend does that.

So this review reflects what I felt about the book. It passed the time, it could have been a lot better. I don't understand the rave reviews, but that's just me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are mine, and freely expressed.

When Hannah's tech mogul brother, Mako, rents a luxurious, secluded cabin in the woods for her birthday, she is thrilled. A new mother, Hannah is excited to get away for a weekend of relaxation, with her husband, brother, sister in law, and her best friend. Her best friend is even bringing her new boyfriend, so it seems like the perfect weekend.
A private chef, a hot tub, and all the bells and whistles one needs.
As a huge storm approaches, the perfect weekend turns into a perfect nightmare.
This one has a lot going on. It is very fast-paced, so it was easy for me to keep up with the various plot lines. I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it.

TW: Cheating, gaslighting, body shaming, toxic relationships, toxic friendships, cutting, death of baby, miscarriages, ivf, rape, suicide

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: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. How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? And who is the new boyfriend, crashing their party? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?
Release Date: November 8th, 2022
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 396
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The beginning started so good

What I Didn't Like:
1. All the different character perspectives
2. Hanna - she loves whining
3. All the characters are seriously horrible
4. Way too much happening

Overall Thoughts:
This book was pretty predictable but not in a bad way. I was very entertained while I read it. The tone and atmosphere in this book was pretty good.

I love books/movies where people go to an isolated area and something creepy happens.

Hanna is so unbelievably annoying. All she does is go on and on about her husband cheating and leaving her daughter behind. It's not even like they are having problems in the bedroom. We read about two separate times they have pretty outside the box sex.


I am so over the whole different characters for different chapters, but this book took it to another step and threw down a different timeline too. How confusing. I mean why would you do that to your readers? There are SIX different perspectives in this book!


This story has EVERYTHING in this book...too much if you ask me. It's all so over the top & ridiculous. There's cheaters, rapists, serial killers, murderers, abusive men, women seeking revenge, black mail.... It's just too much. Between the switching timeline, 100 characters, a peeping house owner, and complex plot just way too much is happening. I seriously got so confused at who all was cheating and who they were sleeping with too. Who was pregnant with whose baby...etc



This book is full of women being pregnant and having miscarriages. Like every woman mentioned is pregnant, has a baby, had a miscarriage, or lost their baby after it was born.

Get the fuck out of here.... Their father was a serial killer/rapist hahaha. What????


"It's not pretty, men shouldn't cry".
Oh I didn't know you had to be beautiful when you're upset. 🙄 What a stupid line!


Final Thoughts:
My dream ending for this book was that every and I mean everyone was locked in the house and it explodes killing a of the characters. That didn't happen. So the next best thing for me is to stop reading books from Lisa Unger. She's just not for me.

Recommend For:
• Complex stories
• Family dramas
• Multiple characters
• A lot going on
• People who bicker a lot

This was a fun take on a locked room mystery. When the tag-line mentions a trip to die for, I’m already questioning from the beginning. Even being on high-alert from page one, I didn’t see most of the twists coming. I enjoyed the inclusion of the whole “what makes people a family?” question, and while I didn’t necessarily love how it all shook out, I was definitely invested in this story. This was an exciting winter thriller for sure - bonus points if you can read it during a snow storm.

I like Unger’s books but this one I really struggled to finish. It had too many characters, the switching between them was confusing at times, and the suspense took awhile to build. Just not for me this time.

I loved the suspense, I have purchased this book for my library and it is a go to book to recommend to my thrill seeking readers!

Suspenseful and quick paced, this was a very enjoyable read for mystery lovers. It held a note of suspense throughout, with a shocking ending.