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The Guest

B.A. Paris

3.71
2,064 ratings1,371 reviews
New York Times bestselling author B. A. Paris captivated psychological thriller readers everywhere with Behind Closed Doors. Now she invites you into another heart-pounding home full of secrets, in The Guest.

Some secrets never leave.

Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all: a beautiful home in the British countryside, a daughter happily working in Greece, and good friends Laure and Pierre from Paris, who they often vacation with. But when a young man has a tragic accident in a nearby quarry, Gabriel is the one to find him and hear his final words, leaving Gabriel with a guilty burden.

As Iris tries to help ease her husband’s trauma, they acquire an unexpected house guest. Laure has seemingly moved in after her husband’s revelation that he has had a child with another woman. Iris and Gabriel insist Laure stay as long as she needs. But Laure keeps wearing Iris’s clothes, following her every move, and asking her about the recent death of the young man.

Their only respite from the increasingly tense atmosphere in their own home comes from a couple new to town and expecting their first child. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past.

With fractured relationships and secrets piling up around them, can Iris and Gabriel’s marriage survive?

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Genres
Thriller
Mystery
Fiction
Mystery Thriller
Suspense
Audiobook
Adult

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320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 20, 2024


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About the author
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B.A. Paris
19 books19k followers

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B.A. Paris is the New York Times and Sunday Times Number 1 bestselling author of seven novels including the word-of-mouth hit, Behind Closed Doors and her upcoming thriller, The Guest.

Over 7 million editions of her work have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 41 languages. Her novels have been optioned for major screen adaptations with a film of The Breakdown, titled Blackwater Lane, in post production.

Before becoming an author, B.A. Paris worked as a bank trader and teacher in France. Today, she writes from her cottage in Hampshire, England, where she lives with her husband with visits from her five grown-up daughters. She has a newsletter and is on social media @baparisauthor


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Ratings & Reviews
My Review

Denise Satin
281 reviews
4 followers

January 24, 2024
WOW!!! What a twist ending. Never saw it coming. So, our main characters are Iris and Gabriel. Gabriel is a doctor but is on leave due to a traumatizing event. He found a teenage boy from their local area near death in a quarry but he couldn’t save him and his last words to Gabriel left him haunted. Then Iris and Gabriel go away for a few days and come home to find their very good friend Laure living in their house. She lives in France with her husband Pierre but she left him because he told he he had a child with someone else. Then they meet their new neighbors Esme and Hugh and their gardener named Joseph, who has a dubious past. Gabriel tries calling Pierre but he can’t seem to contact him. Then Laure has been their over a month and starts an affair with the Joseph who was helping Gabriel with his garden which Gabriel found helpful due to his traumatizing event. Then Iris overhears Laure fighting with Joseph and then goes for a run and doesn’t come back. She is found dead in the quarry. Oh, prior to that she went on the train from London to France to talk to Pierre but he never showed up. Then the police come investigating Iris’s death with no answers. Then they come back and the police tell Iris and Gabriel that Pierre was murdered,, stabbed to death. It appeared that Iris killed him but how will they know because both are dead. Then their daughter Beth comes home who is taking a break before going to university and his distraught because Laure and Pierre were her godparents. Then she meets Joseph and is attracted to him. Iris is not pleased about this because of his dubious past. He was fired from his last job at a school and had a drinking problem. Well, then Joseph is found dead. It looks like he blew himself up. So many deaths. This book was slow going at first but at the halfway point it really picked and I couldn’t put it down. All is revealed in the epilogue but no spoilers here. B.A. Paris delivers another fantastic thriller. I want to thank net galley and the publisher for this ARC I received for honest review. Another great read!!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, B.A. Paris, and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.

There are 4 main characters - Iris and Gabriel, who have the perfect life to anyone on the outside looking in. And Laure and her husband, Pierre, who are very close friends with Iris and Gabriel. They are so close that they even share their houses with each other if they are going out of town,

The story revolves around 2 separate incidents. The first is that Laure discovers that Pierre has a child with another woman. The second is that Gabriel discovers a man who has had a tragic accident in a nearby quarry and tells Gabriel his final words before he passes away.

After Laure discovers her husband has a child with another woman, she runs to stay with Iris and Gabriel while she figures out what to do next. While she is there, Gabriel going through his own grief about the final words the man in the quarry told him.

As the months goes on, Iris and Gabriel discover how challenging it is to have Laure as a houseguest. More characters are introduced that play a big part in all their lives. And then the story takes a wild turn. I did not see the twist coming at all.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat. 4/5 stars.

I've read, I think, all of B.A. Paris' books so far and really enjoy them. She's really good with psychological thrillers.

Description:
Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all: a beautiful home in the British countryside, a daughter happily working in Greece, and good friends Laure and Pierre from Paris, who they often vacation with. But when a young man has a tragic accident in a nearby quarry, Gabriel is the one to find him and hear his final words, leaving Gabriel with a guilty burden.

As Iris tries to help ease her husband’s trauma, they acquire an unexpected house guest. Laure has seemingly moved in after her husband’s revelation that he has had a child with another woman. Iris and Gabriel insist Laure stay as long as she needs. But Laure keeps wearing Iris’s clothes, following her every move, and asking her about the recent death of the young man.

Their only respite from the increasingly tense atmosphere in their own home comes from a couple new to town and expecting their first child. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past.

With fractured relationships and secrets piling up around them, can Iris and Gabriel’s marriage survive?

My Thoughts:
Lots of secrets and twist and turns in this one. Yes, I was surprised at the end. This is not my favorite book by B.A. Paris, but it is a good mystery. I have to admit I got tired of Laure pretty fast though. I wouldn't want anyone moving in with me for such a long time for sure, even my best friend. Iris and Gabriel see a lot of tragedy in the span of the book - so much for one couple it seemed extraordinary. Laure was Iris and Gabiel's guest, and some new friends of theirs have a guest as well - and he seems suspicious after they get to know more. Three are red herrings here and I'll be honest, I didn't guess the ending. Recommended to mystery lovers.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. Expected publication February 20, 2024.

If you've started this book and are about to dnf, don't. Keep reading. This is not as much of thriller as some of her other books. The ending is worth pushing through some of the mundane dialog and daily lives of the characters. The story is more annoying than psychologically thrilling (in my opinion). The story centers around a married couple that has a rudely obtrusive houseguest. Most of the characters are lying, liars that lie. Secrets lead to a trail of deaths.
Thanks NetGalley for the read!

A twisty domestic drama/thriller that had me hooked from the start. The Guest was just what I needed to get out of a reading slump. With constant twists, good character development, and different perspectives, I couldn't put it down.
Following three separate couples, BA Paris introduces them wonderfully to give you enough time to understand each of them & not mix them up.

Another masterfully drawn thriller by one of my auto-buy authors, B.A. Paris.

"Some secrets never leave."

Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all, but as you know, nothing's as it seems in a B.A. Paris novel, and this is no exception. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time, and received the gift of an unexpected twist at the end. An excellent novel by a Queen of Suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In true BA Paris fashion, I was intrigued from the beginning. This book is a slow burn, with small bread crumbs being left along the way. When the final twist was revealed, I was shocked!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this. This one was somewhat a slow read. Not a whole lot of details. While I thought the plot was good and liked the twist at the ending, this wasn’t one I’d recommend to others who like the fast paced thrillers.

Iris and Gabriel come back to London from a respite trip to find their longtime friend, Laure, in their home. Laure is getting some distance from her husband, Pierre, and their home in Paris, after he told her he had an affair and a child was born out of that.

Iris and Gabriel are figuring out what to do with Laure, as she’s overstaying her welcome. Meanwhile, they become fast friends with new neighbors, Esme and Hugh, and a gardener who came with them. The gardener friend, Joseph, comes with a troubling history.

Secrets begin to surface, and some prove to be dangerous.

Commiserating with Esme, after finding out her husband had cheated on her wasn’t difficult. Her actions, though worrisome, were understandable.

Paris also did a nice job of showing the difficulties Iris and Gabriel struggled with, in their relationship and in figuring out what to do with their close friend.

A few obstacles prevented me from fully enjoying the read. First, the red herrings needed to seem more like believable contenders in the story. Second, more hints of the culprit needed to be sprinkled in the main part of the novel. Too much explaining was done in the Epilogue. The thirty-some pages shouldn’t have been spent explaining what had already happened but should have focused primarily on after it was all over.

N.B. I really wanted to enjoy this newest work of B.A. Paris, especially since she (in writing BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and THE PRISONER) was a catalyst in enjoying thrillers as a genre for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed thoughts after reading The Guest by BA Paris. I previously read and loved Behind Closed Doors, so I was really excited to read this book. I loved all the different elements of the storyline of The Guest. It was one thing after another that kept the pace and story moving really quickly. The story had an eerie feel to me, which I loved for this thriller/psychological thriller. Where I struggled with the book, is that it felt like all the pieces didn't come together and read a bit disjointed. The characters felt a little bit disconnected, and the timeline of the story felt off. It was hard to tell how much time was passing, and I felt like the cadence jumped around a bit too much. Overall, I thought this was a good thriller, but didn't have as much depth or storyline development as other thrillers.

Thank you @netgalley for sending me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

I was very excited to read this book as I am a fan of the authors other books.

At the beginning I was very intrigued at who the guest was. Following both Iris and Gabriel and their house guest, Laure there is a lot going on! Biggest problem is Laure having marital problems with her husband Pierre and needs somewhere to hang for a while.

Lots of different moving parts throughout the story to keep track. This is what I found hard or difficult to keep track of. A lot of different characters all with different problems or secrets. The main problem was Laure and the secret was Gabriel as first. As the story went on more secrets kept being revealed.

Many loose ends as to why Laure left Pierre. Where was Pierre when he was needed to be contacted, what was Charlie running from and what is Jospeh’s past.

In the end it was shocking but all too much as to why it all happened. A bit unrealistic and dramatic in a sense.

Thank you for the ARC copy.

I liked the theme of this book as well as how it built over the book. The. Characters felt very real. I could not guess the ending which was a nice surprise. Love this author overall!

Great book! Gripping from the beginning, doesn’t drag and amazing twist! Better than the prisoner but the breakdown and bring me back are still my top 2.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this thriller. Iris & Gabrielle are living a nice quiet life when one of their long time friends, Laure shows up on their door step saying that she & Pierre are separating because he is having an affair and has a daughter with this woman. Iris & Gabrielle cannot believe it. They are good friends with both Laure & Pierre and often go an vacations together and now all of that is coming to an end. They agree to let Laure stay with them until she can straighten things out with Pierre. However, things start to get a little uncomfortable as Laure is making herself a little to "at home" in their house. Gabrielle decides to take a trip to see Pierre as he is not returning any of his texts but Pierre is on a sabbatical for a month and he will have to wait until Pierre returns to get the full story. The twists in this story were good and the whole storyline leading up to them was very believable. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. Enjoy!!!

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

I love BA Paris and couldn’t wait to read (and listen!!!!) to her latest! “The Guest” was a wild tale with A LOT going on. It took a bit for me to get hooked (slow burn!!!) but I enjoyed all the different story lines. Some aspects were predictable and others had me guessing! A fun book for sure!

Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This started out kind of boring, more like a family drama. But stick with it, because it gets good! Secrets continue to be revealed until the final page.

This book was a sloooooow burn, but wow did that ending make up for it 🤯

I thought I had it figured out… I was so very wrong 😅

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Read and enjoyed a few of B.A. Paris books last year and decided to check this one out. Although I would've preferred this to be a faster-paced thriller, the book had a good story and interesting characters (although the guest annoyed me a few times and I wanted to kick her out myself! lol). And the big twist at the end....did not see that coming at all! Would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a slow-paced psychological thriller.

I really wanted to like this one.

I was so bored though, then I thought it was going to pick up around 50% and it did for a little bit then it just felt so rushed at the end. The twist also was just not great.

I also don’t love the writing style that BA Paris uses so I think this will be the last book I read by her.