4 stars!
I may have woken at a hotel this morning but definitely not the Hitchcock Hotel - the sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains that is dedicated to the master of suspense. Alfred Smettle is the founder, manager and owner of this place . Guests come to the hotel and will enjoy over a full time of film screenings, movies props and memorabilia. For the first anniversary of the hotel, Alfred invites his good old friends from college for a college Film Club reunion.

Well, I am almost done and loving it! I am not quite a fan of Alfred Hitchcock but this book certainly made me research more about the renowned film maker. Not to be giving out spoilers but this book has twists! Quite a number, if I dare to mention. Beautiful writing and so worth the read time.
So grab your copies now and enjoy a good ole’ Hitchcock fashion of suspense.
Special thank you to Berkley via Netgalley for the e-arc material!
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#berkleypublishing #randomhouse #bookreview #advancereaderscopy #suspensereads #bookrecommendations #stephaniewrobel #bookworm

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This thriller was so dang fun (and that's coming from someone who doesn't normally read thrillers).

First of all, I am obsessed with the vibes of the setting and premise. As a lover of film, and as someone who grew up watching Hitchcock films, you can best believe I will eat up anything that 1) is themed around a Hitchcock film and 2) analyzes and critiques his films. I absolutely love the concept of a Hitchcock-themed hotel, which made this book so fun to read from start to finish.

The thriller aspect of this book was SO good. I never reread a book's synopsis before starting. Which means that, even if I'm somewhat familiar with the premise, I have no idea of the specifics, which makes for such a fun read. I was kept guessing from start to finish, and I was hooked on each characters POV. This author did a wonderful job of keeping you in suspense, wanting to know the full story behind each of the characters and their relationships. There are plenty of twists woven throughout this story, but let me tell you, there was one that had my jaw on the FLOOR.

If you are a fan of thrillers with messy characters and a fun and engrossing premise, then you need to check this one out!

No Hitchcock trivia needed to read this one! But, you will learn some! This book was so addicting and I was totally sucked in from the start! I love a drama filled mystery and this one delivered all the goods! Each of the characters were so different with so many frickin secrets! I loved it! What a perfect creepy and spooky book for fall/spooky season!

Six college friends, a sixteen year gap in seeing one another and one reunion at a Hitchcock themed hotel. This is a recipe for suspense…and murder. Alfred has drifted away from his old college friends, but in inviting them to his new hotel, he hopes to rekindle things with his old Film Club friends. But things don’t go to plan when old resentments resurface and loyalties are questioned. And when someone ends up dead, it’s a race to find out who did it.

PROS and CONS:
I enjoyed the alternating chapters from each of the college friends. The atmosphere of the hotel lended a gothic undertone to the interactions between the former rivals and friends. What happened sixteen years ago to tear these friends apart? And why is Alfred so creepy!

READ IT?
It surprised me at the end - if you like twist endings, you’ll enjoy this one!

4 Stars

This was SUCH a fun mystery!
I feel like it's really hard these days to read a thriller that feels like it is unlike ones you have read before. Everything feels overdone or like you have deja vu while you are reading it.

But that was NOT the case with this novel. I had SO much fun reading it and it was incredibly inventive and unsettling. I was really irked by Alfred and he felt like such a CREEPER (and he was). I also found myself rooting for some pretty imperfect people and the end of the book just EXPLODED with plot twists.

I highly recommend this book and I hope more people start picking it up now that it's out in the world.

I always love a reunion thriller and this one was unique as the characters didn’t like each other very much. Alfred was an interesting MC and while I thought I knew where the plot was headed but was very wrong. I enjoyed getting snippets of the past throughut and seeing how it affected the present. While none of the characters were particularly likeable, they were all unique and interesting.

I was very excited for this book! I’m a huge thriller lover and Hitchcock fan. I really liked this book but I didn’t give it a 5 star raking because I kept waiting for a big twist and it wasn’t what I was expecting. Overall a fun read though.

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for the ALC and Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of The Hitchcock Hotel in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 3rd book I’ve read by Stephanie Wrobel and I am a fan! Her 1st book, Darling Rose Gold, will always be one of my favorite books and that is what made her a must-read author for me. ⁣
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This latest book uses one of my favorite tropes – the locked-room mystery and I could not have loved it more. Even though I didn’t particularly like many of the characters, I was quite intrigued by the fact that they shared a history and something happened in the past. There are secrets amongst them and I wanted to know them. I also will say that while I have not watched many Hitchcock films, I did love all the references to them and am now quite eager to watch them!⁣
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This book had so many twists and turns that I did not see coming. This atmospheric read was just perfect to kick off my fall reading!⁣
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Audio thoughts: This was so good on audio! Narrated by three narrators – Michael Crouch, Gail Shalan and Helen Lloyd – I thought each one did an amazing job bringing this story to life.

I'm a fan of Hitchcock movies, so I was drawn to this title. I've read Wrobel's previous books and thought they were pretty decent.

Unfortunately, this one didn't work for me. About halfway through, it was moving slow and not like a thriller at all. I think I was expecting something else.

The Hitchcock Hotel is a clever whodunit with a few twists and turns. Old college friends reunite to visit their old friend Alfred's Hitchcock-themed hotel. It is a weekend that will leave them haunted by the ghosts of their past. The characters in this story all bring a ton of baggage to the table and the mess of sorting it all out with their histories was done pretty well.

This book is reminiscent of the game/movie Clue which I loved growing up and I loved that vibe of it. Obviously, a body shows up at some point in the story, hence the whodunit.

If you're looking for a fun murder mystery, with interesting characters, movie themes, and secrets between old friends then The Hitchcock Hotel may just be for you.

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel is a chilling psychological thriller that delves into the dark undercurrents of obsession and manipulation. Set in a secluded hotel reminiscent of classic horror, the story unfolds as a young woman uncovers unsettling truths about her family and the enigmatic guests residing there. Wrobel’s evocative prose and intricate character development create a tense atmosphere that keeps readers guessing until the last page. With its unique premise and gripping narrative, this novel is a compelling read for fans of suspenseful fiction.

The Hitchcock Hotel had a great premise but very disappointing execution. The Hitchcock Hotel sounded great and a perfect setup for a locked room murder but then it just fell flat. The characters felt like caricatures and nothing felt surprising. Thank you to the publisher for the free ebook to review.

Thank you to Berkley Pub for the digital copy and to PRH Audio for the ALC to review.

Happy Pub Week to The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel! I have liked her other books and I really enjoyed this one, especially the Hitchcock movie tie in’s, I thought they were great. I started off reading the digital copy but switched to the audio, and once I did I thought the multiple narrators really enhanced the story. The plot did not go or end as I expected, nor did I care much for these characters, but I thought it all worked well and I enjoyed the multiple POVs to get the insights, especially the one at the end. This is a good one to read during spooky season if you are needing one to add to your list, it is a fun and entertaining read!

If you’re looking for a fun mystery/lite horror hybrid for spooky season, you can’t go wrong with this delightfully entertaining offering from Stephanie Wrobel.

This would be a great read for those who like something a little creepy but not *too* scary and without any ick to it. And it’s still fun even if you’re a bit more into scary stuff than that.

I loved the premise for this, and the setup allows the story to unfold with both excellent pacing and sharp plotting. There’s an unusual twist to this that allows it to move in an atypical direction as far as the whodunnit of it all, and it’s surprisingly satisfying in the end.

The book also has an excellent sense of place and the setting is very well rendered, and Wrobel does a terrific job of weaving Hitchcock quotes and tropes into the mystery.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I was immediately intrigued by this one, and I’ve enjoyed Wrobel’s last two books. I loved the Hitchcock themes, the multiple POV, and switch between past and present. It was all so atmospheric 🐦‍⬛

There’s a twist at the end that I 100% didn’t see coming. Which is always a huge plus 👏🏻 while this was twisty and kept my interest, it’s hard to be overly invested in a book when you can’t stand any of the characters. Like..literally none of them. And I didn’t really care what happened to them 😅

This one published earlier in the week - I recommend giving this one a try!

Thanks to @berkleypub for the #gifted copy.

Is this one on your radar?

Clever, sharp, and full of interesting Hitchcockian references. The complicated characters and steady reveal of secrets made for a pageturner.

I loved loved loved The Hitchcock Hotel. This is the perfect fall book. It is a slow burn suspense story about a guy who has a Hitchcock themed hotel and invites his college friends for the weekend. Weird stuff ensues, hints are dropped about things from their college days and everyone is suspicious. So creepy, dark and stressful and yet witty and so clever. I love how it all fit together. I loved how everyone was unreliable. I loved how I had no idea which direction it was going.

28% of the way in and I’m bored and struggling with this one. Ultimately decided to DNF it since the reviews are mid tier. Really cool
Concept bur this was a really slow burn !

Stephanie Wrobel takes the reader into a Hitchcockian thriller in The Hitchcock Hotel. With many movie references, this is part novel and part ode.
Alfred Smettle is a massive Hitchcock fan. His love of the director inspired him to found The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains. Part of the service includes round-the-clock film screenings, movie props and memorabilia in every room, and an aviary of crows. To celebrate the hotel’s first anniversary, Alfred invites his college friends to stay free. This will be their first meeting in 16 after they betrayed Aldred in his senior year. But they were all part of the film club, and this would be the perfect place to make amends. Each person carries secrets, and these secrets lead to death as Alfred’s plans go awry.
This is no horror book. It’s a thriller. The novel even quotes essays on Hitchcock’s work being just that. (You will never convince me Psycho isn’t horror though.) In fact, the author uses quotes from Hitchcock and critics and tries to emulate them. There are times Wrobel succeeds and times she falls short. One instance is the idea that what an audience knows that the characters don’t is true suspense, and she tries to give readers the same effect. Except she was holding back crucial information that made me feel confused. I didn’t know who to root for and that is not because they were grey characters (though they are). It’s because I wasn’t given enough information to make a connection with any character and that’s not good for a story. I guess it falls to the quote “always make the audience suffer as much as possible” (Alfred Hitchcock).
The story’s twists and turns are the best part--especially the final one. The story pulls a Psycho, but I won’t divulge how so as not to ruin it. This turn leaves you spinning and wondering what the hell is going on. I enjoyed the conclusion and its justice. I wasn’t big on most of the characters, but it was interesting seeing their part in a murder and their versions of justice.
Overall, this isn’t as Hitchcockian as I would have liked (the author seemed to focus on just a few movies). But the mystery and twists are worth reading. If I were to give a starred review, it would be three stars: enjoyable but I wouldn’t read it again.

Many thanks to @prhaudio and @berkleypub for the free advanced listening copy of this thriller! Below is my honest review. #berkleypartner #prhaudioinfluencer

When Alfred Smettle invites his college film studies friends for a complimentary weekend at his boutique, Hitchcock-themed hotel, it marks the first time they’ve all reunited in nearly two decades. The hotel itself is a spooky homage to Hitchcock’s iconic films, featuring everything from an aviary filled with crows to a room where his movies play on a constant loop. But, as with any great Hitchcock plot, all is not what it seems—and by the end of the weekend, not everyone will make it out alive. Dark secrets from their past are resurfacing, and the six friends are still hiding things from each other.

As a die-hard fan of Hitchcock’s films (with Dial M for Murder being my personal favorite), I loved all the subtle and overt references scattered throughout the story. This is a slow-burn thriller that invests heavily in character development upfront, giving it the suspenseful vibe of Hitchcock’s movies without leaning into horror. While I did guess who was behind it all, the why caught me by surprise, which made for a satisfying twist. Despite being tagged as horror on Goodreads, this felt more like a classic suspense with minimal violence—except for the inevitable deaths, of course!

The audiobook was fun, with three narrators—two voicing individual characters and a third covering the rest. Their performances were excellent and added to the enjoyment of this well-crafted thriller.