Leah Konen creates a compelling story with her upcoming novel, The Last Room on the Left. Overall, I enjoyed the book, rating it as 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3. Konen is a skilled storyteller, creating a unique setting for her book: mid-winter in the Catskills Mountain. The main characters develop well throughout the novel, their backstory and relation to the main character unfolding appropriately. As you learn more about the characters, you begin to realize how and when the 'twist' will unfold. Overall, I enjoyed the story and intend to look into other books written by Leah Konen. My average rating reflects my thoughts and placement of this book on a list of best-to-worst thrillers. While it likely isn't going to reinvent to thriller genre, it's an enjoyable and easy-to-read book that I would be quick to recommend to a friend.

Thanks to Leah Konen, the publisher, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Room on the Left refers to Room 13 at a roadside motel in the Catskills. The motel is closed for the winter, but employs a caretaker for a month at a time. Caretakers are carefully screened by the owner who is looking for creative people who need time away in order to pursue their projects. The caretaker, Kerry, discovers an apparent murder, but when the somewhat questionable police arrive, there is no body, and no one believes Kerry because of her alcoholism.

I possibly would have enjoyed this book if there had been at least one semi-normal, functional character in it. The plot was great, but I didn't like, nor connect with, a single character. If I had known in advance that the book contains S&M, I wouldn't have selected it to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was a pretty interesting take on The Shining. I enjoyed it and the gaslighting by many of the characters in the book left you wondering exactly what Siobhan and Kerry were really dealing with.
Lots of characters, then the different POV and timelines made for an interesting read. It was easy to follow too.
Lot of surprises too!
Great book.

A locked room mystery, an unreliable narrator and a snow storm trapping our FMCs at an isolated motel - what could go wrong?! The plot was fast paced & full of drama. It was so atmospheric - I read this in the middle of summer, but it still gave me chills; I can definitely see this being the perfect winter read to cozy up with.

There were lots of twists and I didn’t see the last one coming! I really enjoyed this one.


Many thanks to Putnam books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the Publisher for my arc!

oh my god! this was fantastic. It literally is a feminist retelling of the shining. 10./10 I could not put this down. I've always wanted a eerie creepy winter thriller and this was perfect.

I really liked this book. It was a little slow at first, but it picked up kept me at the edge of my seat. I also really liked that this took place in the Catskills, I am from upstate New York, so this immediately had me interested.

I flew through this book! This book made me nervous, because it had my favorite trope (locked room mystery) and my least favorite (unreliable narrator), but this just worked. I was hooked from the beginning.

The author did a great job creating the characters. No the Kerry and shiban were great characters. They made mistakes but you were rooting for both of them to have a great ending.

There were a lot of characters, but the writing was so well done it wasn’t confusing trying to keep them together. Overall, I loved this book and wil read more by this author.

This book has been compared to a feminist retelling of The Shining. This plot sounds very similar to the Stephen King book, but in this case, the main character is a woman. Her husband has left her, she has a drinking problem, and she is a writer. She takes a position at a hotel and when a blizzard causes her to be stranded, people are being murdered.

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for a ARC of this book. My review is based on the plot summary. I'll come back and make any necessary edits if the book is finished.

A classic thriller, middle of nowhere stuck at a lonely motel in the middle of a snowstorm. No service obviously. From the point of view of Kerry, we get an unreliable source since she is an alcoholic and cannot trust if what she’s experiencing is reality or hallucinations. It definitely kept me guessing but at times was a bit repetitive, the end was a little more predictable than I’d like. But I also listen to a lot of true crime.

Thank you for the ARC! It was an enjoyable read.

This was intriguing, and I was kept guessing as to the culprit, suspecting everyone. That, unfortunately, is where the praise ends. The first 20 or so percent of this was achingly slow and I nearly put it down.

Engaging and atmospheric. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

I was SO excited to get my hands on this ARC, and it did not disappoint! This started off slow, but quickly became a roller coaster. I trusted no one, and there were several good little twists! And the ending is so good!!! This is a fun, twisty read that will 100% keep you guessing!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ —

Thank you to @netgalley, @leahkonen, and @putnambooks for this ARC! The Last Room on the Left will be out on January 14, 2025!

This thriller missed the mark for me. It started out slow and very repetitive with Kerry's drinking and thoughts of Frank. The pace did pick up once the chapters on Siobhan were presented, but the repetitiveness continued throughout the story. I did not feel a connection to any of the characters nor did I like any of them. The author's attempt at creating a spooky setting similar to The Shining was lost on me. The descriptions were somewhat confusing and not at all clear. For the life of me, I just couldn't picture it in my head. I also started to confuse the POVs between Siobhan and Kerry, not knowing whose chapter I was reading. The ending was a surprise, but I wasn't wowed by it. I would have liked to have some interaction with Frank since he played such a big part in Kerry's mind. Overall, it was an ok read. I personally wouldn't recommend it. Others seemed to really enjoy it, so maybe it's just me.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for granting me early digital access in exchange for my honest review!

I wasn’t very impressed with this thriller. It was very repetitive and I couldn’t wait to finish it and just find out “who dun-it”.
Kerry is an alcoholic who decided to stay in an isolated old motel to dry out and finish her novel without any distractions. The power goes out and she stumbles upon the remnants of a party that was left by the last guest. Things get worse when she finds a body in the snow. Is it her best friend who she’s had a falling out with?
She goes to get help and meets some of the neighbors. The police come but the body is missing from where she found it. Was it all her imagination?
This scene seems to be repeated over and over again in different ways in this book. There are way too many scenes of her and other characters falling in the snow and struggling to get up.
The bulk of the story is Kerry trying to figure out if what she sees is real or fantasy. She has started drinking again. Did she really see a body? Who among those she’s met in this isolated town can she trust? I predicted the ending about 1/2 way through the book.
Many thanks to Putnam books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this overall and it was a quick read. There were a lot of red herrings and enough drama (both past and present) to keep it going, along with the multiple POV's. I also liked the last little part at the end.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the story of the 3 friends and how their lives change by a stay in an upstate motel where they work as a caretaker for a month.
They are all in the business of writing, acting etc… but clearly struggling to make it big. They feel that a stay in a quiet environment will get their creative juices flowing.
However, the towns people don’t like the city folks that stay in the motel and they have their own quirks.
The crazy stuff that happens keeps it intriguing throughout but the twist at the end shocked me.
I didn’t expect it at all and felt there could be a sequel to this novel.

It seems like the perfect solution for Kerry. A charming, completely remodeled motel in the Catskills but not the Catskills of the hotels and camps. This is the Catskills of the rural farms, old grocery stores and remote neighbors. Kerry thinks it is the perfect place to spend a month as winter caretaker. After all, she’ll be semi isolated without alcohol (yes she has a problem), without friends or partner ( see alcohol) and will have to finish her overdue manuscript (alcohol again.) Instead, she is marooned without wi-fi, heat and power with some strange companions. There are the partygoers who left their debris and alcohol (not good) in what was to be her room, the last room on the left. There is the thin blonde girl who had been hiding in another room, the hostile nearest neighbor who dumps garbage on her property and whose son knows more than he lets on. And there is the mysterious man who lives is a house of angles and glass back in the woods. And don’t forgot the body.

The body? That no one else can find? The body that links her former friends with this strange motel? That is, if Kerry isn’t drinking and hallucinating everything. No spoilers here. The Last Room on the Left is impossible to put down and will keep you guessing until the final pages. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Leah Konen for this ARC.

I'm always a fan of a good locked room mystery and this didn't disappoint. The setting here is the ultimate locked room: Set up in the Catskill Mountains during a snow storm with no cell phone service and a power outage. How much more isolated can you get? There's also an aspect of unreliable narrator which are always my favorite.

The plot was intriguing and fast paced. The atmosphere really set the story. The storyline alternates between the POV of Kerry and her friend Siobhan. Siobhan's POV was from the month prior and Kerry has the current POV. This kept the pace quick and the timelines meshed seamlessly to build the plot. Another highly enjoyable read from Leah Konen.

Trigger warning: IVF, infertility, alcoholism

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book! What a quick, fun read! I was immediately hooked from the beginning!

This book was super fast paced and never had any dull or draggy moments. I started it a few hours ago and truly couldn't put it down.

There were a few things that drove me insane (how many more "she's a drunk, we can't trust her" plotlines am I going to have to read nowadays) but they were easy enough to look past. I liked the way everything ended up coming together, and it had a great epilogue!