Happy Release Day!
Congrats Heather
on the release today of
The Overnight Guest!
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
Mystery Thriller, 352 pages
Published January 25, 2022 by Park Row
A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstorm in this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf
She thought she was alone…
True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.
As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls—haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. Bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn’t as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them.
My thoughts about The Overnight Guest ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First lines—"On August 20, 2000, Abby Morris, out of breath with sweat trickling down her temple, was hurrying down the gray ribbon of gravel road for her nightly walk."
The Overnight Guest is intense from the start. A strange pickup parked along a country road, two young girls being chased into a corn field, an uneasy sheriff having trouble sleeping—you just know things are going to get bad. And then we visit the present, where the characters are dealing with an intense snowstorm, a car crash, and people stranded in the cold.
Then there is the unknown set of characters and prison-like setting. How do they fit into the story and what evil person is making them live that way? How is this all going to tie together?
I loved it all. Although, like I said, it was intense at times and my heart was racing. The author does an amazing job of weaving all of the storylines together to make a spell-binding and very satisfying story. I have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of her books and highly recommend this one. Be sure to put The Overnight Guest on your TBR list!
I received a copy of The Overnight Guest via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
About the author
Heather Gudenkauf is the Edgar Award nominated, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of eight novels. Her debut novel, The Weight of Silence, was an instant NYT bestseller and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Gudenkauf’s critically acclaimed novels have been published in over 20 countries and have been included in many Best Of lists including Seven Thrillers to Read This Summer by the New York Times, The 10 Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2017 by The Washington Post, a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, and a Best Book for the Beach by ChicagoNow.com. Her upcoming novel, The Overnight Guest will be released on Jan. 25, 2022.
Heather was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing loss (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her). Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father’s students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.
Heather lives in Iowa with her family and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, swimming, and hiking. She is currently working on her next novel. ~ Author's website
*********************
