House of Glass

A Novel

By: Sarah Pekkanen

Narrated by: Laura Benanti

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

“Wow, I loved this one so much! I didn’t want it to be over because I was enjoying it so much, but I couldn’t stop turning pages! House of Glass is a gripping thriller that was packed with surprises and compelling characters.”—Freida McFadden

The next thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen, House of Glass.

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny—in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce—and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2024 Sarah Pekkanen (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Wow, I loved this one so much! I didn’t want it to be over because I was enjoying it so much, but I couldn’t stop turning pages! HOUSE OF GLASS is a gripping thriller that is packed with surprises and compelling characters.”—FREIDA MCFADDEN

"Brimming with tension and full of surprises, HOUSE OF GLASS may be my favorite Sarah Pekkanen thriller yet. Eerie, unsettling, and so very, very good. I couldn't put this book down!"—MEGAN MIRANDA

Wow!

Twists and turns and for good measure throw in a round a bout. That is the best way to describe this book. You will absolutely get mad at all the characters and secretly guess they are the murder.

Gripping & Unpredictable

Sarah Pekkanen’s vivid descriptions bring the Barclay family and their creepy mansion to life. From the moment Rose is introduced, her alarming behavior hints that something is deeply wrong. As we meet each member of the family, it becomes increasingly clear that Rose is a product of her environment—everyone has something to hide, or at the very least, a desire to improve their chances of gaining full custody of Rose.

I was fully engrossed in observing this untrustworthy cast of characters and waiting for the big reveal—which, I am happy to report, took me by surprise (a good thing, in my opinion). Definitely a great read with a memorable plot!

The plot

Narrator was slow and overly dramatic. She pur too many insinuations into her narration. It got too sing songy, and the story didn’t command that.

At first I thought another wasted credit..

Because, I have lost about 7 credits lately on books that sounded promissing but, were anything but.. and they won't let me return any even though, audible claims, you can return any book, for any reason. moving on, at first I wasn't crazy about the story, I felt like I was making myself listen since I used a credit on it, but it gradualy got better and I started enjoying it.

The narration ruins the story.

I listen to about 70 books a year, and this is far and away the worst narration I've ever heard. The reader emphasizes every single word. She reads this book like she's reading a really boring book to a group of third graders and trying to make it exciting through the inflections in her voice. I can't even say anything about the story itself since I'm not sure if my feelings about the story are influenced by the bad narration.

Love it

Love the twists and turns this book has. Just when you think you figured something out, something else happens and just proves you wrong. Definitely kept me wanting more.

Storyline

Thriller it is not and was easily figured. However, it kept my interest enough to completion.

Not as good as her other books

I love all of the author’s other books, so I was really excited when this came out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it. I tried several times but found myself drifting. I was bored, it just didn’t keep my interest. She can do better.

Decent Story, but Predictable

I knew pretty early on who was responsible, and hoped I was wrong just because it's become the trope to make the villain the "last one you would expect," and sure enough...I pegged it as well as the reason, so the mystery part wasn't there for me, and the "twist" held no exciting. The story was good, and I liked the main character and found the stories going on in her life outside of the main storyline to be more interesting. But even the most prominent side story (the death of her mom) I knew almost instantly that another character played a role in her mother's life and hid it from her. Just nothing really new or groundbreaking about the plot and subplots because I knew what the reader apparently wasn't supposed to until much later. It was obvious because, again, it has become a trope. So while I liked the character and the story was okay, it didn't really do much for me along the lines of mystery/thriller/psychological suspense.

Not Pekkanen’s best

Started off strong but midway I was eager for this book to end. My opinion may be skewed by the narrator, she used the tone often used for romance/light hearted fiction. I instantly hated Charlie just by the weird longing, whiny tone of voice she created for his character. Beth’s voice sounded like it was choking on her own words.
Regardless, I often tried to ignore the narrator and pretend I was reading the book but the story still fell flat. I couldn’t suspend reality enough to be believe that a family would allow a lawyer to insert herself this much into their lives without any pushback. Too much back story on the main character and it took away from the growing tension. Threw in a random love interest at the end without any lead up? Felt like that was thrown in there at the last minute. Not Pekkanen’s best work in my opinion.