Unwelcome Guests

By: Anna Willett

Narrated by: Cat Gould

A weekend getaway in an isolated country house is just what Caitlin needs to fix her relationship with husband Eli....

Her spirits are up as they enter the spacious retreat and cool off in the nearby lake. With Eli's easy-going brother accompanying them - the party was his idea - the barbecue lit and beers cracked open, everything should be set for a perfect evening. But her husband is cold and dismissive, so Caitlin decides to drown her sorrows and heads into the wine cellar. What she finds there will change their lives forever.

No peaceful sojourn from their daily worries, the house will stage an intense battle of wits: violent, claustrophobic, and cruel. The danger the small group are in will put their trust in one another to the ultimate test. The question is, will anyone get out alive?

©2018 Anna Willett (P)2018 Tantor

Suspenseful

This was a good story and eventually grabbed my attention. Once that happened I couldn't put it down. However I was very disappointed in the ending. I was expecting this big crazy twist with how the story was going but I didn't get that. I also found that there were open ended things that were a bit huge for the way the story was going.

Anna Willett with Cat Gould is ALWAYS good.

This is an excellent and engrossing book, and even better that her last one, Retribution Ridge. The narration by Cat Gould, as always, is simply fantastic. I find her voice and style of performance perfectly suited the the tone of Ms. Willett's novels, and I own all of them.

Anna Willett is a talented author who isn't as well known yet as she should be. How can I try to explain what's so great about her? Well, I read and listen to hundreds of books per year, and am a writer myself. I'm also a very busy person and always have less time than I need. Therefore, I don't waste my limited time finishing stories that begin to drag on or otherwise let me down. Life is too short, and there are too many other good books out there. As a result, there are many novels I might not finish, or that I might at least put aside for a while until I'm in a more appropriate and receptive mood. But I have never put down an Anna Willet book. On the contrary, whenever she releases a new title, I usually put aside whatever else I'm reading and pick hers up instead, since I know I'll enjoy it immediately and probably be done all too quickly.

Her books aren't literary, demanding, or meant to be incredibly deep, but they are suspenseful, well written, and have the peculiar quality of being able to draw me in almost instantly. There are no dull passages. I never have to wait to get involved in the story, because the characters are so real and relatable that I am immediately invested. They are good, ordinary people in (thankfully) uncommon circumstances, and although this is not moralistic or hugely thematic fiction, there is authentic meaning in the way they deal with the challenges the author mercilessly throws at them until the end. It also doesn't hurt that the action tends to start right away, so that the character building is worked in seamlessly as you go until before you realize it, you know everything you need to know and can just experience the story. It might not seem like much on the surface, but after a lifetime of reading, I've found this no-nonsense, uncontrived manner of storytelling to be incredibly rare. Willett's way of weaving plot and character development together into an interesting whole seems so instinctual and effortless that you wouldn't even notice it if you weren't paying attention. Well, Ms. Willett, I would like to give you the credit you deserve. So thank you.

I recommend this book, as well as the author's others, to anyone who likes reliably entertaining and suspenseful fiction. You might not love everything that happens (unless you're a sadist, you won't), but you won't be bored.