Linzie (suspenseisthrillingme)'s Reviews > The Overnight Guest

A twenty year old double murder. A mother and child being held captive. And a woman snowed in during a horrific snowstorm who finds a near frozen boy outside her home. Where did he come from? Where are his parents? And how are these three narratives connected?

In the primary storyline taking place in the present, true-crime writer Wylie Lark is in rural Iowa holed up to finish her book on the shocking double murder that took place twenty years ago in the very house Wylie is renting. A winter storm is just starting in earnest when Wylie finds a small boy nearly frozen in front of her home. Bringing him inside, she discovers that he can’t or won’t talk and is absolutely terrified. How did he end up at her house? Where are his mother or father? And why is he so afraid?

Twenty years ago, in the middle of the night, Lynne and William Doyle, farmers in the small town of Burden, Iowa, encounter an armed intruder in their home. The next morning, thirteen year old Josie Doyle is found injured and her best friend Becky Allen, who was spending the night, is missing along with Josie’s brother, Ethan. Where have the two teenagers gone? And who murdered Josie’s parents?

In the third plot line, a woman and her daughter are being held captive in a basement by the child’s cruel and controlling father. The mother is being sexually and physically abused while the daughter is in the room as neither are ever allowed out of the small two room basement. Who are they? How did they become his prisoners?

Ok, so full disclosure, this was the second time I started reading this book. The first time I got about fifty pages in and gave up because it was just so slow. Granted, my tolerance for drawn out plot lines is minimal at best. After hearing all of the rave reviews, however, I decided to give it another go. Boy, am I glad I did! Despite a somewhat confusing slow burn start, the second half of this book was simply sublime. From a dynamite twist that had my jaw on the floor to the breathtaking way that the three storylines intertwined, it was everything I could’ve hoped for and more.

Throughout the book the descriptions of people and place were magical (I actually felt like I was there) and I found myself reading faster and faster to discover what was going to happen next. Truly crafted by a master, this novel sets Gudenkauf as one of the best. Thank you to Goodreads and everyone who dedicates themselves to writing reviews as you prompted me to revisit this one. I so would’ve missed one phenomenal book! Rating of 4.5 stars (would have been 5 if not for the first half).