Audiobook Review: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
Author: Lisa Unger
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Published: November 8, 2022
Audiobook: 12 hours 20 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: November 8, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars
Book Description:
Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.
What could be more restful, more restorative, than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s loving and generous tech-mogul brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It’s his birthday gift to Hannah and includes their spouses and another couple. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R, far from the chatter and pressures of modern life.
But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare. A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep. How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? And who is the new boyfriend, crashing their party? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?
Jessica’s Review:
Secluded Cabin is yet another thriller that intrigued me from the description, but ended up not working for me. I never know when this is going to happen and this was my first novel by Unger, so I am willing to give her another chance, as I do with novels like this that don’t really end up working for me.
I just love the idea of the secluded cabin setting; in fact my husband and I have stayed at a few cabins and I love being out in the woods. Alone. With hopefully no one close by! I love it so much that I freak myself out! But I LOVE IT! We even have a particular movie we will watch every time we stay in a cabin, and I frighten myself out every time we watch it!
For me, this novel fell victim for me because it was like it was made of two stories in one: the secluded cabin story and then a second story dealing with DNA and family but they do end up coming together. I was not interested in the DNA story, I just wanted a secluded cabin where people were being watched and killed! LOL. There were also too many characters for me to keep straight as I listened to the audiobook. There were also too many povs to go with the large cast of characters.
Maybe the next novel I read by Unger will work for me! I have several of hers on my TBR pile!
Short Story Sunday: Trouble by Janelle Brown
Trouble
Series: We Could Be Heroes
Author: Janelle Brown
Narrator: January LaVoy
Published: February 7, 2023
Audiobook: 1 hour 7 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Listened To: March 1, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Short Story Description:
What does it take to be a good mother? A good neighbor? Straight answers are hard to find in this keenly observed short story by New York Times bestselling author Janelle Brown.
Polly’s fourth-grade daughter has been spending a lot of time with her classmate Sylvie—maybe too much. Sylvie’s clothes are a little…flashy…and her phone (a ten-year-old with a phone!) doesn’t seem to have any parental controls. It seems that Sylvie’s mother, with her vape pens and her too-high heels, may not be making good choices. As Polly tries to exert a positive influence, she discovers just how little anyone can tell about a family from the outside.
Janelle Brown’s Trouble is part of We Could Be Heroes, a darkly inquisitive collection of short stories that examines heroic intentions versus their real-life consequences. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.
Jessica’s Review:
Oh wow! I really enjoyed this short story. I was not sure where it was going to go, who to believe, and is this child to blame or a victim herself. I can’t say much more than that, and you don’t know the who, what, why, or how, until the very last line!
Trouble was my introduction to Brown, and since I enjoyed it I will be on the lookout for more by her!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: The Suspect by Kathryn Croft
The Suspect
Author: Kathryn Croft
Narrator: Tamsin Kennard
Published: February 8, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 36 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 15-20, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
My family said he killed my mother. They lied…
I was just a little girl, fast asleep in my stroller, the day my mother was killed. I don’t remember anything about the sunny day that turned so dark.
But now, twenty years later, when the man walks towards me in the shadows of an empty street, his eyes on me for just a fraction too long, a shiver goes down my spine. I recognise his face from the picture in the papers. He killed my mother.
I try to run but he wants me to listen. He says that he is innocent, that the police got it wrong, and that my family have been lying to me for years.
My father and sister tell me to stay away from him. They remind me that because of him my mother never got to tuck me in at night or ease me through my first heartbreak. My boyfriend begs me to ignore him and says he could be dangerous. But when he is found dead, I am shaken to my core. Who needed to keep him quiet?
I won’t feel safe until I find out what he wanted to tell me. And when I go to his flat and find a photo that proves he was telling the truth, I suspect that the person who killed my mother is far closer to home than I could have imagined. What dark secrets are the people I love hiding? And if I search for the truth, am I placing my own life in danger?
Jessica’s Review:
All her life Jess has had to deal with her mother’s death that happened in front of her while she was sleeping as a small child. She was told one thing by her family and the killer never really paid for his crime. One day she runs across the man that she recognizes as her mother’s killer and he tells her that he did not do it. Then later on he is found dead. This puts Jess on a journey to try and really find out what happened to her mother.
The Suspect was a bit slow moving at times and I listened as I was driving, so I caught myself losing some interest in it. I did want to know what really happened to Lori, Jess’s mom. We have two timelines, present day with Jess and the past with Lori. Jess is pulled in to try and really find out what happened to her mother that day and along the way she finds secrets and lies aplenty. The ending was a bit predictable for me. Though far from perfect, I would give Croft another try. The narration by Kennard was very good!
Many thanks to the publisher Bookouture for granting me an audio copy to listen to and review!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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