Hey, it’s Diego.

I just finished reading The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf.

And it’s one of those thrillers where we get chapters from an unknown character, which we as readers try to figure out who they are.

It’s a fun trope, so I thought I’d make a list of my top ones.

Let’s go.

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Unknown Character Thrillers

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

Camilla is due to get back to work after months of maternity leave. When she wakes up that day, though, her husband Luke isn’t there, only a cryptic note. She goes through the motions of dropping her infant daughter at daycare and driving to work, but she can’t shake this feeling that something isn’t right. Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing, and her husband is the gunman.

In Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister, we follow Camilla, the wife, and Neil, the hostage negotiator, as well as a third person whose identity is kept secret until the end.

Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

Keep It in the Family introduces us to Mia and Finn, a couple who buy a fixer-upper to create their dream home. However, their plans take a sinister turn when they discover something in the attic that reveals a horrifying legacy connected to the house.

In Keep It In The Family by John Marrs, we follow Mia, Finn, Finn’s parents, and an unknown character.

And the newest addition to the list:

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

True crime writer, Wylie, gets snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where decades earlier two people were murdered, and a girl disappeared. She doesn’t mind being snowed in, as she can make progress on her book about the horrifying events that happened at the house all those years ago. But things change when she discovers a small child in the snow just outside the house.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf is a domestic thriller set inside a rural farmhouse.

Gudenkauf’s writing is closer to literature than most thrillers. The text contains flowery prose and well-constructed phrases and descriptions. The problem is that because of this, it was harder to feel with the characters, as we are one layer removed from their raw emotions.

We follow a plethora of characters in two timelines and an unknown character in an unknown timeline. We follow Wylie during the “now” timeline as she tries to piece together what happened to the child outside the farmhouse. And Josie, Detective Santos, and other secondary characters in the “past” timeline. The story starts quickly as we are introduced to the child in the snow, but then it sags a little as the events of the past need to be explained, only to pick up in intensity as both timelines reach their crescendo.

Gudenkauf, like many of her contemporary writers, doesn’t trust the reader keep reading, so she will end chapters of the first half of the book with spoilers intended to be hooks. (e.g., Little did she know that so and so would be dead by sundown - made up example).

The characters we follow are all proactive, which helps move the story forward. But because of how the story is structured, it means that the reader will know more about what is going on than the characters. Making the story, although not boring, makes it feel like it moves at a slower pace.

There is no romance, no swearing, but it does contain some scenes of graphic violence.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

The ending was OK. It didn’t end on a high note, but it didn’t try to shove a pointless twist at the end either, and that’s something to applaud nowadays. We did get a short denoument which was appreciated.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf is a book that would be right up the alley of someone who likes Mary Kubica or John Marrs. Slow-ish burn, with multiple characters, multiple timelines, and heavy themes.

Latest Updates

• The Housemaid movie hit $200 million globally, so the sequel has been announced. With a $35 million budget, it was a resounding success.

• Woman Down by Colleen Hoover came out January 13, and I’ve already added it to my TBR list.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— Diego Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!