I'm really hoping that something like "Peephole" website doesn't exist as it is voyeurism at its worst. "The Last Guests" by JP Pomare is about a couple who list their lakeside 2nd home on WeStay which must be like Airbnb. Through a series of incidents, it becomes the crime scene witnessed by voyeurs on Peephole. The media frenzy around what happened is equally terrifying as victim is easily turned into instigator and guilty party. Who is right?

Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

First of all Lina and Cain aren't new weds as is mentioned in the synopsis. They are married for 5 years. After reading the book, I found most of the synopsis so misleading. Cain got injured in a war and his army career ended with that injury. Lina works as an Ambulance operator. They both are broke after Cain's medical and other expenditures. Both are trying to meet the ends with minimum success. Axel and Claire are their friends and suggested they start renting their lake house on weekends. Lina is reluctant to rent her family house to perfect strangers but it is easy money and they need it.

This has to be one of the most confusing yet senseless books I've read. It started with the bang and I was totally hooked but it didn't last long. I started to lose interest hardly after 3-4 chapters. I even considered DNFing it. I didn't like the writing style at all, it wasn't engaging a bit. The characters were so annoying and one dimensional that made it so hard to feel for any of them. I also couldn't understand the reasons behind their senseless actions. After reading so many mysteries, I can say even the police was acting so weird in this book. It felt like the author was trying to overcomplicate things but in the end, nothing worked. All of the twists and turns were so dull and the overall mystery wasn't a good one. One can easily predict the ending with minimum struggle.

I am at 20% and I am not engaged by this book in the slightest. All I keep thinking about while I'm reading this are all the other books I could be reading.

3-4 stars. This was not my favorite of this authors. Normally, I am addicted to the writing and cannot put it down, but I struggled to even finish this one. Almost put it down a few times. I felt it was it a bit scattered and all over the place. I think it including a disabled vet, sort of brought me down, as I have to deal with that intimately, I think if that sort of thing doesn’t bother you, you’d enjoy it more. Would recommend to those who enjoy more slow burn with some talk about war and it impacting soldiers.

This was unfortunately quite a confusing book- I lost the thread quite a few times but kept persevering with it. It is a good plot but I’m not sure it’s well executed. Some may love it though but I think it just was not for me.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. This slightly predictable yet overcomplicated puzzle was over the top and in-convincible - the details, menace, and manipulation too much.

In the clearing was one of my favourite books of last year,so I was ridiculously excited to get my hands on Pomare's new one.
I whizzed through it at speed. It's good.
It's also very creepy,mainly because of how believable the whole thing is.
I had my doubts along the way as to the whys and what's of the whole set up,but didn't fully understand until the last few pages,and that's always a great thing.
Fast paced,and plenty of tension, Pomare is definitely an auto buy author for me these days.

#TheLastGuests #NetGalley
A must read.
Lina and Cain don't make it out to their vacation home on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they'd like, so when Cain suggests they rent the property out on weekends, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been special to her family for generations, their neighbours are all signing up to host renters, and to be honest, she and Cain could use the extra money. What could go wrong? At first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up to spend a weekend - and at how much they're willing to pay. But both Lina and Cain have been keeping secrets, secrets that won't be kept out by a new alarm system or a locked cupboard. When strange things begin happening on their property, and a visit takes a deadly turn, Lina becomes convinced that someone out there knows something they shouldn't.
I adored this psychological thriller. I wonder how can any author write such book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straighten for giving me an advanced copy.