“A perfect summer. A perfect stranger. A perfect nightmare.

When British twenty-somethings Ruth and Adam are offered the chance to spend the summer housesitting in New York, they can’t say no. Young, in love and on the cusp of professional success, they feel as if luck is finally on their side.

So the moment that Eden turns up on the doorstep, drenched from a summer storm, it seems only right to share a bit of that good fortune. Beautiful and charismatic, Eden claims to be a friend of the homeowners, who told her she could stay whenever she was in New York.

They know you’re not supposed to talk to strangers—let alone invite them into your home—but after all, Eden’s only a stranger until they get to know her.

As suspicions creep in that Eden may not be who she claims to be, they begin to wonder if they’ve made a terrible mistake…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to be sharing my review of The House Guest by Mark Edwards. The House Guest is published today (Wednesday 3rd June) and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I received a free eARC of The House Guest via NetGalley but that has in no way influenced my review.

Mark Edwards is probably the author whose books I have read the most (I think this is number eight). He’s a talented writer who likes to put his very normal characters into very unusual and challenging (often terrifying!) situations and I flipping love what he does! When I know there’s a new Mark Edwards book on the brink of publication, everything else gets pushed to one side so I can read it. I was really excited to read The House Guest and I’m delighted to say, I was not disappointed.

Brits Adam and Ruth have had a stroke of luck and are house-sitting for an American couple they met on a cruise. Ruth is an aspiring actress and has been given the lead role in a Broadway play. Adam is a struggling writer who hasn’t quite made his mark yet, but he’ll keep trying. One stormy Summers day there’s a knock at the door. Standing before the couple, drenched from head to toe, is Eden, a friend of the Cunningham’s who own the luxurious house in Williamsburg. Adam and Ruth don’t feel they can turn the Cunningham’s friend away when the weather is so atrocious. She’s travelled so far and has nowhere else to go. So they invite her in to dry off and to share a glass of wine. But Eden is a stranger. They don’t know what secrets she’s hiding…

It’s very easy to get pulled into a Mark Edwards book from the get-go. He sets up the scene for his reader with such skill that you just have to keep reading to find out where events are going to take you. There’s such a wonderful sense of unease from start to finish in The House Guest which I really enjoyed. However, I think this is the first one of Edwards’ books where I can’t really talk about the plot. There’s a pretty hefty twist in there which, unless you’ve read reviews with spoilers, I don’t think you will see coming. It turns the whole book on its head – but it didn’t really blow me away. For me, there is another twist further on, which I found so exciting. So much so, I think I used four exclamation marks to emphasise my surprise in my notes!!!!

The House Guest is very entertaining but I have to be honest and say it was a little far fetched for me, which left me shaking my head at certain points. But hey, it’s fiction and if you can’t be a little creative when writing a novel then when can you be? I had to choose between going with the flow and enjoying the ride, or…not. And knowing Edwards has never let me down before, I chose to go with the flow.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. I loved the unease, the sense of impending doom the author makes you feel. I loved the setting (it’s New York, I adore New York!) and could picture with ease the characters making their way through the city. I loved that the twists never really stopped coming which adds to the excitement. It’s a book about needing to belong and I think we all feel that need at times. Another great book from Mark Edwards and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The House Guest. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The House Guest by Mark Edwards was published in the UK by Thomas & Mercer on 3rd June 2020 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | Book Depository | Goodreads |

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people and is inspired by writers such as Stephen King, Ira Levin, Ruth Rendell and Linwood Barclay.

His first solo novel, The Magpies (2013), reached the No.1 spot on Amazon UK and has sold 300,000 copies to date. This was followed by What You Wish For (2014), Because She Loves Me (2014; also a No.1 bestseller in the UK) and Follow You Home(2015).

He also co-writes with Louise Voss. Their novels are: Killing Cupid (2011); Catch Your Death(2011); All Fall Down (2012); Forward Slash and a series featuring Detective Inspector Patrick Lennon, starting with From the Cradle (2014) and The Blissfully Dead (2015). Read more about Voss & Edwards.

Mark grew up on the south coast of England and starting writing in his twenties while working in a number of dead-end jobs. He lived in Tokyo for a year before returning to the UK and starting a career in marketing. He now writes full-time and lives in the West Midlands, England, with his wife, their three children and a ginger cat, Billie, who was named after an actress from Doctor Who.

When he’s not writing or looking after children, Mark reads a lot, devours TV box sets and spends far too much time on Twitter and Facebook, where he loves chatting with readers. He also wishes he had more time to do the activity he loves most: karaoke.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter | Facebook |