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cassies_books_reviews's review
5.0
Now this is a thriller the book hooked me in and soon scared me!
Living in New Zealand, Lina a paramedic whose married to Cain a former NZSAS are struggling financially. It doesn’t help Cain has a gambling problem. After discussing with a few friends, Cain and Lina decide to rent out the lake house she inherited from her grandfather on Lake Tarawera. Much to their surprise the house gets rented quickly. With extra money coming in what could go wrong.
Soon we discover someone has snuck in and has installed small cameras all over the home, inside bedrooms and bathrooms, the cameras are going back to a private website for voyeurs. The cameras track every move. Unbeknownst to the people who rent the homes. Soon we see a nightmare unfold. Lina and Cain are both hiding secrets from eachother and they soon will be living a nightmare. Secrets have a way of being revealed. One night can change everything! Wow what’s scary is this could actually happen. I highly recommend five stars!
Living in New Zealand, Lina a paramedic whose married to Cain a former NZSAS are struggling financially. It doesn’t help Cain has a gambling problem. After discussing with a few friends, Cain and Lina decide to rent out the lake house she inherited from her grandfather on Lake Tarawera. Much to their surprise the house gets rented quickly. With extra money coming in what could go wrong.
Soon we discover someone has snuck in and has installed small cameras all over the home, inside bedrooms and bathrooms, the cameras are going back to a private website for voyeurs. The cameras track every move. Unbeknownst to the people who rent the homes. Soon we see a nightmare unfold. Lina and Cain are both hiding secrets from eachother and they soon will be living a nightmare. Secrets have a way of being revealed. One night can change everything! Wow what’s scary is this could actually happen. I highly recommend five stars!
readingtimeatthezoo's review
3.0
Oh I really wanted to love this one. I loved his previous book, Tell Me Lies, and I’d seen such rave reviews about The Last Guests, but here it comes…..unpopular opinion…….I didn’t love this one.
Fantastic premise for a story, super creepy vibe to it and I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to stay at an Air BnB for a while, but something just didn’t grab me.
I think it was the main characters. I just couldn’t get drawn into their lives. I couldn’t understand Lina’s behaviour and instant guilt, even before she’d done anything wrong, it felt to me her reasoning was explained too far down the storyline so by then I just found her annoying.
Meanwhile her husband Cain seemed so one-dimensional that I couldn’t care less what he had to say.
Set in New Zealand, Lina and Cain decide to rent out their lakehouse as a holiday home to earn some extra income, unfortunately things don’t quite pan out the way they had hoped.
With Lina seemingly the target of a stalker whose advances seem to be escalating and Cain keeping secrets of his own everything soon threatens to fall apart.
Intertwined amongst their stories are random pages devoted to what appears to be some kind of secret voyeur’s club where complete strangers get off from spying on the goings-on through secret cameras installed in random B&B’s around the world. These sections just seemed so separate to the story and unnecessary that I still can’t work out what purpose they played in the overall story.
I honestly struggle leaving negative reviews and especially for an author whose previous work I’ve just loved, so please don’t let my negativity put you off if this one is on your TBR list. I found last month a bit of a struggle with some of my reads so maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read this one.
Fantastic premise for a story, super creepy vibe to it and I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to stay at an Air BnB for a while, but something just didn’t grab me.
I think it was the main characters. I just couldn’t get drawn into their lives. I couldn’t understand Lina’s behaviour and instant guilt, even before she’d done anything wrong, it felt to me her reasoning was explained too far down the storyline so by then I just found her annoying.
Meanwhile her husband Cain seemed so one-dimensional that I couldn’t care less what he had to say.
Set in New Zealand, Lina and Cain decide to rent out their lakehouse as a holiday home to earn some extra income, unfortunately things don’t quite pan out the way they had hoped.
With Lina seemingly the target of a stalker whose advances seem to be escalating and Cain keeping secrets of his own everything soon threatens to fall apart.
Intertwined amongst their stories are random pages devoted to what appears to be some kind of secret voyeur’s club where complete strangers get off from spying on the goings-on through secret cameras installed in random B&B’s around the world. These sections just seemed so separate to the story and unnecessary that I still can’t work out what purpose they played in the overall story.
I honestly struggle leaving negative reviews and especially for an author whose previous work I’ve just loved, so please don’t let my negativity put you off if this one is on your TBR list. I found last month a bit of a struggle with some of my reads so maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read this one.
kristenfh's review
2.0
The premise of the story was good, but the author went all over the place unnecessarily, and they lost me. Very little character development.
missrhinnan's review against another edition
1.0
I thought I was done with this author after giving the other two books of his that I read 3 and 1 stars, but the premise of this one reeled me in. It didn’t take me long to start regretting my decision and by the end, all I can say is that I really am done with Pomare.
Unlikeable characters—some of whom are completely superfluous—who do stupid, nonsensical things. Red herring/dropped plot points. A lot of repetition. A ridiculous ending based on a “twist” not worthy of that label. Also, for some reason, Pomare consistently writes female first person and yet is so bad at it.
Unlikeable characters—some of whom are completely superfluous—who do stupid, nonsensical things. Red herring/dropped plot points. A lot of repetition. A ridiculous ending based on a “twist” not worthy of that label. Also, for some reason, Pomare consistently writes female first person and yet is so bad at it.
deaconcoco's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
owlbookhouse's review
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
islesbiyana's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kristinal_19's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘He is anybody, everybody, nobody.’
Lina (a paramedic) and Cain (a former member of the NZSAS) could do with some extra cash. Cain convinces Lina to put the home she has inherited from her grandfather at Lake Tarawera in New Zealand, on WeStay to rent out thus generating some additional income. While she is initially reluctant, Lina agrees. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, plenty. Both Lina and Cain have secrets which the reader learns as the various threads of this story are untwisted.
But first, imagine your every move being caught on hidden cameras? Cameras installed in bedrooms and bathrooms, technology to cater for the tastes of every voyeur, or to track your every move. Lina quickly becomes caught up in a nightmare, while Cain is trying to deal with some demons of his own.
But strange things start happening, and secrets have a way of intruding into the present. One early action by Lina becomes a dangerous vulnerability as she constructs a very shaky house of cards to try to keep it secret. There is a twist in the tale and an ending which caught me by surprise.
‘Sometimes it’s the quietest alarms that shake you most.’
If you have ever worried about covert surveillance, and you enjoy tension-filled twisty tales, then you may also enjoy this.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Lina (a paramedic) and Cain (a former member of the NZSAS) could do with some extra cash. Cain convinces Lina to put the home she has inherited from her grandfather at Lake Tarawera in New Zealand, on WeStay to rent out thus generating some additional income. While she is initially reluctant, Lina agrees. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, plenty. Both Lina and Cain have secrets which the reader learns as the various threads of this story are untwisted.
But first, imagine your every move being caught on hidden cameras? Cameras installed in bedrooms and bathrooms, technology to cater for the tastes of every voyeur, or to track your every move. Lina quickly becomes caught up in a nightmare, while Cain is trying to deal with some demons of his own.
But strange things start happening, and secrets have a way of intruding into the present. One early action by Lina becomes a dangerous vulnerability as she constructs a very shaky house of cards to try to keep it secret. There is a twist in the tale and an ending which caught me by surprise.
‘Sometimes it’s the quietest alarms that shake you most.’
If you have ever worried about covert surveillance, and you enjoy tension-filled twisty tales, then you may also enjoy this.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith