Alyssa Macallan knows what it is to have no money, no power, no control. And then she married Bill Macallan, and she found out what it was to have money. He was a trust fund kid, and he worked with charities to raise funds, to help donors find opportunities where they could donate. And he was good at it. He was celebrated in Boston, at the parties, at the galas, at the country club. And Alyssa was by his side for all of it.
Until she wasn’t.
Suddenly, one day, Bill left. He didn’t explain. He didn’t sit her down for a heartfelt apology. He said he was leaving, and then he left. And Alyssa was heartbroken.
When she’d met Bill, she had been a first year law student. She’d had a plan. But she fell in love and gave it all up to be Bill’s wife. She decorated their houses. She looked the part. She accompanied him to all the best restaurants, all the most important events. She got used to the lifestyle, to the comfort, to the power. And now, it could all be ripped away from her in the divorce.
That’s how Alyssa ended up in a hotel bar, drinking a martini by herself. And that’s where she was when Bree came in and sat next to her. Alyssa offered to buy her drink for her, and then she was going to head back home to her empty house. But she decided to stay. They talked. Alyssa found out that Bree was being stalked by an abusive boyfriend, and she was in the process of moving to Boston to get away from him. Alyssa heads home after they talk, but she goes back to the hotel bar the next night.
After some more drinks and more talking, Alyssa invites Bree back to her house to stay. Bree will be safer in the guest house, and Alyssa won’t be as alone. Despite having an alarm system and an agreement with Bill that he not enter the house without letting her know in advance, Alyssa knows that Bill is going into the house anyway. Sometimes something is moved or left behind, but Alyssa has no power to stop him. But if Bree is around, maybe that will keep Alyssa safer also.
But then the FBI shows up, asking to speak to Alyssa. Apparently, not all of Bill’s work is completely above board, and the FBI is asking for Alyssa’s help to trap him. Alyssa is not left with many options, as the FBI could change tactics and come after her. Or maybe they were coming after her, and this was just a fishing expedition, to find out how much Alyssa knows about Bill’s financial shenanigans. So Alyssa is left with a complicated decision, whether to help the FBI entrap Bill, or to take her chances that she won’t be implicated in his crimes.
But with Bill gaslighting her, Alyssa doesn’t know who to trust. How much should she confide in Bree and her financial advisor Dez, who seems to be hanging out with them a lot? Should she believe what the FBI is telling her? Should she cooperate with them, or not? Should she tell Bill that the FBI were watching him? And how will all of that affect her upcoming divorce? Alyssa is tired, she is grieving, and she doesn’t know who to trust. But she will need to figure out some way out of the dilemma she’s in, or she may end up divorced, penniless, and in jail.
Hank Phillippi Ryan is back with The House Guest, a twisty story about money and its ability to change everything in a heartbeat. This novel has a lot of talking, but you can never be entirely sure of who is telling the truth and how much truth they are telling. There are more twists than a roller coaster and more switches than a train station as this cold-burning thriller unwinds into the final reveals.
I’ve been a fan of Ryan’s for several years now, so I knew some of what to expect with her writing. She likes to bring the complexity and the twists. And this is the epitome of that. However, it felt a little like this one was mostly a handful of characters talking and talking and talking, taking the situation apart piece by piece, until my head hurt. I’m glad I stuck with it, because the end explains everything (eventually), and that helped. This was a good HPR book, not a great one, but still fun overall.
Egalleys for The House Guest were provided by Forge Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
