The Dinner Guest Book Review

“But love changes over time, and in those final moments when I knew he was dying, well, I must confess that through the horror and the blood and the shock, the love I felt for him wasn’t quite as profound as I would have expected. Even after everything that had happened.”
Charlie

This quote is in the Prologue… I mean, is there any doubt that this is going to be an intriguing read? I loved how the synopsis for this book was very brief – and that is exactly how you should go into this book – knowing next to nothing. The book opens with Matthew, husband to Charlie and father to Titus, dead at the dinner table, stabbed with a knife and Rachel, a newly found friend, holding that knife. As Rachel confesses to the murder, it is obvious that that she is not the one who yielded the knife, but finding out who really was the murderer was a roller coaster of a journey.

The book alternates between Charlie and Rachel’s voices – the chapters are specifically designated as either the time period before the murder, or the time period after the murder, giving your brain time to acclimate. I thought the character development was very strong. I could see how each character arrived at where they were emotionally and how their varied backgrounds affected their actions. I didn’t love or hate any characters, but I was fully vested and interested in finding out more about every single one of them!

I find it difficult to talk about the plot when reviewing thrillers without spoiling the thrill for others, so I try to stick to discussing how I felt. I had a strong suspicion throughout the book and in true good thriller fashion, it was partly true, but there was much more than what I assumed. The author wove in some delicious twists and kept my fingers turning those pages into late in the night. The first part of the book may feel like a slow burn – but it was so important to the character and relationship development. It felt like the perfect amount of anticipation was built up for the action and revelations that started multiplying quickly in the second half. My thoughts while reading the end: yup…ah, sure…okay…oh I forgot about that…uh oh…crap…yikes…good luck. Highly recommend!

“It was divine, in the true sense of the word, with vengeance and justice coming together to stabilize an imbalance in the world. It was something greater than anything the day-to-day human life encountered, and therefore required such language to even come close to describing it. Those who claim there is no beauty in violence really have no clue.”
Charlie

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy. This book is now available everywhere.