What if you came home to find a stranger living inside your house? An “oustanding, ever-twisting, surprise-filled” psychological drama (Publishers Weekly), in the tradition of Shari Lapena and Liane Moriarty, from Edgar- and Thriller Award-nominated author Laura Benedict. There’s a stranger living in Kimber Hannon’s house. He tells the police that he has every right to be there, and he has the … that he has every right to be there, and he has the paperwork to prove it. But Kimber definitely didn’t invite this man to move in. He tells her that he knows something about her, and he wants everyone else to know it too.
“I was there. I saw what you did.”
These words reveal a connection to Kimber’s distant past, and dark secrets she’d long ago left buried. This trespasser isn’t after anything as simple as her money or her charming Craftsman bungalow. He wants to move into her carefully orchestrated life–and destroy it.
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Nothing excites me more than a talented author making an editorial pivot. The first straight suspense from Laura Benedict is off the charts great. Dark, intelligent, beautifully written. You will not be disappointed.
Kimber Hannon comes home from a retreat and finds that the locks have been changed on her house and a stranger living inside her house. This is a psychological drama and I listened to the audio book almost continuously from start to finish. The stranger living in Kimber Hannon’s house tells the police that he has every right to be there, and he has the paperwork to prove it. But Kimber definitely didn’t invite this man to move in. He tells her that he knows something about her, and he wants everyone else to know it too.
This is a great thriller! Pick it up, but prepare to be riveted. Highly recommended.
A phenomenal premise (seriously, beyond clever) with plenty of twists, turns, and OMGs, though there were a couple of twists I saw coming early on. It may well be that was the author’s intent, not sure, but overall this was a compelling read that kept me turning pages way past my bedtime. Adding Laura Benedict to my TBR author list. 4.5 stars.
The author is a former workshop instructor of mine, but she’s always been an author to scare you sh**less. What would you do if you came home from a trip and found someone else living in your house? This story is a realistic and scary ride to find out.
Suspenseful and moving, The Stranger Inside gripped me from the first page. Laura Benedict is at the top of her game.
This thriller is every bit as well done, riveting, and suspenseful as “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train.”
Imagine if you came home from a mini-vacation, put your key in the lock—and found out it didn’t work. Someone has changed the locks on your doors. Someone has moved into your house, and claims it for himself. The police won’t help because the man living in your house produces a lease. But you didn’t sign it. You don’t know the man. Yet, somehow, he knows you as he proves when he whispers that he was there and he knows what you did.
So begins The Stranger Inside, a big, grand, intelligent thriller by talented author Laura Benedict that will have readers guessing and gasping as they avidly turn the pages. The phrase “the plot thickens” is an understatement with regards to The Stranger Inside. This is a book which has everything a thriller needs—especially suspense. Yet it offers more than just the thrills.
Benedict’s talent is radiantly clear as she weaves backstory and clues into tangled layers of conflict, danger, treacheries, and chaos, thereby ratcheting up the tension with each sentence. Make no mistake, the plotting in The Stranger Within is among the best of contemporary thrillers.
An original, thought-provoking suspenseful thriller. Read it!
Kimber Hannon returned home from a brief trip, only to discover someone changed the locks while she was away from home… and they have taken up residence in her house. The man shows the police “proof” he has a short lease for the house, only to whisper a chilling message that leaves Kimber afraid and uncertain of whom she can trust. Nevertheless, she is determined to find out who he is—and what he really wants—before he completely destroys her life. She needs to do so carefully, however, lest he reveal a dark secret from Kimber’s past.
Most people feel that their home is a safe refuge, so I am always intrigued with books that explore the idea of that safety being ripped away for baffling reasons. The thought of coming home only to find a stranger living in your house, having access to everything you own and hold dear, is frightening to consider.
The staging of the story was cleverly done, slowly revealing tidbits of information that ultimately leads to the intruder’s true identity and purpose, while also giving tantalizing glimpses into Kimber’s past regarding the tragic death of her older sister Michelle.
Kimber Hannon is definitely an unlikable character, neither trustworthy or kind to most of the people in her life. And yet… I couldn’t help but feel sorry for what she was going through, and could easily understand how violated she felt.
I expected a stunning resolution to the story, but I was still surprised when the truth came out. It had me pausing to recall earlier moments in the story, seeing various events in a completely different light. There were a few extremely subtle moments that revealed the plot against Kimber was far more complex that I initially thought it to be.
Benedict’s writing was excellent throughout, and even though this is the first time I’ve read one of her books, it most definitely won’t be the last.
Overall, this was a great book, and I highly recommend it!
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Mulholland Books via Netgalley.
Kimber has a great job, her own home, which is her sanctuary, and complete control over her life. Or does she? When comes home after a long weekend away, eager to get into her home, she finds that her key does not work. Totally confused, she discovers a man living there, saying that he has a lease agreement to be there. Little by little, Kimber finds that her perfectly-controlled life, is not in her hands, anymore!
This is a very suspenseful story with many surprises along the way. The twists and turns make it impossible to figure out until the very end. The realistic characters make this story come to life. What a ride!
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
There are two points of view told here. Kimber in the present and Michelle in the 90’s.
The blurb really grabbed me and I settled into what I hoped to be a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It didn’t grip me and I had to slog through the rest of it in the hopes that it gets better. It didn’t. A complete waste of time.
I desperately wanted to like this book. I’ve been on a thriller, mystery and suspense kick with books lately. The premise of The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict really stuck out to me; the main character returns home to find someone else living there instead.
Kimber Hannon comes home from a weekend getaway to find her key no longer opens the door. She then discovers there is man inside and he has settled in. He insists he has a signed lease and has absolutely no intention of leaving. But there is something darker behind this stranger wanting to live in Hannon’s home, and it all has to do with her past.
Just like that the book became predictable and the plot slowed to a snail’s pace. What really made this book drag was Kimber. She was such an unlikeable character and I couldn’t find sympathy for her, I almost thought she deserved what she was getting.
The amount of lies and secrets revealed were very overwhelming and hard to keep up. Like I said, it became predictable and the storylines between Kimber’s present and her sister Michelle’s flashbacks were hard to keep up with and weren’t easy to follow.
I have to give credit to the author Laura Benedict for building up the suspense and suspicion around the characters, which made me keep reading this book.
I had high hopes for this book because of how it was described, but this was a flop for me. It looks like there are mixed reviews out there for this one, so take this review or leave it. I’m giving this a 2.5 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Laura Benedict for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read my full review here: https://bit.ly/2GMVVMG
The Stranger Inside has an interesting premise and starts out well enough with Kimber returning home to find the locks changed and a stranger living in her house. From there, it goes downhill at a rapid pace. Now, going into this one, I expected it to require at least some degree of suspension of disbelief, but this goes way beyond that. As far as plot twists, this one has them in spades, and there’s no shortage of suspects either. The problem is that there is so much crammed into the conclusion that it just becomes convoluted. I think I would’ve liked the ending better had it just stuck with the person in the house and his reason for being there rather than going over the top the way it did. All that aside, my biggest problem with this story was Kimber. She has to be one of the most unlikable protagonists that I’ve ever come across. I’m all for flawed characters and unreliable narrators, but this woman has absolutely no redeemable qualities. There wasn’t a single thing about her to inspire even an ounce of empathy. In fact, I spent a good portion of this one feeling like karma was finally going to get its ounce of flesh from this character. Instead, it goes an entirely different direction. In the end, I can’t say that I liked anything about this one after the first couple of chapters. I’m sure many will enjoy this story, but I definitely am not one of them.