The Bonus Room

A Novel

By: Ben H. Winters

Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award-winning author Ben H. Winters, this supernatural thriller about a real-estate nightmare will make you think twice about your dream home.

Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment in a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone.

Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.

Big mistake. Susan awakens every morning with fresh bug bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter, Emma, has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until she makes a chilling discovery in the bonus room.

Filled with Hitchcockian suspense, The Bonus Room is a horrifying tale of a dream home that becomes a nightmare.

Previously published in 2011 as Bedbugs.

©2011, 2023 Ben H. Winters (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

Excellent book about a slow descent into madness

This is another winner by Ben H Winters.

We follow Susan, her husband Alex and her bubbly little girl Emma as they move into an amazing Brooklyn apartment that seems almost too good to be true. Susan slowly becomes paranoid that maybe it really is.

Some might be turned off by the ending but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Listened in one day.

Gripping and Haunting!

Where to start. Since I started listening to the audiobook, I swear it feels like the news is talking more about bed bugs!

Having lived in NYC for a while, I really related to this audiobook right from the start. From the amazing place the family finds to rent, to the small details of just walking through the neighborhood. You really feel like you are there with them. Which can be an awesome experience and not so much. LOL

I came across this novel after discovering Ben H Winters when a friend recommended The Last Policeman Series to me. After that series, I moved on to listening to Self Help, Strannger and Q&A. All I highly recommend. He is so talented and has a wonderful talent with words that is rare to find. His writings have a way of staying with you long after you have finished his work.

This novel was so gripping and (at times) almost made me start itching. It is a slow journey into unsettling territory, all the while really wanting the lead character to figure out what is going on inside their new place. I found the husband, Alex and their daughter so charming at times. I don't want to give away too much, but it had me looking forward to dealing with L.A. Traffic just so I could keep listening.

The narration was wonderful, and she slayed it. Changing her voice just enough so you always knew who was talking and what was narration. She really brought all the emotions to this, sometimes, very emotional story.

This would be a great audiobook on a road trip or stuck in traffic. I also imagine that if you listen to it while cleaning, you may actually clean your place better than you have in a while. Five stars all around!

Talk about crrepy!

This is one of the creepiest stories I have ever listened to. Elizabeth Rogers has just the right kind of voice for reading scary stories like this. This book will make you think you have bedbugs, even if you don't. It will also make you doubt your sanity if you see a bedbug. The apartment is not haunted by the usual ghosts, but by bedbugs. These also are not your typical bedbugs. I will say no more because I do not wish to spoil the experience for others. If you like a creepy story that will keep you up at night, read by one of the most excellent narrators out there, you will like this book.

Meh with a side of an annoying child

*No spoilers* The ending of the book was enjoyable but it didn’t make up for the 90% that was not enjoyable. It’s a woman convinced she has bed bugs. Ok, fine. That doesn’t need to take up the entire story. Also, the child is insufferable. Not sure if the narrator added to that feeling but every time the kid started speaking I wanted to fast forward.

Too many bugs

I started out liking the book, the mystery of it all, but the whole bed bugs descriptions were overkill. I finished because I had to. Also, Emma is annoying and Susan is a bad mom. She has a nanny so she can go sit in a coffee shop and people watch.