The House Without a Key

By: Marin Montgomery

Narrated by: Charles Constant, Hillary Huber, Neva Navarre

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

When 17-year-old Maddy Pruitt vanishes from her sleepy town, word on the street is that she ran away. The daughter of an abusive alcoholic with a quick temper, she had every reason to leave in search of something better, and everyone who knew Maddy knew the type of company she kept wasn't always ideal.

But when a second 17-year-old girl from a local, affluent family turns up missing shortly after Maddy's disappearance, the circumstances become suspicious. Even though the girls are perfect strangers from opposite sides of town, attended separate schools, and traveled in different social circles, it turns out they have more in common than anyone could have imagined.

With the clock ticking, those closest to the girls lead a frantic search, uncovering secrets, lies, and a web of deceit that might have the girls paying an ultimate price...if they don't find them in time.

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Marin Montgomery (P)2020 Tantor

WOW! A tale of deceit.

Great book. Took a few chapters to realize that all of the characters were interconnected. The ending is astounding...did not see it coming. Great job by this new-to-me author.

Really liked the book.

I really liked the book it kept my attention from beginning to end. Was not really excepting the twist

Not Realistic

The basic story idea involving human trafficking is interesting. To me, the various characters in the beginning of the book were fairly realistic. However, as the story continued, they became more like soap opera characters. Too many storylines and too many reveals at the end causes this book to feel like a Hallmark Movie of the Week. In particular, the police seem to be written about as if no research on police procedures was done at all. If I was giving a letter grade, I'd give it a C.

😒

I really enjoyed the first book I listened to by Marin Montgomery called “what we forgot to bury” so I had much higher hopes for this one but it definitely hasn’t met my expectations, to say the least. The narrator for Allegra’s character (one of the two girls to be kidnapped in this story), completely ruins the story for me, she’s not necessarily bad narrator but she’s absolutely not fit for this genre, she sounds like she would be perfect for YA novels but nothing about her tone or style is suspenseful..that combined with the obnoxious qualities of Allegra’s character make it almost impossible to focus on what is actually happening in the story!

Just bad

Great concept, solid twist, excellent plotting/pacing. So why is it so, SO bad?

Ridiculous execution: plays out more implausibly than the flimsiest Lifetime thriller.
Characters' actions/reactions are unrealistic to the point of absurdity.

Narration: Like a contest for Most Irritating Narrator. (3-way tie.)

Grammatical and syntactical errors throughout. Was there no editor?

All of this written in the style of a 5th grader, hackneyed expressions and all. Solid fail!