The Last Guests

By: JP Pomare

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

A wife finds herself racing for answers when the decision to rent out her family vacation home takes a deadly turn in this "twisty thriller" perfect for fans of Megan Miranda (Megan Goldin, author of The Escape Room).

Ever have the feeling you’re being watched?

Newlyweds Lina and Cain don’t make it out to their property on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they’d like, so when Cain suggests they rent the house out to vacationers, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been in her family for generations, they could use the extra money. And at first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up, and at how much they’re willing to pay.

But both Lina and Cain have been keeping secrets, secrets that won’t be put off by fresh paint or a new alarm system. And someone has been watching them - their mundane tasks, their intimate moments. When a visit takes a deadly turn, Lina realizes someone out there knows something they shouldn’t…and that welcoming strangers into your home is playing a dangerous game.

©2021 JP Pomare (P)2021 Mulholland Books

Critic Reviews

"The Last Guests is a twisty thriller with an ending I didn't see coming. A cautionary tale for our times." (Megan Goldin, author of The Escape Room)

"Reading JP Pomare is like watching a magic trick. While you focus on his hands, you fail to see what’s really happening right in front of your eyes, or behind you, or outside your window." (Michael Robotham, author of Good Girl, Bad Girl)

“Meticulously-plotted and relentlessly tense, The Last Guests is JP Pomare at the top of his psych-thriller game. On one hand, it's an innovative, exhilarating and deeply unsettling story about technology and the underbelly of cyber-crime...on the other, it's a sharp and thoughtful exploration of marriage, intimacy, trust, and the things we do for love. The characters and settings get right under your skin and stay there. Couldn't put it down, can't stop thinking about it. Bump it to the top of your must-read list immediately.” (Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place)

JP Pomare is brilliant, but this isn’t his best

I love JP Pomare’s writing and pre-ordered this book before it came out. Had the release date on my calendar. His previous three books were all brilliant and had me dropping everything else I was doing to finish them. This book was unfortunately not as good as the others. The story was slow to start and the characters were unlikeable and a bit tired (Cain and Lena are extremely similar to the main characters of Call Me Evie). The twist and ending weren’t very satisfying (though he still did a good job making it a mystery the whole time). And Pomare is very skilled at crafting modern psychological thrillers. The peephole stuff is fascinating. I prefer Pomare’s books that include a female character who has more power and agency. Lena and the main character from Call Me Evie were both portrayed as a bit too scared, weak, breathless, and morally awful for my taste. Still I am looking forward to his next book! 2020 was not a good year for anyone.

Wow! What a great mystery!

Realistic, culturally accurate, eerie, sad, frightening, pulse-pounding, and twisty! The Last Guest by J. P. Pomare is a 5 out of 5, and I highly recommend it!

meh

Struggled to finish, the main characters were very unlikable. I didn't like how the main character tried to justify all of ridiculous actions.

Yet another author with a political bias

This book was pretty good until chapter 8 when the author is bashing Trump supporters. Ridiculous. The book said something like they'll have to burn sage after the suspected Trump supporters stay in their We-Stay, which is similar to an Air B&B. And to think that Republicans are painted as the hateful ones...

excellent

Great story line with original characters. Narration was great. Easy to follow. Great little mystery!

Engaging

Great mystery. A unique storyline with characters who are flawed but relatable. Overall, well presented and engaging. At first I wasn’t blown away by the story but I found that I kept wanting to pick it up and was looking forward to getting back to it.

I must have different

taste than others, very detailed could not into story line. Will not listen to again.

No attachment to the characters but…

I didn’t really like any of the characters - even the main character that I think I was supposed to be rooting for. Her decisions were ridiculous. I felt my eyes rolling a lot. I’m all for having strong women protagonists, but please make them likable. Also, like so many authors today trying to seem like they’re pc, this author couldn’t resist throwing in their political opinions. People don’t read fictional mystery/thriller books for propaganda. Fictional reading should be an escape. Enough already.
Overall, this wasn’t exceptional but it was good enough that I listened to the very end.

Another great one from JP Pomare

I really enjoyed this book! My second Audible of this author. Another story with lots of twists and turns. Ending was unexpected but good. Narrator is easy to listen to.

Sign of the times

Could have been a four or five if not for the awful conclusion. Sadly this story is the sign of our time it’s frightening loss of privacy, and its moral decay. Evil is rewarded and crime does pay. The plot was clever, the suspense sustained, but no rewards for sticking with this book until the end. Perhaps Pomare was going for satire in which case it was achieved but had I known that I would have passed on “ The Last Guest” and it unlikable cast of characters.