The Last Guests

The Last Guests is the fourth novel by New Zealand-born Australian author, J.P. Pomare. Lina's dream of wedded bliss with Cain, a quiet family life in the lake house she inherited from her grandparents, has been dealt a few blows. Her sweet, loving elite soldier has returned from Afghanistan damaged, physically and psychologically.

The physical has cost. The mental, too: nightmares and secrets; and Cain's personal training business isn't his only unsuccessful gamble. Lina tries to relieve the financial strain with extra shifts in her job as a paramedic. A failed pregnancy, and a lacklustre love life: is it any wonder she seeks a little spice (and maybe something else) on a dating app?

It's definitely a one-off. Except for one tiny thing…

Cain's quick to notice the missing wedding ring, a family heirloom, but Lina covers. His SAS friend, Axel's suggestion that they put the lake house on the WeStay website to rent out has Lina wary, but grateful for the distraction. The money would be welcome, and eventually, Lina dismisses worries over the horror stories at international WeStay homes and agrees. But she and Cain cannot possibly anticipate the terrifying experience ahead.

What a page-turner! Pomare gives the reader! Lots of twists and turns and distractions as Lina gets herself entangled in an increasingly complicated web with all the lies she feels compelled to tell. Will the consequences of her risky choice of self-indulgence gain Lina any sympathy with readers?

Pomare presents the concept of online streaming of candid video footage for paying viewers as scarily believable, and he'll certainly have readers thinking twice about AirBnB-type services. This is a cleverly plotted thriller that will keep readers guessing right up to the last pages.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia.