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Summary
Summary
A woman returns home to find a stranger living in her house in this "suspenseful and moving" psychological drama from an Edgar Award-nominated author (Meg Gardiner) -- perfect for readers of Shari Lapena and Liane Moriarty.
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 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.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Kimber Hannon, the narrator of this outstanding thriller from Benedict (the Bliss House series), returns home to St. Louis after four days in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., to find that the key to her home doesn't work. A neighbor tells Kimber that she, Kimber, rented the place to a guy named Lance Wilson six months ago. The police refuse to allow Kimber to enter her home after Lance shows a lease she signed. When Kimber accidently knocks him down, he whispers, "I was there. I saw what you did," and then has her arrested for assault. Those words petrify Kimber, who believes they refer to the death of her sister, Michelle, more than 20 years earlier and the role Kimber may have played in it. The stakes rise when she believes that a nosy neighbor was murdered instead of dying in an accident as the police conclude. Kimber's complicated personality and unusual family life drive the ever-twisting, surprise-filled plot. Angry and jealous as a child and teenager, and now a cold, prickly adult, Kimber is the epitome of the unreliable narrator. Readers will enjoy vicarious chills in her company. Agent: Susan Raihofer, David Black Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A squatter with an axe to grind throws one woman's life into a tailspin.Not many folks would be thrilled to come home after a four-day work retreat to find their locks changed and some creepy guy living in their house, and Kimber Hannon certainly isn't when it happens to her. The strangely familiar man calls himself Lance Wilson and claims that Kimber herself rented the house to him for six months. When she calls the police, she's horrified that they don't kick the guy out even after she presents her driver's license with the address on it and her neighbor, the elderly, very nosy Jenny, confirms that she lives there. So, she calls the only person she can think of who might help her: her lawyer ex-boyfriend, Gabriel, whom she did not leave on good terms. Rather improbably, the police claim that Wilson has "established residence" and they can't kick him out unless they can prove fraud. Kimber, understandably, loses it and attacks Wilson, and during the scuffle he says "I was there. I saw what you did," so softly that only she can hear. Kimber goes to stay with friend Diana and her husband, Kyle (with whom Kimber has history), and, as her life unravels, she tries to figure out why, and how, this creeper has taken over her home. The truth leads all the way back to Kimber's childhood and the death of her sister, Michelle, when they were kids. Kimber is no saint, but although she's genuinely trying to be a better person, the carefully woven threads of her life are unraveling at an alarming pace. Readers may not exactly root for Kimber, but it's hard not to sympathize with the helplessness and rage she feels at the general unfairness of her home and life being taken over by a smug, smarmy intruder. Benedict also provides a window into Kimber's combative relationship with her sister and the tragic events leading up to Michelle's death. Benedict is an able writer, but readers will likely guess who Kimber's unwanted house guest is quickly, and the big reveals (there are a few) and final confrontation, orchestrated to be shocking, merely expose the frayed ends of this melodramatic tale.Unconvincing. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Returning home from a four-day retreat, Kimber Hannon can't get into her own house. The man inside, Lance Wilson, has changed the locks and contends that he has a six-month lease, signed by Kimber herself. Although she has never seen Wilson before, he seems to know her and her part in the death of her older sister, Michelle, decades before. This is just the beginning of Kimber's life falling apart. Her friendly next-door neighbor, a widow keeping an eye on Wilson, is found dead; Kimber's job is threatened when her expense reports are changed to indicate she's stealing from her employer; and her best friend's husband and young daughter are badly injured when their car is run off the road. At the same time, Kimber is laden with guilt: for accidentally killing Michelle, a story she has never told, for an old affair that damaged an important friendship, and for breaking up with lawyer Daniel Silva and leaving him suicidal. Benedict spins a story driven by deceit on the part of most of the principals, with tension increasing with the body count and the twists and turns that continue to the very end.--Michele Leber Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
What would you do if you arrived home from vacation to find a stranger living in your house? This man has a legal rental agreement you don't remember signing. Neighbors state they saw you with him. When this happens to successful saleswoman Kimber Hannon, she has a large circle of close friends to turn to for help. There's ex-boyfriend Gabriel, who was shattered by their breakup. He's a lawyer and rushes to offer his legal expertise. Or her best friend Diana, whose husband Kimber has had an affair with; Shaun, her ex-husband, now living with his lover; or assistant Brianna, who is always ready to lend an ear. But are any of them trustworthy? When Kimber finally confronts the stranger, he whispers menacingly, "I was there. I saw what you did." Years ago, Kimber was responsible for the death of her sister. As an unreliable, somewhat unlikable narrator, Kimber gives this taut novel an edge. Using flashbacks, strong character development, and strategic red herrings, Benedict ("Bliss House" series) keeps readers eager to unravel the mystery. VERDICT A great addition to the psychological thriller genre.-Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.