The Guest House by Bonnie Traymore
The Guest House weaves in and around the fast-paced tech startup landscape of the Bay Area in northern California, building to a perilous conclusion. A dynamic entrepreneur pursues her dream of launching a revolutionary speech recognition device but learns that the land of golden opportunity also holds a number of nefarious elements that prey on ambitious young inventors like her.
Comparable to the work of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), or Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train), author Bonnie Traymore keeps readers turning the pages of this gripping tale (a standalone sequel to The Stepfamily), with details grounded in real-world fears and anxiety. The Guest House features two strong female characters navigating the complexities of the business world, corporate espionage, and complicated family relationships, unaware that their very lives are in danger from an unseen operator who works in the dark shadows of the sunny California tech scene.
Is It Too Good to Be True?
Allie Dawson has a vision. Allie Dawson has a plan. The pieces all seem to be falling into place as she pursues an ambitious project to bring a groundbreaking new speech recognition device to market. Allie has managed to secure initial funding, developed a prototype, and is gearing up for the commercial launch of a product that will change many people’s lives. For Allie, who has had cochlear implants from the time she was young, the project is deeply personal; the product will provide captions for live speech for the hearing impaired.
Moving from her hometown of Milwaukee to the Bay Area of northern California, Allie finds there is one thing she doesn’t have: a place to live. As the novel opens, her search for an apartment in the highly competitive market is eating up her time and causing her serious anxiety, but an unexpected offer from a stranger at a coffee shop seems like it might be her only viable option.
Allie is far from naïve, approaching the offer with a healthy dose of skepticism. With a trusted companion in tow, Allie tours the guest house of Mike Tabernacky and his wife, finding the unit to be charming, modern, and a reasonable price. It’s cozy, clean, and seems like it might be her best option.
“… it’s only three months. And it’s a great unit at a decent price. What’s the worst that could happen?”
The Guest House is a quick-paced novel that follows Allie’s ominous question to a chilling conclusion.
Exciting Page-Turner Filled with Threats
Author Bonnie Traymore shows her mastery as a writer in developing an exciting page-turner that also explores difficult subjects such as jealousy, betrayal, paranoia, and trauma in a meaningful way. Along the course of Allie’s journey to start her own company, she experiences a variety of misadventures and pitfalls that can threaten any endeavor of potential worth.
Allie gathers a close-knit team of trusted mentors, donors, friends, and one or two love interests along the way, who each help and support her along her path to achieve success. There is a considerable effort put forth by the author to generate a group of people that we can feel true compassion for. When the protagonist witnesses a disturbing scene from the window of her guest house and makes a series of startling discoveries, the reader feels the betrayal, confusion, and sense of peril right along with the main character.
Realistic, Bold and Compelling Lead Character
One of the more striking things in this book is the sense of realism that is present on every page. Each character has doubts, challenges, and less-than-desirable traits. Allie faces self-doubt at times, and daily difficulties associated with her deafness. The character development and representation of a strong, deaf, female protagonist is one of the most memorable aspects of this book.
Likewise, Allie’s bold, visionary mentor Laura Foster has an extremely complicated family arrangement and deals with trauma from a recent physical attack. The relationships that each character forms can be sustaining but are also challenging emotionally, and consistently demand energy and attention, just like real relationships.
Bonnie Traymore portrays so many of the intricacies and complications of being human without ever slowing down the pace of the novel. The final result is a psychological thriller with extremely high stakes because it’s grounded in actual fears and anxiety that so many of us are likely to experience. The Guest House is an excellent choice for anyone who regularly hears that voice in the back of their head telling them to always stay alert, or to make sure the house alarm is set at night. Traymore’s attention to detail and diligent construction of personable characters will have readers invested in the welfare of each person, and tempted to read ahead to see how it all turns out.
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About Bonnie Traymore:
Bonnie Traymore is the award-winning, Amazon best-selling author of page-turner mystery/thrillers that hit close to home. Her books feature strong but relatable female protagonists. The plots explore difficult topics such as jealousy, infidelity, murder, and the impact of psychological disorders, but she also includes bits of romance and humor to lighten the mood from time to time. She’s an active status member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.
She is also an accomplished non-fiction writer, historian, and educator with a doctorate in United States History. She has taught at top independent schools in Honolulu, Silicon Valley, and New York City, and she has taught history courses at Columbia University and the University of Hawaii. Originally from the New York City area, she resides in Honolulu with her husband but frequents the Hudson Valley and New York City areas.
