The Guest Room

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Grace Experience

Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls comes the spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: Two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams.

When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother's bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. She brings their young daughter to Manhattan for the evening, leaving her Westchester home to the men and their hired entertainment. What she does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, her husband sharing a dangerously intimate moment in the guest room, and two women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night.

In the aftermath, Kristin and Richard's life rapidly spirals into nightmare. The police throw them out of their home, now a crime scene; Richard's investment banking firm puts him on indefinite leave; and Kristin is unsure if she can forgive her husband for the moment he shared with a dark-haired girl in the guest room. But the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, faces a much graver danger. In one breathless, violent night, she is free, running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her in a heartbeat.

A captivating, chilling story about shame and scandal, The Guest Room is a riveting novel from one of our greatest storytellers.

©2016 Chris Bohjalian (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Heartbreaking.... Unexpected and refreshing...I won't give away of the surprising twists and turns that The Guest Room takes on the path to Bohjalian's daring conclusion; I'll only note that much of the pleasure that comes from reading any well-constructed narrative lies in trying to anticipate how the author will write himself out of seemingly inescapable corners. But here, for a change, we also have a novelist who seems more concerned with examining and dramatizing a much more universal question: whether, in the end, any amount of love or compassion, retreat or nobility or forgiveness, can overcome the remorseless workings of evil." (Skip Horack, The San Francisco Chronicle)

"The Guest Room [has] an edge-of-the-seat momentum that propels the reader straight to the last page.... For those who value the well-researched novel, the author's 18th book will please.... Promises to enlighten and entertain." (Anita Shreve, The Washington Post)

"The book's real throbbing heart is Anahit, an aspiring young dancer from Armenia.... The narrative's frequent somersaults from Anahit's devastating backstory to the Chapman family's more sheltered world is a remarkable artistic feat...a steely exploration of the very human cost of bachelor parties and other games of male pleasure." (Eliot Schrefer, USA Today)

“Within the first few pages of The Guest Room, the latest novel by prolific author Chris Bohjalian, the booze-fueled bacchanalia that began as the fulfillment of men’s fantasies turns into a Helter-Skelter-like nightmare.... Bohjalian, whose books often explore the contrast between surface lightness and the darkness that lies below, takes on upper-middle class America in this novel, ripping apart any illusion of safety or moral high ground in a headlong collision between the comforting rituals of suburbia and the viciousness of the Russian mob.... [Bohjalian is] at his best in The Guest Room, one of his most compelling books so far, combining an explosive premise, a timely social topic, and fast-paced storytelling with a purpose." (Amy Driscoll, The Miami Herald)

Blah, Blah, Blah

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Just an average story. I am sorry to have, again wasted my money. I rely on all audible land
reviews. I have listened to so many audio books that average just doesnt hold my attention anymore. The premise promised a great story. Again, average, blah, blah, blah. Couldnt get me to care about the charactors even though they had a sad story.

Mesmerizing

I really enjoyed this book. There is a great bond you form with the characters.

Harrowing Tale of Human Trafficking

A bachelor party goes awry when the girls hired to "entertain" the men turn on their body guards, kill them, and go on the run. Told from several points of view, most importantly from the first person perspective of one of the girls, The Guest Room primarily examines human trafficking, but also has a lot to say about the privileged life of the partygoers and their families.

I chose to listen to this book after seeing the HBO Max series The Flight Attendant, based on a different novel by Chris Bohjalian. That seems to be a love it or hate it series, and some on the hate it side hated it because they said it wasn't as good as the book. Shortly thereafter, this Bohjalian title appeared in an Audible sale, so I decided to give him a try.

This story is, like The Flight Attendant, catalyzed by a graphic bloody murder that forces its characters to confront their past while dealing with a present that has been completely upended. But this story is less complicated, straight ahead, totally reality-based (no one talks to dead people). In short, it's good, but not great.

Maybe it would have come across better if the best part of the book -- the first person narration of the girl -- had been handled better. What we have is an attempt at a Russian accent, but only a half-hearted attempt. They should have gone all in on the accent or done away with it completely. What we're left with was at first annoying, threatening to ruin the book. But I did get used to it, and her powerful story is more important than the bad accent.

Yes, you'll like this one.

A diffrent story line in a good mystery/thriller.
Not always what I expected ; definitely kept me eager to get back to the novel. I recommend a good listen.

Great story and narration.

I loved how they nailed the accent. the story line was great. Worth a listen.

Great book!

This is a great story! The performance is outstanding. The story makes you angry, happy, and sad over and over.

great listen. the

reocmmend. keeps you wanting more throughout. will look for authors other stories in audible format.

So many unlikeable characters!

And one unlikeable narrator. The book, from the beginning would confirm to you that men cannot be trusted to be faithful. What a bunch of immoral degenerates at that bachelor party! They deserved everything that came to them. I saw it was going to get worse and worse. The narrator for most of the people was fine. But Alexandra's (one of the young Russian sex-slaves) narrator kept popping in for some little girl voice whining full of the F-bomb and Dude and other annoying American-isms that seemed so incongruous in a young Russian girl. Not to mention to annoying voice. That ruined the book for me as much as the depraved men (mostly married). And the Russians and sex slave market. I finally got to the point I had to stop listening and delete it. I know it all happens in real life but listening to audiobooks for me is entertainment and this wasn't entertaining. I like to read mysteries and thrillers. But this book was too full of people I couldn't relate to or like. It would've been torture to continue it.

Hard to put down

Good narration - liked the narrator voice changes for the different characters. I kept listening wondering how it would end.

Great Story, Weird Narration Choices

This was my first time hearing/reading a novel from this author, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The plot was engaging, however I did feel like there was a lot (maybe too much) time spent on frivolous details. I get it, imagery is important and all that, but I would have preferred more plot movement. It was nice to hear the different points of view from the various people involved in this story, but did we really need to spend that much time on detailing the EMT that responded to an emergency call rather than the result of said emergency?

The narration was...distracting. I am curious as to why the main part of the story was narrated by a woman rather than a man when the focus was mostly on Richard, Also, it was cringy listening to the woman's voice describing the debauchery in a "bro" voice. The third person narrator's attempt at an Armenian accent left much to be desired. It reminded me of Natasha from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. Definitely made it difficult to take her parts seriously which is a shame because she narrates some really heavy parts.

Overall, I would recommend this book, but maybe read it yourself.