
The Guest Room
4.0
30
5
1
Paperback
USD
14.4
$14.40
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780804170987 |
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Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 10/25/2016 |
Series: | Vintage Contemporaries Series |
Pages: | 336 |
Sales rank: | 66,457 |
Product dimensions: | 5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author

Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
The Guest Room
4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
31 reviews.
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Realistic dialogue and fast moving plot.
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I loved it
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Fast paced like Gone Girl and Girl on a Train. Great story development and characters that you want to love and root for. Reminded me of books by Jodie Piccoult. A story that i will think about for a long time.
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As always, an informative and spellbinding tale by Chris Bohjalian. I had just finished Petrocelli, and this is another frank examination of the sex slave and trafficking trade, again involving girls from Armenia and Russia. These girls are so well defined and fleshed out that you feel like they are family. Every adult American should read this book.
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I don't know what to say about this book except: Riveting! I will probably write better review later, however, I wanted everyone to know what a page turner this book is. It is based on sex slaves and abduction. It has murder and mayhem. It has love and caring. It encompasses everything into one amazing, incredible ride of a read! Chris Bohjalian is a very gifted and amazing storyteller. This was my first book by him and it isn't for sale yet, but write down the name, you need to read it. It is vividly descriptive with a cast of characters that are complex and so well developed that you will feel their fear, pain and love. It encompasses the moral consequences of our actions and how what we do and how we handle things can lead us down roads we can not fathom. Sex slavery is a real problem, with real children and teens. It ruins lives. Read this book for them and for yourself. Be aware, it happens right here in the USA! I hope I have done this book justice, there is so much more to say, but I don't want to give it all away. Read this book when it comes out. I know I will be reading all of Chris Bohjalian's books after this one. Unbelievable read!
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I simply couldn't put this book down but then again, when it comes to Mr. Bohjalians books I can never get enough.
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I was introduced to author Chris Bohjalian through his book The Sandcastle Girls. I enjoyed that book, so when offered the chance to read his new book The Guest Room, I jumped at the chance.
Richard somewhat begrudgingly throws his younger brother Philip a bachelor party. He finds the home he shares with his wife and little girl filled with men he doesn't particularly care for, and seeing things he didn't plan on seeing. He knew that there would probably be strippers, but he gets way more than he bargained for when the girls begin having sex with his brother and other attendees, and even doing so right in front of him and the other party goers. Then before he knows it, he finds himself in an upstairs guest room with one of the strippers lying naked on the bed.
Fast forward a short while later, and Richard is left standing in a living room splattered with blood and two dead men. The strippers have killed their "bodyguards", and run off armed and with money lifted off the bodies.
In the days to follow, Richard learns that the "strippers" are actually believed to have been victims of human trafficking-- possibly Russian sex slaves. And his life soon begins to spiral out of his control as he must suffer the consequences of his poor decisions that night, and must answer to more than just his wife.
My final word: This was an interesting book. I'm feeling a wee bit ambivalent about it. I liked it okay, but it felt a little light. It sort of felt like a short story-- a little abbreviated, not too much depth to most of the characters (other than Alexandra). It was "okay". It was good enough to recommend for consideration for my book club, but it just wasn't a really exciting or deep read.
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I read this book after it was positively reviewed in our local Sunday newspaper. I found the premise intriguing and the story shines a new light on men and and their fascination with sex, women, prostitution and pornography. The author is not "preachy" in his approach, but nevertheless provides and interesting perspective on the participants (both purveyors and consumers) in the sex-as-entertainment milieu. What are their motivations and backgrounds; who are the victims and what are the potential consequences?
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What I like about a new Chris Bohjalian book is that you know it's always going to be an intriguing story that tackles an important issue. He's dealt with such topics as mental illness (The Double Bind), domestic abuse (Secrets of Eden), the Armenian genocide (The Sandcastle Girls) and now the global sex slave trade in his gripping novel The Guest Room.
Kristine takes her eight-year-old daughter to visit her mother overnight in New York City while her husband Richard hosts a bachelor party for his n'er-do-well brother in their suburban home. She's not crazy about her immature brother-in-law Phillip and his friends, but Richard doesn't have many friends or go out much, so she hopes this will be a fun night for him.
Phillip's best friend Spencer arranges for two strippers to come to the house, but when they arrive, it's clear that these are the not the kind of women Richard envisioned. The two young women are more than strippers, they are prostitutes.
Things get way out of hand, and Richard ends up in the guest room with one of the young women, Alexandra, about to make a very bad mistake. It turns out that these two women were kidnapped and forced into sex slavery and when the women kill their bodyguards/captors in his house, Richard's life turns upside down.
He has to tell his wife, who has to tell their young daughter. The lurid story is all over the news, Richard is forced to take a leave of absence from his lucrative job and they can't go back into their house as it is a crime scene. It is a nightmare.
The story is also told from Alexandra's viewpoint. After losing her father, she is tricked into leaving her mother, believing she is going to study dance in Russia. The man who was her benefactor became her nightmare. At the age of fourteen she was forced into prostitution. She was beaten and raped repeatedly until she realized there was no way out.
Bohjalian describes in graphic detail the brutality these young women are subjected to. It is horrifying to read on the page, I can't imagine the actual reality of it. For five long years Alex is locked away, forced to service men.
At the age of nineteen, she and three other young women are sent to New York where they can make more money for the Russian mobsters. One of them is killed by their captors, and then they go to the party at Richard's, where Alexandra's friend decides to change her fate.
The story is riveting, and The Guest Room is definitely a page-turning nail-biter. As Alexandra is on the run, trying to avoid the Russian mobsters and police looking for her, and Richard tries to put his life back together, their stories collide.
The ending is shocking and will send you for a loop. The Guest Room is just heartbreaking, and the fact that this goes on right here is mind-numbing. I highly recommend The Guest Room, it combines a sad story with a thriller's pace and you'll race through it. And if your husband asks to host a bachelor party in your home, just say no.
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This is a page turner. It's interesting how your entire life can change instantly. That is what happens in this book. A bachelor party gone wrong and the damage it does to those involved. I could not put it down and I look forward to reading more by this writer.
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I love all of Bohjalian's work, but this one was especially powerful and timely.
At once suspenseful and beautifully written.
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I would like to thank Doubleday Books & NetGalley for giving me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.
Once again Mr. Bohjalian knocks it out of the park. His most recent book is an incredible blend of horror, heartbreak, and redemption. His prose sings like a Stradivarius when played by a virtuoso, bringing you so deep into the story that you lose track of where you end and the story begins.
Tackling themes of sex trafficking, infidelity, and murder should look difficult, yet it is crystal clear that Bohjalian is in his comfort zone even with issues as challenging as these. He deftly managed to craft a story that could easily have gone over into the realm of sensationalism, or voyeurism, yet in his skilled hands retained balance, and a real sense of humanity.
Richard Chapman should be reviled according to those outside of the events of that fatal evening. Even his own wife no longer knows what to believe. Yet throughout the story he remains true to his character, even during moments of inner dialogue. Watching as he tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered life is riveting, which is a testament to Bohjalian's skill, since Richard's story is up against the sensational story of a young, beautiful sex slave. Somehow the arc of this story, the very pacing, is near perfect. Everything seems to unfurl at just the right time and place, nothing feeling remotely forced to fit where it shouldn't.
Alexandra shares her history as the current debacle unfolds around everyone, bouncing between the past and present. Through her we learn of the many intimate horrors visited upon girls taken into the sex trade by force. The very dispassion with which she shares her story serves to underscore the terror these girls live in. Without ever preaching Bohjalian manages to make this a lesson into the realities of the human sex trade couched in a fictional story, leaving it palatable for readers while educating them nonetheless. It is going to be a tough act for him to follow, and I eagerly look forward to what amazing story he next elects to share with us.
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Well written, suspenseful to the end with great storytelling!
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Really liked this book. It was an easy read and didn’t go into gory details and that helped me connect to the character more.
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So well written
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I usually do not like books by Chris Bohjalian, so this was a surprise. The book centers on two characters: a sex slave and an upscale man. Richard Chapman allows his younger brother to conduct his bachelor party at his house. Richard's wife and daughter go to his mother-in-law's house to escape the party. What follows plummets Richard into despair and frustration. The two sex slave girls kill their captors and flee, after leaving the house sprayed with blood and evidence. The story switches perspective from Richard and Alexandra as the story unwinds. The reader sees all the angles of the story, except for the Russian men holding these girls as sex slaves. A disturbing story.
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This is a story about a very decent man who gives his younger brother a bachelor party, before his wedding. This event changes his life forever. Even though this is about a seedy world that this man is not accustomed to, it isn't a seedy book. I found it to be well- written and entertaining to read.
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