That lonesome feeling comes to my door: THE DISINVITED GUEST.

The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Carol Goodman's books and somehow didn't get to GUEST when it first came out, so made sure to include it in my #backlistbooks23 challenge this year. Lucy Harper got sick in the 2020 pandemic, an event that also affected her husband Reed and his family. Years later, as another virus looms, she, Reed, and five other close friends and family members sequester themselves on Reed's family's island to stay safe and sheltered from whatever is coming.

"'This is what people do when they're desperate and have nothing left to lose... They begin making their own idols and gods.'"

As Goodman does so well, GUEST immediately creates an eerie feel, with its atmospheric and stifling island settling. The island is isolated and soon Lucy suspects it's haunted as well. This creates a locked room type story--very Agatha Christie-like. When Lucy discovers a journal left behind by one of Reed's ancestors, Nathaniel Harper, a doctor who treated patients who came to the island to quarantine from typhoid fever, she's immediately sucked into his story. Goodman deftly draws parallels between Nathaniel's past situation and Lucy and her friends today. The pieces of the story from the typhoid fever times were utterly intriguing--I would have read an entire book about that period alone.

"'Don't underestimate the power of stories, Dr. Harper. Sometimes it's all we poor folk have to pass our truth along.'"

As Lucy becomes more entangled in the journal and exploring the island, she is consumed by Nathaniel's story. But, can we trust her as narrator? All our characters have their own secrets, lies, and fragile pasts. It's so easy for emotions to fray during a pandemic and for feelings to quickly become volatile. Desperation, jealousy, power all come into play. Again, the cloistered setting has such a strong role here.

At times the story drags a little, focusing a bit too much on Lucy questioning those around her, and there are no major twists and surprises (it's pretty easy to guess how this is going to end). But this is an eerie, dark, and compelling tale that easily captures the creepy island setting (and the parallels to the past are especially fascinating), even if things get a little preposterous at times. 3.75 stars, rounded up here.

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