My thanks to Olivia at Legend Press for inviting me to join the blog tour for Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Published by Legend Press on 28th February 2023, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is available for purchase here.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this atmospheric and gripping locked-room thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.

What could be more restful, more restorative, than a weekend getaway with family and friends? Especially in an isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. The reviews are stellar.

But a deadly storm is brewing. The owner seems just a little too present. The chef reveals that the beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the guests have their own complicated pasts, with secrets that run blood deep. The perfect weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.

My Review of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

Mako has organised a trip away. 

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is nasty. That is not a criticism, but an acknowledgement of the skilful way Lisa Unger delves into the potential darkness of the human psyche and finds it a very disturbing place indeed. There’s a malevolent tension from the very beginning that feels edgy and compelling. As the plot writhes along it makes your head spin just wondering how Henry’s story will link with that of Mako et al. I thought the plotting was really interesting and the ending was exciting and fitting. 

The locked room style setting of the luxury cabin in the woods is really well described, balancing the cabin’s perfection with an air of malevolence so that it’s a bit like watching a horror film. You know something awful will happen – with the pathetic fallacy of the storm, the isolation and the creepy story of what has happened here in the past lending a sense of supernatural and danger – but it still makes you jump metaphorically. 

There’s very much the sense of being careful what you wish for, of the balance between nature and nurture and how our past can have a terrible influence on our present. The psychological elements of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six are unsettling, unpleasant and uncomfortably enthralling. Lisa Unger explores genetics and the meaning of family in a way that makes the reader realise how little we ever really know another person. 

Other themes include entitlement, difference, mental health, and the Me Too movement in a textured narrative that is as thought provoking as it is entertaining so that Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six has a pleasing depth. 

I found the characters fascinating as, with the exception of Henry and Piper, I didn’t really warm to any of them, but Lisa Unger made me still want to understand them, to discover their secrets and to find out what happened. Indeed, I relished the consequences for the characters even though (or perhaps especially because) I didn’t like them. 

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is one of those books that lingers after it is read. It makes the reader ponder humanity, how we are the product of our backgrounds and how we redefine and create ourselves. I enjoyed it.

About Lisa Unger

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, Last Girl Ghosted, and Confessions on the 7:45 — now in development at Netflix, starring Jessica Alba. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.

Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honour held by only a few authors, including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel + Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

For further information, visit Lisa’s website, or follow her on Twitter @lisaunger, Instagram and Facebook.

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