House of Glass
Ratings13
Average rating4.2
The next thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen, House of Glass.
On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?
Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.
From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.
As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?
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Solid Suspense Takes Atypical Turns. This is one of those tales that almost seems destined for at least a sequel, if not a series of some level. There's more than enough here to justify it, and yet this story itself is fully complete as is. In other words, coming back to this world would be interesting and compelling... but not necessarily *necessary*.
I love the way that certain elements are played in an all-too-real-yet-not-usually-shown-in-fiction manner, and the specific construction of how Stella's past and present collide is particularly well done - and perhaps indicative that no sequel is expected here, as that particular sub plot could have been spread across a small series - while not feeling rushed or out of place fully happening within this story itself.
There *is* one particular element that could throw at least some readers off, and that is the (minor) romance subplot and specifically that it introduces an LGBT element not otherwise present in the story. Minor spoiler there, apologies, but I'd rather avoid 1*s (which I've seen already) specifically because of this. So just know it going forward, and yes, I know that others will praise this book specifically for that very point. *In the context of this particular story as told*, to me it felt refreshing that the author would choose to go that direction rather than feeling forced in just to have that "representation" in the book, but it is also a point where I could see others feeling that it was a touch forced, and they wouldn't get much pushback from me beyond what I just stated - it didn't feel that way *to me*.
Overall a truly well told, suspenseful, complex tale with a more-fleshed-out-than-many main character that clearly has a lot going on, and a tale whose world seems ripe for exploring more of. So here's hoping we get a chance to, and here's hoping it will be soonish.
Very much recommended.
Originally posted at bookanon.com.
I really enjoyed reading this!
My first book by Sarah Pekkanen and from start to finish I was hookeddd, some parts had me in suspense and had me holding my breathe wondering what was gonna happen next.
The chapters are short and gripping enough that you can finish this in one setting, which is what I did.
Def recommend it!
This book started out slow and methodical. I wasn't sure what to make of what was happening and this excited me no end!
Stella is asked to help a family with a divorce. A little girl, 9 year old Rose, witnesses the death of her nanny and the death has affected her so badly, she has mutism. The death is ruled accidental but the parents are splitting and they both want full custody. It's Stella's job to assess the family and make her recommendations.
Everyone is lying. The house has nothing in it that can be broken. It seems odd that a house has no mirrors and no glass in the windows. Everything down to the glassware is made from plexiglass. Nothing they say rings true and there is something more to Rose and Stella is determined to get to the bottom of it...
It was exciting. The story was full to bursting with threads and you can't see where they will all end up but it the author is a true artist and it all makes sense when you get to the end and it will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!!
The more we learn about the family, the more you can see they are hiding something but you can't work it out because nothing seems right and I love books that do that!
The ending had me screaming! GENIUS! Did not see that coming!
5 stars, If you love thrillers... GET THIS ONE!! Out Aug 6th
