Book Review: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six | Lisa Unger

What could be better than a getaway with your friends to a luxury cabin in the woods with stunning views and top-end accommodations? This perfect getaway is a lot darker and more twisted than it seems as secrets come to light. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is another chilling read by Lisa Unger.

About the Book (Goodreads)

Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling 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? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, complete with spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s loving and generous tech-mogul brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It’s his birthday gift to Hannah and includes their spouses and another couple. The six friends need this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R, far from the chatter and pressures of modern life.

But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare. A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep. How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? And who is the new boyfriend, crashing their party? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?

Review

Lisa Unger has delivered some of my favorite thrillers, so I always look forward to her latest book. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six was good, though a bit over-the-top. This is one of those books that you should just let take you on a ride and don’t overthink the characters or twists too much. A fun read with some very dark twists!

The book has two storylines happening that eventually come together. In one thread, a man named Henry is narrating bits of his life. We start in Henry’s childhood and eventually cross into adulthood. We learn about Henry’s mother Alice and his search to understand who is father is. In the other thread, three couples are leaving to go to a luxury cabin retreat at a rental property that is very remote.

The six friends include Hannah and her husband Bruce, who are leaving their baby girl Gigi for the first time. Bruce is a bit of a workaholic though and they could use a break to reconnect. Hannah’s older brother Mako is the one who arranged the trip (and is also Bruce’s boss) and he brings along his wife Liza, a yoga instructor who is pregnant and whom Hannah hopes to get to know better over the weekend. The third couple includes Hannah’s best friend Cricket and her boyfriend Joshua. To make this cozy sextuplet more complicated, Cricket also happens to be Mako’s ex-girlfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

Thrown into the mix are a woman named Cat who plays into Henry’s story, a groundskeeper for the cabin Bracken who is honestly a bit creepy, and Bracken’s assistant Trina who is doing her best to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble. There’s also a private chef at the cabin for the weekend who shares some chilling tidbits about the area.

There is a horror-film vibe to the setting and the locked-room style plot Unger has crafted. The ghost stories cast shadows around the plot. The groundskeeper is straight out of a scary movie. And of course with a storm brewing the wifi isn’t totally reliable. The twists and underbelly to this story curled their way into my mind as I read and honestly gave me goosebumps at times.

The tension starts early as Christmas dinner with Hannah and Mako’s family lead to a mysterious gift of DNA tests that no one seems to know who gifted them or why. The book heavily explores the concept of nature versus nurture and has a healthy dose of buried secrets and twisted lies.

A breathtaking thriller that will not disappoint fans of Unger’s work!