The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict

The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict is now available.

The Stranger Inside starts off here with a great premise with our main character Kimber comes home to find a stranger living in her house. It doesn’t seem like, the stranger is going to leave and there isn’t much Kimber can do about it. Things start to get really intriguing when the stranger whispers something in her ear. We all wanted to know more and started turning those pages as fast as we could.

The Stranger Inside to me, seemed more of a domestic psychological thriller as there are some past secrets and conflict here with Kimber’s family surrounding the death of her sister. We are taken back to Kimber’s past and learn that things seem a little unusual here and I was intrigued to find out more. There are some good twists and turns along the way with a hint of darkness to make the story interesting.

Kimber became a very interesting character in many ways and we had a lot to discuss when it came to her and it seemed like how you feel about Kimber could decide how you felt about this story. She is unreliable and very complicated. The more we find out about her the more unlikable she becomes and Kimber’s character started to overshadow the story here for some of us. We seemed to be split here with the way we felt about Kimber. We were either team Kimber and rooting for her or against her and couldn’t get past just how awful she was. This made for a very interesting read and discussion for us.

Now back before I became dark and twisted from reading so many thrillers this would be the thriller for me. The simpler days. (wink, wink) Now I seem to be more drawn into the darker and twisted ones. I know I am not alone here even though my family looks at me like what is wrong with you. They just don’t get it. I do enjoy a break from of all that darkness and The Stranger Inside is free of twisted disturbing scenes or shock value. It’s an easy, light and entertaining story with a challenging character to like just how unlikable she is. We recommend giving this one a shot and see who you agree with about Kimber and then come back and let us know. I bet everyone will have lots to say about her and we would like to hear!!!

Suspenseful, chilling, & alarming!

THE STRANGER INSIDE by LAURA BENEDICT was an interesting and enjoyable psychological thriller that had quite the unimaginable, nightmarish and scary premise.  I have no idea what I would do if I came home to some unknown person living in my home. I’m sure that I would totally freak out and be a little bit nervy and rattled just like Kimber our main character was here in this story.

This book immediately grabbed my attention and where I might have been a little bit annoyed with some of the narrative in the beginning and with the way our main character was portrayed here it didn’t last for long and didn’t distract me at all from the story.  I thought Kimber’s character was a tad bit unlikeable but it just made the characters and the story that more compelling for me to read. I thought Kimber’s unlikeable character definitely moved the story forward and made for an entertaining read whether if I liked her or not.  I definitely felt for Kimber and was panicking right along with her.

LAURA BENEDICT delivers an intriguing, well-written and safe thriller here with just a smidgen of darkness to it.  There are plenty of twists and turns with some surprises along the way to keep the reader guessing. I enjoyed how the story was told in the past and present timeline allowing me to learn and puzzle together who “The Stranger Inside” was along with all the secrets and lies.

Kimber Hannon comes home from a weekend getaway to find her front door key doesn’t work. Circling her home, she discovers there is a man inside and he appears to have settled into living there. What is going on? Shocked and scared, Kimber calls the police who determine that this stranger has a signed lease permitting him to live in the house for the next six months. The worst part is that Kimber’s own signature is on the lease. Kimber has not met this man before, or has she? Does this stranger have a connection to Kimber’s past? 

This story grabbed me right away as the premise was peculiar and terrifying. My mind was whirling with potential scenarios and I was curious to see how it would all pan out for Kimber. The author, Laura Benedict, does a great job building suspense and suspicion around several characters, which kept me on my toes and guessing.

As the novel progressed, the pace slowed and Kimber’s personality began to wear on me. She wasn’t a likable person and as the situation evolved, it became hard to sympathize with her. I enjoyed the novel, but wish I would have had more of a connection to the characters and less of a dramatic resolution.

Thank you so much to HBG Canada and Laura Benedict for gifting us a physical ARC to read and review.

Have you read this one? Were you rooting for Kimber or was she just too unlikable? Want to read this one? Drop us a comment! We would love to hear from you!