The House in the Pines

 

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

Fiction - Psychological Thriller

2023

Narrated by Marisol Ramirez

Finished on July 17, 2024

Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend's sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed....

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer--the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin....

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.

Here we go again. Maya is an unreliable narrator (ala Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, etc.) who is withdrawing from Klonopin, suffers from insomnia, and drinks far too much. She is certain that her best friend was murdered when they were seniors in high school, and that the man Maya believes is responsible for Aubrey's death has now killed another woman. But there is no evidence that Frank is guilty, and both events are treated as unexplained deaths. Sounds like the perfect set-up for a mystery/thriller, right? It started off with a strong opening, but fizzled about halfway to the end. I understood what was going on well before the main character did, and the ending was a disappointment. 

I listened to the audiobook and the reader's halting narration during the dialogue portions of the audiobook was noticeable and quickly became a distraction. She also failed to distinguish her voice between characters, male or female, so there were times when I wasn't sure who was speaking. Additionally, the transitions between chapters were confusing in this dual timeline narrative, making it difficult to know when a flashback was introduced.

The audiobook held my interest, but the story would make a better TV series than a book, especially if David Tennant (who was super creepy in Jessica Jones) were to play Frank. 

Can't recommend.

I received a complimentary copy from Libro.fm. All thoughts and opinions are my own.