House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Narrated by Laura Benanti

Psychological Thriller. Standalone.

Thank-you Macmillan Audio and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to get an advanced copy for review. All opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Now I know why I don’t read many thrillers! I was super tense and my heart rate was so high the whole time I listened to House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen. It’s the mark of a good thriller, but it’s a bit too stressful for me to listen to regularly. That being said, I inhaled the first ⅔ of this book on a long drive and didn’t want the drive to end until I finished!

Stella Hudson is a Best Interest Attorney assigned to nine-year-old Rose Barclay. A BIA is there to observe the family to help decide the best custody arrangements for a child whose parents are divorcing. But this case is unique. Rose has traumatic mutism after her nanny fell (or was pushed) out of an attic window. Rose’s father was sleeping with the nanny and she was pregnant when she died.

It could be an accident, or it could be murder by Rose’s father who didn’t want the baby, Rose’s mother who found out about the affair, the nanny’s boyfriend, the grandma, or even Rose herself. All Stella knows is that there is something creepy about the house and all the people in it.

Why is little Rose sneakily picking up sharp objects and hiding them? Why is she secretly reading about serial killers? And why has every single piece of glass in the house been removed? Even the windows were plexiglass.

I was 100% into the mystery of the plastic house. But there was a big side story about Stella’s young life that I didn’t enjoy as much, especially how it was resolved. This took away from the story a bit and made me not enjoy the second half of the story as much as the first.

Likes:

Creepy vibe.
Kept me tense and guessing the whole time.
Every time I thought I figured it out I would second guess my thought.
Thrilling climax.
Unputdownable suspense.
LGBTQ+ Rep
Completely unique.

Dislikes:

I didn’t love the FMC’s own story as much as the one she was working on and I hated the way it was resolved so easily.

The Narration:

I think Laura Bananti did a good job. She kept me tense and creeped out the whole time. She made Grandma, who is in her 60s sound like a frail 90-year-old which bugged me personally as an older reader.

The Down & Dirty:

WOW. This was one tension-filled thriller! I listened to House of Glass on a 4.5-hour drive and I didn’t even want to stop to pee. I was gripping the wheel so tight that my hands hurt! There was just enough of the creepy factor to make me uncomfy, but I couldn’t stop listening. I was so into the mystery that when there was a side story for the FMC, I just wanted to get back to the main story. If you are looking for a change of pace and a unique story with tension-filled suspense, I would absolutel recommend House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen.