Great story boring storytelling. Sad because this could have been an excellent book.
Russian sexy slaves posing as strippers at a bachelor party being held in the suburbs. The two handlers get killed by the sex slaves and and run for their lives.
What happens to all who attended the party afterwards and the sex slaves is what the story is about. But the writing is wooden as if it is for a story in a newspaper not a novel. ( )

This book is really easy to fall into and read and the premise is interesting but I really didn't enjoy it. The basic story is about wealthy middle aged guys who have a bachelor party where things go horribly wrong and people wind up dead. Life after the party is a mess as they come to terms with the repercussions of the party on their marriages and careers.

I had zero sympathy for the leading male character, Richard, even though I think we were supposed to find him heroic in the face of this terrible situation he really didn't cause or deserve. I thought his wife was too forgiving. I did feel sympathy for his daughter who at nine was old enough to know something terrible was going on but not quite old enough to fully understand.

More sympathetic was Alexandra, one of the girls "entertaining" at the bachelor party. Her story is tragic and while it was certainly interesting to see how something like this could happen to a young girl it's also not a world I want to spend my free time living in.

It's not a bad book by any means but I wouldn't rush to pick this one up either. ( )

I listened to this book --the reader was excellent... you know, sometimes, you just don't like a reader and you can't stay with it. Not the case here for me, I was sucked in from the beginning. I'm not sure why I selected this book and it certainly wasn't anything like I may have been expecting. It begins with a bachelor party in a home, where bodyguards are there to monitor the "entertainment". I don't want to say too much more about the plot, you can find that elsewhere. This book made me uncomfortable as I wasn't prepared for a first-hand account from a girl trapped in a human trafficking operation. Had I known up front what I was in for, I probably wouldn't have picked this. But I'm glad I did. Well-plotted and original, with a not-so-tidy ending, this book will linger in my mind for a long time. We just never know how one event can go horribly wrong and have life-altering consequences. This story is not far-fetched and could happen to anyone. The characters are well established, the story takes turns I'd not seen coming. This is a book that kept me going, I had to know what would happen next, even though it made me uncomfortable too. And at 8 CDs, it was a quick "read".
( )

The main theme of The Guest Room is human sex trafficking (sex slaves) and it is presented in a way that gives detail about this atrocity, but allows the reader to use their imagination to complete the picture. I thought this part of the story was well written, but I can't say the same for the rest of the novel. I didn't think the writing was up to the standard of his other novels, The Midwife and Before You Know Kindness, which was unfortunate. The characters of Kristen and Richard were weak and under developed, I didn't relate to them at all, which diminished my enjoyment of the story. The other main character, Alexandra, was victimized through out most of the novel and her story was tragic, especially knowing that this is happening now around the world. There was a subplot regarding Kristin's reaction to Richard's betrayal that was never explored, left me wondering.

I would recommend The Guest Room, if for no other reason than to bring awareness to the atrocity of human trafficking. It wasn't was a bad novel, it just could have been better. ( )

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Chis Bohjalian is one of the best ever at writing something different with every book. You never feel you have been here before. The crux of this story is tangled in how easily we can step from a normal, uncomplicated life into a mess by making one bad decision.

Richard makes a bad decision, he allows a bachelor party for his (may I say disgusting) brother and his friends to take place at his home. There is supposed to be a stripper, but what is ordered up instead are two prostitutes, who are actually sex slaves of the Russian mafia. The situation gets out of hand from there and the consequences are much more devastating than anyone can imagine.

We follow the lives of Richard, and to a lesser extent his wife, and one of the girls, Alexandra. The characters are very realistic and the situation is fraught with fear and danger, as it would indeed be in a real scenario. I was anxious to know where it was going and how these people would ever extricate themselves from the horrors they were a part of. I felt sorry for the girls, trapped in the hopelessness of being sex slaves, and for Richard, whose carelessness and moral slip have landed him in a situation that might destroy his life, his marriage, and his world.

I would not say this is Bohjalian's best novel, but it is certainly well-written and enjoyable. I recommend it as a bit of escapism. It is one of those books you start casting for the movie even while you are reading. ( )