Are you looking to dive into a book full of mystery, horror, and thrills? Then grab this debut novel and buckle up for a haunting, dark, and twisted ride.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin grabbed me from the first page and did not let me go. The author did an amazing job at writing a fast paced, page turner. At times, the frenetic energy was so ramped up that I had to take a breath and say, "You are not anxious. It's the book!"

Grab this novel sooner rather than later. But be aware that you may want to consider reading this one in a safe place with the lights on.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC.

The Stranger Upstairs is Lisa M. Matlin’s debut novel, and man it was good!

Sarah Slade is a widely known therapist best known for her bestselling self-help novel, Clear, Calm, and in Control. Ironically, it ends up appearing that Sarah is none of those things.

Sarah is struggling to write a follow up to her bestseller, her husband Joe are having marital problems, and they are struggling financially. So what does Sarah do to fix these problems? She convinces her husband that buying the towns infamous Black Wood House, aka the scene of a gruesome murder suicide. #murderhouse

Sarah thinks that fixing up the Black Wood House and publicly blogging it as she goes is the solution to all her problems. However, the house has other plans for them.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a dark and twisty thriller. It was a good quick read with a great twist. And props to the author for creating a main character that I hate as a human being, but can’t get enough of reading about!

A couple move to an empty old house where prior murders have occurred. They plan to remodel then sell the place for profit. The book isn’t just a suspense or scary. It is gruesome. There is mental illness and a terrible unexpected ending. This is a book that you try to forget it was read.

Holy moly did that just take me on a wild psychological ride! Twist after twist that I did not see coming. Fantastic debut novel and great for the upcoming fall/spooky season! Lisa M. Matlin is a writer to look out for. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it!

This is Lisa Martin’s debut novel and it’s the perfect start to spooky season. What’s spookier than a haunted house. Don’t let the pretty cover fool you because it’s dark and twisty inside. This was a fast paced read for me. It gave me The Watcher vibes. There were a few times it felt like it drug out a little bit but the ending had me totally fooled. Thank you so much NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for this ARC

Sarah and her husband Joe buy the Black Wood House that a murder had occurred there back in the 90’s. A man had killed his wife while she was sleeping then attempted to kill his daughter Janet but luckily she escaped. Joe was not real enthusiastic about buying this house but Sarah was positive she could make a fortune off of the renovations. Sarah was a therapist and her Joe was a bartender.

The residents of this town was definitely hiding what had happened to the owner just before Sarah? When she would ask everybody just clammed up! Now her cat is really sick and she is missing hours and days of her life? She is hearing footsteps in the attic, she receiving notes and there are footprints in the dust in the attic.

The twists and turns and who can you trust will keep you wanting to read just another chapter!

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sarah thinks Black Wood House will save her marriage to Joe and revitalize her career as an influencer. But the house, a house where there was a grizzly murder, has been empty for over 40 years for good reason. Know that the house is a character in its own right in this creepy novel that might make you wonder more than once about Sarah's mental health, Things go wrong almost as soon as the work starts and they amp up. No spoilers from me but know that her plan to renovate and flip- well she's got to rethink that one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Matlin does a good job of creating and maintaining the tension- making this a page turner,

The Stranger Upstairs follows a social media star as she buys a murder house in hopes of renovating it. Not everything is as it seems and things start to unravel to reveal many dark secrets and twists.

I think this book was a really great debut! The writing was great and the twists were mostly unexpected. (I saw a couple of them from a mile away.) The obvious twists did not take away from the overall enjoyment of this book. I loved how there were newspaper articles between chapters from the future that hinted at certain things but just enough that you knew something was coming but not totally what it was. It was really fast-paced and I just kept wanting more.

I will say that there were a couple of tropes in here that I don’t particularly like. Like when the bad guy wins in the end (i won’t say much else about that since it’ll be a spoiler.) and also I hate when a book seems paranormal but then isn’t? This book kinda had a hard time deciding if it wanted to be paranormal or not. Those things made me bump it down to a 4 but overall i still really enjoyed it.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was incredibly read-able but absolutely bonkers. I was pulled along by the story and compelled to find out what was happening while being simultaneously horrified. It’s a good one for thriller-lovers if you are OK with a strong dose of off-kilter at the same time.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This debut horror/thriller/domestic suspense was a great first book. Originally when I got this book I was hoping that this book would be a lot of fun, but novels that have had a social media influencer haven't quite made their mark so I went in a little nervous. Although I will say I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this book quite a bit.

Sarah Slade and her husband decide to start over and move to the Black Wood House, an infamous house where a murder-suicide took place many years before. She decides to move into the house and blog about her fixer-upper to make money since she hasn't been able to write another novel. Although slowly as time continues she begins to realize something different about the house and how it affects those inside the house and the neighborhood around her. Sarah starts to unravel as her marriage fails, the house is proving to be more difficult to fix, and secrets of her past begin to surface.

This book was fast-paced and had a lot of fun and interesting elements to the story. There is a mix of supernatural possibilities and reality, which seems to be a common theme this spooky season. That mix allows for the reader to question what is happening and what side of things they will be leaning towards.

I can't wait to see what else Lisa Matlin will write - fully recommend for the spooky season.

I started out thinking this was a horror story similar to Amityville Horror. Towards the end it takes a surprising turn. I doubt anyone would guess what was really going on. If you do you should be playing the lottery. It kept me interested. At one point I thought Sarah was schizophrenic. The author does a great job keeping you guessing.

When viral therapist Sarah Slade buys a murder a house with her husband with the intentions of flipping it, people are curious to see how things go. The people of Beacon, however, are furious with her attempts to monotonize from the suffering of the family who lived here long ago. Not long after moving in, Sarah is warned by a neighbor that the house made the previous owner start to go crazy, resulting in him killing his wife, self, and trying to kill his daughter. Sarah things it is all stories to scare her away, but then things start happening around the house. She starts to hear creaks when no one is home and finding notes mentioning things no one else could know about. Then, Sarah learns there was another buyer before her, a young woman named Amanda who looked eerily similar to her, who mysteriously disappeared. As Sarah tries to dig in to find the answers around this house. she starts to lose her grip on reality while also finding herself in escalating danger.

I liked this book for the most part. Some pieces felt a bit forced, but I enjoyed the unravel. The pieces about Sarah's sister felt a bit unnecessary too, but I can see what the author was going for. The thing I did not love, which is my personal preference, is how the book constantly alludes to things then makes you wait 10 chapters to find out what it means. I am all for building a mystery, but the constant mentions of "we never discuss what happened to my sister..." and "why we had to flee town" started to just feel annoying. Perhaps the "big reveal" about these secrets would not have fell so flat and predictable if they weren't built up so much through the book.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is haunting and twisty and will have you up to the wee hours either turning pages or listening the sounds your own house is making.

If you enjoyed Riley Sager’s “Home Before Dark” definitely check this out! This is an excellent debut novel from Lisa Matlin, be sure to snag your copy on September 12th, it will be a perfect novel to transition you to spooky season!

I went into this book completely green of the horror genre -- I didn't know what to expect.

Sarah Slade is trying to turn over a new leaf after, fleeing her hometown with her husband. In Part One, we learn that Sarah's family is gone; her sister and mother are dead. In an effort to reinvent herself, she has thrown herself into becoming a social media influencer, an honored therapist, and a best-selling author. But is that what defines Sarah? After moving to the infamous Black Wood House, something begins haunting Sarah. Maybe her past is finally catching up with her.

Part 1: We're introduced to Black Wood House, its history, previous owners, and the new owners, Sarah Slade and her husband, Joe Cosgrove. We get to learn about Sarah and her penchant for getting sh*tfaced and then making a game out of figuring out if she knows where she is or if she can get home.

We're also introduced to the town of Beacon and some of its colorful characters. Because, of course, this small town, where everyone knows each other and everyone knows the history of Black Wood House, would be welcoming of a newcomer </sarcasm>. Why would anyone buy this murder house? They all know something and they're not telling Sarah!

Part 2: Now we're in the thick of Sarah's full unraveling. We know her dirty little secret. But we are also seeing the blossoming of her friendship with her coworker Emily -- which is borderline, inappropriate. But at this point, there is nothing about Sarah's life that is appropriate. She is blowing off work and becoming erratic and unstable, her husband has long since removed himself from the house and stays away most days, and, night and, her neighbors are over her sh*t, and we watch her mental health decline rapidly.

This was a quick and easy read, the e-book was only 267 pages, which is extremely short in my opinion. If you're stepping into the horror genre but, don't want to be so scared that you can't read before bed, then this is a great introductory book for you. If you're an intermediate reader (like me) and you're looking for more suspense, more character development, and a more fleshed-out story, maybe grab this if you have a short flight somewhere or, a long wait at the doctor's office, idk.

The cover of this book is bright and gorgeous, but don't let that distract you from the fact that this is a dark, twisted horror read.

Sarah is an up and coming social media influencer and therapist. She and her husband have decided to take on a major renovation of an entire house and document the entire process for her followers online. Except this house happens to be cursed by a gruesome murder and is said to be haunted. Black Wood House witnessed a murder-suicide and it's said that screams can still be heard on some nights.

Sarah and her husband also have secrets they are trying to keep. They are running from their past and their marriage is hanging on by a thread. Most nights Sarah is left home alone in this haunted house, with strange sounds coming from the attic and threatening notes appearing everywhere.

This book was a wild read. It started out strong, but I feel like there were too many twists and turns and too many loose ends that I was just left dizzy with information-overload. There were also some really good avenues the author could have taken, character-wise, that I thought were blaring obvious and would have added SO MUCH MORE to the story, but weren't touched on at all.

The further I got into the story, the weirder the plot became and more confused I got. Certain things just didn't make sense and became laughable.

The author's writing style was great and I liked the way the characters were presented and built on. Something was just lacking overall.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, and Penguin Random House, who sent me the email reaching out to me to read this gothic, horror, psychological read. It was a 3 star book for me.

"The Stranger Upstairs" is set to be released September 12, 2023 here in the U.S. so pre-order now!

Happy Reading!

In ‘The Stranger Upstairs’, Lisa M. Marlin sets up a whodunit that has more twists than a game of Twister. I stumbled upon the brightly colored cover on NetGalley and was immediately interest in reading it.
In the book, Sarah Slayed, blogger/influencer, buys a unsellable house that has been off the market for 40 years. Unfortunately she didn’t know that the house came with so many secrets. Throughout the story, you start to unravel those secrets as well as all of Sarah’s dark ones from her past. This book hooks you from the beginning and I personally read through it quickly needing to know the end!

I would recommend this book to any reader who loves a good mystery with unpredictable plots.

Sarah is many things; an Instagram Queen, a popular blogger, a therapist, and best selling author. What people don’t see is that she is falling apart behind the scenes. She and her husband buy a murder house with intention to renovate it so that she can blog about their progress. However, it seems the house wants to be left alone. Sarah slowly starts to come unglued and the footsteps in the attic aren’t helping her get any better!

This book gave me Simone St. James vibes…the underlying ghost story taking place at a murder house. I enjoyed this one…it had a different ending than I expected for sure! Nice debut by this author!

Good read. Kept me guessing all along the way. Never know what is true or not true at some times. Are we being gaslighted? Maybe, maybe not…

I had a hard time with the cat poisoning. Not gonna lie, I almost quit. So be warned. This is twisty, turny with a creepy house and mysterious characters. But it was a little too vague-for-the-sake-of-mystery for me. Meh. The ending was great, though.

When I see a “haunted” house book on netgalley I RUN to that request button!

For those of you who are sensitive to animal fates, at the end of my review I will reveal what happens to Reaper, Sarah’s cat. Don’t read that far if you don’t want to be spoiled.

This book sounds like a horror but it’s listed as a thriller, which I feel is accurate. The book leans more towards domestic thriller and I’m still unsure if the house is haunted..

Sarah, our main character is so unlikable.. on purpose. She’s hiding a secret, running from her past and trying to save her marriage. Her husband hates her, she is barely holding onto her therapist job, so she buys a murder house.
Shortly after moving in, she starts to experience strange occurrences. Footsteps at night, cat is irritable and sick. I did like the ending- however the epilogue changes everything. Make sure to read! May even change the genre of the book.

Overall, this book had me hooked. Even stayed up late because I needed to know the ending. But upon finishing, I felt like I had about 100 questions. 4 stars
Solid thriller for spooky season.

Spoiler!

Reaper is poisoned but survives the book :)