The Uninvited Guest
This Christmas was his last chance to save his marriage. But when his wife brings home a charming colleague for the holiday, the husband feels the walls closing in.
While his family is enchanted by the perfect guest, he sees the sinister truth beneath the charm. He's determined to expose the man, but his wife refuses to listen.
Now, he's an outsider in his own home. As Christmas Day dawns, a simple holiday has become a psychological battle. And by the time it's over, only one of them will be left.
- Tyler - Fran’s husband
- Fran - Tyler’s wife
- Archie and Lola - Tyler and Fran’s children
- Dillon - Fran’s boyfriend
- Julia - Tyler’s mother
- Courtney - Dillon wife, deceased
- Joanna - Dillon and Courtney’s old neighbor
- Part I: Tyler
- Julia asks Dillon about his son but he asks to change the subject.
- Tyler looks up Dillon on the internet and finds out Dillon's wife, Courtney, is dead.
- Tyler finds Courtney's Facebook page which shows she was divorced from Dillon and happy about it.
- Fran tells Tyler she knew Courtney was dead and that Dillon's son lives with his grandparents.
- Tyler has been staying in a hotel for the last four months.
- Tyler goes into Fran’s room and finds evidence that Dillon slept in there with her.
- Last Christmas Tyler got wasted and slapped Fran. That is the moment Fran decided the marriage was over.
- Fran finds Tyler in her room and admits that she has been seeing Dillon.
- Tyler tells her Dillon changed his name fifteen years ago and it takes Fran by surprise but she tells him to back off.
- Tyler invites Dillon to go out back to talk man to man.
- Dillon tells Tyler he proposed to Fran.
- Dillon smacks his head into a wall so he can claim self-defense after he punches Tyler.
- Part II: Fran
- Dillon comes into the house and tells the women to call an ambulance.
- Fran and Julia rush outside and find Tyler dead.
- Fran told the children Tyler died because he fell and hit his head.
- Dillon is charged with involuntary manslaughter.
- Four months later: Dillon got a suspended sentence and community service.
- Dillon and Fran are moving into a new place together.
- Fran and Dillon go to his former house to pick up a few boxes and a neighbor, Joanna, gives Fran her phone number and tells Fran to call her once she’s away from Dillon.
- When unpacking Fran finds a newspaper article about Dillon; he was a boxer when he was younger and at age twenty two he went to prison for six years for manslaughter after punching someone at a bus stop in a dispute over a girl.
- Fran calls Joanna who says Dillon pushed Courtney down the stairs, killing her and Joanna covered for him because she was having an affair with him.
- Dillon returns and hears Fran on the phone with Joanna.
- Dillon attacks Fran and punches her, making her lose consciousness.
- Julia shows up at the house and hears Dillon yelling at Fran, so she calls the police.
- Julia enters the house and just as Dillon goes to attack her the police arrive.
- Epilogue: Fran is recovering.
- Julia tells Fran she has a friend whose son works in the prison Dillon got sent to and he is going to make life in prison very uncomfortable for Dillon.
Maria Frankland’s The Uninvited Guest is a solid, medium-paced psychological thriller that succeeds by building persistent tension. It delivers a deeply unsettling and thoroughly good read centered around flawed characters and escalating paranoia.
Part one is told from Tyler’s POV, a choice that draws the reader into the strained and anxious environment. The author shows us a protagonist who is deeply flawed, self-pitying, and often utterly pathetic, yet somehow, you can’t help but feel a strange sense of pity for him.
When the book shifts to Fran’s POV in part two, the narrative gains new clarity, revealing the full extent of the emotional and psychological burden she carries.
The tension is maintained throughout, not through constant action, but through the creeping dread and the psychological strain on the characters.
For readers who appreciate character-driven suspense, a well-managed medium pace, and a story where the atmosphere is the main event, The Uninvited Guest is a highly satisfying read.
- Tyler - Dead - Punched by Dillon
- Dillon - Alive - In prison for the murder of Courtney and the attempted murder of Fran
- Julia - Alive - Continuing to support Fran and her grandchildren emotionally
- Fran - Alive - Facing a long road of physical and emotional recovery
- Courtney - Dead - Pushed down the stairs by Dillon
- Murder
- Domestic violence
Publisher: Autonomy Press
ISBN: 9798882852234
Publication Date: November 25, 2024
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
