An Eerie, Snowbound Thriller
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The Last Room on the Left Book Cover The Last Room on the Left
Leah Konen
Domestic Thrillers, Murder Thrillers, Psychological Thrillers
G.P. Putnam's Sons
January 14, 2025
Ebook, Audiobook, Hardcover
336

The caretaker at an isolated mountain hotel finds herself fighting for her life—and sanity—in this twisty, addictive thriller.

Kerry’s life is in shambles: Her husband has left her, her drinking habit has officially become a problem, and though the deadline for her big book deal—the one that was supposed to change everything—is looming, she can’t write a word. When she sees an ad for a caretaker position at a revitalized roadside motel in the Catskills, she jumps at the chance. It's the perfect getaway to finish her book and start fresh.

But as she hunkers down in a blizzard, she spots something through the window: a pale arm peeking out from a heap of snow. Trapped in the mountains and alone with a dead, frozen body, Kerry must keep her head and make it out before the killer comes for her too. But is the deadly game of cat-and-mouse all in her mind? The body count begs to differ . . .

I love a good psychological thriller, especially if the characters in the story begin to question their own sanity. This is exactly what happens to the main character, Kerry Walsh, in Leah Konen’s new thriller, The Last Room on the Left.

Kerry is an author who accepts a caretaker position at a remote Catskills motel during the off-season. She needs to focus on her writing and a looming deadline from the publisher. The plot thickens, however, when she pulls up to the empty motel and enters the last room on the left. There was a party — a wild bender with alcohol, drugs, and discarded clothes. Who was here? Are they still here?

Kerry looks out into the freshly fallen snow and sees an arm. It is the cold, dead arm of a woman with bright red fingernails.

From that point, the book builds a good amount of tension. The storm knocks out all power. Kerry can’t drive or call for help. She trudges through the snow, only to encounter strange neighbors who seem only to care about their heated property dispute. And the creepiest yet: when the cops finally arrive to inspect the body, the dead woman is gone inexplicably.

Did Kerry just imagine everything?

Konen writes Kerry as a vulnerable and broken character. She is an alcoholic. She feels panic rising in her chest and takes anti-anxiety pills to bring her back to a space where she can focus. Yet the unopened booze in the last room on the left calls to her. I have not encountered such an honest and heartbreaking depiction of alcoholism in a book before. Kerry’s struggle was so well-developed, and my favorite aspect of the book.

This book is also a criticism of what happens when we are left to ourselves without the noise of our everyday lives. At the motel, there’s no internet, no cell signal, and then no power. Nothing but cold and eerie silence. When Kerry has nothing to “doom scroll,” and no voices to hear except her own, her grip on reality slow disintegrates. We spiral right along with her as she tries to determine if there is a killer on the loose.

The Last Room on the Left is the perfect read for anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers with chilling twists. I’d recommend reading it during a snow storm for more of that eerie vibe.

This book was provided in exchange for an honest review graphic