An Unwanted Guest Quotes

“learned that people will believe what they want to believe. And it’s truly frightening how easily they’ll believe it.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“True psychopaths can be very convincing...”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“hell isn't imaginary; it's real. It's a real place and it's also a state of mind.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“New-fallen snow always makes her feel hopeful.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“darkness was so absolute that it was disorienting. It was like floating in space, with nothing to mark where you”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“She’s a city girl, born and bred; she’s not used to country driving. It gets so dark up here. She’s becoming anxious now – the drive has taken longer than planned.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Henry looks at his wife with veiled loathing. He hates when she gets like this, all high and mighty. She’s such a martyr; she has no idea how hard that’s been to live with. How joyless must life be? She’s a miserable woman, constantly complaining. At least, it seems that way to him.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“I learned that people will believe what they want to believe. And it’s truly frightening how easily they’ll believe it.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Gwen has never been so frightened in her life. There's some comfort in knowing that the others are out here with her, even if she can't see them. It's like she's alone in a dark void. She can't bear to think about David, what the gunshots might mean. Is someone else dead? She wonders if soon there will be no one left at all. She wants to live, but she hopes that if she has to die, she isn't the last one. She doesn't think she could bear it. She is defenseless. She thinks of the small, sharp letter opener that had been lying on the writing desk in their room. She wishes she had it with her now.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“you must take good things when and where you find them. They are rare enough.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“A small luxury hotel deep in the country, good food, no internet, pristine nature—it’s exactly what they both need.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“It feels like they’re playing at something, some sort of parlor game, or murder mystery evening, with the lights out. Only no one’s having fun.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Not unattractive but getting on. Maybe pushing forty.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“And Lauren, the murderer of the other three, can’t exactly say anything without implicating herself. She can’t say, But I didn’t kill Henry! She can’t say a thing.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“think Lauren is probably a psychopath – and very good at pretending that she isn’t.’ He hesitates. ‘They’re different you know – not like you and me.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“And to know that she killed her before she could marry a rich man and have everything she ever wanted was especially satisfying. They would think Dana fell down the stairs. Lauren crawled back into bed and lay awake all night thinking about what she’d done. She felt no remorse.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Dana didn’t look like she’d ever spent a single night in a miserable foster home, taking her frustration, rage, and fear out on others more vulnerable than herself.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“He thought it was Matthew who had killed everyone – born with a silver spoon in his mouth, maybe he’d killed his fiancée after an argument and then tried to cover it up with the natural arrogance of the born rich.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Surely a man who maintains his reason while others around him are losing theirs – surely such a man could never kill his wife or anyone else?”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“I knew Bradley. He was always up to something – very enterprising, always had some scheme going. He’s involved with this somehow, I’m certain of it. He saw something, or knew something, and it got him killed. What did he know?”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“So what? None of you can prove where you were all night. Why are you pointing the finger at me?’ He says, ‘I think we all need to take a step back here. We’re all getting a little paranoid.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“It’s the way she views him. Overweight family man. A bit of a fool. Someone whose life is mostly over, who will never do anything interesting or exciting again. Just her presence near him, knowing that she believes this about him, makes him hate her.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“This can’t really be happening, not to her. She’s a very normal woman, with a very normal, even dull, life. Nothing exceptional ever happens to her. And deep down, she likes it that way.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Murder is far-fetched,’ Henry says. ‘We’re not dealing with normal here. Somebody around here is a killer. Somebody had good enough reasons to kill Dana and Candice. I’m just trying to figure out what they are.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“As much as Bradley loves the place – and loves his dad – he’s itching to leave. He doesn’t want to be trapped here, catering to people with more money than him, with the freedom to go wherever they want.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“Riley is wrong. David cannot be the man she’s thinking of. Riley is confused. Riley’s confused about a lot of things.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“You think you can run off with this young woman and it’s going to be fabulous. You’ll move into her apartment, maybe buy yourself a convertible. No more people carrier for you, ferrying the kids to soccer three nights a week!”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“But the word nag also makes her think of an old, broken-down mare – whiskered, swaybacked, and ugly. She fights tears and continues reading.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest

“He’s surprised that it’s the pretty, pale Gwen who has suggested it, rather than her hard-drinking friend who looks like she’s escaped from rehab.”
― Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest