Thank you NetGalley for the arc, I enjoyed the book, however it was predictable and became a little boring along the way that,

I love a good psychological thriller, but unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. The premise is good, and many other reviewers have liked it. For me, though, I guessed what was going to happen right after the first chapter, except for one detail. I kept reading to find out if I was right, and I was disappointed when I was correct. I think I would have liked it better if it wasn't written in the first person. Although there are different points of view, I just didn't care enough about the characters in this book for it to matter.

Please don't let me stop you from reading it, though. I can see why other people would really like it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Sally Rigby for my free copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Thanks NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Silent Guest centres on the dynamic between the two FMCs Vivienne and Amelia (aka Milly). Amelia is hired to housesit one weekend while Vivienne and her daughter are away visiting family – and it’s clear from the outset that Amelia has it in for Vivienne.

As the story unfolds we learn that Vivienne’s past holds the answers, and Amelia will stop at nothing to get justice – even going as far as to make Vivienne believe she’s experiencing early onset dementia.

When Vivienne discovers Amelia has been taunting her, she retaliates by sending anonymous gifts. Meanwhile Vivienne hasn’t told her husband what’s going on, since he’s often away for work.

Things come to a head one weekend when Vivienne invites Amelia over. I won’t spoil the ending, but the twist absolutely blew my mind – even though I had a sneaky suspicion about a certain character earlier on, which turned out to be correct!

I raced through the final two-thirds of this book and enjoyed every minute of the wild ride. Expect short chapters, dual POV, unreliable narration, and seriously unhinged characters. It gave me bingeworthy Freida McFadden-esque vibes in the best possible way. The beginning was a tad slow, which is why it’s not a perfect rating – but otherwise, I loved it!

The Silent Guest is an easy, fast-paced thriller with short chapters and a dual POV. Vivienne, who doesn't trust anyone and suffers from anxiety, needs a house-sitter for a weekend away. She eventually settles on Amelia, a young woman who Vivienne deems responsible, kind, and dependable. When Vivienne returns, she begins to notice small shifts in her life - little things, such as items being moved that she hadn't touched or cancelled appointments that she hadn't actually called about. Vivienne soon starts to doubt herself and her memory. With few friends, Vivienne decides to lean on Amelia for support. Unfortunately, Amelia has her own game to play and has been one step ahead the entire time.

The Silent Guest was not a book for me. The entire storyline is unrealistic. I particularly didn't think the reasons for Vivienne's husband to not be around ever and not be in photos were at all believable. That entire plotline was underdeveloped and impacted the overall story. The characters were all underdeveloped and unlikable leaving the reader to not be invested in any of them. The ending is extremely rushed and weirdly unsatisfying. Overall, this just wasn't a book for me.

I was hooked from the very beginning. This is a bingeable and suspenseful thriller that kept me hooked from the start. Vivienne Campbell appears to have the perfect life, but when she hires Amelia as a housesitter, she has no idea of the danger she is inviting in.

Amelia is hiding a dark connection to Vivienne’s past and has carefully constructed a plan for revenge.

Twisty and clever I really didn't know how this would end but, I loved it.

Thank You NetGalley and Storm Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

She has no idea who I really am. While she's away for the weekend, I have free rein of her perfect home, her perfect life. The life she doesn't deserve. Not after what she did. When she returns, I watch her confusion grow. Small incidents that make her question her own sanity. I'm there to comfort her, to be the friend she desperately needs.

She thinks she's losing her grip on reality. She's starting to believe she might be dangerous to her own family. Maybe she should just... disappear? It's working perfectly. She's unraveling exactly as I planned. But Vivienne doesn't know the real reason I'm here. She doesn't know about the past that connects us. She doesn't know how far I'm willing to go to make her pay. Some revenge is worth waiting for. And some secrets are worth killing for.

Excellent read. I picked this up and didn't put it down til I was done with it. Sally Rigby is a favorite - all her books are bingeable. Loved the twists and turns in this one! Go grab it!

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Vivienne needed a house sitter for her dog and she hires Amelia, everything seems to be fine until things start to become strange, out of place and Vivienne feels like she's losing control of her life and her mind. The story has a focus on revenge but that does not sun smoothly and does not lead to a happy ending. Lots of twists and turns, mystery and suspense till the end.
I thank the author, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advanced copy of The Silent Guest.

Vivienne is looking for a dog/house sitter while her and her daughter are away for the weekend. Amelia comes highly recommended from her husband’s coworker. Amelia has been waiting for a way to get into. Vivienne’s life and this is the perfect opportunity.

I saw all the twists coming from the beginning. This one had potential but fell flat for me.

This is a bingeable and suspenseful thriller that kept me hooked from the start. Vivienne Campbell appears to have the perfect life, but when she hires Amelia as a housesitter, she has no idea of the danger she is inviting in.

Amelia is hiding a dark connection to Vivienne’s past and has carefully constructed a plan for revenge.

Told through two points of view, the story alternates between Vivienne, a wife and mother trying to hold everything together, and Amelia, whose carefully plotted schemes begin to unpick Vivienne’s reality piece by piece. The slow gaslighting creates a tense and unsettling atmosphere, with Amelia manipulating situations so that Vivienne starts to doubt her own sanity.

The pacing is sharp, the writing is addictive and the twist caught me by surprise. A trippy, revenge-fuelled story of secrets, betrayal and obsession.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This was one of the most page-turning thrillers for me in recent years. It was mainly with two female characters - Amelia and Vivienne. It all started with a dog/housesitter. The whole story then moved to a fast paced of revenging idea. The end was a good twist but to be honest I was expecting another twist after it. Still a good one!

~ARC review~

I am so thankful to the author @SallyRigby and @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.✨️💜

Firstly, I loved the premise of the book, the whole concept of a house sitter doing questionable things in the house of her employer, while she has no idea.
It was a good thriller book, a short read. I don't know if it was all the thriller books I've read, but I could kind of see what was going to happen, but either ways, I liked how it played out. ✨️

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, think again.

I loved how this story drew me in with a steady build of tension, always keeping me uncertain about where it was headed. Every time I thought I had the plot figured out, something shifted, sometimes subtly, sometimes like a punch to the gut, and I was left scrambling to reassess. The pacing was sharp, the stakes kept rising, and the atmosphere had me gripping my ereader closer with each chapter. The characters were flawed in ways that made them feel tangible and unpredictable, which only added to the suspense. The psychological push and pull between them kept me hooked, unsure who truly had the upper hand. This is the kind of thriller that will stay with me for a long while…addictive, twisty, and deeply satisfying.

How trustworthy is your Housesitter? Babysitter? Petsitter?

We give people access to our homes, children, pets and are trusting them to behave like upstanding humans.

What if they don't? What if they take advantage of that trust?

Vivienne hires a housesitter for a weekend to watch her labradoodle. Amelia comes recommended by a colleague of Vivienne's husband Miles.

Here are four things I liked about this domestic thriller:

😻There is a cat-and-mouse game going on. Sometimes we are not sure who is the cat and who is the mouse. . .🐭
📚 The narrative is split into two POVs: one for Vivienne and one for Amelia. Sally Rigby gives us some great details to make those pages turning to see how the other will react.
🕵️‍♀️ Put on your thinking cap and move into detective mode. There are some clues dropped that help lead to aha moments. I guessed the biggest twist, but not the ending.
🍿 Pop your popcorn and put your feet up for an entertaining ride. This is perfect for fans of Daniel Hurst and Sue Watson. A perfect weekend or beach read.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. Available as of August 14, 2025.

This was a very good read with the story going back and forth like a well played tennis match! A wonderful twist to finish - a gripping book I did not want to put down.

3.5 stars overall for me.
My thanks to the publishers Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this review copy. This is my first book from the author and should not be my last book from her stable.

The basic premise due to which I wanted to read this title reminded me so much about one of my favorite 90's movie - The hand that rocks the cradle.
Here the story starts similarly without much background with Vivienne Campbell needs a housesitter and zeroing in on Amelia who seems more than perfect for the role. This decision takes her life down a spiral and forms the crux of the whole story which is a revenge drama. Sally writes well and her prose rivets the reader, in this case me but the premise and the artifices used were familiar to me because this happens to be my favorite domain and I read a terrible number of thrillers - psychological and murder backed stories.
What I loved here was the way Amelia slowly pushes the envelope and trying to push Vivienne over the edge with a history of dementia running in the family and creating and stoking emotional demons where there were none. This is the portion where Sally excels and then the subsequent cat and mouse games as the tables turn over a novel that is shy of 300 pages which is not very long and the way it is written could push a reader to go on a all-nighter binge to complete it.
Sally has got the gift using differing POV's for her two starring characters and wording the stories likewise which adds to the push.
I could have done with more details of the history to bring the story more into play but overall this is a fine effort and is easy on the eyes.
Recommended.

Two point of views. Two very different women. I was so engrossed in this book that I ended up figuring out a few things. However, that didn't detract from the story. Without giving out any spoilers, I will say that I wondered who I should believe and who to root for.
This was a fast-paced thriller that was fun to read.

You can't go wrong with this.

The Silent Guest by Sally Rigby was a thrilling read, I was hooked from the start and I was so eager to work out what had happened. There were so many twists in the story and some were really shocking.
A fast-paced and suspenseful read; the authors have created realistic and complex characters and the plot is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing.
This immediately caught my attention and I didn't want to stop reading.
I liked the development of the characters and didnt feel anyone was lacking in development.
The story itself was very well put together and the style of writing was perfect.
The build up to the reveal of this information was so exciting and the pace increased. I couldn’t stop reading the ending until I had finished it. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it.

Thank You NetGalley and Storm Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Wow a really wonderful book woven with intrigue and filled with interesting complex characters, lots of twists and turns and mayhem. Vivienne hires a housekeeper to stay the weekend to take care of her dog. Many strange incidents occur afterwards making her uncomfortable in her own home. I was on the edge of my seat to the very end! A real page turner and a must must read!

This one’s chilling, sneaky, and totally addictive, with gaslighting, revenge, and secrets buried deep. It’s psychological suspense at its twisty best.

Vivienne is recommended a dog sitter from her husbands colleague so she can go away for the weekend. Amelia aka Milly is not what she appears and Vivienne feels it in her gut. She ignores her feelings and strange things start to happen where she feels she’s losing her mind.
You don’t find out what happened in the past for all this to come about until 75% in. I found that part to cause a slow burn for this book. I will say that I did not see the twist coming. I kept thinking was Tom a kid she gave up for adoption. Did she call DCFS on a family and that’s why Tom was in foster care. I was far off on all my guesses.
Overall I rated it average due to it being repetitive. I enjoyed the sabotage part of the book and the characters. A few loopholes for me but overall it was worth the read. Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy.