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Book: “The Hostess” by Courtney Psak
Publishing Info: Hodder & Stoughton, January 2026
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist
Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: Natalie and her husband decide to escape the city for a much-needed break. After suffering from a terrible accident, Natalie needs some time and space to recover. So when they find a gorgeous rental home on an estate in the Hamptons available at the last minute, it seems too good to be true.
The owner of the estate, Sadie, is beautiful, elegant and wealthy, and Natalie is immediately drawn to her.
But as the women begin to bond, Natalie can’t shake the feeling that Sadie is hiding something beneath her polished exterior.
When Natalie discovers that the previous guest disappeared without a trace, dark questions Who exactly is the hostess? What are her secrets? And can Natalie uncover the truth, before it’s too late?
Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me an ARC of this novel!
It’s the dead of winter here in Minnesota, with temps dropping well below zero this weekend. In the dead of winter it’s always kind of fun to read books that have a less frigid setting, and “The Hostess” by Courtney Psak is a twisty thriller that also happens to take place in The Hamptons, a beach setting if there ever was one (though to be fair, apparently New York is also getting rocked by cold and snow this weekend, so even The Hamptons get frigid). I hadn’t ready anything by Courtney Psak before, but when this ended up in my mailbox I thought I’d give it a go. I like a suspenseful thriller with unreliable narrators, after all, and this one sounded like it would deliver on that.
We have two narrative voices in “The Hostess”. The first is that of Natalie, a woman who needs to get away from her everyday life after being in an accident that has given her mental health woes and hallucinations (though her past traumas are also causing issues). She and husband Luke luck out in renting a house in the Hamptons, with their hostess being Sadie, a wealthy and charismatic woman, who also happens to be our second narrative POV, and who has some secrets of her own. We alternate between Natalie and Sadie, slowly learning about both of them through flashbacks and the slow reveal of secrets that they are keeping. Natalie and Sadie both have interesting layers, with my opinions starting in one place for each of them and then evolving in ways that I didn’t expect.
I will say that it took a bit for me to get fully invested in this, as for whatever reason the first half it dragged a little bit as the exposition and clues were starting to be set out. There were a few red herrings that I could spot from the jump, and while I was interested to see what surprises were laying in wait, I was also kind of getting anxious to get further into the action and suspense. But that said, once things did click into place, I was pretty well pulled into the story and the mystery at hand. By the time I was getting to the final chapters I was racing through the pages to see what was going to happen, and that, to me, is what ultimately made this story worth the read, and one that would be a solid choice if you are looking for a thriller with some interesting twists and turns.
“The Hostess” is ultimately an enjoyable thriller with some interesting narrative characters. Think about picking it up if you want a mystery on a cold winter night.
Rating 7: Once the pace picked up in the last half I was pretty into it!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Hostess” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but this is probably a read for Frieda McFadden fans.
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