The Overnight Guest(89)
Becky took Wylie’s hand in her own. “Sisters forever, right?”
“Sisters forever,” Wylie whispered.
Read ahead for a bonus excerpt of Heather Gudenkauf’s
gripping thriller Not a Sound.
Acknowledgments
Even though this novel was written and rewritten during the pandemic, I never felt alone along the way and there are so many people to thank for this.
Thank you to Marianne Merola, my dear agent, who continues to be a great source of wisdom, friendship, and support throughout my career. Thanks also to everyone at Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents Inc. for all their work on my behalf.
Many thanks to my favorite plot puzzle solving partner and editor, Erika Imranyi—I love our phone calls talking through those sticky plot points—it’s always an adventure. Emer Flounders, PR guru extraordinaire, works tirelessly to spread the word about my books and for that I am so grateful. Thanks also to everyone at Park Row, HarperCollins, and Harlequin including the amazingly talented marketing, sales, art, and production teams who support me and my books in too many ways to count.
Several early readers offered priceless feedback on The Overnight Guest including Jane Augspurger, Molly Lugar, Amy Feld, and Lenora Vinckier. Thank you.
Big-time thanks go to Mark Dalsing, Dr. Emily Gudenkauf, and John Conway for their expertise. I can always count on them when I need guidance when it comes to law enforcement, the medical field, and farm life.
My sweet family continues to be my greatest supporters. Much gratitude goes to my parents, Milton and Patricia Schmida, and to my brothers and sisters. And as always, thank you to Scott, Alex, Annie & RJ, and Gracie—I love you and couldn’t do it without you.
Questions for Discussion
With Wylie’s tragic history, why do you think she would choose to be a true crime writer where she is continually faced with the brutal realities of violence and its impact on victims and their families? Why do you think Wylie felt the need to return to Burden and her childhood home in order to write her book?
Discuss the rural setting of the novel. How do you think living in Burden shaped the characters? How would the story be different if it was set in a large city?
The child says, “It isn’t the dark you should be afraid of... It’s the monsters who step out into the light that you need to fear.” What do you think they meant by this?
Wylie and Becky vowed to be “sisters forever.” After all that they’ve been through, what do you think their friendship will look like? Will it last? Why or why not?
The Overnight Guest is set in a blizzard and in the scorching heat of summer. What role does weather play in the story, both literally and metaphorically?
The child says there are three kinds of dark. What is the relationship that each of the characters have to darkness? How does it change throughout the novel?
Parenthood is a common theme throughout the story. How does it manifest itself throughout the story? How did each of the characters step into that role?
Wylie, Becky, and Josie have been through so much. Where do you see them a year from now? Five years? Twenty?
Discuss the ways in which the idea of being a prisoner is explored throughout the story for each of the characters.
By the end of the novel, we learn secrets that change the way we think about certain characters and the way the characters see one another. What character do you think changed the most over the course of the book? How did your opinions of the characters change throughout the story?
Not a Sound
by Heather Gudenkauf
Prologue
I find her sitting all by herself in the emergency waiting room, her lovely features distorted from the swelling and bruising. Only a few patients remain, unusual for a Friday night and a full moon. Sitting across from her, an elderly woman coughs wetly into a handkerchief while her husband, arms folded across his chest and head tilted back, snores gently. Another man with no discernible ailment stares blankly up at the television mounted on the wall. Canned laughter fills the room.
I’m surprised she’s still here. We treated her hours ago. Her clothing was gathered, I examined her from head to toe, all the while explaining what I was doing step-by-step. She lay on her back while I swabbed, scraped and searched for evidence. I collected bodily fluids and hairs that were not her own. I took pictures. Close-ups of abrasions and bruises. I stood close by while the police officer interviewed her and asked deeply personal private questions. I offered her emergency contraceptives and the phone number for a domestic abuse shelter. She didn’t cry once during the entire process. But now the tears are falling freely, dampening the clean scrubs I gave her to change into.
“Stacey?” I sit down next to her. “Is someone coming to get you?” I ask. I offered to call someone on her behalf but she refused, saying that she could take care of it. I pray to God that she didn’t call her husband, the man who did this to her. I hope that the police had already picked him up.
She shakes her head. “I have my car.”
“I don’t think you should be driving. Please let me call someone,” I urge. “Or you can change your mind and we can admit you for the night. You’ll be safe. You can get some rest.”
“No, I’m okay,” she says. But she is far from okay. I tried to clean her up as best I could but already her newly stitched lip is oozing blood, the bruises blooming purple across her skin.