branding thing . . .’
‘Yeah, we won’t do that,’ said Ruth. ‘And Eden’s right. There were good things about it. Gabriel was right when he said it was like a family. Everyone looking out for each other. I was tempted to join, Adam. If they’d gone about it more slowly and subtly, I probably would have. The things he promised . . . That sense of belonging.’
‘Oh my God. You want to start your own cult.’ They were talking about it like they were planning to start their own business. Like, Hey, why don’t we open a café together?
‘It’s not a cult,’ Eden said. ‘It’s a network, and what’s wrong with that? We’ll keep some of Gabriel’s central tenets. It will be secret. It won’t have a name. We’ll do everything we can to advance and protect other members . . .’
‘Protect one, protect all?’
‘I think so,’ said Ruth.
‘Definitely,’ said Eden.
‘You mean you’ll kill people who threaten you?’
‘No. We’re not going to do that,’ said Ruth, but seeing Eden’s expression, I wasn’t so sure.
‘And what about me?’ I asked, grabbing the bottle of gin and pouring myself a glass. I couldn’t hold out any longer. ‘You expect me to join too?’
‘Oh no,’ said Eden.
Ruth smiled. ‘It’s women only.’
Eden nodded. ‘That’s why it went wrong last time. Which means,’ she said, turning to me, ‘we have a problem. Because how can we keep it secret if you already know?’
I backed away, and Ruth got up from the stool and came over to me. She linked her arm with mine. ‘I think we can trust him not to tell.’
‘Can we?’ Eden asked.
‘I think we can,’ Ruth said. ‘Because he needs us to protect him from the remnants of Gabriel’s network.’ She whispered in my ear. ‘They’re everywhere.’
They both grinned, lips twitching with mirth.
I stared at them. ‘Hang on. This is a joke, right?’ I said. ‘You’re not really going to start your own women-only version of the cult, are you?’
They laughed together, clutching one another like they’d just pulled off a brilliant practical joke.
‘Oh, thank God,’ I said. ‘You really had me worried there for a minute.’
‘You should be, Adam,’ said Eden, her face straight, and suddenly I didn’t know if they were kidding or not. But then they both started laughing again, and Eden raised her glass and suggested a toast. To freedom. We all lifted our glasses and I told myself they were joking.
Definitely.
I was almost certain of it.
Acknowledgments
Warning: this letter contains spoilers so please don’t read it until you’ve finished reading the novel.
I’m writing this on a dreary, damp afternoon in Wolverhampton, a long way from the streets of New York, where – in my head – I’ve been living for the past nine months, and where I spent a wonderful week with my family in the summer of 2018, researching this book.
Each day, I dragged my wife and our children around the sweltering, sun-blasted city, scouting locations and soaking up the atmosphere, and every evening we returned to the most important location of all: our Airbnb. The Cunninghams’ house in Williamsburg is based on that house, a stone’s throw from Bedford Avenue subway. It’s where, during a thunderstorm that brought some respite from the insane heat, I first pictured Eden, standing on the front stoop, fist raised to knock on the door. The house had a vintage jukebox and erratic air conditioning, along with a garden that acted as a small oasis in the middle of the metropolis. I’m happy to say, though, that we didn’t encounter any cults.
Long-term readers of my books will know that belief is a theme I return to repeatedly, and I have always been fascinated by cults (or new religious movements, as they are sometimes called). Halfway through writing this novel, by which point I had already created Gabriel and his network, I heard about NXIVM, a ‘multi-level marketing’ organisation based near Albany. Its leader, Keith Raniere, had been accused of operating a cult that contained a ‘secret society’ of women who were expected to have sex with him. Shortly before I completed this novel, in June 2019, he was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering. The characters in The House Guest are not based on any real cults or cult leaders, but reading about the NXIVM case, and listening to the testimonies of women who escaped, provided inspiration and helped me get into the heads of the people who join such organisations – as well as those who start them.
If you want to find out more about Raniere and NXIVM, I highly recommend Season One of the Uncover podcast.
If you enjoyed this book and want to get in touch, you can email me at mark@markedwardsauthor.com or contact me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/markedwardsbooks) or on Twitter (@mredwards). You can also find me on Instagram (@markedwardsauthor).
And if this is your first Mark Edwards book and you’d like to read more, I’ve put together a guide for new readers, which you can find on my website: www.markedwardsauthor.com/new-readers-guide.
Time for some thanks:
My editors David Downing and Laura Deacon, who passed me the scalpels and mopped my brow as I performed critical surgery on this novel;
Everyone at Thomas & Mercer, including Hatty Stiles, Eoin Purcell, Sana Chebaro, Jack Butler, Nicole Wagner, Sarah Shaw and Gracie Doyle;
My agent Madeleine Milburn and everyone at the agency;
Sophie Ransom and Amber Choudhary at Midas PR for sterling work spreading the word;
Lisa Harrison for helping me make time to do the important stuff, i.e. writing.
Two readers won the dubious honour of having characters in this novel named after them: Niven Kyle and Cara Barker. I hope you enjoyed meeting your namesakes! Thanks also to everyone on my Facebook page and those in my street team, who are the best cheerleaders ever.
This book is dedicated to my children – Poppy, Ellie, Archie and Harry – and my amazing wife, Sara. Thanks for not complaining too much as I marched you around New York in the blazing August heat.
Finally, a big thank you to you, the reader, for taking the time to read this book and making it all the way through to the very last word. Hey, maybe we should get together and start a cult . . .
Only kidding.
Mark Edwards
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About the Author
Photo © 2016 Tim Sturgess
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people.
He has sold 3 million books since his first novel, The Magpies, was published in 2013, and has topped the bestseller lists several times. His other novels include Follow You Home, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Because She Loves Me, The Devil’s Work and Here To Stay. He has also co-authored six books with Louise Voss.
Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Mark now lives in Wolverhampton with his wife, their children, three cats and a golden retriever.
Mark loves hearing from readers and can be contacted through his website, www.markedwardsauthor.com, or you can find him on Facebook (@markedwardsbooks), Twitter (@mredwards) and Instagram (@markedwardsauthor).