In this short thriller from number one 'New York Times' best-selling authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, a young woman's dream getaway becomes her worst nightmare.
Prepare yourself for a transformative experience. Sometimes, life's setbacks contain hidden gifts. Here at Lakewood, you'll find the space to unwrap them.
A weekend at the Lakewood Retreat is exactly what Chloe Powell needs. Freshly unemployed after her boss loses a reelection campaign, the former press secretary desperately wants a break from the bustle of Washington DC. A flier posted at her yoga studio leads her to the getaway, which looks organic meals, celebrity testimonials, and a serene private property within driving distance of the city.
It's so perfect, in fact, that Chloe's barely bothered by the intensely personal questions she's asked in her application, or the unnerving social experiments her enigmatic host, Sebastian, imposes on her once she arrives at his remote cabin. But when a mysterious new guest shows up, Chloe can no longer suppress her rising This place is not at all what it seems.
A pulse-pounding story from the first minute to the last, 'THE GETAWAY' explores the weight of the small choices we make every day, and their staggering, unintended consequences.
I'm the number one New York Times bestselling co-author of THE WIFE BETWEEN US, AN ANONYMOUS GIRL, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, and THE GOLDEN COUPLE.
Prior to becoming a novelist, I obtained my master's degree in journalism at Columbia University and spent two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. My writing has appeared in The New York Times, Allure, Publishers Weekly and other publications.
This was totally preposterous. I have liked Hendricks and Pekkanen’s other works. But this was silly, depending on a major suspension of belief. There’s a good reason audible was giving it away for free.
This short novella was just an o.k. listen for me. The main character, Chloe, was sure slow on figuring out that things were not as they were advertised.
Stressed out and unemployed after leading a political campaign, Chloe signs up for a yoga retreat. The photos and endorsements sounded good, just what she needed.
However things immediately start to feel suspicious when the driver that picks her up turns out to be Sebastian, the leader of the retreat. It is also eerily quiet in the large house, which doesn't look like it is set up for a group of people. In fact when she arrives she is the only one there.
Things accelerate from suspicious to crazy bad as Sebastian begins to ask her personal questions and starts to change from a welcoming demeanor to a threatening, even menacing one.
This is a short novella so I don't want to give away anything. I thought that the use of a whispered voice in the narrative was annoying to listen to and really didn't add anything to the book.
I did finish it and the ending was good, clever and even made me gasp at the ending.
This is a free audible listen and if you want a lighter thriller you might want to give it a try.
A super-popular suspense writing duo churned out a little novella for Audible to give away as a freebie for their members.
If you like long-form thrillers by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, it's a totally fine listen. Kate Mara ("House of Cards," "A Teacher") narrates the story of a woman who goes on a retreat in the remote woods to recharge her batteries. BUT - you won't believe this - all is not what it seems and coocoocachoo things happen.
If you don't like long-form thrillers by Hendricks and Pekkanen, just move along, move along...
I listened to the audible original “The Getaway” written by the dream team of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, narrated by Emily Bauer. For me, it was an OK listen. I think I expected more from the authors, given their previous endeavors. The creep factor is fair. The main character, Chloe Powell seemed too ignorant to be believable. She’s a press secretary for a losing candidate and needs a break. So she falls for this too good to be true weekend retreat. She’s duped into strange situations. It wasn’t very interesting for me until the final chapters. It’s a basic “meh”
Free with Audible Plus, The Getaway is a novella with an ambiguous title. It’s an extremely fast paced thriller. Although the story was somewhat predictable, it was still good and definitely creepy. It was well developed especially given its length and the narrator did a great job. 3.5 stars.
A short read, but one packed with loads of suspense and tension!
Chloe Powell, a burnt out, former press secretary, is in desperate need of a break from her stressful life. So when she comes across an alluring yoga retreat poster she decides it was a sign from the universe. But when she gets to the quaint, isolated getaway and meets its charismatic founder Sebastian, she soon realizes that there is more to the mysterious man and his retreat than meets the eye.
Kate Mara does an excelling job narrating the story and building the anticipation from the get-go. I was hooked right from the start and couldn’t put it down!
THE GETAWAY was given away as an Audible Original.
I had a hard time suspending my disbelief, mostly because the main character was not believable. It didn't make sense for her to do the things she did.
I feel like everyone was trying too hard with this story, the authors and the narrator. (The narrator was pretty good, it wasn't her fault that I didn't believe the story she was telling. She was trying to inject suspense and excitement, but they just weren't there.)
*I downloaded this from Audible for free, as part of my membership.*
*Listened to on 6.17.20-6.18.20. Not entering reading dates so this doesn't count towards my reading goal for the year.*
This is a fun little diversion if you are looking for a 2.5 hour audiobook escape that is suspenseful and fast paced. I enjoy these two authors and it was fun listening to a shorter story because it got straight to the point and the action. As always with these two, the idea is totally original and twisted. The twist towards the middle was totally unexpected (at least to me) and fun. With a very innovative premise and a couple of very strong and interesting female characters who are smart and can fend for themselves, I actually wished this story had gone on a little longer. Really looking forward to their next book.
The Getaway was a pretty good short mystery. A lot happened within 2 hours that I wasn't fully prepared for. The twists and turns just kept getting better and better. Heck, even the cliffhanger ending kept me on the edge of my seat. No idea if there's going to be another novella or not but I wouldn't be mad if there was.
This book definitely made me think twice before going to any yoga retreat. Maybe any retreat.. unless there's wine? The thing that made me proud was watching the girls working together to escape. I also would've like it to be a bit longer so that it wasn't so choppy throughout the book.
Very entertaining! This is a quick mystery that had me hooked from the start. I would definitely recommend if you like this author duo and intriguing thrillers. Fun and fast paced!
This was a short, annoying, predictable but mildly heartpounding listen.
Obvious clues were obvious and there really needed to be a better resolution.
The plot raised questions it didn't answer, a writing issue that I find annoying, even in short stories where in detailed epilogues are generally unconventional.
Overall, though, this is one I'd recommend to anyone in the mood for a quick, if familiar, thrill ride. Three stars.
I have really enjoyed every book by this author duo and it was certainly an intriguing enough storyline to keep me hooked. I enjoy these types of stories where the main protagonist is placed in a secluded location where they have to use their wits to survive.
Meh... not very convincing, though somewhat thrilling. The beginning is very slow, the ending is rushed. Also, why give Chloe a background in politics if it doesn’t play any role, nor it gives her any hints that she should take all the red flags more seriously? Maybe it would have been more interesting if this would have been a longer book, as the authors would have had the time to develop the story and build up the tensions. Maybe. Or maybe not.
2.5 🙄🙄 when women are clueless but it was a distracting getaway in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep stars. Definitely causes the reader to feel her superior intelligence in such matters.
Having loved these two authors previous books, I was thrilled to see an Audible Original offered as one of May’s free audiobooks.
I thought this was a good, creepy story told from the POVs of 2 woman staying at a yoga retreat. I was completely invested in the characters and the story. The narration by Emily Bauer was pretty good.
Not great. The characters and the plot are pretty weak, and I found it difficult to get invested at all. Very quick read, got this for free but I would still argue it wasn’t worth it.
This Audible Orginal is only 144 minutes long but I quit after the first hour, at the end of the first chapter because the set up was transparent, the tone was exploitative and, instead of being concerned with the welfare of the main character, I found myself moving from being impatient with her to angry at her. I decided life was too short to spend more time on this.
I picked up 'The Getaway' because it was free from Audible and because I'd heard good things about "The Wife Between Us" from these two writers and thought I could use this novella to sample their work.
When I was a third of the way in to the novella, I was unimpressed but still ready to listen. the storytelling was competent, the tone was creepy and laced with latent threat but I was struggling to believe in or care about the main character.
She was too conveniently tragic. She was also incredibly trusting. She was supposed to bright (straight-A-student, political activist) but she proved remarkably open to psychobabble of the be-the-best-teapot-you-can-be kind and saw a charismatic man where I saw a predatory charmer.
By the end of the first chapter, a second woman was in danger and asks our heroine for help. Her first instinctive response? To assume the second woman is lying to want to run to the predatory male to discuss what could have happened to this woman to make her exhibit this behaviour.
At that point, I was done. I didn't care what happened to this woman and my disbelief could no longer be suspended.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I should be treating this a sort of literary fairground ride, something I'm supposed to enjoy even though I know the terror is manufactured?
3.5⭐️ stories like this one makes me not want to leave the house ..literally. It’s crazy how one moment can alter the entire course of your life and it’s crazy how crazy some people can actually be.
This was a quick audible listen that I did enjoy. It was a fast paced story that all came together in the end. If you are looking for something short but still a thrill this is the one for you!