Liza North’s The Weekend Guests –  A Friendly Reunion Turns Deadly

Aline, Sienna, Rob, and Michael were college friends, studying, partying, and vacationing together. On one of their last trips they were joined for the weekend by an American, Brandon. Aline and Brandon are now married and enjoying a wealthy lifestyle with homes in London and the country. Aline, who was always the Queen Bee of the group, invites all of them to their redesigned Dorset home for what promises to be a fabulous reunion. Aline, however, has something else in mind, scores to settle about what happened in the past that now threaten to destroy the life she has built.

The narrative shifts between the college years and during the Dorset get together at Aline and Brandon’s showcase house with stunning views of the water and coast. None of Aline’s friends have managed to amass the riches she has, and the reunion begins on a sour note with all the “in your face” decor, furnishings, cars, even a full-time nanny, Milly, who is now prepared to care for the visitors’ children, too. 

At school, the four students had in their building another person, Darryl, who was working on his dissertation and having a hard time socially. A better than average chess player, Darryl would pressure Rob into a game. But since Rob’s social life was better than Darryl’s, those games frequently were cancelled, just fueling Darryl’s anger towards his more fortunate neighbors.

When the professor overseeing Darryl’s dissertation went on leave, another professor, Gemma, became his supervisor. Gemma gave Darryl the encouragement that he never received from anyone else in the department, and he soon developed an unhealthy attachment, giving her gifts and showing up without an invitation at her house. A future visit will end tragically and cause Darryl to truly spiral out of control. Darryl lost his parents and younger sister when they were in a car accident. He was forced to live with distant relatives in New Zealand who treated him badly.

The younger Aline had a way of manipulating her friends into doing whatever she wanted. A fitness freak, she would get those without her stamina to participate in long runs and swims. Afraid of the water? Heights? Didn’t matter. If you wanted to please Aline, participation was mandatory. Those dynamics and rules still hold as the women and men gather at Dorset. 

Rob, infamous for cycling through girlfriends for one night stands, shows up for the reunion with the much younger Cass. He’s blindsided when Sienna, an old flame, the woman he dated for the longest time and truly his only love, arrives from her home in California. She’s left behind her husband and traveled with their two children. But her reason for coming is not to see Rob, although the attraction is still there, but to see if any of her former friends have also received a threatening letter from an anonymous source. They have, of course, and soon these notes become the real reason behind Aline’s reunion plans. For many years, Aline, Rob, Sienna, Brandon, and Michael have concealed a secret that may now be revealed and send more than one of them to prison.

Liza North (Photo Credit: Andrea Thomson Photography) 

Someone has been lurking around the Dorset property. Is that person the anonymous writer who may now resort to violence to settle past scores? Protect the children becomes a battle cry, but can they even do that?

Liza North has created a fascinating group of characters, not all of them likable, but each one unique and fitting into a fascinating puzzle that takes time to come together. The university scenes are well drawn, down to the furnishings and posters on the wall. Darryl, as the most menacing of the group, has many secrets he tries to hide until one comes exploding into view, destroying any chance he ever had of forming relationships with the other students or, indeed, with Gemma.

And that beautiful, yet malevolent Dorset coast becomes another character in North’s story and, in the end, the most formidable opponent of all.

The Weekend Guests
Liza North

Top Photo: Bigstock

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About Charlene Giannetti (765 Articles)
Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, is the recipient of seven awards from the New York Press Club for articles that have appeared on the website. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Charlene began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania, then wrote for several publications in Washington covering environment and energy policy. In New York, she was an editor at Business Week magazine and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. She is the author of 13 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including "The Roller-Coaster Years," "Cliques," and "Boy Crazy." She and Margaret have been keynote speakers at many events and have appeared on the Today Show, CBS Morning, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and many others. Her last book, "The Plantations of Virginia," written with Jai Williams, was published by Globe Pequot Press in February, 2017. Her podcast, WAT-CAST, interviewing men and women making news, is available on Soundcloud and on iTunes. She is one of the producers for the film "Life After You," focusing on the opioid/heroin crisis that had its premiere at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won two awards. The film is now available to view on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other services. Charlene and her husband live in Manhattan.