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The Honeymoon Trap
A pulp novel has a book critic wondering if his new wife is out to kill him in this thrilling story by the New York Times bestselling author of Nine Lives.
When Henry arrives with his wife, Alice, for their honeymoon at a New England lake house, he encounters a strange sense of déjà vu. Plenty of vacation homes have shelves full of books, but this one has midcentury-American crime novels by the likes of John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, Rex Stout, Patricia Highsmith, and more. It’s just like Henry’s collection back home.
There is one book, however, that’s unfamiliar: The Honeymoon Trap. As Henry reads it, he finds the story has uncanny similarities with his own situation—newlyweds on a honeymoon after a whirlwind romance. When Alice begins to act suspiciously, Henry’s grip on reality slowly comes loose. He can’t stop reading the book and wondering what his wife is up to. He also believes he may be caught in a trap, and getting out of it is going to be murder . . .
When Henry arrives with his wife, Alice, for their honeymoon at a New England lake house, he encounters a strange sense of déjà vu. Plenty of vacation homes have shelves full of books, but this one has midcentury-American crime novels by the likes of John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, Rex Stout, Patricia Highsmith, and more. It’s just like Henry’s collection back home.
There is one book, however, that’s unfamiliar: The Honeymoon Trap. As Henry reads it, he finds the story has uncanny similarities with his own situation—newlyweds on a honeymoon after a whirlwind romance. When Alice begins to act suspiciously, Henry’s grip on reality slowly comes loose. He can’t stop reading the book and wondering what his wife is up to. He also believes he may be caught in a trap, and getting out of it is going to be murder . . .
55 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
83 people are currently reading
1462 people want to read
About the author
Peter Swanson
21 books13k followersPeter Swanson is the author of six novels including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year, and his most recent thriller, Eight Perfect Murders. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
April 14, 2023
Introducing Bibliomysteries! (Short mystery tales which are ALL about DEADLY BOOKS)☠️📚
https://mysteriouspress.com/blog/intr...
How the heck did I not know about these?!
Or that Peter Swanson wrote a 55 page novella for the series!? 🧐
Otto Penzler is the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattanan. It is the oldest and largest mystery specialty bookstore in America. (I would ❤️ to visit it!)
He also founded the Mysterious Press in 1975, and his imprint became known for its selection of mystery, crime and suspense books, offering many limited, signed editions on fine paper with dust jackets from the top artists.
And, now he is going digital with Bibliomysteries! (About 30 so far!)
So, OF COURSE, I started with Peter Swanson’s “The Honeymoon Trap”! (Since “The Kind Worth Killing” is an all time favorite!)
When Henry and his beautiful new wife, Alice arrive at their honeymoon cottage, he experiences a great sense of déjà vu. The bookcase in the in the vacation rental looks EXACTLY like his bookshelf at home. But on the very bottom shelf, he spots the first book by an author he doesn’t recognize…”The Honeymoon Trap” by Elvin Rhyne. He flips the book over..
TWO WEEKS OF HONEYMOON BLISS IN THE FLORIDA SUN-BUT WOULD THE SECRETS SHE KEPT LEAD TO MURDER?!
He decides to give it a try…and then life begins to imitate Art.
This was a fun, quick read and since many of my favorite authors in the genre have participated, I am sure it’s just the first of many that I will end up reading.
After all, what bibliophile doesn’t like a story which involves books?!
This one and many others are AVAILABLE now! (Some are even INCLUDED with an Audible subscription!)
https://mysteriouspress.com/blog/intr...
How the heck did I not know about these?!
Or that Peter Swanson wrote a 55 page novella for the series!? 🧐
Otto Penzler is the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattanan. It is the oldest and largest mystery specialty bookstore in America. (I would ❤️ to visit it!)
He also founded the Mysterious Press in 1975, and his imprint became known for its selection of mystery, crime and suspense books, offering many limited, signed editions on fine paper with dust jackets from the top artists.
And, now he is going digital with Bibliomysteries! (About 30 so far!)
So, OF COURSE, I started with Peter Swanson’s “The Honeymoon Trap”! (Since “The Kind Worth Killing” is an all time favorite!)
When Henry and his beautiful new wife, Alice arrive at their honeymoon cottage, he experiences a great sense of déjà vu. The bookcase in the in the vacation rental looks EXACTLY like his bookshelf at home. But on the very bottom shelf, he spots the first book by an author he doesn’t recognize…”The Honeymoon Trap” by Elvin Rhyne. He flips the book over..
TWO WEEKS OF HONEYMOON BLISS IN THE FLORIDA SUN-BUT WOULD THE SECRETS SHE KEPT LEAD TO MURDER?!
He decides to give it a try…and then life begins to imitate Art.
This was a fun, quick read and since many of my favorite authors in the genre have participated, I am sure it’s just the first of many that I will end up reading.
After all, what bibliophile doesn’t like a story which involves books?!
This one and many others are AVAILABLE now! (Some are even INCLUDED with an Audible subscription!)
April 14, 2023
His gig was a book reviewer. He didn't "really work". He meets Alice Stone, ten years younger than him and they get married after six months of dating.
It is going to be a thrilling honeymoon for Henry and Alice.
Henry chooses a book from the bookshelf at their rental. Soon, a deep sense of déjà vu grips his every thought. The novel mirrors his current situation. Things spiral out of control and reality/fiction starts to blur.
I was loving the direction and read this short story in a day( it is only 55 pages). BUT, the ending left me at a total loss! I'll just quote one of the characters, " I don't like it Henry, Not one little bit."
I am up for trying a few more of these Bibliomysteries from Amazon.
It is going to be a thrilling honeymoon for Henry and Alice.
Henry chooses a book from the bookshelf at their rental. Soon, a deep sense of déjà vu grips his every thought. The novel mirrors his current situation. Things spiral out of control and reality/fiction starts to blur.
I was loving the direction and read this short story in a day( it is only 55 pages). BUT, the ending left me at a total loss! I'll just quote one of the characters, " I don't like it Henry, Not one little bit."
I am up for trying a few more of these Bibliomysteries from Amazon.
April 13, 2023
3.5, rounded up. This longer short story or short novella was just okay for me - I usually love everything Swanson does, but this one was not his best IMHO - had a hard time wrapping my head around it. Still going to be first in line for his next :)
August 5, 2024
5 stars
short review for busy readers:
Peter Swanson hits it out of the park with this superb short mystery that fools the reader until the stunning end. An end which has confused a number of reviewers and led to undeserved low ratings, IMHO. Be forewarned! (If you've finished this one and still find yourself confused, read my spoilered explanation at the end of this review.)
in detail:
Ostensibly, we meet Harry and Alice on their honeymoon. Harry discovers a paperback pulp thriller called “The Honeymoon Trap” in the lake house where they’re staying and, while reading, starts to draw deadly parallels between his own honeymoon and the events in the book.
What makes this story so very good is that Swanson is leading us – the readers - on. We aren’t seeing what we think we are. We're led one way, then another, then another as Harry tries to figure things out. We think Alice is having an affair, or she's plotting to kill Harry or, or, or...
Here's how I understand what happened:
btw: a ‘honey trap’ is spy/crime jargon for when an attractive person approaches a mark with clear romantic or sexual intentions in order to get information or tempt the mark into an fatal ambush. This is probably where Swanson got the title/idea from.
short review for busy readers:
Peter Swanson hits it out of the park with this superb short mystery that fools the reader until the stunning end. An end which has confused a number of reviewers and led to undeserved low ratings, IMHO. Be forewarned! (If you've finished this one and still find yourself confused, read my spoilered explanation at the end of this review.)
in detail:
Ostensibly, we meet Harry and Alice on their honeymoon. Harry discovers a paperback pulp thriller called “The Honeymoon Trap” in the lake house where they’re staying and, while reading, starts to draw deadly parallels between his own honeymoon and the events in the book.
What makes this story so very good is that Swanson is leading us – the readers - on. We aren’t seeing what we think we are. We're led one way, then another, then another as Harry tries to figure things out. We think Alice is having an affair, or she's plotting to kill Harry or, or, or...
Here's how I understand what happened:
btw: a ‘honey trap’ is spy/crime jargon for when an attractive person approaches a mark with clear romantic or sexual intentions in order to get information or tempt the mark into an fatal ambush. This is probably where Swanson got the title/idea from.
November 27, 2024
OK. So basically, I have the same complaint about this book that all the other ambivalent reviewers have.
This is a really good book. I thought it was gonna be a five star review. It’s a novella about a newly married couple who are on their honeymoon.
The husband is himself a reader, just like we are!
While away on his honeymoon, he picks a book out of the library to read. It’s a thriller, but what’s absolutely eerie and creepy about it is the whole book mirrors his own honeymoon with his wife.
Our protagonist starts going slowly insane as he starts wondering if his dear darling wife might in fact want to murder him.
I can’t even express how great the atmosphere was. This little book, for being so short really packs a heck of a punch. Not one second of boredom, no skimming. It was a pretty transfixing read overall.
Except for one thing.
And now, of course, as so many have done before me, I must warn of :
SPOILERS
The ending was seriously messed up. One or two other reviewers compared it to a twilight zone episode, but I’d have to disagree because I think we come away knowing more about any twilight zone episode then we do with this book.
I have absolutely no idea what in the world happened and if any of you have read it, could you please comment below and explain the ending to me? I tried to look it up, but all I got was a gazillion other readers who also don’t know.
I just don’t like that. Look, there are lots of books that have kind of abstract endings, but this was not just an abstract. This was impossible to understand and left me feeling really frustrated rather than feeling I got a sensational read.
And the thing is, it was a sensational read until the ending. I could not bring myself to give this under three because I enjoyed most of the story so much. This is my first time reading the author, and I have no idea if these kind of endings are a norm or it’s just this one book. I mean, I really don’t know.
It did have a twilight zone feeling to it, as well as something that may have been heavily influenced by Stephen King. I don’t know for a fact that it was, but it certainly I certainly felt the presence of Stephen King within the Pages.
But eerie endings have to leave some kind of understanding even if the ending isn’t spelled out, even if we don’t know exactly what it means. There should not be this complete feeling of impotence and what the heck are you talking about? That’s disappointing to me so much. A not so great ending to an utterly fascinating book.
This is a really good book. I thought it was gonna be a five star review. It’s a novella about a newly married couple who are on their honeymoon.
The husband is himself a reader, just like we are!
While away on his honeymoon, he picks a book out of the library to read. It’s a thriller, but what’s absolutely eerie and creepy about it is the whole book mirrors his own honeymoon with his wife.
Our protagonist starts going slowly insane as he starts wondering if his dear darling wife might in fact want to murder him.
I can’t even express how great the atmosphere was. This little book, for being so short really packs a heck of a punch. Not one second of boredom, no skimming. It was a pretty transfixing read overall.
Except for one thing.
And now, of course, as so many have done before me, I must warn of :
SPOILERS
The ending was seriously messed up. One or two other reviewers compared it to a twilight zone episode, but I’d have to disagree because I think we come away knowing more about any twilight zone episode then we do with this book.
I have absolutely no idea what in the world happened and if any of you have read it, could you please comment below and explain the ending to me? I tried to look it up, but all I got was a gazillion other readers who also don’t know.
I just don’t like that. Look, there are lots of books that have kind of abstract endings, but this was not just an abstract. This was impossible to understand and left me feeling really frustrated rather than feeling I got a sensational read.
And the thing is, it was a sensational read until the ending. I could not bring myself to give this under three because I enjoyed most of the story so much. This is my first time reading the author, and I have no idea if these kind of endings are a norm or it’s just this one book. I mean, I really don’t know.
It did have a twilight zone feeling to it, as well as something that may have been heavily influenced by Stephen King. I don’t know for a fact that it was, but it certainly I certainly felt the presence of Stephen King within the Pages.
But eerie endings have to leave some kind of understanding even if the ending isn’t spelled out, even if we don’t know exactly what it means. There should not be this complete feeling of impotence and what the heck are you talking about? That’s disappointing to me so much. A not so great ending to an utterly fascinating book.
October 5, 2023
I don't understand!! It seemed thrilling, engaging, a good little novella and then I got to the end and I am CONFUSED. What just happened?! Seriously, help? Can anyone explain pls? 😆
Also, I feel like this would have been even better if I knew a lot of book, celebrity, actor references etc. (a me issue, not a book issue). Maybe that's why it makes no sense to me?
Side bar - comforting to hear I'm not the only person, fictional or not, who literally can't stop their mind running without a good book!
Also, I feel like this would have been even better if I knew a lot of book, celebrity, actor references etc. (a me issue, not a book issue). Maybe that's why it makes no sense to me?
Side bar - comforting to hear I'm not the only person, fictional or not, who literally can't stop their mind running without a good book!
January 6, 2023
This was my first ever book (albeit a short story) by Peter Swanson. While I enjoyed it, I have definite mixed feelings.
Imagine being on your honeymoon and finding a book that mirrors your current life's everyday exactly. That's the situation of the newlyweds in The Honeymoon Trap. Like a story within a story almost. Great, right? Stay tuned...
I was immediately drawn in and the writing held my attention throughout the entirety of the novella, curious to see what happens next. It all goes awry at the end, though, and I'm not even totally sure what I read.
It got really confusing and I have a general handle on how it ended, but I'm still left feeling a bit perplexed. And not in a good way.
I'm not saying it left a bad taste in my mouth, but I'm definitely not in a hurry to read another book by Peter Swanson anytime soon.
2 stars, just because 2.5 stars isn't an option and 3 stars feels like too many.
Imagine being on your honeymoon and finding a book that mirrors your current life's everyday exactly. That's the situation of the newlyweds in The Honeymoon Trap. Like a story within a story almost. Great, right? Stay tuned...
I was immediately drawn in and the writing held my attention throughout the entirety of the novella, curious to see what happens next. It all goes awry at the end, though, and I'm not even totally sure what I read.
It got really confusing and I have a general handle on how it ended, but I'm still left feeling a bit perplexed. And not in a good way.
I'm not saying it left a bad taste in my mouth, but I'm definitely not in a hurry to read another book by Peter Swanson anytime soon.
2 stars, just because 2.5 stars isn't an option and 3 stars feels like too many.
July 14, 2023
It seemed like it was going to be a good story but what happened there at the end?
December 9, 2022
Bestselling author Peter Swanson returns following Nine Lives with a twisty thriller, THE HONEYMOON TRAP, a BiblioMysteries: Short Tales About Deadly Books, with a Highsmith/Hitchcockian vibe.
A pulp novel has a book review critic wondering if his new wife is out to kill him.
Henry and Alice are on their honeymoon. They decided to do something different, since they live in Sarasota, FL, and experience sunny weather all year round—to an old-fashioned lake house in New England area. Alice plans the entire trip after researching hundreds of vacation rentals.
Henry is a book reviewer for the Sarasota Busker as more of a hobby. He loves books and is a collector of Midcentury American crime fiction paperbacks.
Upon arrival at their rental cottage on Blackford Lake, located in the northernmost part of Maine, he is pleasantly surprised by the vast amount of paperbacks lining the shelves! They are classic pulp novels, stories about spies and gangsters, and detectives meant to slide into your back pocket or jacket.
It looks like his bookshelf at home. These are the books he has loved since he was ten, devouring his grandfather's bookshelf as a boy. He especially likes all 21 of the Travis McGee paperbacks.
Henry made his money from an inherited auto business from his father and sold many of the shops. Financially, this allows him to do what he loves. He also met his wife, Alice, in Siesta Key as a waitress from NC.
The shelves are lined with tons of classics and names of authors he adores. However, he has a deep sense of déjà vu.
He spots a book on the bottom shelf he does not recognize, The Honeymoon Trap by Elvin Rhyne. He is intrigued and especially when he starts reading. It is too similar to his life.
The characters Nick and Celia are similar in their relationship, newly married. Throughout the chapters, Nick becomes suspicious of his new wife, and Henry is beginning to relate. Nick winds up murdering the wife and lover in the novel.
The headline, "Two weeks of honeymoon, bliss in the Florida Sun, but would the secrets she kept lead to murder?
The book pulls him in, he becomes obsessed with it and paranoid the more he reads.
When Alice starts going on errands, acting suspicious, leaving him alone on their honeymoon, and staying gone for hours, he starts worrying.
She often returned with farmer's market delights, gourmet food, wine, and other delectables, which made him happy, but this continues daily.
In the book, the wife has another life. What does he know about Alice's past? It turns out she lived in this area, and she knows someone here. What if she is having an affair or is married to someone else and leading a double life?
Henry takes things too far, when the lines between fact and fiction become blurred—and the obsession turns deadly. The reader will wonder if it is reality or a dream. Nothing is as it appears. Everything has a purpose and reason and can be explained. But will he get too impatient and not wait for explanations? Will he become a murderer, too?
If you have read any of Swanson's books, you never know.
Being a Floridan for the past 20 yrs, (native of NC) and love stories about Florida and the mysterious atmospheric New England vacation setting. I formerly managed and designed vacation rentals throughout the Southeast and always stocked them with books. I donated tons of my collections to B&B Inns and vacation rental cottages because I loved them so much when I traveled.
The main and supporting characters were a lot of fun! This a twisty, fun psychological thriller of domestic suspense that will have you glued to the pages in this gripping short story.
Booklovers, book reviewers, avid readers, and bibliophiles will devour all the classic titles, book references, and iconic authors.
I am enjoying the BiblioMysteries: Short Tales About Deadly Books. $2.99 is a low price to pay for fun entertainment! Check out all the selections by top thriller authors. Also recommend Lisa Unger's The Dark Door!
Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 🌟 Stars
Pub Date: Dec 6, 2022
Dec 2022 Must-Read Books
A pulp novel has a book review critic wondering if his new wife is out to kill him.
Henry and Alice are on their honeymoon. They decided to do something different, since they live in Sarasota, FL, and experience sunny weather all year round—to an old-fashioned lake house in New England area. Alice plans the entire trip after researching hundreds of vacation rentals.
Henry is a book reviewer for the Sarasota Busker as more of a hobby. He loves books and is a collector of Midcentury American crime fiction paperbacks.
Upon arrival at their rental cottage on Blackford Lake, located in the northernmost part of Maine, he is pleasantly surprised by the vast amount of paperbacks lining the shelves! They are classic pulp novels, stories about spies and gangsters, and detectives meant to slide into your back pocket or jacket.
It looks like his bookshelf at home. These are the books he has loved since he was ten, devouring his grandfather's bookshelf as a boy. He especially likes all 21 of the Travis McGee paperbacks.
Henry made his money from an inherited auto business from his father and sold many of the shops. Financially, this allows him to do what he loves. He also met his wife, Alice, in Siesta Key as a waitress from NC.
The shelves are lined with tons of classics and names of authors he adores. However, he has a deep sense of déjà vu.
He spots a book on the bottom shelf he does not recognize, The Honeymoon Trap by Elvin Rhyne. He is intrigued and especially when he starts reading. It is too similar to his life.
The characters Nick and Celia are similar in their relationship, newly married. Throughout the chapters, Nick becomes suspicious of his new wife, and Henry is beginning to relate. Nick winds up murdering the wife and lover in the novel.
The headline, "Two weeks of honeymoon, bliss in the Florida Sun, but would the secrets she kept lead to murder?
The book pulls him in, he becomes obsessed with it and paranoid the more he reads.
When Alice starts going on errands, acting suspicious, leaving him alone on their honeymoon, and staying gone for hours, he starts worrying.
She often returned with farmer's market delights, gourmet food, wine, and other delectables, which made him happy, but this continues daily.
In the book, the wife has another life. What does he know about Alice's past? It turns out she lived in this area, and she knows someone here. What if she is having an affair or is married to someone else and leading a double life?
Henry takes things too far, when the lines between fact and fiction become blurred—and the obsession turns deadly. The reader will wonder if it is reality or a dream. Nothing is as it appears. Everything has a purpose and reason and can be explained. But will he get too impatient and not wait for explanations? Will he become a murderer, too?
If you have read any of Swanson's books, you never know.
Being a Floridan for the past 20 yrs, (native of NC) and love stories about Florida and the mysterious atmospheric New England vacation setting. I formerly managed and designed vacation rentals throughout the Southeast and always stocked them with books. I donated tons of my collections to B&B Inns and vacation rental cottages because I loved them so much when I traveled.
The main and supporting characters were a lot of fun! This a twisty, fun psychological thriller of domestic suspense that will have you glued to the pages in this gripping short story.
Booklovers, book reviewers, avid readers, and bibliophiles will devour all the classic titles, book references, and iconic authors.
I am enjoying the BiblioMysteries: Short Tales About Deadly Books. $2.99 is a low price to pay for fun entertainment! Check out all the selections by top thriller authors. Also recommend Lisa Unger's The Dark Door!
Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 🌟 Stars
Pub Date: Dec 6, 2022
Dec 2022 Must-Read Books
December 17, 2022
I’m a Peter Swanson fan, but this novella wasn’t for me. It felt like a fever dream, in that I was constantly thinking I knew what was happening, only to realize I was confused again. Reading this was like trying to get out of quicksand.
January 17, 2025
Interesting premise and plot, but too many editorial mistakes like not updating characters' names to their new names in certain places in the text.
April 10, 2023
I really liked this one in the beginning but unfortunately it fell apart towards the end.
I didn't understand the wife signing her notes xx V, when her name was Alice, but towards the end of the book her name becomes Valerie? Ditto, the main character's name is Henry, but at the end they refer to him as Ned. Was this bad editing or some weirdness that would have made this story fantastic?
I didn't understand the wife signing her notes xx V, when her name was Alice, but towards the end of the book her name becomes Valerie? Ditto, the main character's name is Henry, but at the end they refer to him as Ned. Was this bad editing or some weirdness that would have made this story fantastic?
March 30, 2023
This has to be one of the first books (short stories, whatever) that I have been left completely confused by the ending. I'm stil trying to piece together what happened, which is something I DO not like lol.
I love Peter Swanson; he is one of my favourite authors. That is why when I found out he had a short story, I had to read it.
The premise of this one aswell, was great. A couple (Henry and Alice) that recently got married (VERY quickly after dating for only a short while) - are on their honeymoon. There, Henry finds a massive bookcase full of books he loves, and some he hasn't even read.
Among them, is a book that catches his eye called The Honeymoon Trap. Henry starts to read the book and gets disturbed as the book seems to mirror what is happening in his life right now. It's about a couple on a honeymoon, the wife disappears randomly and doesn't tell the hubby where she is going.... its all freaking Henry out.
Spoilerish thoughts ahead...
I really with my brain could comprehend what the hell just happened, and i wish this was a novel instead of a short story because I feel Swanson could have done a lot more with this... but... I liked it I guess!
I love Peter Swanson; he is one of my favourite authors. That is why when I found out he had a short story, I had to read it.
The premise of this one aswell, was great. A couple (Henry and Alice) that recently got married (VERY quickly after dating for only a short while) - are on their honeymoon. There, Henry finds a massive bookcase full of books he loves, and some he hasn't even read.
Among them, is a book that catches his eye called The Honeymoon Trap. Henry starts to read the book and gets disturbed as the book seems to mirror what is happening in his life right now. It's about a couple on a honeymoon, the wife disappears randomly and doesn't tell the hubby where she is going.... its all freaking Henry out.
Spoilerish thoughts ahead...
I really with my brain could comprehend what the hell just happened, and i wish this was a novel instead of a short story because I feel Swanson could have done a lot more with this... but... I liked it I guess!
July 31, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
October 2, 2025
A guy is haunted by a book. He kills. He loses his mind. That's it.
December 16, 2022
3.75 stars
This is a very Peter Swanson type of book. That ending was quite the thing. Still trying to wrap my head around it.
This is a very Peter Swanson type of book. That ending was quite the thing. Still trying to wrap my head around it.
December 9, 2022
Fantastic
Classic Peter Swanson what a masterful story teller he is! As with all his books this one kept me turning the pages until I was finished because I just how to find out how it ended thrilling short story I highly recommend
Classic Peter Swanson what a masterful story teller he is! As with all his books this one kept me turning the pages until I was finished because I just how to find out how it ended thrilling short story I highly recommend
December 7, 2022
The Honeymoon Trap by Peter Swanson
Bibliomysteries
55-page Ebook story on pages 7-47
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Featuring: Books, Newlyweds, Lake House, Maine, Book Reviewer, Book Within a Book, Advertisements
Rating as a movie: R
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My thoughts: This story was pretty good, not at all what I imagined it would be. I thought I had it figured out, and if you're familiar with Swanson, you know how that goes.
Recommend to others?: Sure. This story was quick and surprising with classic charm.
Bibliomysteries
55-page Ebook story on pages 7-47
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Featuring: Books, Newlyweds, Lake House, Maine, Book Reviewer, Book Within a Book, Advertisements
Rating as a movie: R
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My thoughts: This story was pretty good, not at all what I imagined it would be. I thought I had it figured out, and if you're familiar with Swanson, you know how that goes.
Recommend to others?: Sure. This story was quick and surprising with classic charm.
December 16, 2022
A good short story, only 55 pages. Very typical of Peter Swanson's work. My favorite is still "Nine Lives" but I enjoy all of his writing. This little story was much different than I expected in a good way.
January 19, 2023
One of my favourite authors but didn't enjoy this one.
January 29, 2023
Not really sure what the point was.
August 1, 2024
This book set itself up to be an interesting read, but then all of a sudden we reach the ending and it made absolutely no sense.
December 30, 2024
Swanson delivers a suspenseful and gripping tale that keeps you guessing until the end. The twists and well-crafted characters make this a thrilling page-turner. It’s both clever and chilling, and got me intrigued to read the author’s other books as I have only found out that he has a reputation for excellent psychological thrillers. An exhilarating read for mystery fans.
April 19, 2023
The story is good enough for a short story. I took a bit longer to read it, as I kept looking up the numerous books that Swanson mentions in this book. Ed McBain's books are definitely going to be on my TBR pile.
The book is bite-sized and can be read in less than an hour. I think the author spent the same amount of time writing this book as he mixes up the names. Was the MC called Ed or Henry. and his wife Valerie or Alice? Or was this some twist that I missed?
The book is bite-sized and can be read in less than an hour. I think the author spent the same amount of time writing this book as he mixes up the names. Was the MC called Ed or Henry. and his wife Valerie or Alice? Or was this some twist that I missed?
January 18, 2024
Nor a bad read but Swansons writing needs to be full novel and not just short story
July 12, 2025
3.25 ish 🤷🏻♀️⭐️ juicy quick little read
March 18, 2024
It was okay-ish, I suppose. At 55 pages, I don't really think that Swanson had a lot of options to end the story.
October 14, 2025
2.25 ⭐
This book left me feeling very confused. The ending left me with more questions than answers.
This book left me feeling very confused. The ending left me with more questions than answers.
February 11, 2024
3.9 ⭐ it was a good fast/binge read, but kind of like the movie shutter island, just more confusing
December 19, 2024
HELP! I don't understand the ending. And who the heck was Ned? Was Alice supposed to be Valerie? I'm so confused!
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