Title: The Roommate
Author(s) Name(s): Andrea Mara
Published in: April, 2026
Why You Might Like This Book: Read this book if you enjoy
- fast-paced thrillers,
- dark past,
- unsolved cases,
- suspenseful plots, and
- short thriller stories.
Who Should Avoid This Book: Avoid this book if you are triggered by or dislike
- fatal accidents,
- murder,
- guilt,
- death, or
- grief and loss.
The Roommate is a short story, a psychological thriller written by Andrea Mara, published recently as part of the six-part Deadly Ambition collection by Amazon Original Stories. Elena lives with her husband Richard and two tweens in Dublin, Ireland. Both the husband and the wife come from privileged backgrounds and have also worked hard to enjoy the kind of lifestyle they have secured for themselves. They live in a comfortable and somewhat luxurious house and are palced in high-ranking positions at work. Elena is thankful for everything, including the fact that unlike many of her friends, the couple don’t have to fight over what to watch on TV because they share similar tastes.
Elena also has a shady, dark past that she does not want to talk about or even think about. She was in a relationship with a man named Kyle, and as far as Richard knows, their relationship had ended when Kyle decided to leave to London. That is all he needs to know, so she said nothing more. When she met Richard, she was not actually looking for a partner or even a boyfriend, but quickly, the two learned that they have a few things in common: their ambition, their tastes, and fun-loving nature. Richard has been mostly perfect, pays attention, is loving, encouraging, and supportive, so she really can’t ask for more.
Fast-forward to the present, when Richard suggests that they watch a crime show, Elena agrees. It’s been a long week at work and she had to fly to New York and get back, so she wants to relax, so a good show and some snacks and drinks should be perfect. “The Roommate” is a crime show set in the year 2004 that involves three main characters: a man and a woman, named “Ben” and “Marcia”, who are in a relationship, living together in a big house in Dublin, and their lodger named “Jane”. The actress who plays Jane, her face and appearance look eerily familiar to Elena. Also, Jane is an annoying roommate to live with: she is very noisy, makes a mess of the place, does not do her chores properly, and gets on the nerves of the couple. Ben is really frustrated with her, even if Marcia can tolerate Jane. Again, watching the way Jane behaves on screen reminds Marcia of someone she knew, someone she used to live with.
In fact, as the show proceeds, there are many similarities between what happens on the show and what had happened in Elena’s own past. That dark part of her life is something she does not want to even think about. That was when she lived with Kyle in a house somewhat similar to the one on the show, Jane is in many ways scarily similar to their roommate from the past, Kristina, and one scene after another, everything that happens on the show was what happened between Elena, Kyle, and Jane in the past as well. Ben tells Marcia one evening that the dinner party they plan to throw is very important for him because his promotion depends on how well his boss and others feel about him, so he tells her that he does not want Jane to destroy his chances by ruining the party, screaming like she normally would, and being unbearable overall. To prevent Jane from doing all that, he mixes many sleeping pills in the juice Jane would consume. Later when Jane goes off to sleep in her room, Ben ensures that the room is locked on all sides, so she can’t come out even if she wakes up. All these incidents are exactly like what happened with Elena, Kyle, and Kristina.
But it was not just that, after the dinner, when the two decide to leave the house and go to a club with their guests, when Jane is alone at home, asleep, a fire breaks out. Elena cannot believe that whatever she is seeing on screen is a narrative of what had happened in her past. Something similar had happened between them. The similarities are too good to be just a coincidence. She does not even have to guess the next scene anymore because she knows well what the next scene will be. While Richard is completely unaware of all this and enjoying the show like they normally would, Elena begins panicking. She does not reveal anything to him yet and he brushes her sick feeling off as jetlag. How could the maker or writer of the show know this exact event from her past? What if Kyle had shared their secrets with someone else? She had stopped speaking to Kyle years before and did not even think of checking him out online after she met Richard. Who is doing this? Should she be worried? She cannot afford to lose this life she has built; she can’t lose her perfect family, her career, and her house. Should she reconnect with Kyle? Elena’s past comes back to haunt her after fifteen years.
The Roommate is a gripping, fast-paced short thriller story. The author Andrea Mara maintains the pace well, has also written the story well, and keeping up the suspense also makes the story interesting. Given how short it is, you can finish it in less than an hour even if you are distracted. Overall, this is an interesting short story and I would give this at least a 4-star rating. If you are looking for a short, engaging, fictional read with a nice twist, you might want to give this a try!
