The Couple Next Door

SWEDISH REVIEW

Wow, vilken bok. Jag måste erkänna att jag inte trodde att boken skulle fängsla mig så mycket att jag i slutändan skulle ge den en 5:a. Jag hoppas att den den skulle vara underhållande, men jag trodde aldrig att den skulle vara så underhållande att den skulle vara svår at lägga ifrån sig på kvällen. En riktig blandvändare med andra ord! Jag svär, om jag inte hade haft jobb dagen efter jag började läsa boken så skulle jag nog läst klart den troligtvis samma kväll.

Vad jag verkligen älskade med boken var känslan av att alla dolde något, och det visade sig vara korrekt. Även när händelser avslöjades som kanske inte alls var så överraskande så kände jag aldrig att det var för lätt, utan det var show more snarare så att jag hade en misstanke och när den visade sig vara rätt så var det med belåtenhet jag insåg att jag hade gissat rätt. Självklart var det händelser som jag absolut inte hade räknat med. Som det briljanta slutet. Wow!

Jag vill inte avslöja något av handlingen, men jag måste bara få säga att jag är verkligen imponerad över hur mänskliga karaktärerna i boken är. Lapena har verkligen lyckats med att skapa karaktärer som jag kunde känna sympati för (tja de flesta människor, de fanns några vidriga som jag inte gillade speciellt mycket eller kände sympati för). Genom att karaktärerna blev så levande så kändes handlingen verkligen levande. Jag drog in i berättelsen och sedan släppte den inte taget om mig.

På andra sidan väggen var en fantastisk läsupplevelse. Shari Lapena är ett namn jag bara måste lägga på minnet och jag ser fram emot att läsa framtida böcker av henne!

Tack till Modernista och Louise Bäckelin Förlag för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

Wow, what a book. I have to admit that I did not think I would love it as much as I did. I was hoping to be entertained, but I never thought that I would find it so engrossing that it would be hard to put it down. I swear, if I hadn't had work the day after I started the book would I probably have read most of the book that evening that I started it.

What I really loved about the book was the sense that everyone is hiding something, and sure they did, and even when things were revealed that perhaps was not so surprising did I never feel that it was too easy, it was more of a getting right when you are getting suspicious about something. Of course, there were events that I didn't expect at all. Like the brilliant ending. Wow.

I don't want to give the story away, all I want to say that I'm very impressed how Lapena managed to make the characters so real that I really could feel for them (well most of the people, some I did not like because they were quite frankly awful human beings). By making the characters feel alive did this story come alive. I was pulled into the story and it didn't let go for a minute.

The Couple Next Door was a fantastic reading experience. Shari Lapena is definitely a name that I need to keep track of for future books!

Thanks to Modernista and Louise Bäckelin Förlag for the review copy! show less

Ohhh the people in this book are so messed up!! I don’t know why I like reading about truly fucked up people, but I do. I want to say so many things, but it’s all spoilery, so I won’t. But I am so mad about certain things and certain people not being held responsible. It would’ve been a 5 star book except for the ending. Did we really need that final little twist?? I don’t think we did.

I’ll be reading more by this author. The 2 books I’ve read from her were very addicting!

This is one of the books I regretted not reading in 2016. I heard so many good things from so many people that I made sure that I read it early in 2017. I read the entire book in one sitting that is how good it was. What I think I loved the most about it was that by the time I thought I had everything wrapped up in a pretty bow and figured out the author threw another curve ball at me and I was dead wrong! There were parts that I wanted to hurt every single adult in baby Cora's live but I can't really go into why without ruining the story. So all I will say is well done!

A Promising Debut

If plotting is your thing in mysteries and you can stand credulity stretched to its limits, and you enjoy being introduced to a new writer with potential, The Couple Next Door belongs on your reading list. Readers who may enjoy Shari Lapena’s first outing are fans of the likes of Fiona Barton, though Barton’s The Widow and The Child pack far greater emotional wallops. Lapena scores points on style (low key), psychology (particularly postpartum depression and dissociative disorder), and motivation (as convoluted as it is). Among her weaknesses include sense of place, playing loose with the law (she’s a lawyer in Canada), and most of all, dropping clues. Though on this last score, experienced whodunnit readers will show more figure things out pretty quickly, even the surprise ending. On balance, however, Lapena produces a strong first effort.

Anne and Marco Conti are parents of a newborn out for an evening at their neighbor’s home, the duplex attached to theirs. Because their babysitter bailed at the last minute, they agreed to leave their baby, Cora, home alone and check in on her every half-hour. At the end of the evening, they discover her missing, kidnapped while they partied. Imagine the anguish, especially for Anne, who suffers from postpartum depression. The police arrive and Detective Rasbach sets about unriddling the mystery of tiny Cora’s disappearance. Naturally, the parents are his first and best suspects. However, as time passes and he and we readers get to know Anne, Marco, her wealthy parents, and her next-door neighbor’s situations in more detail, the truth begins to reveal itself. Lapena drops little bombshells on a regular basis, a couple of which might have you thinking she should have hinted at them a bit earlier.

Count The Couple Next Door as a quick, page turning diversion, and if this is what you are in the mood for, it’s the novel for you. show less

Anne and Marco Conti, a couple in their early 30s like their next-door neighbors Cynthia and Graham Stillwell, have an uneasy friendship. Anne and Cynthia grew apart after Anne had her baby Cora six months before, and in addition, Cynthia overtly flirts with Marco every chance she gets. Nevertheless, Anne agrees that she and Marco will go over to their house for Graham’s birthday, a gathering “for adults only.” They did have a babysitter, but she had an emergency and cancelled at the last minute. Anne and Marco figured they could go anyway, if they took the baby monitor, and with one of them running back every half hour to check on Cora.

It all seemed to work fine until they went home at 1:30 and found the front door ajar and Cora show more gone.

Frantic, they called the police, and then fell apart in different ways as the police continued to be stymied over the abduction.

Up to this time, the reader is slowly ascending the steep climb on a roller coaster, and then the curves start coming faster and faster as everyone’s secrets come out, with one surprise after another.

Evaluation: I read this book in one sitting, because I couldn’t put it down. It’s not that it is “great literature; “rather, it is just what it promises to be: an entertaining, high-voltage, page-turning thriller, with unanticipated twists from all directions. If you need a book to keep you busy on an airplane, this one would be perfect! show less

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The main mystery pulled you in right away, which I appreciated because I'm not a fan of unnecessary fluff. I found myself playing Nancy Drew the whole time and each revelation caught me off guard, which was fantastic. Even the ending leaves you with another twist that will leave you with goose bumps. This book was fun, compelling, and unique. I sympathized so much with Anne and the crime is so horrifying, which pulls you in that much more. As a reader, you become just as invested as the detective and the main characters, which proves that the author did an excellent job of providing us with a page-turner that will keep you guessing. I absolutely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys mysteries, show more thrillers, and fast-paced stories. show less

Because I'm feeling generous today, I was going to rate this uneven, although compulsively readable 'thriller' 2 stars, but the utterly pointless and manipulative ending killed that.

The pros: Even when the action dragged a bit, I still had to read on to find out what really happened to Baby Cora. When I figured out who the culprit was about halfway through, I still had to read on to find out exactly how they pulled it off and who else was involved. This would've been a decent, lightweight beach read, had it not been for...

The cons: The premise was already stretched to the limit of plausibility and the annoying, cliched characters didn't help. It disturbed me that almost immediately the focus of the story switches from the missing, show more endangered child to 1) the identity of the guilty party(s), and 2) money, money, more money, oh-and-did-I-mention money? I was offended by the author's portrayal of mental illness as a shameful secret that must at all costs be kept from public knowledge, as well as the intentional inference that someone suffering from DID or postpartum depression automatically has violent tendencies. And then there are the stilted dialogue, endless plot twists, and excessive use of unnecessary profanities.

But the real problem was that stupid, stupid, stupid ending. Someone please take Shari Lapena's computer away from her before she commits another crime against literature. show less