Suspense | Book Chatter

The Couple Next Door
By Shari Lapena
Pamela Dorman Books, Hardcover, 9780735221086, August 2016, 320pp.

The Short of It:

A story made-up of lies and secrets makes for a good page-turner.

The Rest of It:

Marco and Anne Conti attend a dinner party at their neighbor’s house while their infant daughter sleeps next door. Bad idea. Cora disappears and because Anne and Marco are too intoxicated to remember details, they can’t remember if they left the door unlocked or exactly when they saw her last. As the disappearance is investigated, secrets are revealed and no one can be trusted.

This is a book that is really hard to put down because every time you turn the page, someone is lying or blame quickly switches from one character to the next. NO ONE in this story can be trusted which is a little aggravating but somehow makes for good reading. Plus, Anne is suffering from postpartum depression so her take on the situation is rather skewed at times which makes you doubt what’s going on.

If you are sensitive to convenient story lines or tire easily of red herrings, you could grow bored with this one. I am typically that type of reader but it was a fun read and a great book to take my mind off of my first week back at work.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Behind Closed Doors
By B.A. Paris
St. Martin’s Press, Hardcover, 9781250121004, August 6, 2016, 304pp.

The Short of It:

This book is all kinds of crazy and incredibly hard to put down.

The Rest of It:

*No Spoilers*

Perfect couples irritate the heck out of me. The outfits, the dinners, the public displays of affection. It’s all too much. Jack and Grace happen to be that couple. Jack’s charm and good looks make him quite the catch so when Grace falls head-over-heels for him, they soon marry and from that point on, it’s all downhill from there.

They have secrets. Grace does her best to keep them, realizing she has little choice but the cat and mouse game that Jack plays is enough to make you jump out of your seat. I spent many lunches nervously chewing my own lip off. The tension is so thick and the pacing is relentless.

Needless to say, I really loved it. I loved the story and how the characters were written. There are some interesting twists that I didn’t see coming and the ending was very, very satisfying. I’ve never heard of the author before this book but I am a fan of hers now.

If you want a book that you absolutely cannot put down and love psychological thrillers which also happen to be pretty clean in the violence/language department, then pick this one up. I’ve recommended it to many friends and everyone agrees that it’s great. Go get yourself a copy.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher via Shelf Awareness.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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