The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Published: 14th July, 2016
Goodreads |Book Depository | Amazon UK
Series: N/A
Rating: 3
Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying.
Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You’ll have the baby monitor and you’ll take it in turns to go back every half hour.
Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She’s gone.
You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there.
What would you be capable of, when pushed past your limit?
What a delicious, quick read! The Couple Next Door has everything I love about a good thriller: shady characters, mystery, twisty plot and a lot of deception.
But! It also has quite a few things I consider a downer. The lack of character development is glaringly obvious, so if you like getting to know the people you are reading about, this book is probably not for you. It’s all about the plot, and any personal details from Anne’s troubled past seem to serve only as a device to cast some doubts about her involvement in the disappearance of her daughter.
Detective Rasbach? Dude’s nothing more than an ever looming presence, barely a person in spite of having quite a big role in finding out what happened to baby Cora, has his own chapters where he goes and does things on his own and everything!
Even though it’s not so hard to figure out what happened to the poor child, this remains a compulsive page turner. I mean, you just need to see what other wild stuff the author can still throw at you!
This is not one of those books I would go on and on about, raving and telling everyone they should read it. But if you are looking for some quick entertainment to take your mind off stuff, a story involving a bunch of dubious people caught up in something disturbing, you would most likely enjoy The Couple Next Door just as much as I did.
I look forward to reading the Shari Lapena’s next book.
Reading Under The Blankie 
I have a paperback of this one and still haven’t got round to reading it. I might have expected a bit more of it perhaps, maybe it’s good you brought it down a notch :-). Great review Norrie!
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Thank you ❤
Yea, it's like those B category movies. You know it's not great, but it's still entertaining 😀
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The lack of characters’ development usually makes me downgrade books as well. I am personally fascinated by characters’ growth (The Game of Thrones’ hardcore fan speaking 😊).
It’s always nice to know what to roughly expect from a book to avoid disappointment. A great review!
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if the characters are good and interesting, i’m more inclined to forgive for a plot that might not be so great 🙂
But in game of thrones everything is just awesome, indeed 😀
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Likewise! 🙂
Not sure what to do with myself in 2018 re. GOT – no new TV series this year and the book is not looking likely either. 😦 Fortunately there is new Homeland to keep me entertained… 🙂
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Love Homeland too! ❤
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Great review! Too bad about the characters – that would knock it down a peg for me, too. But I’m glad you still had fun reading it!
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Thank you! I defo don’t regret reading it 🙂
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Glad this was fun- I definitely appreciate a quick pageturner! Awesome review!
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Great review! I completely agree with all your points–the story would’ve been way better had the characters not been so flat…
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I would have been happier with one less plot twist, but better characters, for sure. That said, i think the author has potential and i’m curious about the new book…
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Agreed! I’m definitely going to read A Stranger in the House sometime this year, haha.
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Read this one when it came out, and I think it was 3.5 stars for me. I wasn’t particularly crazy about how it all wrapped up, and the last chapter seemed completely unnecessary. It felt like the book ended and then nope, here’s this last bit of useless storyline because…but it was entertaining.
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Right? 😀 This book is pretty good as distraction, so would be good to read on a flight or something.
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I usually don’t pick up that many thrillers, and a lack of character development is usually not my thing either ahah but it does seem like a fast-paced and entertaining read! I’m glad you still enjoyed it despite its flaws. 😊 Lovely review!
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Thank you 🙂
This is one of those books you need to be in the mood for, certainly.
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oh yeah, I had similar feelings about this book!
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I started reading this book a while back but I don’t know why it didn’t grab me so I set it aside for a wile. Your review has renewed my interest in the book though its sad to hear about the lack of character development. I will adjust my expectations accordingly. 🙂
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yea, it’s one of those that is nice if you are not expecting a serious book
😀
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