[REVIEW] The Couple Next Door

title: The Couple Next Door

author: Shari Lapena
genre: adult fiction, mystery, thriller
published: August 23rd 2016 by Pamela Dorman Books
my copy: hardcover, 308 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

It all started at a dinner party. . .

A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors--a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives...

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all--a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.

What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family--a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.

desperation, pride, greed, secrets.

I was in a slump when I picked this up and boy did it help me get out of it! 

The Couple Next Door follows Anne and Marco Conti who left their baby at home, went to a dinner party next door only to find their child missing when they went home at 1AM. Who kidnapped her? What happened in between the minutes Anne and Marco weren't checking on their child? Was the child even kidnapped? Was she killed? 

Told in multiple points of view mainly of the couple, Anne and Marco, and the investigating detective, Detective Rasbach. The Couple Next Door doesn't exactly take it slow. It's a fast paced novel that really gets it going right from the start and really just gives revelations and further questions each chapter. It really kept me reading thus helping me get out of my slump.

I love the dynamic of the characters. As expected, it features a perfect-looking couple that surprise-surprise aren't so perfect after all. Once Detective Rasbach delved into the lives of the couple, we find out that this couple may or may not be suspicious of what occurred. Where they involve? Are they hiding something from their partner? These questions really glued me to this book and I'm always at the edge of my seat for the next reveal.

The Couple Next Door is really more of a thriller than it is a mystery. Of course, there's the possible kidnapping of the child but what comes after that is all about how revelations are done, what the other characters think of the others once they knew something, what their reactions will be once things happen. The unraveling of things is really well done and I really think I'm not giving justice as to how suspenseful this is done.

Around 70% of the book, I generally know every secret of the characters and I know what's up already. I'm just bracing for the actual reveal and anticipating the reactions of everyone. It's all very well done to be honest and w h o a at that ending!! I mean I probably saw that coming given all the information I got from this (?) but still a really gooooood touch. 

OVERALL, The Couple Next Door is a recommend thriller! It's got a mystery that, for me, really focuses on who the characters really are. The thriller aspect of the story is well done. And I'm really just out there reading it page after page eager to know what happens next.

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