The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena

Psychological Thriller
4*s

Marco and Anne Contis have been invited to their neighbours for a dinner party to celebrate Graham’s fortieth birthday. His wife Cynthia had specifically said she wanted an adults only evening so the Contis’ have booked the babysitter for the evening. But the poor girl’s grandmother is ill and she has to cancel. So the pair go for dinner, leaving baby Cora asleep and take the baby monitor. As an extra safety measure they also take it in turns to visit every half an hour to check on her. As the evening goes on and Marco is reluctant to leave they finally get home to the front door ajar and baby Cora nowhere to be seen.

I put off reading this book because I was worried I’d be so caught up in the parent’s decision to leave the baby that I wouldn’t be able to see beyond that. What happened was that there was obviously so much more subtlety to the story than that, although of course at the obligatory media conference where Marco begged for their baby’s return, the press seized on that aspect of the evening.

There is a bit of everything in this book, from post-natal depression; from class divisons borne of Anne’s wealthy background to Marco’s apparent unsuitability as a husband and don’t let us even touch on Anne’s superior step-father who signs off any loan or gift despite the money belonging to her mother. For all of the background to the marriage this doesn’t appear to be a case of Marco being in the marriage for the money, the pair were devoted until Anne struggled after Cora’s birth, he genuinely admired her way with client’s at the art gallery she worked at, and he was similarly committed to making a go of his company, but there are secrets, some bigger than others and Cora’s disappearance meant that these start spilling out from, and in all, directions.

Shari Lapena has created a plot driven book which is liberally sprinkled with red herrings. I went into this book with a fair idea how it would all unfold, more so after the end of the first chapter. By the second chapter my views had changed; fear not I had a whole new theory which I was sure was right… and then we got to the third chapter. I persevered in this manner until about half-way through the book when I decided that I didn’t know what the hell had happened, no theory fit the scenario and all the bits of information were making the situation worse, not better! Alongside the plotting this book unfolds at a fearsome pace – although for Anne and Marco time is going slowly without Cora, for the reader so much happens in such a short space of time that I seriously though weeks must have passed by the time we reached twenty-four hours into the story.

Not only is this book one that is well-plotted and swiftly paced, it also allows me to ask my favourite question ‘What would I do?’ As I mentioned in my first sentence when I first read the synopsis about a couple left their baby alone, I thought I wouldn’t be able to get past that but on reading the book, while it is true that is what happened, the choice was far more nuanced than that and took into an array of other issues, just like real life in fact. So yes, it was a stupid decision but not quite as idiotic as I initially imagined. This led me to ask more questions along the way based upon the characters and the decisions they made which for me is the sign of a good psychological thriller.

I’d like to thank the publishers Random House UK for giving me a copy of The Couple Next Door which was published 14 July 2016, this unbiased review is my thanks to them.

First Published UK: 14 July 2016
Publisher: Bantam Press
No of Pages: 304
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US

This Week in Books (December 14)

Hosted by Lipsyy Lost & Found my Wednesday post gives you a taste of what I am reading this week. A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words

At the moment I am reading The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena a book I nearly read earlier in the year but was worried that I would be too angry with the parents and so chose something else instead. I’m feeling calmer now and have things in perspective, this is after all fiction.

Blurb

You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.

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 upstairs 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? NetGalley

I have just finished Belinda Bauer’s The Facts of Life and Death, another amazing book by this talented author.

Please see yesterday’s post for the synopsis and an excerpt.

Next I am planning on reading A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer, I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book which is great because I’m not too keen on this cover!

Blurb

He’s dead and I’m safe, but I’m still scared. Sometimes I actually miss him, but then in the very next breath I find that I hate him so much that I hope there is a hell, just so that he can be suffering like he left me here to suffer.’

Olivia and David were the perfect couple with their whole lives in front of them. When beautiful baby daughter Zoe came along, their world seemed complete.

But now David is dead and Olivia’s world is in pieces. While she is consumed with grief, her mother-in-law Ivy is also mourning the loss of her son. Both women are hiding secrets about the man they loved. Secrets that have put the family in danger.

Something was very wrong in Olivia and David’s marriage. Can Olivia and Ivy break their silence and speak the truth? A mother should protect her child, whatever the cost…shouldn’t she? NetGalley

Have you read any of these? What do you think of my choices?

What are you reading this week? Feel free to leave your links, answers or any other random comments about books in the box below.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (July 5)

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

This week my opening comes from The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena to be published by Penguin Random House UK on 14 July 2016.

Blurb

You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.
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? Amazon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

Chapter One

Anne can fee the acid churning in her stomach and creeping up her throat; her head is swimming. She’s had too much to drink. Cynthia has been recklessly topping her up all night. Anne had meant to keep herself to a limit, but she’d let things slide – she didn’t know how else she was supposed to get through the evening. Now she has no idea how much wine she’s drunk over the course of the interminable dinner party. She’ll have to pump and dump her breast milk in the morning.

This extract comes from a proof copy.

So what do you think? Would you keep reading?

Please leave your thoughts and links in the envelope below!

Stacking the Shelves (April 24)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book they can all be shared.

Well my TBR is now truly out of control… From NetGalley I have the following irresistible books:

From Twenty7 books who publish debut authors I have Little Bones by Sam Blake which will be published in eBook format on 17 May 2016.

Blurb

Attending what seems to be a routine break-in, troubled Detective Garda Cathy Connolly makes a grisly discovery: an old wedding dress – and, concealed in its hem, a baby’s bones.
And then the dress’s original owner, Lavinia Grant, is found dead in a Dublin suburb.
Searching for answers, Cathy is drawn deep into a complex web of secrets and lies spun by three generations of women.
Meanwhile, a fugitive killer has already left two dead in execution style killings across the Atlantic – and now he’s in Dublin with old scores to settle. Will the team track him down before he kills again?
Struggling with her own secrets, Cathy doesn’t know dangerous – and personal – this case is about to become… NetGalley

I was also lucky enough to get a copy of Angela Marsons fourth book in the Detective Kim Stone series, Play Dead, the first three had me hooked in 2015.

Blurb

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.
The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess.
Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.
Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next?
As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …? NetGalley

Play Dead will be published on 20 May 2016 by Bookouture.

Lastly I have a copy of The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena which will be published by Random House UK on 14 July 2016.

Blurb

You never know what’s happening on the other side of the wall.
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 upstairs 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?

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that I’m posting this a day later than normal and there was a reason, that being that today was one of the Island’s book sales for the blind ,and so in the name of charity I have a few more books to show you. I would like to say as mitigation I put back a few and I resisted picking up many more!

 

I have a copy of The Sixth Heaven to go with The Shrimp and the Anemone which I already have sitting on the TBR following my love-in with The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley last year.

I always pick up an Agatha Christie book at these sales, it is a challenge that involves finding the best copy that I haven’t bought in previous excursions, this year’s pick is one I don’t remember (at the moment) Murder is Easy.

I’m a huge Barbara Vine fan and my copies  mainly have the classic orange spine by penguin, but I don’t (didn’t) own a copy of The House of Stairs; I did read this one but seem to remember I didn’t particularly rate it but want to check just in case it was a case of reading it at the wrong time.

So after the very recent success of Harriet Said as a reading experience I picked up the only two Beryl Bainbridge books I could find, both in immaculate condition; An Awfully Big Adventure and Winter Garden

I love Carol Shields’ writing and her book The Stone Diaries rates among one of my favourite reads so I just had to pick up Dressing Up for the Carnival, a book of short stories.

And I’m ashamed to say but I haven’t actually read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne so this is my opportunity to correct that.

It was a lovely morning, I always go with a close friend and so we had lots of chit-chat about books and other (less) important stuff, visited a garden centre and rounded the morning off with a lovely cup of coffee at a gentile tea shop neither of us had visited before – see even on a tiny island we can find new and exciting things to do!

So what has all this done to the TBR?

TBR WATCH
Since my last count I have read 7 books, and gained, 10 so the total has shot up to 180 books!
96 physical books
67 e-books
17 books on NetGalley

What have you found to read this week? Please don’t tempt me too much!