About the book:
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.
Hard Cover has 308 pages
Genre:
Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Detective, Adult
About the author:
SHARI LAPENA is known for her works; The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her and Not a Happy Family. She is born in Canada and lives in Toronto.
WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW! READ at your own RISK!
** spoiler alert **
Spoilers of the story within this post. These are my thoughts about the novel.
The story started okay. Interesting and slowly building up to some sort of thrill to the mystery of WHO took the baby.
We meet the main cast, the couple Anne and Marco who were next door to party. Although Anne didn't seem happy nor comfortable at all to be there and Marco is spending more time with their neighbor really.
When they went back home, they realize that their baby is not there. When that kind of setting happens, sure there is thrill building up, a suspense of who dun it. The detective enters the setting and the usual, we start filtering out suspects, gathering as much clues and eyewitnesses as possible.
I slowly lost interest as it went on, but I kept going until about 72%, the only thing keeping me is the mystery of "who took the baby?" but eventually I had my theories and it was no longer enough to keep me hooked into the story. What normally keeps me from DNF-ing (yeah not a word) a book is because of the characters instead of the plot. But the characters here are either annoying or just feels empty.
All Anne ever did was cry and whine, I mean she's the mother and all so it was understandable that she gets to be emotional. But the way she's written, it's hard to sympathize with her. The detective isn't all that interesting either and no one else, probably other than their neighbors who had actual character standing with their own two feet. The rest are flat.
It's marked thriller and suspense even, but I wasn't even at the edge of my seat at all. Neither did it feel all exciting.
Now I don't want to stretch this ranting all full of reasons why I dislike the book. These are just the main ones I want to point out.
Overall, I am not saying the book is all bad.
It just feels like there is more to it than the building mystery that wasn't all mind-blowing and characters that are unbelievable.
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