Hardcover, 292 pagesRelease Date: July 30, 2019Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Read from: August 11-16, 2019Stand-aloneSource: LibraryTW: Death, drinking teensFor fans of: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Adult
Maybe you don't know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .
"This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out."
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses--and into the owners' computers as well--learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they're telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
In this neighborhood, it's not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .
You never really know what people are capable of.
*This book is part of the adult mystery/thriller genre! I have featured it in The Crime Scene as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read in this genre! There's not much of a difference, however the scenes may be more graphic and there may be more explicit scenes in some of them."
*MY THOUGHTS*
As a fan since Shari Lapena's debut novel, I was completely surprised I didn't know about this book when it was released. But ever since I've heard about it, I was super excited for it and I knew I needed to get my hands on it.
Do you really know people as well as you think you do? A teen is going around breaking and entering people's houses and hacking into their computers. What has he found out? What has he done to those computers? But things get sticky when a murdered woman is found and all the secrets of the surrounding community comes out along with some of the teens' own....
"If no one's come forward and the police haven't knocked at your door, consider yourselves lucky. But let me remind you, young man, " and here he leans forward and pins Raleigh again with his sharp, shrewd eyes, "luck always runs out."pg. 48
Do you really know people as well as you think you do? A teen is going around breaking and entering people's houses and hacking into their computers. What has he found out? What has he done to those computers? But things get sticky when a murdered woman is found and all the secrets of the surrounding community comes out along with some of the teens' own....
Although this wasn't my favorite book by her, it was still enjoyable. I found it to be too predictable for me to like it more than just a little. I called many of the plot twists throughout the book as well as the big reveal at the end. (Except for one part.) I didn't feel like there was as much of a thriller as her others either. It was just a very long story of different parts of a mystery coming to light."How, she fumes, are you supposed to teach a kid right and wrong when so many people in positions of authority regularly behave badly? What the hell is wrong with America these days?"pg. 49
As for her writing style, I usually love it, but this time I wasn't impressed. For the most part it was a basic mystery and nothing stood out. I never did feel that love for the story like I did for her others. The mystery itself was good and I was interested in finding out if I was correct, so I kept reading."The truth has a way of coming out."pg. 114
As a character driven reader, I didn't really care for anyone in this book. Like no one at all. This book has some of the worst characters I've read about in a long time. But I think that's ironically what I liked most about it? These characters were all so bad and I felt like I was watching a train wreck and I couldn't look away. But I did like that there is FINALLY a set of unreliable narrators that don't have to be sloshed or high as a kite to be unreliable. As mysteries and thrillers are my favorite, I run into that ALOT and its nice to find books where that's not the case."Every marriage has it's secrets. Glenda wonders what theirs were."pg. 139
Shari Lapena is still one of my favorite mystery writers. One out of four isn't so bad. And I still liked it, just not as much as the others. I'm still looking forward to anything else she writes in the future."Today [...] wearing jeans and an old sweater, and [...] doesn't seem to have the same presence or authority. Or maybe it's that [...] just not comfortable being brought in for questioning to the police station. That usually flusters people. Especially if they have something to hide. "pg. 193
Overall, I give this
