The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena

“The parents’ desperate expressions indicate that they would like to believe that it isn’t their fault after all, for leaving their baby alone” (original quote, page 23)

Content

Anne and her husband Marco are invited to dinner by their neighbors next door. When the babysitter cancels, they leave their six months old daughter sleeping in her crib at home, checking every thirty minutes if she is fine. When they come home at around one-thirty, the front door is open and the crib empty!

Theme and Genre

This psychological thriller is about parenting, postnatal depression and kidnapping. Which makes this story special is the fact, that it does not only focus on the criminal acts and research, but on the different characters of the persons involved. It shows how one single decision can change a life forever in a way that could not have been foreseen.

Plot and Writing

The gripping story is much more than a typical whodunit. The plot develops and shows the reader the idea and motivation of one of the persons involved, but then continues with disturbing and surprising twists, which does not allow the reader to put the book down again before the last page.

Conclusion

A gripping, disturbingly realistic plot, which captivates the reader with its unforeseeable twists.