"Everyone is faking it, all of them pretending to be something they're not. The whole world is built on lies and deceit."

When their babysitter cancels, Anne and Marco decide to go ahead next door to a dinner party with the neighbors anyway. After all, they share a wall, they'll have the baby monitor with them, and they'll take turns checking every half hour. When they return their baby Cora is gone without a trace.

From that point the book takes off like a freight train and never applies the breaks. This was a book I read over the course of one two-hour sitting and I couldn't have put it down if I wanted to (and I did...I finished around 1:30am!). Around the half-way point you start to get a handle on what's going on but the pace doesn't slow down at all. This is a novel that maintains the suspense all the way to the last line.

The book is a touch melodramatic but I didn't find that to detract from the story in the least.(I watch a lot of Law & Order: SVU so maybe that's why?) The narration happens in an emotionally distant present tense making for some unsettling storytelling. Everyone around Cora seemed to have both a motive for the crime while simultaneously seeming innocent. Even though you know what everyone is thinking you can't tell who is telling the truth at any point. It all combines to create a pulse-pounding read.

Though it had some flaws this was a great debut and I can't wait to see what Ms. Lapena will come up with next.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

this was a fairly quick read once you got into it. Did not see certain things that happened right away. It keep you guessing. 1/2 of us loved the ending 1/2 of us hated it and wanted more!!

This is a page-turner - a story that will have you guessing who is involved and why and you care. The author did a great job of building the suspense and developing the characters enough that we want to know more. I would have given it five stars, but the very end was........., well - let me know what you think.

Kept me guessing and definitely held my interest - couldn't put it down.

Very well written!

Wow! What a ride this one was for the reader! I enjoyed the character development and the quick moving plot.

Suspenseful thrilling

We gave it a B.

January read complete. Thanks to a #BookSwapWithBae. The Couple Next Door is definitely a page turner. Could you Imagine leaving your new born baby at home to attend a party next door...just to return and discover your baby is gone, kidnapped! Twist after twist from start to finish.

I, personally, was not too fond of the writing style itself. After establishing the plot, which was very early on, it was a tad slow but towards the middle/end there were more and more twists which I didn’t see coming and definitely keeps the reader on their toes.

This book had me at the edge of my seat! Every chapter I read I was left wandering what now! I simply couldn’t put it down. Such a great read!

The Couple Next Door, Shari Lapena, author; Kirsten Potter, narrator
I have enjoyed the mysteries by this author, and this one is no exception. Like all of her novels, it was easy to read or listen to, and the clues often pointed in many different directions to keep me guessing. In this book, some of the clues were obvious, but it still captured and held my interest.
When a couple attends a dinner party at their next door neighbor’s home, they use a baby monitor to check on their child when they are absent. The hostess insisted that no children could be brought, even a sleeping infant. Physically, both parents check in on the baby every half hour. However, the screen of the monitor is smashed, so when they are absent, they cannot see inside the home. Only the sound is working. After 12:30AM, they missed a check-in, and when they returned home, about an hour later, they found the crib was empty. The baby, Cora, was missing! As the investigation and search for the missing, kidnapped child began, Anna and Marco were ridiculed and shamed for having left the child alone, although it seemed quite safe to Marco, if not Anne, at the time.
Anne, from a well-to-do background is normally very refined, but she suffers from post partum depression, and is on medication. This is not something that they advertise. She drank a lot at the party because the hostess was flirting with Marco. It drove her to private tears. Because she had been diagnosed with a mental disorder in the past, when the police learn of it, the investigator suspects that she might have caused the baby harm, even inadvertently, and Marco might have tried to cover up her crime by removing the child from the home.
Anne’s parents did not think Marco was good enough for Anne. Her father, especially, disliked him, but still has supported them in various financial endeavors because he loved his daughter and his grandchild more than he hated Marco, or so it seemed. Marco’s business, however, was in deep financial distress, and this led the investigator to alternate theory about the kidnapping. He believes that Marco might have arranged the kidnapping, himself, in order to obtain the ransom money, money he sorely needed to salvage his business.
Cynthia, the neighbor who hosted the party was a cold hearted flirt. She was often alone as her husband traveled. She and her husband had secretly installed a hidden camera to watch their neighbor’s property, so they know exactly what happened to the baby, but cannot come forward. It seems that Cynthia had already lied to the police, and they both were hiding some pretty nefarious behavior they did not want the police to discover. Cynthia reminded Anne of the pretty, popular girls at her private school who had mercilously bullied her.
Anne’s parents were protective and very authoritarian. Her father, especially, disliked Marco intensely, believing he is a no-account. Still, on several occasions, her parents had provided financial assistance to the couple, even providing them with the gift of money to buy their house. The missing child, Cora, was their only grandchild. They would do anything to retrieve her.
As witnesses were questioned and theories developed, it was quite obvious that most of the characters were harboring some pretty devastating secrets. As they are revealed, the mystery twists and turns in many directions. I found some of the narrative quite obvious, but also some parts totally unexpected. Do not fast forward to the end unless you want to spoil the read. Let the book play out, and enjoy the many ways it is resolved.

This book was a page turner. Not the ending you would expect. Great characters and plot

I thought this book was great with all the twists and turns. Recommended read.

Fun fast intense read. Trigger warning for post partum depression and infant loss.

It was a great book for our first club book. I found it to be a quick read. keep me guessing and I loved the twist and turns.