Do you ever wonder what goes on behind closed doors in your neighborhood? It’s safe to say we all live busy, complicated and sometimes messy lives. And the family that appears the most picture perfect on social media, but be the messiest of all.
Still it’s almost mind boggling to think of even just your street–with 20 or so houses. And that in each of those houses, that own family’s story is playing out. 24-7. What secrets do your neighbors hold?
This is the premise that Shari Lapena bases most of her books on. That ominous things can happen to everyday people. But often, when you look closely, those people are not quite without blame. Or perhaps blame is the wrong word for it.
Today I’m reviewing Someone We Know by Shari Lapena, the latest in her string of domestic thrillers.
From the Publisher:
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 . . .
My Review:
When Olivia finds out that her son, Raleigh, has been breaking into homes in her neighborhood, she’s horrified. She takes swift action, hoping to make herself feel better and protect her son. Except things start to spiral out of control and soon, everyone is a suspect and everything looks suspicious.
In Someone We Know, Lapena invites us into the everyday lives of a bunch of suburbanites. As we slowly start to realize the details of their lives, we are at times surprised and at times not shocked at all. Because what seems like a boring everyday life can at times be anything but.
Lapena paints a great cast of characters. Olivia and Glenda are at the center, two moms who are concerned for their teenage sons as they are old enough to make life-altering mistakes. Then we have the nosy neighbors, Becky and Carmine and the husbands. Men with good solid jobs who are good providers for their families–and bored to death with their lives.
It’s all par for the course in the suburbs. But some of them are actually not good people. But of course, being a bad person does not make you a murderer, does it?
I highly recommend Someone We Know for fans of Lapena, Jessica Strawser and David Bell. This one is available now. Get your copy!
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