#BookReview: SOMEONE WE KNOW by Shari Lapena @sharilapena @TransworldBooks @ThomasssHill

Publication: 25th July 2019 – Transworld Books

It can be hard keeping secrets in a tight-knit neighbourhood.

In a tranquil, leafy suburb of ordinary streets – one where everyone is polite and friendly – an anonymous note has been left at some of the houses.

‘I’m so sorry. My son has been getting into people’s houses. He’s broken into yours.’

Who is this boy, and what might he have uncovered? As whispers start to circulate, suspicion mounts.

And when a missing local woman is found murdered, the tension reaches 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 secrets?

Maybe you don’t know your neighbour as well as you thought you did . . .

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Shari Lapena is one of these authors who is a constant for me. Whenever she has a new book coming out, I read it right away, barely bothering to read the blurb first. And she never disappoints. I devoured SOMEONE WE KNOW, starting reading it in the evening and finishing it the next morning, right before going to work (I couldn’t wait for the evening to see how it ended).

The author takes us in a neighbourhood in Aylesford, in New York’s Hudson Valley, where everyone is friendly, they organize book clubs and picnics in the park. Until suddenly a woman disappears, a teenager breaks into houses, anonymous letters appear out of nowhere, a body is found in the lake, and love affairs are not so secret anymore.

This is a domestic thriller with capital letters. The story is well-plotted, full of suspense and revelations that the author slowly unravels, keeping me always on my toes, never knowing what to expect next. The author created a cast of characters that the reader can’t trust. Each one of them is hiding something, they are all possible suspects in the murder investigation, and every time I thought I had it figure out, I found out that, actually, I didn’t. I liked how the author keeps the tension high by switching the perspective from character to character.

Another thing Shari Lapena is good at is to create the right setting. A suburban town, a typical American street as you see on TV, and a remote cabin by the lake create the right evocative atmosphere to this gripping novel.

SOMEONE WE KNOW is brilliant, a self-paced, addictive, and riveting novel that you won’t be able to put down!!!

A huge thank you to Transworld Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the novel.