Review: The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

As a rule, I don’t peak ahead at the ending of novels.

But there are some books for which exceptions have to be made. And Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door turned out to be one of those.

When their babysitter cancels at the last minute, Marco convinces his wife Anne that they can leave their infant daughter home alone while they attend a dinner party next door. If they take the baby monitor with them and take turns checking on their daughter every half hour, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Coming back home from the party, they discover the door ajar and their baby kidnapped. The police are called in and things just aren’t adding up on how and who could or would have kidnapped the little girl. As the investigation deepens, secrets about not only Marco and Anne are revealed but also about their neighbors and Anne’s parents. In short, everyone has something to hide when it comes to the kidnapping.

I have to admit that about a tenth of a way into the novel, I had to skip ahead and see how certain events played out. I didn’t want to ruin any of the twists or character revelations (I luckily didn’t) but instead wanted to find make sure the baby didn’t come to any harm. As a new parent, the idea of someone kidnapping an infant daughter gave me the cold sweats and I didn’t want to continue the story if the outcome was extremely negative.

Top Ten Tuesday: Under the Tree

With only a few days left until Shortcake’s first Christmas, it’s time for the Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the Broke and the Bookish).  This week’s topic asks us what book-ish items we’d like to find under the tree.  I’m breaking this down into a couple of books I’d like and some items I’d like to read and share with Shortcake.

1.  The Fifty Year Mission, Volumes 1 and 2.  The oral history of Star Trek from the original series to the Kelvin films covers over 1,o00 pages and I’d love to have hardback copies on my shelf.
2. These Are the Voyages, Volumes 1, 2 and 3.  The Fifty Year Mission gives a great overview of the original series.  These books take a look at the series episode by episode.
3.  Illustrated Harry Potter books.  When it’s the appropriate time, I hope that Shortcake will like Harry Potter.  I think these would be fun to read to her.
4. Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss.  I love reading to Shortcake but some of the good Seuss’s books are a bit of a challenge.  This two-disc CD has some of the more tongue-twisting stories on it read by professional thespians.  We checked this one out from the library and listened while riding in the car.  She seemed to enjoy it.
5. The Golden Book versions of the Star Wars saga.  These look like a lot of fun to read with Shortcake.
6. The Little Blue Truck.  I love reading this board book to Shortcake.  Part of it could be that it encourages the reader to make silly sounds while reading it.
7. Corduroy.  We checked this out of the library and enjoyed it.  I’d love for Shortcake to have her own copy.
8. DC Super Heroes Board Books.  There are several books in this series that look like a lot of fun to read with Shortcake.

Top Ten Tuesday: New Authors

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the Broke and the Bookish) asks us to reflect on 2016 and the new authors we’ve read.  Here are some of the new authors I’ve read (in no particular order).

1.  Shari Lapena
2. Kerry Lonsdale
3. J.L. Baumann
4. Emily Foster
5. Ruth Ware
6. Kate Horsley
7. Caroline Kepnes