The Couple Next Door

A Novel

By: Shari Lapena

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Not a Happy Family

“The twists come as fast [as] you can turn the pages.”—People

“I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline. The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!”—Sue Grafton

It all started at a dinner party. . .

A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.

What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.

©2016 Shari Lapena (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Meticulously crafted and razor-sharp. The Couple Next Door lingers long after you turn the final page.”—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fool Me Once

"Provocative and shocking. One crime, an entire neighborhood of suspects, secrets and lies. How well do we ever know those around us? The Couple Next Door will keep you glued the pages in search of the answer. Even then, you'll never guess the truth...until it's too late.”—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Find Her

“I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline. The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!”—Sue Grafton, New York Times bestselling author of Y is for Yesterday

These twists and turns did not make a great ride..

Is there anything you would change about this book?

While this book had a number of twists and turns, I feel like towards the end the author was over-doing it and trying too hard to make the story surprising, that it kind of fell short. Some of the "twists" were rather unnecessary leaps, and eventually just felt exhausting.

What three words best describe Kirsten Potter’s voice?

For the most part I liked the narrator, sometimes not as much. She was passionate, but sometimes it was too much.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Definitely not, since movies usually aren't as good as the book, and this book was very good to begin with, I don't see a very good movie coming out of it.

overrated, story was monotonous, narrorater annoys

I don't know how this got high reviews, the narrorater was so annoying and the story drug on, I debated not finishing it

Predictable

I was looking forward for a good suspense novel and was disappointed. Very easy to figure out what's going on, who is bad and who is not.

Spiraling Drama

I plowed through this book in one day, it was great! It hooked me right from the start and didn’t let go – again I ask: what do you call a page turner when it’s an audiobook?

It was a moshpit of twists and turns, but good ones! Sometimes with stories that dramatically change directions out of nowhere, that's the point where the book gets stupid and I get off the ride… not this time! I hung on until the very end and I was glad I did.

I do admit that I think the ending was just one step too far, but this is fiction after all! It didn’t ruin the experience.

Full of twists and turns

Very enjoyable, kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who did it... So many twists and turns, great story!

Privileged, sheltered and annoying

I almost couldn't handle listening to this as it is completely unbelievable and made me despise the main character. The lies she tells and why she tells them, how incredibly stupid she is, how selfish she is, and how extremely unlikely the scenes are. The only reason I kept listening was that the detailed writing was good enough to keep me listening while at the same time annoying me. Thank goodness I only bought this on sale and didn't waste a credit on it.

Narrating was great and story was gripping!

Good job on the narration! I didn't see the ending coming...good writing! I will be reading more from this author!

Lots of interesting twists turns

Narrarator was good. Could not wait to get to end to see what happens next and who done it!!!

Not that impressed

I really wasn't that impressed with this book. I had such high hopes but i just didn't enjoy it as much as i thought. I enjoyed the last two chapters maybe. I also wasn't a fan of the narrator.

So many twists and turns.... omg!!!!

The best line... "I don't remember"
More twist and turns ever. Ann is a beast!!!