“The Couple Next Door” – Shari Lapena
Shari Lapena, author of A Stranger in the House, and most recently, An Unwanted Guest, rocked the international best seller's list with her debut novel, The Couple Next Door. Though short in length, this novel has a pretty significant amount of drama for such a quick read. I've seen this book at almost every bookstore, thrift store, and major department store (Target, Wal-Mart, etc.). I've even seen it at airports, and we know that airports aren't known for having the widest selection of novels, instead primarily sticking with overpriced best sellers. What I had yet to see, however, was what people thought The Couple Next Door. If so many people were buying it, why hadn't I heard anyone's opinion? So I decided to give you my own.
Anne and Marco Conti are just like any normal couple. They seem to have everything they want including successful careers, a nice house, a loving and stable relationship, and, most recently, their beautiful baby girl, 6-month-old Cora. But suddenly, every parent's worst nightmare threatens everything.
One Friday night, Anne and Marco are invited to a dinner party at their next door neighbor's. It's adults only, and unfortunately for them, their babysitter has canceled at the last minute. They decide to leave their daughter at home alone, sleeping upstairs in her crib while they party next door, taking turns every half hour to go home and check on her. They've got their baby monitor too, but even so, Anne doesn't feel comfortable. After staying until the early morning hours, Marco and Anne go home to an open door, an empty crib, and a baby-less home.
Detective Rasbach shows up on the scene and begins the official search for Cora Conti. Action quickly unfolds, and you're thrown into the investigation, chapters alternating back and forth between Marco, Anne, and Detective Rasbach, each with their own thoughts and speculations about what happened to baby Cora. However, what Rasbach is about to uncover about the Conti's may be more than he bargained for, and we're shown that outside appearances may not always reflect what goes on inside.
As the story progresses, Lapena doesn't waste time being too descriptive or making you hold on to too much suspense. She calls it like it is, and speeds through the book. Although I'm a big fan of "spitting it out" and not wasting time with pointless details, I don't think Lapena achieved that with her book. Instead, it seemed more like things were happening as an afterthought, and that her story hadn't really been planned well from the very beginning. Maybe she was trying to make a point that this situation and these circumstances could happen to anyone, but I highly doubt that's true. How many people, like Anne Conti, has a millionaire for a father? Not me, that's for sure. Also, I'm not sure how common it is to leave your infant at home by themselves, and I'm not a parent so I definitely don't try to judge, but this seems like a pretty irresponsible and uncommon situation.
I was definitely not a fan of her writing style for this book. I didn't mind the chapter point-of-views changing, but Lapena's actual technique wasn't very technical at all. A lot of, “Blah blah blah?” he asked. “Blah blah blah,” she said. A lot. It would have been refreshing to change it up at least a little bit, and often times I found myself saying, “Shut up!” or, “Move on!” out loud to myself. The dialogue between characters was also super predictable and vague. However, it was an interesting enough book for me to continue reading it, and it gave me something to bid my time (which is probably why they continue to sell it in airports).
As far as the title goes, it didn't really have anything to do with the book. They have a couple that lives next door, and it's slightly related, but not so much related enough to insinuate the title is referring to them or even the Conti family. In my opinion, she could have easily have selected another title that fit better, but maybe Lapena used this as an attention grabber?
Overall, as far as psychological thrillers go, it wasn't the worst and it wasn't the best. It would make a good time killer, but I would probably end up donating it to the used book store after I read it instead of keeping it for future reads or to loan out to friends. Based on my thoughts about The Coupe Next Door, I am pretty hesitant to check out her other two novels, but maybe Lapena has grown since writing her debut novel. I guess we'll find out, won't we?
