BOOK
REVIEW
The Couple
Next Door
By Shari Lupena
42 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | AUG 2018
By Nell Klein
1402 Butler Ave.
912-786-4576
I don’t spend a whole lot of time wondering what my neighbors are
doing and I spend very little, if any, time with them, but the title of
this book intrigued me. I started speculating that my neighbors were
harboring criminals, filming pornographic movies, selling drugs or any
number of illicit things you can think of, but the truth is I think they are
as boring as we are. But that’s non-fiction. In the fictional world, as we
all know, anything can and does happen.
Anne and Marco Conti have a beautiful condo, a successful business
and an infant daughter named Cora. Their neighbors next door, Cynthia
and Graham, are equally successful, but childless. When Cynthia invites
the Conti’s to dinner, Cynthia insists that no children are allowed. That’s
fine until the Conti’s babysitter cancels at the last minute. They decide
to take the baby monitor and take turns checking on Cora every 30
minutes. What could possibly go wrong?
All seems fine, but Anne drank a little too much wine and is ready to
go home fairly early, but Marco won’t have any of that. He’s having too
much fun flirting with Cynthia. When Anne finally gets Marco to agree
to go home, they find their front door open and horror of horrors, Cora
is gone! The police are called to investigate and Detective Rasbach is
assigned to the case. He quickly determines that both Anne and Marco
are hiding something behind their closed doors. But, where is little Cora?
I’m not always crazy about books where children are abducted
(especially little tiny babies!), but this book was a good read (remember
its fiction). There are so many twists and turns in this book, you never
see them coming. But I will tell you that the ending will blow you away!
I give this book 4 roses. It’s a debut novel for Shari Lapena, and a darn
good one at that. I’ll be looking forward to more from her.
Until next time, read a book. If it’s a good read, pass it on!