I read Shari Lapena’s debut thriller last year, The Couple Next Door. I loved it! After reading several books that promised to be the next Girl on the Train or Gone Girl but fell short, I had finally found a book that kept me turning the pages. I read it in just two days. It was original, full of twists, and impossible to put down. So you can imagine my excitement over her new book, A Stranger in the House, as well as my disappointment when it just didn’t live up to her first novel.
As I said, I had high hopes for this book going into it. The bar had been set high with The Couple Next Door. But unfortunately, A Stranger in the House was far from the thriller I had hoped for. The story was nothing original – a woman running from her past, an obsessed ex-lover, a marriage full of secrets, etc. Basically, I felt like I had already read this story dozens of times. There were a couple of surprise “twists” at the end, however, one really wasn’t that much of a shock and the other was very predictable. In fact, I had even said out loud to myself during the book, “I bet such and such happens…” and in fact, it did.
If you really want to read a good mystery/ thriller, you should check out Lapena’s previous release, The Couple Next Door. That one kept me guessing all the way through. Hopefully her next one will live up to her first one.
Kaitlin Scirri