Review: The Neighbor

An attractive young wife and mother goes missing in Boston and her cold-fish husband immediately sets off alarm bells, reminding Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren and her team of the Charles Stuart case.

But night-working reporter Jason Jones wasn’t a witness and doesn’t try to blame it on a black man. He came home from work, he says, to find his wife missing and his 4-year-old daughter alone. The best he can come up with as a scapegoat is a convicted sex offender who lives down the street, who, Warren has to admit, makes as fine a suspect as the husband. With about the same amount of evidence against him – that is to say, none.

Bestselling New Hampshire author Gardner builds psychological tension by switching between Jones, Warren, Aiden Brewster (the young sex-offender) and the missing woman, Sandra Jones. Sandra’s contributions are in italics, musings about the past – her dysfunctional childhood and strange marriage – and really give us no clue as to whether she is alive or not.

Bit by bit Gardner builds a picture of a couple dedicated to their child, Clarissa, but almost strangers to each other. Jason, in particular, remains an enigma. Gardner keeps his sections in-the-moment, as he deals with crises, secrets and Clarissa’s growing anxiety.

Her portrayal of precocious Clarissa is particularly wrenching as the child does her utmost to stave off untenable worries and fears and cling to the only life she knows. Naturally as time goes on and her mother does not return, cracks appear in Clarissa’s carefully constructed façade. And in Jason and Sandra’s.

Meanwhile there’s the sex offender. And Sandra’s secret life. And Warren’s attempts at a personal life of any kind.

As usual, Gardner juggles a lot of characters and keeps the pages turning. And the ending provides an extra treat for old fans!

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: The Neighbor

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.