THE NEIGHBOUR

TITLE: THE NEIGHBOUR
AUTHOR: LISA GARDNER
Pages: 369
Date: 05/08/2009
Grade: 4.5
Details: Stand-alone thriller
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CAREFUL, THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

In many ways this is a very chilling novel. No in the least because by the end, not all crimes go punished.
Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren is called to a house in Boston from which a young wife and mother has gone missing. On the surface it looks like D.D. is dealing with a tragic case involving a normal and picture perfect family. However, from the start things don't feel right to D.D. The husband is not reacting to the situation in any of the expected ways, and the family didn't have any close relationships without their house. Almost from the word go, the husband is the prime suspect.
However, he's not the only one; There is the sexual offender who happens to live on the same street, the thirteen year old student with a crush on the young and beautiful teacher as well as the missing woman's father, with whom she hasn't been in contact for five years. While the media circus grows every more intrusive, the investigation only grows murkier.
This is not a thriller for the faint hearted. And if you have an issue with reading about child abuse, or like your endings to be conclusive and black and white, this is not the book for you.
Also, although there are lots of questions to be answered and mysteries to be solved in this book, I never for one moment thought that the missing woman was dead because of the way in which the book was written.
Therefore, I'd call this a very good but not a perfect thriller.