I really enjoyed A Stranger in the House. It took me ages and ages to finally read it and recently grabbed the audiobook from the library. I didn't know much about the story and had a pretty fun time reading it. There were a few "what?!" moments which is my favorite in a suspense like this. Overall, good read and I'll definitely check out more Lapena.

A Stranger in the House promised so much, and did not deliver. The story was contrived and the characters bland and forgettable. Mediocre at best.

I enjoyed this book up until a point. It was very hard to keep up with and the plot was kind of all over the place. I couldn't connect at all with Tom and at times felt as if he were not into what was happening to him.

Overall, the premise was good. The plot had potential but Tom ruined it for me.

A Stranger in the House was a pretty bland read for me. I actually finished it a while back and forgot completely about it because I just didn't find the characters very memorable. If I had connected with Karen or Tom, I probably would've felt an emotional investment in what had happened the night Karen lost her memory. Tom, especially, was despicable and lacked any kind of emotional depth. The mystery was interesting and I did like the ending, so I would definitely look into other books by the author.

Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon

Though I liked the book, I made the decision when I finished not to review it on my site because it didn't fit into my editorial schedule. I may include it in a review post or possibly a book list post in the future.

Not as good as Lapena's previous novel The Couple Next Door. While this was great for a quick summer read, the action didn't sweep me up and I was left unsatisfied by the story's conclusion.

I think I'm just done with this entire genre. I found this one very predictable and it feels like all the books coming out are using the exact same outline.

Another great thriller. Really enjoyed this one. .

I recieved a copy of A Stranger in the House from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The latest book by Shari Lapena is a psychological thriller that will keep you turning the pages.

Karen and Tom are a happily married couple. One night, Tom returns home from work to find Karen missing...purse and cellphone left behind, dinner in the kitchen, just gone. After some frantic time goes gym the police arrive at the house to inform Tom Karen has been in a car accident. She is in the hospital, but what was she doing in the worst part of town at night? When the police start asking questions, Karen can't remember anything...

This was a fast paced, interesting book. It was exciting, but sometimes a little confusing. I was not a fan of the characters, the author has created a group of people you love to hate. I wouldn't want to be friends with any of them. That doesn't take away from the story itself. Very twisty, sometimes predictable, but you will want to make sure you have enough time set aside to read it from start to finish. The last few pages are worth the wait!

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read, who appreciates a good thriller. I'm looking forward to reading the authors other book, The Couple Next Door.

This one was good not as good as her last book but still an interesting story. I sure don't want to live in this authors neighborhood because she must have had some bad neighbors! I will say I didn't like the open ended ending and am really hoping for a book where these two women go up against each other. and see which one is still standing in the end.

I would recommend this it was a good thriller and there were times it kept me guessing.

Tavia Gilbert's narration was as always wonderful!

I can honestly say that when I started reading this one, I didn't expect it to engross me as it did. It was a super quick read with lots of twists and turns. It was a classic storyline, but with enough nuance and minor differences that it was still fun and not entirely predictable.

I do think that the writing was a little juvenile at times, but all in all it was a fast-paced, enjoyable read.

Excellent writing that grips you from beginning to end. Lots of great twists and turns that last through the end!

This was a fast paced read and the perfect kind of thriller for the beach or airplane. The plot was twisty-turny but nothing terribly unanticipated.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC for my Kindle.
I really wanted to like this book, but it was a little too unbelievable for me. And the ending may mean there's a sequel? If there is, I hope it's better than this book.

It was like trying to read a bad soap opera. I couldn't make myself finish it.

A woman suffers amnesia after a car crash, she has no clue why she was driving so fast before hitting a pole. Her husband wonders what she was doing in the seedy part of town the accident took part in. Then a man turns up murdered in the same area. As the story unravels there are secrets from both the husband and wife that get revealed. Is there marriage even real? Who murdered the man found in the abandoned restaurant?

If zero stars were available, that's what this book would get. What a hot mess - I read it all, thinking it had to get better. Big mistake.

Less of a “Whodunnit?” than a “Who Cares” for most of the book. The last few pages were interesting and a bit creepy, but the rest of it just kind of meandered along. Pleasant but uninspired.

If you've read a megapopular thriller „The Couple Next Door", I'm sure you're already familiar with Shari Lapena's name. After the great success of her debutant novel, Shari returns with her second book, "A Stranger in the House“.

Frankly, I was not thrilled with the first book of Shari Lapena. After so many positive comments, I really expected a great thriller, and in the end, I admit, I was pretty indifferent. Since it was the first novel, I decided to give the author another chance and read her other book. And yes, maybe I wasn't charmed by the book, but I certainly have to notice the essential progress in style and writing. Shari seems to have learned something in the meantime.

Already in the prologue of the novel, the author tells us that something went wrong. Still an unknown woman runs out of the dark restaurant in the infamous urban neighborhood, sits in the car and, passing through the red light, causes a traffic accident. At the same time in a rich suburb, her husband comes home. The absence of his wife is a bit weird, but unlocked door, unfinished dinner and her stuff in the house are what tells him to call the police, suspecting his wife's disappearance. This is how he learnes that she was injured in a car accident and was in the hospital. Considering the somewhat weird circumstances of the accident, the police suspect that it may not be his wife at all. Why would an exemplary wife from a rich suburbs even be in a bad neighborhood? After all, Karen has never even received a parking fine.

Arriving at the hospital, Karen's husband Tom confirms her identity, but no one can figure out in what circumstances her accident could happen. Though already conscious, Karen can not help them, her memory of the accident and the events that preceded it, was completely faded. Doctors are confident that Karen's amnesia is just a temporary consequence of trauma, and the police, as well as spouses, just have to wait for her memory to come back.

Meanwhile, police uncover a dead body at a restaurant near Karen's accident site, and she recalls that she had noticed a few traces of an intruder in their house in weeks before the accident. Still, she decides that she will not share her knowledge even with her husband Tom or with her best friend Brigid. Looks like an intruder might be someone from her well-hidden past.

Who is that stranger that enters their home? Who is the dead man whose body was found near the accident site, and why Karen left home that day to go to a poor neighborhood where she had nothing to do? These are, of course, the answers you can find for yourself, if you decide to read the book.

In this new thriller, Shari Lapena have made an enormous progress in creating elements that contribute to the unpredictability and tension of the novel's plot. Of course, many of these elements can already be found in many other books, so some readers that well know the genre, will surely not be overwhelmed by many of them (for example, the main character amnesia as a way of delaying the conclusion is already a well-known trick). Still, progress is visible, and this is something that I can definitely admit to the author. And now, with impatience, we are waiting for the third book. Maybe it will be a thriller like non we read before.