Another outstanding book by Shari lapena. This author never fails to deliver. The roundness of her characters and writing style are a joy. The suspense will keep you hooked till the end. This is definitely a five star read.

That was a wonderful way to spend a sunny afternoon in a garden - you literally wouldn't have been able to tear my kindle out of my hands while I was reading this. Was hooked from the prologue - utterly convinced I knew all along who the murderer was - until I was blow away completely.

To say this is a claustrophobic sort of a book where it focuses around four main families, and woman who has been broken into, and with every revelation you are drawn more and more into a dark web of secrets.

It becomes clear you can't really trust what any of the characters are saying, or can you? There is after all suspicious behaviour everywhere.

I was intrigued by the boy sneaking into people's houses that is mentioned in the blurb, but felt for at least a good part of the story that we would have heard more about it - but it is there for a very good reason, and I'm really glad of it, just shows how much people hide in other ways too.

I enjoyed sitting in on the police interviews as they try to work out just who murdered the poor woman in such a brutal way. So much fun seeing how different people were reacting the questioning.

This is the third book I've now read from this author, and I think they keep getting better and better, and I just love her writing style. Once you are used to focal points changing rapidly often within the chapter, which just adds to the pacing, I was completely drawn into the story and loved reading every moment of this.

Another wonderfully addictive book from the always impressive Shari Lapena.

Thank you to Netgalley and Transworld for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Everybody has their secrets. And in the wealthy New York suburb of Aylesford the secrets of some neighbours are about to collide when one of them is found dead in her car in the lake. Was it her husband who was sleeping with one of the neighbours? Was it her own secret lover? And did the teenage boy who’s been breaking into neighbours homes see something that could be the key to solving the crime?

Once again Shari Lapena takes you on a roller-coaster ride of twists and turns in this surprising thriller. She is an author who knows how to grip and entertain her audience, building the tension slowly before ramping it up to a point where I was so hooked that I stayed up until ridiculous o’clock to get to the end.

The story involves a number of characters and subplots that are clearly all going to link together but you aren’t quite sure how. Sixteen-year old Raleigh Sharpe has been breaking into people’s homes for a kick, his mother Olivia is beside herself when she finds out and thinks he should be made to apologise to his victims, something his father, Paul, is against. Robert Pierce has reported his wife, Amanda, missing after she never returned from a weekend away with her friend. The police think she’s run away until her body is found stuffed in the boot of her car at the bottom of the lake. Both of the Pierce’s were being unfaithful but with whom? Other neighbours are harbouring their own secrets and you are left guessing who’s secrets are the important ones, who will be the key to finding out who killed Amanda, and who is actually telling the truth.

Out of all the characters I thought Olivia was the most sympathetic. I could feel her pain, despair, and helplessness after finding out what Raleigh had done. Her concern at what else she doesn’t know and how she had no idea what to as her world falls apart were reactions I think any of us would have. As a mother of teenage boys I could relate to her feelings and know I would feel as shocked and lost as she did if I were in her shoes. The least sympathetic character was Robert. He was creepy, chilling, malevolent and manipulative. He seems to be the obvious killer and I found myself understanding why Amanda cheated on him as he was so vile. I don’t think I’ve ever hoped someone is guilty as much as I did with him.

I’ll admit, I didn’t know if I was going to like this book. It started slowly and though my interest was held it didn’t instantly thrill me like her other books. But then the author masterfully began to weave the puzzle pieces together, the secrets began to escalate, and there is one twist after another until we reach the dramatic final reveal. Someone We Know is another fantastic thriller and example of Shari Lapena’s skill at writing character-driven suspense with a conclusion that will leave you in awe.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Bantam Press and Shari Lapena for the chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

A kid is breaking into random houses in his neighborhood and snooping in the neighbors’ computers without stealing anything. Meanwhile a woman goes missing from the neighborhood and practically everyone is a suspect at some point or another.

This was actually a decent domestic mystery or whodunnit. There were enough characters that could have been guilty and I was definitely surprised by who was guilty. I thought the scenes changed abruptly and maybe that was just an issue with the ARC format. I always seem to rate books by this author as a 3-3.5 despite them being decent mysteries and I think the reason is the use of present tense in all of her books. I know it is nit picky but I don’t like it and for some reason it doesn’t flow as well for me due to this. Strange, I know, but because of this, this may be my last Shari Lapena.

This is my third Shari Lapena book, after The Couple Next Door & An Unwanted Guest. both of which I adored, so I was highly anticipating her next release.

Let me tell you, this book didn’t disappoint. Something I’ve come to realise with Lapena is that she’s a master in writing incredibly twisty multiple POV stories.
Someone We Know is a suspenseful, thought-provoking, Mystery Thriller. Featuring a cast of highly developed and well thought out characters.

This book has one underlying message – how well do we really know our neighbours?

Raleigh Sharpe, a teenage boy who has a growing fascination with computers, admits to his parents, that he has been breaking into houses in their small neighbourhood when the owners aren’t home. Explaining that he doesn’t actually steal anything – just pries through their computers. Fuming, but wanting to do the right thing, Raleigh’s mother Olivia writes anonymous letters to the owners of the houses her son admitted to breaking into, posting them through their letterboxes at nightfall.

Meanwhile, news breaks out that one of the nearby residents Amanda Pierce has been found at the bottom of a river, dead in the boot of her car. Amanda’s husband Paul, was one of the recipients of Olivia’s letters. Leading Paul with many unanswered questions, who has broken in? and what have they seen?

Throughout the investigation were taken on an in-depth journey of the lives of the neighbourhood, everyone seems to have something to hide, everywhere the police turn, they seem to uncover something that leads them to a different suspect. Turning residents against each other.

In this quiet neighbourhood, full of secrets and lies, who is really telling the truth?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more from Shari Lapena in the future.

Oh this was good! Great pacey read with lots of twists and turns. Kept me guessing right until the end - I couldn't put it down! I have read this author before and this did not disappoint. Thank you - I highly recommend.

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have absolutely loved this author's previous books and while this one wasn't quite as good as her last, this one was still very excellently-written. With a plot that kept me guessing from start to finish, plenty of twists and turns, and characters that made me question everything, this one is most definitely a must read.
With an heartpoundingly intense ending, I can't wait for this authors next.

This book was ok. It was neither terrible or fantastic. The writing style was not my favourite and I found Olivia and Glenda read like they were much older than I estimated them to be. I did enjoy how everyone's secrets were interwoven.
Not sure if I would pick up another by this author.

Well, I've always wanted to live in a nice rural area and attend a book club.....not with this lot though! It's as if they've just been on an episode of Rich Housewives of New York or Desperate Housewives or even Stepford Wives. Now that is quite the mix isn't it?

A nice leafy suburb in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. A nice set of leafy homes with couples and their children living there. Married and settled.....well maybe not. They're all busy with relationships and having lots of sex, but not with the person they married. Oops.

There's quite a small cast of characters but still, I did find it fairly easy to guess who was responsible. The characters all seemed a bit flat I found and I didn't care for Raleigh's mum. Or Raleigh for that matter. Gormless teenager and what he did was treated as minor a crime as dropping litter. I would hate to live amongst these people as they were all as bad as each other. Perhaps that was the point of the book but I didn't want to spend time with them.

I did have to read to the end as the sense of foreboding was interesting.

I felt like this book started off so well but then got boring. I lost interest and could not finish. It had so much potential to start with

This is the second of Shari Lapena's books that I've read, the first being 'The Couple Next Door' at a friend's insistence. I enjoyed that one, to an extent. A fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns and a satisfying resolution. That is, until the last few pages were added that spoilt it for me and dragged down my overall rating.
This one was different. Much better. The chapters were sometimes a little busy, containing details of all the characters exploits in turn, which could be confusing for some, but once I got used to that, I was just eagerly turning pages and trying not to read ahead. You know from the outset that everyone you meet is somehow entangled in each other's lives. There's affairs and hacking and secrets and lies and murders - something for everyone, and everything I love in a good thriller. Everyone's a suspect, then no one is, then everyone again and I can guarantee it won't be who you think everytime there's a mystery to unravel. It feels like a game of Cluedo sometimes; there are so many possibilities!
It starts with a grisly, gory bang and goes out with a shrewd and malevolent one which leaves you wondering what could have happened next in this little suburb where everyone seems to be hiding something...
Thank you NetGalley, Shari Lapena and her publisher for an advanced copy of this book on exchange for an honest review!

This book was a miss for me unfortunately. It started with a bang but from there had no action, no suspense. It was slow and i found the characters boring and uninteresting. It just seemed to go from person to person where they whined and complained about the same things. I kept waiting for something to happen and reading was becoming a struggle so i had to give up.

I love Shari Lapena's books and was delighted to have been gifted an e-arc of her latest book, Someone We Know. Set in the US, it opens with a scene where a woman is murdered. On a quiet leafy suburban street a teenage boy has been breaking into his neighbours' houses and sneaking into their home computers, sending prank emails. His mother finds out (he owns up to 2 houses only) and sends a letter of apology to both occupants, one of which is the home of the murdered woman and her husband. The murder enquiry is underway and as every neighbour in the street has secrets they wish to hide, the perpetrator could be anyone among them.

Spoiler Alert:

I really, really wanted to like this book. I didn't like any of the characters, they were irritating and annoying, particularly Olivia, mother of Raleigh who, to me, was so beyond ridiculously naive that I wanted to shout at her. I found the plot itself to be slow moving and not really going anywhere fast, except to announce that someone else was sleeping with someone else. Certain language in the book - eg. a book set in the US, but that uses the "boot of the car" to me is incorrect, as American's refer to the boot as the "trunk". Also the constant use of phrases such as "he never use to be like this", or "it never use to be that way" really grated on my nerves. I'm not an expert but they didn't read grammatically correct to me. I struggled and ultimately didn't finish the book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review the book in return for my honest opinion.

In a tranquil, leafy suburb of ordinary streets – one where everyone is polite and friendly – an anonymous note has been left at some of the houses. ‘I’m so sorry. My son has been getting into people’s houses. He’s broken into yours.’ Who is this boy, and what might he have uncovered? As whispers start to circulate, suspicion mounts. When a missing local woman is found murdered, the tension reaches breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? How far will all these very nice people go to protect their secrets?

Purely judging this book on the premise has me thinking great, what a terrifying, electrifying read, after all if you cannot trust the people living closest to you then who can you trust? Sadly, having now read this book I can say this is not terrifying or electrifying. Instead, this is dull and so incredibly obvious it is people. I can hand on heart say I do not think there is anything I liked about this book...other than the setting, I mean really?!

On paper, the premise works well but it is sorely lacking in thrills and twists, from the beginning it is clear who it is going to be, that is always the peril of a small character list. Sometimes it can work spectacularly, but this is not one of those times and I was just left frustrated at the lack of excitement and intensity in the plot. 'Someone We Know' is really in need of a couple of shocks to spice things up.

Moving onto the characters and again, I do not have much good news to report here. The way Lapena has written this means we do not really gain an understanding of the characters or ever really know who they are and what they stand for. I did not connect to any of them and more to the point, I did not like any of them. With a book such as this, if you have not connected to any of the characters then is there really any point?!

I apologise for being so harsh with this review but there is not one thing I enjoyed about this book. If you are looking for intensity, anticipation and shocks, then read something else because this book will not deliver any of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.

I loved this book by Shari Lapena so much I had it read within a few hours. There were so many twists and turns I had no idea who the killer actually was. The plot was also very believable and you could easily imagine it happening amongst groups of neighbours and friends. I will definitely be reading more of Shari Lapena’s novels in the near future.

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena is a thriller with many twists and turns.
Robert reports his wife Amanda missing. The police find her body and start an investigation into how she died.
Everywhere the police turn there is another suspect and the investigation turns husbands against wives and friends against each other.
It seems like everyone has something to hide. Unfortunately for them someone knows their secrets.
A lots of characters in this book and a lot of names and relationships to remember.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved all of Shari Lapena's previous novels and this one did not disappoint. A murdered woman is found in a very tight nit neighbourhood. A neighbourhood full of secrets.

This novel was unputadownable and I didnt know who was at fault. I suspected everyone and even in the end I got it wrong. I enjoyed finding things out about the characters and could not finish the book quick enough

I was so happy to receive this book

Brilliant fast paced gripping thriller. It was very well written and dragged me in right from the start. I kept going back to it just to get another page in, and try to find out who the actual killer was.

I went into Someone We Know with an open mind since I loved The Couple Next Door and hated An Unwanted Guest. I’m pleased to say this is on par with TCND!

This is one of those stories that you’ll put your life on hold to finish, gripped me from the first page and I enjoyed how two stories within the plot twist together in harmony. Realistic characters and beautifully written, guaranteed to be a bestseller!

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
Thanks @netgalley @sharilapena and @penguinrhuk for my ARC
Publication date 25th July 2019
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Another absolute smasher from Shari Lapena. This book was completely unputdownable. A murdered woman found in a tight nit neighbourhood. A neighbourhood that’s full of its own secrets. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
A great story that reminded me a little of Jo Spain’s Dirty Little Secrets. Another amazing book. As always this book was so well written with lovable and flawed characters. I was suspecting everyone. Shari Lapena is one of my favourite authors, a masterful storyteller. Amazing. Highly recommended xx