Shari Lapena published her first book in 2008 but she only became a popular name after ‘The Couple Next Door’ came out in 2016 and became a bestseller in Canada and internationally. I loved Lapena’s 2020 book ‘The End of Her’. It had so many mind-bending twists and turns. Even as someone who has read hundreds of thrillers till date, I couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. Just when I would make up my mind about one thing, something would happen that would make me rethink my previous stance. Lapena knows how to keep her readers on the edge.

 I had been trying to get my hands on her other works for a while, when I came across ‘A Stranger in the House’. I wanted more of this amazing writer who had crafted such real but complex characters and stories. I couldn’t wait to read this psychological thriller that delves into a couple’s seemingly-perfect relationship and the secrets they keep to ensure their lives are smooth. (Trigger warning: the book has repeated references to gun and domestic violence as well as pregnancy and fertility issues.)

Following a whirlwind romance, Karen and Tom have been married for two years. They are very much in love. Then, one day, Karen gets into an accident in a part of town that she never goes to. There has been a murder nearby and the police think she killed the man and fled. The man, who was murdered, had been snooping around their house on and off, claiming to be a ‘friend of the wife’s’. The couple’s neighbor, Brigid, had seen a harried Karen get into the car on the night of the accident.

At the hospital, the last thing Karen remembers is that she was preparing dinner and waiting for her husband to come home. Each of the characters, and there aren’t that many, recollect the night’s events as they try to piece together what might have happened. We see the story unravel through different perspectives.

I wasn’t disappointed but having been exposed to Lapena’s writing style, I saw what she was trying to do. I won’t say I could predict what was going to happen next but I had a good sense of the general direction of where things were headed. Lapena is good at creating tension but her stories, settings, and style are eerily similar. She seems to have a trope or perhaps she thinks she has figured out the formula of success with The Couple Next Door and can’t think beyond that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t read her books. Just don’t read two of her books back-to-back or when one of her stories is still fresh in your mind.

 

3 stars

Fiction

A Stranger in the House

Shari Lapena

Published: 2017

Publisher: Transworld Publishers

Pages: 371, Paperback