Book Description
From a master of suspense comes a chilling new novel this explores the dangers lurking closer than you believe. For the reason that even in the ideal family, you never recognize what is going on behind closed doors...
This is what happened... It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy--a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears not including a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect. In the last six hours... But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Joneses’ snug little bungalow, she senses something off concerning the image of wholesome normality the couple worked so hard to make. On the surface, Jason and Sandra Jones are like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old kid. But it is just under the surface this things grew murky. Of the world as I knew it... Together with the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems extra intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his “beloved” wife. Is the ideal husband trying to hide his guilt--or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killer’s next victim?
Amazon Special: Lisa Gardner on the Making of The Neighbor
 A dozen suspense novels later, it still amazes me how little control I have over the writing process. I’m a plotter. This means every time I begin a novel, I feel compelled to map out the road ahead. I’m going to put in writing a very scary book where lots of people die, and this is how I’m gonna do it. Sounds good. And yet, every and each time, by page five or so, this plan is blown out of the water. The plot veers off in a different direction. A character throws me for a loop. I don’t recognize. You go to put in writing a book and apparently, things happen.
My latest open, The Neighbor is no exception. I initiated the book together with a neat premise: I wanted a love interest for one of my favorite characters, hard-nosed Boston detective, D.D. Warren. How much fun would it be, I wondered, if D.D. fell for a guy suspected of murdering his own wife? Better yet, I’ll do the guy a father of a four-year-old girl, for the reason that surely workaholic Sergeant Warren deserves a sexy, dark-haired man who in addition recognizes how to fashion pigtails and do Mickey Mouse pancakes. Ideal! Of course, I wanted a twisted storyline together with lots of shocking turns. Not a problem. Much of my novels have been inspired by true crimes, and let’s face it, there are no shortages of husbands currently resolving their marital woes by killing off their wives. Research cases were numerous and simple to locate. If I now sleep together with one eye open, well this’s what happens when you use six months immersed in the learn of spousal homicide. Next, I necessary some other suspects to stir the pot. What concerning a registered sex offender living on the same block as the missing woman? And what if the missing woman happens to in addition be a stunning blonde schoolteacher, perhaps a natural favorite together with her male students? See, now we’re having some fun. Add half a dozen deep dark secrets and we’re off to the races. This in addition led to extra interesting research. I thought I knew what I necessary to recognize concerning sex offenders. As wife and mother, I’ve been very comfortable together with the notion of shooting first and questioning later. I’ve in addition had zero respect for female schoolteachers who engage in sexual relations together with their students. A sex offender is a sex offender, even the ones who are pretty and female. Then again, sometimes during the research phase, I study things this totally modify the course of the novel. I initiated The Neighbor together with a plan, and shortly ended up together with a puzzle. At a certain point, I was writing the book just so I could locate out what was going to happen next. Did Jason Jones actually kill his wife? What was he doing on the computer night afterwards night? And what concerning poor four-year old Ree, the last known person to have seen her mother alive? I thought D.D. Warren necessary to a love interest. But maybe, what she really needs is to save a scared little girl, caught in the middle of a deadly strategy. It’s possible there’s a bit extra to the story than I’ve mentioned so far. Some other key characters this be visible along the way, some rather unexpected developments. For the reason that when you go to put in writing a book, apparently, things happen. --Lisa Gardner (Photo © John Earle) |
Reporter Jason Jones comes home to find his wife Sandra missing, but the house is all locked up and the Jones' have security measures beyond that of ordinary people, they have steal doors and barred windows. There's a broken lamp in the bedroom and a quilt is missing, however her purse, clothes, car all her personal effects are still there. Where is Sandra? That's what Sgt. D.D. Warren of the police would like to know and she'd also like to know why it took Jason three hours to call the police.
Jason seems cold, like he's got something to hide and he's not the only one who's in a bit of a panic over Sandra's disappearance. Aidan Brewster, a neighbor from down the street is panicked about the police cars in the neighborhood, probably because he's a convicted sex offender and though he's in a rehab program, he pretty much suspects he's gonna be a suspect.
The police, of course, focus on Jason at first, but you know Brewster is right, the cops are gonna look at him too and he's got something to hide as did the missing Sandra. There is a whole lot of misdirection in this book, a whole lot of suspense, some steamy action, some action not so steamy. There are hidden secrets, secret desires and pages that begged to be turned. As usual Lisa Gardener has written a corker of a good book. |