The Neighbor: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel Mass Market Paperback – June 29, 2021

Lisa Gardner has done it yet again! Twists, turns and surprises. A easy and exciting read, highly recommended for your next book to read.

There are lots of monsters in Lisa Gardner's latest thriller, from those in the past lives of her main characters to the potential monsters lurking around the fringes of the book's central mystery: who is responsible for the disappearance of Sandy Jones, a perfect wife and mother? Is it her husband, a "McDreamy" lookalike whose thousand-yard stare freaks out D.D. Warren when she tries to ask questions? What is the role of the 'neighbor' in the title -- a sex offender on parole, trying to get back on an even keel and who may have seen too much? And what about Sandy's 13-year-old student, who was helping her delve into her husband's secrets via the Internet?This is one of Gardner's best thrillers in a few years, full of twists and turns that make it literally impossible to put down. (I walked around the house all day with it open in front of me...) That is the litmus test of any good thriller, and it passes handily, especially when Gardner gets into her narrative and past the coy asides that all female protagonists seem doomed to utter these days. (Think Lisa Scottoline, but not as good, such as when Warren muses to herself that the ability to retrieve older instant messages from a cellphone provider is "handy information for inquiring minds that wanted to know." That's being clever for the sake of being clever...)But the twisting plot(s) soon take over and grab hold of the reader. What is the truth of Sandy's past? Can we trust what she tells us, the reader, in the first-person segments in some of the chapters? Or what she has told her husband? Can we trust Jason's version of events as seen through his eyes after Sandy's disappearance? Or is he putting on as much of an act for us, the reader, as he acknowledges he is for the police and Sandy's fellow teachers at the local middle school. Why does Jason feel so panicky about the contents of his computer -- the same contents that Sandy was trying to access with her student's help? The final twist -- the solution to Sandy's disappearance and the identity of the ultimate criminal and (his/her) motivations (no spoilers here!) are humdingers which -- not so coincidentally -- wrap up most of the dangling plot threads.This is a classic thriller that won't let you stop reading until you get to that stage. Unusually for this writer, however, there are also some elements that make the reader ponder bigger issues, such as the impact of mass media on crime investigation, the idea of what is an 'appropriate' response or 'normal' relationship, and -- most intriguing of all -- the question of whether lumping all kinds of sex offenders, from vicious pedophile preying on children in his care to the 19 year old who has sex with a 14 or 15 year old, together in one mass for law enforcement purposes is helpful or counterproductive. Collectively, those make this a four-star read, along with the idea that living 'happily ever after' may mean very different things to different people.It's not five stars because the writing is rather prosaic and D.D. Warren, however appealing, isn't really three-dimensional. (We are reminded over and over again that she's celibate and doesn't like it; after the first time, it does add anything to our understanding of her character and it's not relevant to the plot. That kind of stuff detracts from the suspense and turns the book into more of a lite thriller than a real noir read.) The acute reader will also spot a few holes in the plot details (hints: clothing and cars) that remain unanswered.This is that great summer read: a book that will grab your attention and keep it while you hang out in the garden or under a beach umbrella, and that you don't need to brood over to figure out. Recommended for mystery and thriller readers who like female detectives and 'woman in peril' novels, but definitely a notch above the works of romance-based 'thriller' writers such as Catherine Coulter et. al.

This story had me wrapped up and anxious to see how it would end. I'm hoping that all her books in this series aren't filled with pedophiles and rapists because that can be mighty draining. Also, the mention of prison rape just bothers me. It was an intricate plot that I would've never guessed at, and D.D. mainly not getting close to solving the crime, plus seeming like a background character dealing with horniness and a food obsession makes me wonder where this series is going with her. After this book I know no more about D.D. than I knew in the last books

Received quickly. Haven't read the book yet but like the author so am sure it will be good.

DD is a Sargent working homicides. There is no romantic relationship to fill her nights and weekends, so she works long hours and wishes she had a fella. Thus, she gets a call about a missing woman who is young, a mother, a wife and a teacher. Both she and her husband have horrible memories of torture by their families during their childhood.They met and escaped from her father refusing to have any further contact. The husband had received an inheritance when he turned 18 and left home having no further contact with his family. They loved him but did not know how to incorporate him into the family after he had been abducted and tortured for years.The couple had a beautiful and precocious 4 year old daughter whom they love and are focussed on raising her well. But the marital relationship is lacking due to their childhood traumas.The beautiful young woman is a first year teacher of 6th graders. She enjoys it but takes her away from her daughter during the day. Fortunately the older husband is a reporter for the local paper and is able to work at night. Thus the girl has full time parent care.Problems arise when the wife started taking "spa" days where she let's her wild side be indulged. Then she became concerned NY the husbands computer activities. In trying to gain computer skills she acquires overly zealous help that led to her disappearing. Which led to. Criminal investigations and complex potential perpetrators.A great read that keeps you wondering and for some is a lack of slee

Lisa Gardner is such a pro! She does great research on all aspects and characters. I go from book to book which she's written, and I can never seem to put them down until I'm finished. Great story!!

Não gostei muito. A detetive não descobre nada e às vezes faz trapalhadas. A situação acaba se resolvendo por si, com pelo menos uma morte evitável por incompetência dos detetives. O final da história me pareceu meio mal contado, as situações meio forçadas.Já tinha lido um outro livro da autora ("Viva para contar"), de que gostei bem mais.

Excellent right to the very end. You'll love the main character, the father. Just wondering what his dark secrets are compels you to read faster and finish this book. Compulsive read, this one.

Through this series, Lisa Gardner's themes and interests as a writer continue to develop: damaged children who become damaged, manipulative adults, attracted to other damaged, manipulative adults, doing their best to look after their children. In the books so far, a key element is the victim extracting justice on their abuser, a theme that is developed even further in this book. Another key theme is whether being a victim justifies becoming a perpetrator. The author is clearly fascinated with what leads damaged people to be the way they are and act the way they do, and extensive narrative blocks are devoted to going over their past experiences and current psychological state. In this book, she takes a sideline into pedophilia, asking us to come with her on a journey to consider whether all pedophiles are alike.The first book in the series, 'Alone' is clearly the standout. The protagonist, Bobby Dodge, was a damaged child who has grown up to become a respected and effective police officer, yet his past continues to haunt him. In that book (in which DD Warren was a minor character) the police were competent and absolutely convincing, all the characters were complex and nuanced, there was fabulous character development, the suspense was unbearable, and it remains one of the most organic and integrated police psychological thrillers I have ever read. The second book,'Hide' started out as a great police procedural (DD a secondary character this time), but lost its way in the second half, with the investigation having very little bearing on the outcome. This third book starts with a horny, hungry, grumpy DD Warren. Although the title character, DD gets almost no air time for character development unlike the victims and perpetrators (typically characters are a bit of both). The supposedly competent detective team, including a psychologist, completely fail to notice behavior typical of past sexual abuse in one of the main characters. There are long sections of infodump about pedophile treatment programs and computer technology. A victim's manipulative behavior towards a vulnerable child, and a number of other criminal acts, are excused on the basis of victimhood. And, as in 'Hide', the police have very little to do with the resolution of the case - it's all about the victims/perpetrators sorting it out among themselves, with some solutions stretching credibility. And anyone who is part of the police family will find the ending particularly annoying and unsatisfying from a justice perspective. A lot of the lower-starred reviews have come from people in the law enforcement family and related areas, for the above reasons.This is the third time in three books that the point of view approach has changed: third person multiple (Alone); alternate third and first, two characters only (Hide); and this time two first-person characters and three or four third-person. As a reader, this made it hard to settle into the series but wouldn't have been too much of an issue had I liked DD or if the author's approach to police maintained the high standards of 'Alone'. However, this is the last book in the series I will be reading. I don't think DD is a 'damaged enough' character for the author to take any real interest in her - she's actually become more two-dimensional as a character through the first three books. It would have been a more honest approach not to label this as a detective series - it isn't one - and to simply let the author fully indulge her interest in victims and perpetrators, and leave the police as sideline characters. Don't skip 'Alone' ... but stop there if the above issues will give you grief.

Beautifully composed thriller, deep, rich and exciting. People are not what they seem, no proof is without defect, The law gets an explanation but the reader knows what the law will never know, and finds grim satisfaction in the final resolutions. As usual, and maybe even better than usual, Lisa Gardner deals with human suffering, with the deficiencies of family, with the ersatz that can provide substitute happiness, with those human lives that are beyond hope. A book that can be read a second time after a few years, with no loss of thrill.

A good thriller but disappointed at the end!!!