Customer Reviews

The Neighbor: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Lisa Gardner concocts a flaming stew of suspects and hot button issues in this latest novel. A gorgeous young teacher vanishes in the middle of the night. Her husband is a reporter. He comes home late to find his wife gone and his 4-year-old daughter alone in their highly fortified house in South Boston. All the doors are still locked.

The cops assume that the husband did it. Perhaps he killed his wife and threw her into the ocean? But there are so many other potential culprits; "the neighbor" of the title is a convicted sex offender. The missing woman's father is a possible abuser, too. Then there's the police forensics guy who has a crush on her. His computer geek nephew also had a crush on teacher. And so on...Whodunnit?

Gardner pulls out one surprise after another with twists all along the way. Meanwhile we get flashbacks of the missing woman's thoughts. Her anger. Her lust. Her unsatisfied desires. The female cop on the case is another gorgeous, horny specimen. Then there's the husband, a total hunk. And the forensics guy, a David Caruso lookalike. Gardner's romance roots are showing through...

The steamy stew spills into the internet where more secrets lurk. The computer geek is a 13-year-old genius and as one might expect he's way ahead of the adults. Surprise ending. No spoilers here.

4 1/2 Stars.

Sandra Jones, a high school teacher, puts her daughter, Ree, to bed before going to bed herself. Then she hears a sound coming from the stairs...When her husband, Jason, comes home from his night shift job at the newspaper, Sandra has vanished.

Sgt. Detective D. D. Warren, last seen in Gardner's 2007 novel, "Hide" knows that the spouse is always the prime suspect when the other spouse goes missing or is killed. Now, when she attempts to interview Jason, he is uncooperative, almost nonchalant.

Who is the guilty person who did whatever was done to Sandra?
Is it the husband? Is it the neighbor, Aidan Brewster, whose room overlooks the Jones' bedroom and is a registered sex offender? Could it be Ethan Hastings, a 13 year old high school student who has a crush on Sandra? Or, could it be a late comer in the story, Wayne Reynolds, a state police computer analyst who had met Sandra at her high shool's basketball game and has been meeting her for a weekly school game thereafter?

The story continues with Sandra's father, Judge Maxwell Black, entering the scene and demanding he be given visitation privileges to his granddaughter. Sandra had no relationship with her father and had accused him of mistreatment.

The reader is able to know the various characters'houghts and it is difficult to see who might be the guilty character.

It is obvious that the author enjoyed writing this book and her sense of having fun with the plot comes through. "The Neighbor" is a well written, fast moving story that would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud.

When I began reading 'The Neighbor', I was totally transfixed. I couldn't put down this book! I have never read anything by Lisa Gardner before, but could definitely understand the fuss!

Unlike the other 2-star reviewer, I was not able to easily identify the plot line, which helped me stay engaged. But, towards the end, as the finale is starting to unfold, I felt cheated by the book.

The ending completely chickens out, complete with a bizarre series of events that I imagine are trying to amp up the tension, but rather, detracted from the genius of the story thus far.

I really wanted to love this book. Really I did. But, as an avid suspense reader, I also want to feel fulfilled by the ending. Here, as I said before, I felt that she chickened out & I was completely letdown.

In Lisa Gardner's "The Neighbor," Jason Jones and his twenty-three year old wife, Sandra, appear to be a normal American couple. He works nights as reporter for a Boston newspaper and she is a conscientious middle school social studies teacher. They dote on their adorable and precocious four-year old, Clarissa, whom they call Ree. However, nothing in a Lisa Gardner novel is ever straightforward. When Jason and Sandra married, he was thirty and she was eighteen. Neither one revealed to the other certain horrific secrets that they preferred to keep buried. As Sandra says, "It seems we go longer in silence all the time." Her husband has a tendency to be morose, since "he believed at all times that the worst could happen."

The trouble begins when Jason comes home from work early one morning and finds his wife missing with Ree asleep in her bedroom. Jason knows that Sandra would never willingly depart without Ree. Did someone abduct Sandra or did she leave of her own accord? Working on the case is thirty-eight year old Sergeant D. D. Warren, a "dedicated [homicide] investigator and hard-core workaholic." With no useful conclusive physical evidence, there is not much that D. D. and her colleagues can do. However, they are looking both at Jason and his neighbor, Aidan Brewster, a convicted sex offender. Since Jason is egregiously uncooperative when the police question him, the cops soon suspect that he knows more about his wife's disappearance than he is willing to admit. Brewster is a pathetic loner who works in a garage, goes home, eats dinner, and watches television. He is required to report to his probation officer regularly. "The shrinks have a term for it: pretend normal," he says wryly. Since he had met Sandra briefly, it is not inconceivable that Aidan took an interest in this pretty young blonde.

Gardner teases us with subtle hints, but only slowly reveals the big picture. We wonder why Jason is so silent and testy when he is questioned by the cops. Yet, even the most jaded individual must acknowledge that Jason appears to be a phenomenal father who knows exactly how to handle Ree's moods. He does everything in his power to make his little girl feel special and loved. The scenes between Jason and Ree are tender and poignant. Questions that are raised but not immediately answered are: Why does Jason spend hours huddled over his computer? Where does Sandra go when she occasionally "takes a break" from her family? Why does this couple avoid discussing their childhood experiences with one another? As we get to know each character through affecting first-person accounts and flashbacks that alternate with third person narrative, we begin to sense that separating fact from fiction will prove to be extremely difficult. Gardner builds up suspense brilliantly and wraps up her story with a series of genuine surprises and a final clever twist.

"The Neighbor" is an edge-of-your seat thriller in which Gardner explores the ways in which computers can be used for good or evil, how horrific childhood traumas can scar a victim for life, and the need that every man and woman has to love and be loved in return. She also touches on the media frenzy that inevitably follows when an attractive wife and mother vanishes without a trace. The dialogue is sharp and laced with mordant humor. This is not your typical escapist beach read. There is a great deal of profanity and some disturbing references to unsavory subjects. "The Neighbor" is a gripping and intense police procedural, a moving portrait of a troubled family, and a complex murder mystery. Few readers will be able to put this book aside until they learn exactly what Jason and Sandra are hiding and why.

What a great addition to my Lisa Gardner Library. The Neighbor has several "suspects" and a "victim" who is a mystery herself. I started reading this morning..can't put it down..the pizza hut guy should be here with dinner anytime...I just had to finish it instead of fixing dinner. That happens when you are reading a great book! Enjoy!

First Sentence: I've always wondered what people felt in the final few hours of their lives.

Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren works homicide and isn't usually called out on a missing person case. From the start, this one feels different.

Journalist Jason Jones returned from work to find his wife missing but didn't notify the police for three hours. Their four-year-old daughter clearly saw something, but the husband is less than cooperative with the police and becomes the prime suspect in a possible murder. As the case proceeds, the number of suspects increases, but still no hard evidence or body.

D.D. is a character I could like and, for the most part, with whom I can identify. I may have to memorize her approach to the all-you-can-eat buffet. However, personally, I could have done with a bit less of the graphic fantasies.

As for the rest of the many characters, there was little to like about any of them although I could sympathize with them. There were major questions about the background of some of the characters that didn't make sense as there were no answers provided.

One thing I felt Gardner did very well was address an unpleasant subject and segment of society in an enlightening and thoughtful manner. That took both talent and a bit of courage.

The story started out very well. There were very good plot elements and twists early on. The information on computers was fascinating but it became heavy-handed. What I should like to have seen was more of the investigative side of the case. However, the plot bogged down in the middle and the multiple POVs became tiresome. While I appreciated the revelations about the characters at the end, the ending itself felt rushed an incomplete.

Gardner is a good writer but, for me, has never equaled her first book.

THE NEIGHBOR (Pol Proc-D.S. D.D. Warren-Boston-Cont) - G+
Gardner, Lisa - 3rd in series
Bantam, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780553807233

When a pretty young schoolteacher disappears, leaving her 4-year-old daughter alone in her home, suspicion immediately focuses on her (apparently) mystified husband. But there's more to this story. Much more. There's the neighbor down the street, a convicted sex offender. And various colleagues and students of the teacher, all of whom couldn't help noticing how attractive she was. And her father, who may or may not be--well, never mind. You get the picture. Now, Gardner's wonderful cop regulars have to sift through a mountain of suspects and an ocean of motives in their race to find her. Preferably alive....

This is my second Lisa Gardner novel. I read HIDE a couple of years ago, and now I'm definitely going to read more. What I love about her books is the talent she shares with other faves like Harlan Coben, Ruth Rendell, and Mary Higgins Clark--she shows us the dark, dangerous possibilities in "ordinary" lives. In her stories, the victims and suspects are people like you and me, and the nicest neighborhoods can mask the ugliest secrets. This is domestic suspense at its best, a thriller set in a world we all recognize. Highly recommended.

The story starts out interestingly enough and the suspense builds as the plot continues. One by one the reader is introduced to new characters and potential "suspects". All the while the focus is on the husband. The husband's life is turned upside down by the police, while there is no real proof that any crime has actually been comitted. Innocent people are being ruined by the cops as they seek the truth. Has a crime been comitted yet? No! Just a missing person so far.
Nevertheless, the police feel the need to spend vast resources to find the culprit!
The story continues with vivid descriptions of each new character and how they might fit into the caper. After reading page after page of detailed, interesting, story line it seemed that the author declared, "enough". Let's end this! That was it! Zip,zip the story wrapped up and concluded. I felt really disappointed. All of that reading for this!! What a let down!
The story started out with promise and ended up a dud.

This was a tedious story about irritating, disconnected and unlikeable people. The book had the feel of a plot that developed on the fly by an author who just was not sure which direction she wanted to go. Lisa Gardner has many fans but based on this and the previous books of hers I have slogged through, I will never join the ranks.

I prefer when the story can lead you to surmise parts of the ending. The story did not lead the reader anywhere near what happens in the climax. The book was well written and definetly worth reading, but not as good as most of Lisa Gardner's other novels.