Title: Someone We Know
Author: Shari Lapena
Publisher: Random House Large Print
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Pages: 400
Book Source: Library
“This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out.”
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .” – Amazon
Kim’s Review
You see that person across the way, peeking through their blinds. Oh, you didn’t notice? Don’t worry, they noticed you and all your sins that you should have kept behind closed curtains.
My husband always wants to keep our curtains closed. Maybe I should be wondering what he’s getting up to when I’m not at home. Maybe I should get a pair of binoculars and start watching my neighbors. Then again, I may not like what I see.
Shari Lapena’s book, Someone We Know, had me thinking those thoughts while I was reading it. Best part, I was in a hotel in downtown Chicago so I could peer across the road into other windows and have a perfect view. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I didn’t see much besides a few people walking around their room.
I can see why my Books Don’t Review Themselves podcast partner, Jess, enjoys Lapena so much. She really has mastered the art of slowly letting secrets slip. Just when you think you know what is going on or who the killer is, Lapena lets another bit of information be revealed. It amused me how this kept happening to the police, and how sarcastic they became as the story progressed.
And the fact that Lapena could keep everyone’s secret flowing well speaks to an organized author or a really good editing team. Probably both. I didn’t catch any mistakes besides the ones that the suspects themselves made when telling their partial truths.
Another part of the book that was done perfectly was how many side stories Lapena had throughout the book. It wasn’t just one main mystery of trying to find the killer, but who was cheating with whom, who was not where they said they were, and who was sticking up for others and for what reason. And some of those reasons were to protect themselves more so than the other person.
I don’t want to even give a little clue as to who the killer is because the small thing that I wanted to say would give it away. But it was because of this small thing, that in my mind was a bigger thing, that I gave Someone We Know, four stars instead of five. After you read the book that might make sense. If not, leave a comment and I’ll let you know my sticking point in the book.
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