SPOILERS DUE TO ME BEING ANNOYED

Not too much to say here. No one was developed. The plot was paper thin. And then we have a twist, and a twist and I think there was a third twist that I saw coming from space. This book didn't offer up anything really new in the thriller genre. I am starting to call most of the books written like this, bad facsimiles of "Gone Girl." Heck, I didn't like "The Girl on the Train" but some of it, was at least trying I think. This book was just a mess after the initial intriguing beginning.

"A Stranger in the House" follows couple Tom and Karen Krupp. Tom comes home one day and is scared to find Karen's belongings at the house with her nowhere to be found. We then flash to another scene where some kids come across a dead body and steal the wallet (charming). Then we flash to Tom being worried and calling Karen's friends and finally the police. We then flash to an accident scene where a woman is being pulled out of the wreck and then we flash. Sigh. The book should have been called flash. Long story short, Karen is the one pulled out of the wreck. The police are charging her with reckless driving which somehow can get you sent to federal prison in New York. Karen can't remember what she was doing and what she was driving away from which caused her to run a red light and crash head first into a pole. The police think she's lying and her best friend Brigid has her own suspicions. The book just jumps back and forth between Tom, Karen, Brigid, and the police investigating the accident and then Karen herself. 

None of the characters are developed very well and oh surprise, everyone is lying about something. The police seem to be terrible at their jobs (seriously) and there's a lot of yelling here and there and somehow we got to the end with the twists. I officially am saying I am done reading this author. I gave "The Couple Next Door" one star and after this I am going to put Lapena on my do not read again even if there's nothing interesting at the library list. 

This was not good. The entire premise read as fake and the characters had zero development. This is the second book by this author I read and I am a hard pass at this point forward. 

What I'm Currently Reading: Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever by Gavin Edwards

I enjoyed the audiobook version of this novel and while I'm aware that other reviewers have criticised the weakness of some of the characters, for me, that wasn't a problem and in many ways seemed appropriate. I was particularly impressed with the narrator,‎ Tavia Gilbert, who did an excellent job.

Tom and Karen are living a normal life in a suburban town when Tom comes home from work one day to find that she has disappeared, leaving her bag and keys behind and dinner half finished. This is such unusual behaviour for Karen that he is alarmed and calls the police.

It turns out that she was in a seedy part of town and that a murder took place while she was there. Was there a connection between the two? It doesn't help that Karen has lost her memory in the ensuing car accident and has no idea why she visited that part of town at all.

Introducing a third character, Karen's friend Brigid, from over the road, the author weaves a web of intrigue that never allowed me to get bored.

I hate to use the word 'twist', it seems to have become so overplayed these days, but there were a good few of them in this novel. 

I am looking forward to meeting the author at our upcoming Literary Festival`in March. Now I just need to read the author's first book, The Couple Next Door.

A Stranger In The House, Shari Lapena, author: Tavia Gilbert, narrator.

Karen Krupp has married the man she believes is the love of her life, but she harbors a terrible secret. She has a past that she has told no one about. She has no former friends or relatives and appears to be entirely unencumbered by a past. Tom Krupp never thought he would find someone like Karen. He is amazed that she loves him in return. Both feel very lucky to have found each other. He is an accountant, with a stereotypical accountant’s restrained personality; however, he too, has a terrible secret that he is afraid to reveal to his wife. He once had an affair with a neighbor. She duped him into thinking their marriage was over. She and Tom have agreed to keep their former relationship a secret. Exposing it would only hurt both marriages. That neighbor has now become his wife’s best friend. Brigid Cruikshank is married to Bob. Bob runs a funeral home. Karen works part time for Bob. Brigid is alone a lot because of the nature of the funeral home business. He is out often, offering comfort to others. She has too much time on her hands to think about her sadness. She is lonely. She and Bob are unable to have a child, and she desperately wants one. Brigid has a successful knitting blog. Living directly across the street from Karen, she has a bird’s eye view into the goings on at the Krupp home. She is the quintessential voyeur. She gets vicarious pleasure out of the fantasies she creates in her mind. Actually, she appears to live within those fantasies. Often, she witnesses their body language and hurries over professing a deep interest in both of them. She always offers to help. She brings brownies, seems considerate and concerned for their welfare. When the solitude of Dogwood Lane is disrupted by the appearance of the police, lives begin to unravel. There had been a terrible car accident and Karen was severely injured. She claims to have no memory of her whereabouts the night of her accident. Amnesia is the doctor’s diagnosis. Karen has been told that it might resolve itself or it might not. Still, on that same night, in that same vicinity, there was a brutal murder of an unknown victim. Could Karen have been involved? The police believe that her amnesia might be a convenient deception. Soon, circumstantial evidence points in the direction of Karen, and she is arrested for murder. Those who are familiar with a movie called Gaslight, will see the similarity of the circumstances in the Krupp household. Strange things are happening in Karen’s home that she cannot explain. She notices things have moved slightly, almost as if to suggest someone has secretly been there. She is very frightened but cannot tell Tom why she is so afraid. Brigid notices her discomfort and offers her help, offers to listen to Karen’s problems. She is, after all, her friend. As the characters personalities begin to develop more fully and the mystery is resolved, the reader is tossed in one direction or another trying to figure out what is really going on. Secrets are revealed, but what seems apparent, often is not the reality. Who is Karen Krupp? Where has she come from? Is Brigid all that she claims to be? The story seemed a bit repetitive at times, as well as contrived and obvious, however, it will keep the reader engaged. Although the ending is a little disappointing, the story on the whole is worth reading. It is a good mystery, as it is a short, fast moving, page turner. Tavia Gilbert read the story well, clearly defining the characters emotional states at different times, but occasionally she over emoted and became distracting.