Lisa Gardner - The Neighbor

It was a case to spark a media feeding frenzy - a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without 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.
But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Joneses' snug little bungalow, she senses something off about the picture of wholesome normality the couple worked so hard to create. On the surface, Jason and Sandra Jones were like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old child. But it is just under the surface that things grew murkier.
With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems more intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his "beloved" wife.

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Sandra and Jason Jones have been married for almost 4 years, raising her four-year-old daughter Ree. Their marriage isn't what the average person would assume as normal but besides that they are both devoted to their child's safety.
One night Jason returns from work and finds his wife missing and his daughter sleeping in her bed. Police soon considers him their main suspect when a registered sex offender from the neighborhood enters the scene, a secret affair of Sandra's turns up and her estranged father, a judge from Georgia, claims rights on his granddaughter.
And what's wrong with Jason who's behavior and gestures are as cold as ice, calculating and only warm towards his daughter.

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At first I didn't really knew what to think about Gardner's newest novel until the suspense got me. The plot is slightly tied to the previous novel Say Goodbye and the "Burgerman" Gardner opens door after door after door with suspects, giving us a good glimpse of the characters and what they were thinking. I didn't really guess who's involved in Sandra's disappearance up until the almost the end.

I really enjoyed Sandra's flashbacks from the past, how she grew up with abusing parents, met Jason and discovered his terrible secret. The revelation in the end is shockingly twisted and rewarding with a conclusion that takes your breath away. It all fits and I for once closed a book I couldn't put away.

Rating:
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Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition first Printing edition (June 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553807234
ISBN-13: 978-0553807233