Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.
But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either. Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode like the one she suffered back in college, when she became so consumed with proving a fellow student guilty that she ended up hurting a classmate? The more Hen observes Matthew, the more she suspects he’s planning something truly terrifying. Yet no one will believe her. Then one night, when she comes face to face with Matthew in a dark parking lot, she realizes that he knows she’s been watching him, that she’s really on to him. And that this is the beginning of a horrifying nightmare she may not live to escape. . .
This novel had quite a slow start but as soon as the action stated the novel picked up pace. It was a gripping story line as you didn't know if Matthew really did what Hen accused him of doing and if he did then why did he commit this crime. You really wanted to be on Hen's side as you believed she was telling the truth even though she was on medication so no one else believed her, not even her own husband.
Matthew was a bit unlikeable at times as he would just hurt any man, even though it was for the reason that said man had hurt women. He also said that he would never hurt women. However, Matthew has a brother called Richard and he likes to hurt women. You had to feel sorry for Matthew's wife Mira as sometimes she didn't have a clue what her husband was doing or the trophies he liked to collect. Lloyd was also a bit of an unlikeable character as he never believed what his wife was saying about their neighbour and you could guess that he was having an affair with someone as he never wanted to be with his wife much.
Hen was a likeable character as you knew she was telling the truth about her neighbour and she just wanted other people, like the police, to believe her. She would do anything to find out the truth even if that meant putting her own life in danger because of it. Mira was a bit of a sad character as she would let her husband get her drunk and she didn't have a clue what was going on in her own home most of the time.
The action was spread throughout the novel which gave it a good pacing. The twist at the end of the novel was so unexpected and I never saw it coming. That was a total shock to me. I won't say what the twist is and if you want to know you will have to read the novel for yourself. Matthew knew how to make people think that he was telling the truth when all along he wasn't. He wanted people, especially his wife, to think that Hen was just a crazy lady living next door.
Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. It is a great thriller with lots of twists and turns the whole way through. Definitely a read if you like your novels twisty and dark with lots of parts to get you thinking about what is really going on. A psychological thriller for those with dark minds.
Rating 4/5
