Breathtaking, hollowing, and well-crafted, "The Neighbor" is a must-read for mystery or thriller lovers.
Keep in mind this is my first Lisa Gardner novel, but I'm positive it won't be my last.
When pretty, young & blonde schoolteacher Sandra Jones goes missing one morning, Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren is ready to crack the case. However, husband Jason Jones is less than willing to cooperate with the police- leaving D.D. reeling with his cool, collected state. Where's the grieving, panicked husband who'd do anything to find his wife?
The only girl who knows anything is little "Ree" Jones; but she's too afraid- or confused- to speak up.
Frustrated and with no leads, D.D. soon finds herself in a case that is a lot more than it seems- and is racing against the clock to find anything - a body, the women- so she can get the crook in jail.
Let me just say- wow. The twist at the end shocked me. I personally did not like Sandra until the end - her short temper, her sexual frustration and cheating - and Jason Jones (or is it?) was beautifully built, strong and unemotional.
Ree. Little Ree had to be my favorite character. Sweet and innocent, with lots of spunk. I wish we had more kids like her.
At first, it seems a simple, husband-killed-cheating-wife thing, but then the story unfolds, with a sexual offender (who is really much more then that), her mysterious father (which Sandra swore to never let near Ree), Ethan (young tech geek) & Wayne Hastings (both somehow involved with Sandra).
The characters were built with enough flaws to make them real, the "monsters" haunting them were eerie and the twist in the end kept me on the edge of my seat.