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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553807233
Edition: First Edition
ISBN: 0553807234
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: June 16, 2009
Studio: Bantam
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Book Description
From a master of suspense comes a chilling new novel that explores the dangers lurking closer than you think. Because even in the perfect family, you never know what is going on behind closed doors...
This is what happened...
It was a case guaranteed 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.
In the last six hours...
But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Jonesesâ 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 are like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old child. But it is just under the surface that things grew murky.
Of the world as I knew it...
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 âbelovedâ wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guilt--or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killerâs next victim?
Amazon Exclusive: Lisa Gardner on the Making of The Neighbor
 A dozen suspense novels later, it still amazes me how little control I have over the writing process. Iâm a plotter. That means each time I start a novel, I feel compelled to map out the road ahead. Iâm going to write a very scary book where lots of people die, and this is how Iâm gonna do it. Sounds good. And yet, each and every time, by page five or so, that plan is blown out of the water. The plot veers off in a different direction. A character throws me for a loop. I donât know. You go to write a book and apparently, things happen.
My latest release, The Neighbor is no exception. I started the book with a simple premise: I wanted a love interest for one of my favorite characters, hard-nosed Boston detective, D.D. Warren. How much fun would it be, I wondered, if D.D. fell for a guy suspected of murdering his own wife? Better yet, Iâll make the guy a father of a four-year-old girl, because surely workaholic Sergeant Warren deserves a sexy, dark-haired man who also knows how to fashion pigtails and make Mickey Mouse pancakes. Perfect!
Of course, I wanted a twisted storyline with lots of shocking turns. Not a problem. Most of my novels have been inspired by true crimes, and letâs face it, there are no shortages of husbands currently resolving their marital woes by killing off their wives. Research cases were numerous and easy to find. If I now sleep with one eye open, well thatâs what happens when you spend six months immersed in the study of spousal homicide.
Next, I needed some other suspects to stir the pot. What about a registered sex offender living on the same block as the missing woman? And what if the missing woman happens to also be a beautiful blonde schoolteacher, perhaps a natural favorite with her male students? See, now weâre having some fun. Add half a dozen deep dark secrets and weâre off to the races.
This also led to more interesting research. I thought I knew what I needed to know about sex offenders. As wife and mother, Iâve been very comfortable with the notion of shooting first and questioning later. Iâve also had zero respect for female schoolteachers who engage in sexual relations with their students. A sex offender is a sex offender, even the ones who are pretty and female. Then again, sometimes during the research phase, I learn things that totally change the course of the novel.
I started The Neighbor with a plan, and quickly ended up with a puzzle. At a certain point, I was writing the book simply so I could find out what was going to happen next. Did Jason Jones actually kill his wife? What was he doing on the computer night after night? And what about poor four-year old Ree, the last known person to have seen her mother alive?
I thought D.D. Warren needed to a love interest. But maybe, what she really needs is to save a scared little girl, caught in the middle of a deadly game.
Itâs possible thereâs a bit more to the story than Iâve mentioned so far. Some other key characters that appear along the way, some rather unexpected developments. Because when you go to write a book, apparently, things happen. --Lisa Gardner
(Photo © John Earle)
Product Description:
From a master of suspense comes a chilling new novel that explores the dangers lurking closer than you think. Because even in the perfect family, you never know what is going on behind closed doorsâ¦.
This is what happenedâ¦
It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzyâa 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.
In the last six hoursâ¦
But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Jonesesâ 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 are like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old child. But it is just under the surface that things grew murky.
Of the world as I knew itâ¦.
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 âbelovedâ wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guiltâor just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killerâs next victim?
From the Hardcover edition.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This was a tedious story about irritating, disconnected and unlikeable people. The book had the feel of a plot that developed on the fly by an author who just was not sure which direction she wanted to go. Lisa Gardner has many fans but based on this and the previous books of hers I have slogged through, I will never join the ranks.
Rating: -
This is an entertaining, fast paced mystery thriller that delves into possibilities surrounding the middle-of-the-night disappearance of a young, pretty wife and mother. Sandra Jones, a teacher, vanishes while her husband, Jason, is at work leaving her purse and cell phone on the counter and her precious daughter, Ree asleep in her room. When the police arrive for the investigation, husband Jason is the initial suspect. But, wait -- a "neighbor" a few houses down is a registered sex offender! The list of possible persons of interest continues to evolve as an internet savvy 8th grade male student and his computer whiz uncle also appear suspicious.
I won't rehash the rest of the plot as other reviewers have done an excellent job of that, but I enjoyed the changing points of view and the revelations of the back story that attempts to explain this interesting marriage and the childhoods of Sandra and Jason. Details are dealt out meagerly at first and then the loose ends come together for an interesting conclusion. Some unanswered questions remain, but I can live with that!
This is a book that can be read in a day or two and it provides some information about computer hard drives, cell phone records, and the life of a sexual offender. I liked that the detective, DD, did not have a "romance" in the story and that the case stayed focused on the married couple and their lives.
Recommended as a multilayered thriller that might keep you up past your bedtime.
Rating: -
From a distance Jason and Sandra Jones appear to be the perfect couple. They have a beautiful daughter, a new house and are in the beginning stages of building a life together. Their perfect façade slowly begins to crumble with Sandra goes missing shortly after putting their daughter to bed. Jason immediately turns into the prime suspect when he's aloof and uncooperative with the police. What exactly is he hiding? Does he want his wife to be found? If he didn't kill her, does he know who did? These questions are what Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren is determined to find out.
Rating: -
4 1/2 Stars.
Sandra Jones, a high school teacher, puts her daughter, Ree, to bed before going to bed herself. Then she hears a sound coming from the stairs...When her husband, Jason, comes home from his night shift job at the newspaper, Sandra has vanished.
Sgt. Detective D. D. Warren, last seen in Gardner's 2007 novel, "Hide" knows that the spouse is always the prime suspect when the other spouse goes missing or is killed. Now, when she attempts to interview Jason, he is uncooperative, almost nonchalant.
Who is the guilty person who did whatever was done to Sandra?
Is it the husband? Is it the neighbor, Asrian Brewster, whose room overlooks the Jones' bedroom and is a registered sex offender? Could it be Ethan Hastings, a 13 year old high school student who has a crush on Sandra? Or, could it be a late comer in the story, Wayne Reynolds, a state police computer analyst who had met Sandra at her high shool's basketball game and has been meeting her for a weekly school game thereafter?
The story continues with Sandra's father, Judge Maxwell Black, entering the scene and demanding he be given visitation privileges to his granddaughter. Sandra had no relationship with her father and had accused him of mistreatment.
The reader is able to know the various characters'houghts and it is difficult to see who might be the guilty character.
It is obvious that the author enjoyed writing this book and her sense of having fun with the plot comes through. "The Neighbor" is a well written, fast moving story that would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud.
Rating:  -
Sandra Jones' disappearance starts the ball rolling and, of course, her reporter husband, Jason is immediately in a fishbowl. A person of interest, a registered sex offender lives down the street. A lot of secrets, past and present, are revealed slowly. Then Sandra's estranged father, a judge, comes on the scene and injects an even higher level of suspense to the mix. This is one of Lisa's best, in my book! Witty, meaty, fast-paced; what a ride!!! I loved it!........I also loved FIREFLY LANE by Kristin Hannah and EXPLOSION IN PARIS by Linda Pirrung ..... and so many more....
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