The Neighbor (Detective D. D. Warren)
by Lisa Gardner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lisa GardnerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-16
ISBN: 0553807234
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Neighbor (Detective D. D. Warren)
Book Review: A good thriller, though not a great one
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a fan of the occasional thriller novel, crime novels that center more on the thrills of the case than on the detection itself. When I spotted Lisa Gardner's The Neighbor on my reading list, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm pretty glad I did, though there's just something about it that rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn't an irritation, but more of a "been there, done that" feeling to the whole book. Despite that, it's a good read if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.
A family where both parents have something to hide. A four-year-old girl who is innocent of all this, but loves both of her parents deeply. When Mom disappears in the middle of the night, with no signs of forced entry, all suspicion of course turns on the husband. Since Mom is a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed teacher of twenty-three, of course the media gets involved too. Sergeant D.D. Warren of the Boston police must navigate all of these troubled waters to discover if the father really is much more horrible than his cool façade makes him out to be, but things aren't adding up. Why is he literally showing no emotion about his wife's disappearance? Why is he not actively trying to help them solve the mystery? Just what is he hiding, and if he didn't kidnap and kill her, just who did? And just what did the daughter see that night that could break the case open?
The Neighbor is full of twists and turns, with flashbacks slowly dripping out details of this family's life and history like a leaky faucet. Many chapters begin with what seems like journal entries either from Sandra Jones (Mom) or Jason Jones (Dad) talking about their past or what's happened over the last few months before Sandra's disappearance. There's a lot of hinting going on, such as just what happened between them in February as Sandra keeps talking about, but the facts themselves don't come out until the end. It's an interesting format for the novel. While I found it frustrating at times, feeling like it was drawing the book out more than was necessary, it did heighten the tension and provide some of the twists.
In most of these novels, the main viewpoint character is the detective and we things unfold as she digs deeper for the truth. In this one, we also get Jason's viewpoint, providing a clear indication that Jason is innocent of these charges (unless, of course, he's lying to himself, as I've seen some books do). This gives Gardner the opportunity to compare the outside view of Jason, the cold, calculating and seemingly emotionless man, with the internal view we get where he's just looking after his daughter and afraid that any investigation will lead to his own secrets coming out into the open. I greatly enjoyed that. We also get a few other viewpoints, which mainly serve to provide information from a different perspective, but they aren't as important as these two.
Gardner's characterization is pretty good, though Warren seems a bit two-dimensional, which is not a good thing in a main character. I know this is a continuing character from previous novels, but I just didn't feel like I knew her that well. Some of her personality comes through in the investigation scenes, but not enough to really get to know her. The only thing that really gets established is that she hasn't had sex in quite a while and she's getting increasingly frustrated because of that. That's not a good hook to hang a character on, especially when it serves no purpose in the plot and is only referenced a couple of times throughout the novel. Normally, it would serve as a touch of character atmosphere, but not when it's the only thing that comes to the surface.
However, I did enjoy her characterization of Jason and, to a lesser extent, Sandra. She captures the weird dynamic of this family perfectly, making the interesting revelations that come out about both of these characters actually make sense and make me care about them. Ree, the daughter, is also captured beautifully, a mixture of childish innocence and precociousness that comes close to grating but doesn't quite cross the line.
The rest of the characters are fairly basic, though not done too badly. Aidan, the registered sex offender who lives down the street, is pretty interesting and also gets some viewpoint chapters. We see inside the life of those on the registry who have been released on parole, and Gardner gives the reader a good illustration of what life is like in that situation.
There's nothing really wrong with The Neighbor, with the exception of the Warren characterization issue mentioned above. I read through the novel quite quickly, so it definitely held my interest. Gardner's prose style is sparse and to the point, but it grabs you enough to keep you reading. I found it was the Jones family secrets that kept me reading more than the prose, but whatever works. I did definitely enjoy the novel.
So why didn't I enjoy it more? I'm not sure. The ending seems a bit tacked on after the climax of the book, for one thing. There's one chapter that basically cleans everything up, at least for the reader. Some of Jason's activities, once we find out about them, just strike me as superfluous, especially since Sandra didn't know about them before she disappeared and thus even using them as inspiration for her doesn't work. This, plus not really being invested in the main character, left me with a mild feeling of disappointment.
But don't let that bother you. If you like crime thrillers, The Neighbor is definitely a good one to pick up. It's a great example of the genre, and thankfully Gardner gives us a couple of interesting characters to follow, since the main one is so blah.
Originally published on Curled Up With a Good Book © David Roy, 2009
Summary of The Neighbor (Detective D. D. Warren)
BONUS: This edition includes the full text of the novel plus the following content:-- Lisa Gardner on Detective D.D. Warren: Who was the inspiration for D.D. Warren? Find out in this essay.
-- An excerpt from Lisa Gardner?s Love You More.
-- From the network that brought you Mad Men, and The Walking Dead, comes an addictive crime thriller with crushing twists. Get an exclusive peek at the script for The Killing, AMC?s newest original series, which tracks the murder of a Seattle teenager and the gripping investigation it sparks. April 3 at 9/8c, only on AMC.
A young mother, blond and pretty, vanishes from her South Boston home, leaving behind only one witness?her four-year-old daughter?and one suspect?her handsome, secretive husband.
From the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Joneses? snug little bungalow, instinct tells her that something is seriously off with the wholesome image the couple has worked so hard to create.
With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and a media firestorm building, D.D. must decide whether Jason Jones is hiding his guilt?or just trying to hide. But first she must stand between a potential killer and his next victim?an innocent child who may have seen too much.
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 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 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 ?beloved? 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 killer?s 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. I?m a plotter. That means each time I start a novel, I feel compelled to map out the road ahead. I?m going to write a very scary book where lots of people die, and this is how I?m 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 don?t 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, I?ll 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 let?s 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 that?s 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 we?re having some fun. Add half a dozen deep dark secrets and we?re 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, I?ve been very comfortable with the notion of shooting first and questioning later. I?ve 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.
It?s possible there?s a bit more to the story than I?ve 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)
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