The Body Next Door
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Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
They buried their secrets, but not deep enough... Hannah McCollough's life is far from perfect, but you'd never know it by looking at her. Instead, you'd see a beautiful young mother wholly devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You'd see the designer clothes she wears, the luxury car she drives, the dewy-eyed au pair she employs. You wouldn't see the dark secret she carries. But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs' vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can't seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep, in places she knows she shouldn't. As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, the facade of Hannah's picture-perfect marriage starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. And Hannah's search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers with shocking secrets of their own.
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Mystery/ Thriller With Cults And Magical Realism? Yes Please. First off, if you're turned off by any discussion of cults... this book likely isn't your thing. If you're turned off by any element of magical realism... this book probably isn't your thing. If you can't handle books dealing with domestic violence and/ or sexual assault/ rape... this book probably isn't your thing. If you can't handle books with multiple POVs... this book probably isn't your thing. If you're turned off by books with dual timelines... this book probably isn't your thing. If you're turned off by books with any LGBT characters at all... this book probably isn't your thing.
With all of *that* out of the way, I thought this book was done particularly well and told a not-overly-typical (because it dealt so intrinsically with cults/ life after cults) tale in new and interesting ways (re: magical realism elements). All of the various elements work well to create a story with an admittedly slow start that absolutely heats up later in the text, particularly during a somewhat detailed account of the night everything came crashing down in the earlier timeline. The overall mystery ties both timelines together well, and while the front of the book can seem a bit disjointed at times with its POV switches, it *does* all come together quite beautifully and dramatically down the stretch.
Ultimately a fun read that is different enough to stick out in a very crowded field of similar ish (re: mystery/ thriller) books, this is definitely one to check out - even if it is a touch longer than some will be comfortable with (just over 400 pages).
Very much recommended.
Originally posted at bookanon.com.
