#ATBR2020 Review: The Neighbors by Hannah Mary McKinnon #BuddyReadsToDieFor @harlequinbooks @HannahMMcKinnon
The Neighbors
by Hannah Mary McKinnon
April's choice for #BuddyReadsToDieFor and another #allthebookreviews choice - this one is QUITE the thrilling read!
Publisher: Mira Books
Publish Date: March 13, 2018
Paperback
377 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Thriller
In 1992, a car accident kills a young man and forever changes the lives of three people… Now, twenty years later, they’ll all come to regret the choices they made that day, as the secrets and lies they’ve told to protect each other become the very things that tear their lives apart.
After a night of fun, Abby was responsible for the car crash that killed her beloved brother. It is a sin she can never forgive herself for, so she pushes away the man she loves most, knowing that he would eventually hate her for what she’s done, the same way she hates herself.
Twenty years later, Abby’s husband, Nate, is also living with a deep sense of guilt. He was the driver who first came upon the scene of Abby’s accident, the man who pulled her to safety before the car erupted in flames, the man who could not save her brother in time. It’s this guilt, this regret that binds them together. They understand each other. Or so Nate believes.
In a strange twist of fate, Liam (her old lover—possibly her true soulmate) moves in with his own family next door, releasing a flood of memories that Abby has been trying to keep buried all these years. Abby and Liam, in a complicit agreement, pretend never to have met, yet cannot resist the pull of the past—nor the repercussions of the dark secrets they’ve both been carrying...
After a night of fun, Abby was responsible for the car crash that killed her beloved brother. It is a sin she can never forgive herself for, so she pushes away the man she loves most, knowing that he would eventually hate her for what she’s done, the same way she hates herself.
Twenty years later, Abby’s husband, Nate, is also living with a deep sense of guilt. He was the driver who first came upon the scene of Abby’s accident, the man who pulled her to safety before the car erupted in flames, the man who could not save her brother in time. It’s this guilt, this regret that binds them together. They understand each other. Or so Nate believes.
In a strange twist of fate, Liam (her old lover—possibly her true soulmate) moves in with his own family next door, releasing a flood of memories that Abby has been trying to keep buried all these years. Abby and Liam, in a complicit agreement, pretend never to have met, yet cannot resist the pull of the past—nor the repercussions of the dark secrets they’ve both been carrying...
My Review:
HMM! What have you done to me?! Here's what I do know: after reading Her Secret Son and now The Neighbors, it seems that this author has the domestic suspense/thriller on LOCK.
I've been hearing about this book for ages. "Chandra - why haven't you read your copy?" "What are you waiting for?" "OMG, read this book now - it's CRAZY!" OK OK OK - so, I was beyond excited to finally read it this month. At first, I was like alllllrighty then. Here we are. Domestic suspense - CHECK! Here we gooooooooooooooooo. And it seemed like your usual dual time line, complicated feelings, something bad happens and now true love has been thwarted but that's ok - because everyone's happy until they're *SURPRISE* back in each other's lives unexpectedly. CHECK CHECK!
But then …. THEN.... that ending comes. Those last few chapters - I actually forgot that there was all this build up. Those hints to the reveals... most of which I connected BUT the author does such a good job of laying the foundation that you kind of start to forget about these hints as your mind focuses on those OTHER things. Then BAM, POW, WHIPPAH - it all explodes. Seriously guys, I didn't even think I was all that invested until something happened. I literally gasped, hand to mouth and my eyes may have leaked a bit. Let's not talk about almost falling off the couch (ok, so that may have been misplaced pillows and ad unexpected body twitch but whatever).
All I know is that I'm so happy I finally read this and while I may have thought there was just a bit *too* much had it been told a different way.... the fact is, I loved every bit of it. You get a reveal, YOU get a reveal... YOU GET A REVEAL! **popcorn everywhere** Yes.. All the yes. Thank you very much.
★★★★★
I read Hannah Mary McKinnon's HER SECRET SON last year and absolutely loved it! So I was really looking forward to picking up another one of her domestic dramas/thrillers. THE NEIGHBORS is a book that you can fly through with the short chapters, multiple POV's, and multiple timelines - basically everything you want in this genre.
Abby has been living with the guilt of her brother's death for decades - the car crash that killed him was the result of a night of drinking. Nate, her husband, was the one that stopped at the scene to try and save them. This event is what brought them together and now decades later, their marriage will be put to the test when the new neighbors move in. A man from Abby's past is back and she has to try to keep her secrets hidden.
It's pretty difficult to talk too much about this book without spoiling anything, but needless to say, this is a thriller I highly recommend. The way McKinnon brought this whole story together was incredible - the slow building of the suspense throughout every chapter came to one hell of a climax at the end. While I called one of the reveals, I definitely did not see the other coming! This just cemented the fact that McKinnon has become an auto-buy author for me.
5 stars
I LOVE THIS REVIEW. Thank you so much!
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