Shari Lapena is a Canadian writer known for her thrillers. She is an example of an author who has known how to succeed and stay. She published her first novel in 2008 and in Spain she has been known for a few years now, with her book The couple next door (2016). This was a huge success with millions of sales and the novel became the best selling novel of the year in the UK.
Likewise, some of his works have been recognized with awards and his work appears in the top positions of best-selling books in The New York Times. At the moment, to date, he has released a novel per year; Will you keep up? Below we will discover more about this novelist and about her thrillers.
Shari Lapena's books: her best thrillers
The Couple Next Door (2016)
It seems that the public and critics are in complete agreement: the novel is a bombshell with a surprising ending, as is the entire book. With great plot twists and realistic characters and story, this thriller, who flees from eccentricities, knows how to tense the reader. With The couple next door Shari Lapena debuts with the genre and convinces of its mystery narrative strength, this book being the one that has exalted her. The story: a married couple leaves their baby at her house while they dine with their neighbors next door. They monitor and watch him throughout the night, until they discover that she has disappeared.
A Stranger at Home (2017)
With A stranger at home Lapena shows once again that he knows how to keep up until the end. Everything is perfectly timed and the reader never knows what to expect.. The plot of the novel becomes more and more entangled because a woman appears hospitalized. The strange thing is that the police suspect the protagonist and do not believe her when she says she does not remember anything about her. It seems that a mystery surrounds all this, and her loved ones, like her husband or her best friend, are very confused about it. Lapena intelligently carries the most intricate aspects of the story.
An unexpected guest (2018)
This novel has been compared to the great Agatha Christie. As in the queen of mystery and crime novels, a group of strangers meet at the same hotel to spend a few days of tranquility. There is a certain distance and curiosity between them from the beginning, although they all want to enjoy the isolation that the place offers. What seemed like a weekend of leisure turns into a skein difficult to unravel: after a fatal storm a corpse appears and everyone is clear that it was one of the guests. The mystery begins.
Someone You Know (2019)
Someone you know is a novel about neighborhood secrets. A New York suburb has been receiving a strange message: it is a person apologizing that their son has entered the privacy of their homes. Then all the souls are unleashed. It seems that those calm and respected neighbors are afraid. What are they hiding? Who is the intruding person? Everything becomes more complicated when a woman is murdered. Critics describe it as full of suspense, elegant and addictive.
His last day (2020)
Another great novel for fans of the genre. When a woman accuses Patrick's husband of being responsible for the death of his first wife, Stephanie begins to rethink what she thought was her perfect life. She has just been the mother of two twin girls and was in a moment full of happiness, although she also suffers the effects of extreme fatigue typical of motherhood. Thinking about the possibility that her husband is not who he says he is puts her in an emotional bind. that he must counteract with the discovery of the truth.
A Not So Happy Family (2021)
Again, Shari Lapena puts the reader in a bind trying to figure out what happened. The novel features a heinous crime: the wealthy Merton couple have been found murdered in their home. They had previously had a strong argument with their three children. After the terrible event, the brothers wait devastated for their millionaire inheritance. It is difficult to think that your own blood may be capable of committing the worst barbarities against you, however, in this story everything remains to be seen. When it is not a truly happy family, many dirty laundry have to come to light sooner or later.
Some notes about the author
Shari Lapena was born in Canada in 1960. She began her professional career as a lawyer and English teacher before becoming the best-selling author we know today, an established author of the mystery genre and the thriller. It has permeated the Anglo-Saxon public, but it has also made a hole among the Hispanic. To date she has published a total of eight books.
Although most of his work is framed in the intrigue narrative, he has also tried other genres.. His first thriller es The Couple Next Door (2016), but his debut was made through comedy with Things Go Flying (2008), as Happiness Economics (in 2011), which was also limited to a humorous theme. Despite the genre differences, all of these books were highly acclaimed. Although, although it is true, recognition came with the change in genre from comedy to suspense.