Bookouture The Family Across the Street: A totally unputdownable psychological thriller with a shocking twist

So this is one of the shorter thrillers that I've read in awhile coming in at 250 or so pages. It takes place on a summers day in Sydney, Australia, and it is teaming up to be a scorcher of a day. At the beginning of the book we see Margot and her baby going for their daily walk outside when they are warned by neighbour, Gladys, to go back inside as there have been gunshots fired at their neighbour’s house.The rest of the book is told primarily in the sever hours leading up to the gunshots. In this book we slowly see the building of tension from each of the different perspectives and we see how the book culminates in the gunshot. The story is told from three perspectives; Katherine, mother of five-year-old twins Sophie and George, Gladys an elderly, busybody neighbour who is the carer of her husband who has Parkinsons, and convicted felon/deliveryman, Logan. It is also told from the perspective of an unknown character who is holding Katherine and her children at gunpoint.I think this is a really interesting take on domestic violence and gun-control. For those who are not Australian, we have very strict gun laws, and it is quite difficult to legally get a handgun. Obviously, in this book the perpetrator gets the gun illegally but I think that's another element that makes this book unique as opposed to an American book where handguns are little bit easier to get.In this book two characters have a feeling that something isn't right in Katherine's household and want to do something. When Logan tries to do something he is treated as suspicious because he is convicted felon and the way he looks (he has violent tattoos all over his body), and when Gladys is suspicious her husband and the police treat her as a nagging neighbour as she has a habit of calling the police on her neighbours for things like loud music, rowdy teenagers, etc. It makes you think what would you do if your neighbour was in trouble. Personally, I don't have any relations with my neighbours. I don't know their names, I wouldn't know if they were in trouble, and frankly, if they knocked on my door I would probably be surprised and I don't know if I would recognise them. However, that being said, I would like to think that if I heard shouting or screaming or gunshots I would do something.Another part of this book is a girl is brutally assaulted by her boyfriend in Melbourne. This assault is heard by her neighbours who do not call the police and the girl is found days after she's attacked in a coma. These neighbours chose not to do anything, they chose not to get involved and I think this is in juxtaposition with what Logan and Gladys tried to do.It's very well rounded book, beautifully written and I look forward to reading more of what the author has to offer. Ending of story very smart, didn't see it coming as to the connections between the characters.

The nosy neighborn Gladys starts to notice that things aren't quite right next door. The parents bicker, and the dad is becoming distant.Things take a turn one morning when she realizes that the children aren't leaving for school as they normally do.A delivery driver also thinks something is strange when he knocks on the door to deliver a computer and the lady won't open the door more than a crack.she tells him to leave the package, but he can't because it's a computer and she has to sign for it. He tells her he will have to take it to the post office for her to get and leaves.He continues with his day, but keeps getting a nagging feeling that something isn't right and goes back to try again. Thus time a kid answers, and won't get his mother. He is acting strange, and then the door slams shut. When he tries to knock again, no one answers.Next door, Gladys is worried. She keeps looking out the wind, but the shades next door stay down. She knows with a set of five-year-old twins, things are hectic, but the house is quiet. She goes over to check on the family. Katherine, the mom answers, but barely opens the door and is standofish.Gladys know something is wrong, but her husband tells her to leave it. She wants to call the police, but they won't believe her. She calls and complains to them too much, and they just think she is a nosy old lady that needs to mi d her business.What is going on next door? Are they in danger? Read the book to find out. You won't beleive how it ends!

One of the things I love when cracking open a new novel (literally, i have to hold it in my hand, smell and touch the pages) and see the words leaping out at me that way. It’s how quickly you find yourself getting absorbed into the story. Even though I read through several reviews that had stated this, I am always one to say just because someone else loved a story doesn’t mean I will also. It also doesn’t mean I will be absorbed into the story right from the start.I can with most certainty guarantee you that you will keep turning the pages to see what is happening next. I walk around with my iPad constantly, to the point I bring it to the dinner table. I guess it’s a bit like other people and their phones. But since I received this paperback, I haven’t honestly been able to put it down except to go to the restroom. If I wasn’t so grossed out about germs and such I would probably have brought it in there. It’s that good. Being on a lot of meds I have to nap plus being ill. But if I were able to stay awake as I did years ago when younger this would have been one of those paperback I would have read in one sitting. The story is fast paced. Takes twist and turns you find unexpected. Has a point in there that I absolutely did not see coming and such charming characters and characters I found such hatred for that I felt like I was equating them to people I know in my life. That to me is reflective of a truly gifted author who can not only describe her character but have them seem like they have become part of your life.While I live in the USA and this took place in Australia which for me is on the opposite side of the world and I haven’t much knowledge of, I found not only some of the written language a bit funny such as BLOKE where as we would say BRO or FLAT for APARTMENT, MUM for MOM, and missing some words from sentences such as the word THE. They say going to University. Or getting out of Hospital. So reading this way was just a bit of a different experience for me. I enjoyed it and am glad for the experience. I feel that even if you are unable to afford the book try to make every effort to either see if you can get it used or borrow from the Library. You will enjoy it and it’s one of those novels that will stay with you not only because of the subject matter and this being May which is Metal Health Month but because the story itself is very well written.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel I will definitely try another book by Nicole Trope. Easy to read. Short in length but a complex, thought provoking narrative, plenty of twist, turns and tears.

Everything isn’t always what it seems.