Booklist Reviews
A dinner invitation from the couple next door changes the lives of Anne and Marco Conti. Neighbor Cynthia Stillwell asks the Contis not to bring their sometimes fussy six-month-old daughter, Cora, so when the babysitter cancels at the last minute, Marco comes up with an alternate plan. Since the Stillwell and Conti homes adjoin at a common wall, Marco suggests taking their baby monitor to dinner and checking on Cora in her crib every half hour, which works fine until after midnight. But when the Contis return home, tipsy from wine, their front door is open and Cora is gone. The couple is devastated, particularly Anne, who hadn't wanted to leave their baby alone, and police are suspicious: Anne is suffering from postpartum depression, and Marco's business is in severe financial trouble. Fearing a kidnapping, the couple turns to Anne's wealthy parents for help in paying ransom, as the actual events behind the child-snatching are gradually unveiled. Brisk prose style and character development are almost beside the point in Lapena's suspense-fiction debut; this is a plot-driven page-turner, and even the most character-focused readers will find it hard to put down. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
At the start of Lapena's suspenseful, heart-wrenching debut, set in upstate New York, Anne and Marco Conti come home from a party at their neighbors' house to find their front door open and their infant daughter Cora's crib empty. They left Cora alone after the sitter cancelled at the last minute. Not a shred of evidence indicates that anyone entered the house after the Contis left for the party, though the police detectives on the case, Rasbach and Jennings, discover that the motion detector on the back door was disabled, the Contis' garage door was left open, and tire tracks, not from the Contis' car, were in the garage. Could the couple be covering up a kidnapping? Rasbach and Jennings suspect that they're withholding something, but they sense the Contis' anguish is legitimate. The tension grows as the united front that Anne and Marco have presented crumbles. After numerous twists and turns, just when everything appears to be resolved, Lapena delivers one final, deftly crafted surprise. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency (Canada). (Aug.)
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