The Child Next Door by Shalini Boland

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Length: 283 pages
Published: March 2018

A solid 3 for psychological thriller, The Child Next Door by Shalini Boland. This book was my club's choice for our upcoming suspense genre meeting in July. It was definitely suspenseful. The publisher marketed the book as "unputdownable." While the jury is still out on whether that's a real word, I do have to say it's an accurate description. I devoured this mystery in about 2  days.  

New mother Kirstie Rawlings is the protagonist who hears someone planning a child abduction through a frequency on her daughter's, Daisy, baby monitor. Having the only baby in her neighborhood and monitors only picking up frequencies close by, Kirstie is sure that someone is out to get her baby. From there, the reader is taken on an emotional roller coaster, told from Kirstie's postpartum point-of-view, to learn who she overheard and what their plans are. The secondary characters add more intrigue to the story. I'm sure this was in an attempt to keep the reader guessing. However, I had it figured out pretty early on. 

I enjoyed that this book was fast-paced. I found that to be one of its strong points. I also think the story is very compelling and realistic. However, I did get bogged down by Kirstie at times. Her moaning about needing her husband so much and being so fearful of her neighbor without really any evidence seemed a bit of a stretch. Also, the epilogue seemed to take the ending over the top. I think we could have done without it, but maybe Boland is planning on writing a sequel later. We shall see! 

Recommendation: Overall, I found this book to be the perfect summer read. It was a page-turner that kept me, as the reader, engaged till the satisfying end. 

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.