The Couple Upstairs by Shalini Boland
Genre: Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 7th September 2021
Published: 13th September 2021
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Our new home was supposed to be a chance to leave our past behind. But was moving here the worst mistake of our lives?
All our friends and family were gathered, glasses raised to toast our fresh start. It should have been a night for happiness and celebration. Zac and I had worked so hard for this: our first home together, just minutes from the sea. But the dream quickly turned into a nightmare…
We’d invited our neighbours too. I wanted to make a good impression – to show them we’re exactly the sort of people they want living on their street.
I hadn’t thought about who they might be, the strangers I was letting in.
It was going so well. There was laughter in the air and the wine was flowing. But then I noticed the narrowed eyes, the whispers.
And then the lights went out.
As my heart thumped in my chest, all the little things that had been going wrong since we moved here flashed through my mind: the food poisoning, the arguments, the flood of nasty reviews shaking my business.
Am I going crazy? Or is someone trying to destroy us?
From the USA Today bestselling author Shalini Boland comes an absolutely heart-thumping psychological thriller with a twist you won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife Between Us.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Shalini Boland's newest twisty thriller THE COUPLE UPSTAIRS.
The last book I read was one in which poses the question "how well do you know your neighbours?" as did the one before that? Am I sensing a pattern here? LOL However, not to be outdone, Shalini puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and thrashes out yet another outstanding domestic thriller that will have us questioning just how well we really do know our neighbours!
“Our new home was supposed to be a chance to leave our past behind. But was moving here the worst mistake of our lives?”
When Nina and Zac first set eyes on 15A Mistletoe Lane, it's love at first sight. The flat, which was once couple with the upstairs flat to make an even bigger home, is perfect for their needs with a couple of outbuildings in which Nina can house her online fashion business which she has named "Mistletoe Lane" in honour of their first home together.
Excited at the prospect of all the things they could do with the space, Zac and Nina arrive on moving-in day to a welcoming party in the form of Chris and Vanessa Jackson who are expecting their first child and live in the upstairs flat. Almost at once, Chris immediately defers to Zac and practically ignoring Nina whilst his wife Vanessa barely utters a word expect to hand over a chocolate cake she baked as a welcome gift. After devouring the scrumptious cake, Nina and Zac suddenly fall ill to a mysterious stomach bug some hours later. It couldn't have been the cake, surely? But even so, the two events now linked in their minds, Nina can barely stomach the thought of chocolate since.
As soon as they have set up their new home, Nina decides to throw a flat-warming party, inviting the neighbours as well as their friends and family. It proves to be something of a success as they meet and greet their new neighbours and catch up with old friends. Although it's a shame her brother Henry's fiance Belinda had to turn up. The woman is a self-absorbed cow, always looking down her nose at Nina and never far from Nina's mother whose champagne taste has her looking a little distastefully at the dated decor of their new home. Despite some of their neighbours looking a little like fish out of water, the evening is a success. And Zac and Nina are looking forward to settling into this neighbourhood which is just a stone's throw from the beach.
Throughout the day Zac is busy with his self-employed plumbing business whilst Nina busies herself with launching "Mistletoe Lane". Although this place was initially out of their budget, because it was to be a working from home business they were able to factor that into their mortgage to negotiate a loan with the help of her new investor. As it was, if it hadn't have been for her investor they might never have known about the existence of this place and Nina hasn't stopped thanking her lucky stars.
And then things begin to go wrong...
Despite their initial friendliness, their upstairs neighbours appear to be somewhat standoffish to the point of rude. And then there are the catastrophic arguments to which Zac and Nina are subjected with the crashing and moving about of furniture and Chris' angry shouts. And why does Chris always defer to Zac but ignore Nina? Why does his wife never speak or hardly leave the flat? Is she intimidated or fearful of him? And why is Zac so enamoured by his new buddy Chris and unable to see what Nina does?
As if that's not enough, her business starts to collapse. Nina had initially employed Vanessa on a casual basis for three hours three days a week. Until her investor got wind of it and the drop in their reviewer rating and suggest Nina let her go until business picks up enough to employ an assistant. Her once popular business now begins to struggle in light of recent bad reviews which now affect sales. From a top that gave a customer a bad rash to comments about rude staff and customer service, Nina has no idea who is doing this to her or why? She begins to suspect her brother's fiance Belinda, thinking she may fear Nina as a rival to her high-end designer stores. But if it isn't, then who is out to destroy her? And more importantly, why?
Then just when Nina thought things couldn't get any worse, she sees Chris having a quiet word with Zac outside their flat one afternoon as he returned home from work after which Zac punched his van, jumped in and drove off with Chris in the passenger seat. What had Chris said that had riled Zac up so much? What she discovers makes her blood run cold. And even worse, Zac refuses to take her calls or even talk to her to get her side of the story. But even when he does...he doesn't listen. So entrenched is he in what Chris had told him that he would take the word of a stranger he has known barely weeks over that of his girlfriend who he has known for five years! The very idea was ludicrous.
And just when Nina discovers the truth behind the campaign that has been waged against her, is it too late for her and Zac? Will he reach her in time? Or will he be too late?
Shalini Boland is a go-to author for me as I can always count on her to thrill and entertain me at a rate of knots while still managing a twist here and there to throw me off (sometimes). I hardly ever read the premise to her books before grabbing them because I just know I won't be disappointed because...I've said it before and I'll say it again...even a bad book by Shalini is a good book!
And I wasn't disappointed. THE COUPLE UPSTAIRS is a fast paced addictive, is frustrating, domestic thriller which had me turning the pages in an attempt to finish before dinner. I read this book in one day as it is such a quick and easy read, as most of Shalini's books are.
The story unfolds through Nina's first person narrative with the inclusion of "THEN" chapters by an unnamed character who will leave us guessing as to their identity. I thought one person, then another before quickly adding a couple of others to my suspect list, before discovering my first choice was the culprit. As with all characterisations, we are left guessing throughout as Shalini is a dab hand at painting each one with slightly unpleasant traits. There is an extra twist that may shock some readers but I had the foresight to believe no one and challenge everything...which lead me to an unlikely aspect.
Overall, THE COUPLE UPSTAIRS will not disappoint die-hard Shalini fans and is perfect for those who enjoy a good twisty domestic thriller that is both addictive and fast-paced from beginning to end.
I would like to thank #ShaliniBoland, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheCoupleUpstairs in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Her debut psychological thriller "The Girl from the Sea" published in June 2016 reached Number 1 in the US Audible charts. Her second thriller "The Best Friend" published in October 2016 reached a high of number 10 in Amazon's UK Kindle charts. It also achieved number 1 in all its categories and was a Kindle All Star title for several months in a row.
She is also not a morning person.
*********************************************
10 Things My Readers Might Not Know About Me
My dreams (nightmares) nearly always involve the characters and settings that I’m currently writing about. For example, last night I dreamt that I’d abducted a baby and tried to hide him in my husband’s car, but I couldn’t get the doors to lock. It was awful! Maybe I’d have a better night’s sleep if I wrote rom coms.
I love all fruit except bananas. The smell, texture, taste – ugh. No. Just no. Keep that evil fruit away from me.
I write for a living, and so does my husband, but neither of our children are particularly avid readers. My eldest is dyslexic and has never enjoyed reading or writing. My youngest quite enjoys it, but has to be pretty much forced into trying a new book. How did this happen? I have no idea. We always read to them when they were younger. We have a houseful of all kinds of books. Ah, well, I’ll keep trying.
When I was nineteen, I hitchhiked at night in Israel and ended up in the middle of nowhere convinced I was going to die. Turns out I only needed to walk another two minutes to find myself back at the kibbutz where I was staying. I’ve never hitchhiked since.
My writing companion is a little Poodle/Lhasa Apso/Terrier cross called Jess who sits at my feet while I type. Sometimes she sneaks up onto the sofa and rests her chin on my keyboard. I’m not sure I could write without her nearby.
When we were in our twenties, my husband and I set up VW car shows. Our events were all jinxed. Over the course of six shows we had four instances of major theft, a forest fire, the worst storm on record, someone set up illegal rave, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and an actual bomb scare with police cordoning off the area and evacuating everyone. Plus, we only made a profit during our first show, the other times we just about broke even. Not a huge success.
Nearly all my novels are set in and around the area of Dorset where I live. I moved here when I was eighteen, but I feel like this is my true home. I love it – the towns, beaches and countryside are beautiful.
Good coffee and chocolate are my weaknesses.
I used to be a singer songwriter and once sang on stage at The Brixton Academy in front of four thousand people. I don’t know how I did it. I’m such an introvert these days.
I feel very lucky to write for a living. Every day, I’m truly thankful and appreciate that I’ve finally discovered what it is I love to do – it only took me forty years to work it out! It isn’t always easy and some days I need a kick up the backside to stop procrastinating and get working. Other days are overwhelming and I do get anxious about what my readers will think of each book. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. I only hope people will continue to enjoy my books and allow me to keep doing what I love.
Social Media links:
No comments:
Post a Comment