The Good Neighbor
A.J. Banner, 2015
Amazon Publishing
196 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781503944435
Summary
Named by Harper’s Bazaar (UK) as a book that could be the next Gone Girl.... A new voice in suspense fiction and a new book that will forever change the way you look at the people closest to you.
Shadow Cove, Washington, is the kind of town everyone dreams about—quaint streets, lush forests, good neighbors. hat’s what Sarah thinks as she settles into life with her new husband, Dr. Johnny McDonald.
But all too soon she discovers an undercurrent of deception. And one October evening when Johnny is away, sudden tragedy destroys Sarah’s happiness.
Dazed and stricken with grief, she and Johnny begin to rebuild their shattered lives. As she picks up the pieces of her broken home, Sarah discovers a shocking secret that forces her to doubt everything she thought was true—about her neighbors, her friends, and even her marriage.
With each stunning revelation, Sarah must ask herself, Can we ever really know the ones we love? (From the back cover.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—India
• Raised—Canada and California
• Currently—lives on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
A. J. Banner (Anjali Banerjee) is the debut author of The Good Neighbor, published in 2015 by Amazon. Born in India and raised in both Canada and the U.S., Banner attended high school in southern California and eventually earned degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.
Even as a child, A.J. was drawn to mysteries, especially the great masters of the genre: Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. She wrote her first book—Mystery at Crane Corner—at the age of 11, drawing her own cover and binding the pages with staples. It remains to be seen, however, whether the book is as psychologically astute as her later effort in The Good Neighbor.
After college A.J.'s desire to continue writing took a backseat to earning a living. She tried a bit of law school, a management position in an office and was even a veterinarian's assistant before finally turning to her first (published) book.
She lives with her husband on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
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Discussion Questions
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader, begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the clues in this work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted only to extend the story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better, or different, ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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