BLOGTOUR, BOOK REVIEW - The Couple Upstairs by Shalini Boland

                                                                     BOOK SYNOPSIS

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.

The chapters of this domestic drama/ thriller are predominantly voiced from the perspective of thirty one year old Nina who runs her own business called Mistletoe Lane. When we first meet Nina, she and her boyfriend Zac are in the process of moving into their new flat which is situated in a big house that had been converted into two apartments. Nina was so excited about the move, this was the fulfilment of her dreams, a home near the coast and a new chapter in their lives. Zac had been harbouring doubts about the move, he had wanted to move somewhere closer to the town centre but Nina had sweet talked him into getting her own way. But almost from the moment that they had moved into their new home, things started to go wrong, they were both hit by a crippling stomach bug, there was a mysterious power cut and people started posting nasty comments online about her business and the quality of the products she was selling. As time passed a atmosphere developed between Nina and Zac that was so thick, you could cut it with a knife and they were either constantly arguing or not talking.

Nina's dream had turned into a living nightmare but why? Was everything that was happening just down to bad luck and coincidence? Was she blowing things out of proportion or was Nina the pawn in a unknown enemy's twisted game of bullying, intimidation and manipulation?

As with all Shalini Boland's thrillers, The Couple Upstairs has a fast of realistic individuals, people who could be living in any street, in any town or city, maybe on the same street as any one of the many readers who love her books. There was the grumpy old lady, the two faced neighbour who turns nasty for no apparent reason, Nina's bitchy mother and sister in law and the neighbours upstairs Vanessa and Chris. I loved Nina's dad, her brother's and her friends Ben, Kit, Cali and Amy but I can't say that I liked Zac very much even after I learned the reason behind his behaviour. As for Nina herself, like many readers, I like to feel some type of connection with the main character of a story but I can't say that I felt any with Nina as the story unfolded. I wouldn't say that she was unlikable, she was just a character whose life was falling apart around her but the question was why? 

Scattered throughout the book was chapters that were set in the past, written in italics and voiced from the perspective of a mystery character who was the blacksheep of their family and was struggling to make friends at school until a bit called Alex walked into their life. But who was this person and how did their story for into events that were unfolding in the present day?

As readers have come to expect from this talented author's books, The Couple Upstairs is a extremely well written domestic drama/thriller that has some unexpected twists and turns and a truly chilling conclusion. I will admit that it did take a while for the story to draw me in but once it captured my attention, I couldn't put it down and wanted to know who was messing with Nina's life and why? A enjoyable, entertaining read and another brilliant addition to Shalini Boland's catalogue of thrillers.

                                                                              Author Bio:

Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children and Jess their cheeky terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry).

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS....

http://someonewotwrites.blogspot.com/

https://www.instagram.com/shaboland/

https://twitter.com/ShaliniBoland

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3BCnEJc

Apple: https://apple.co/2UAM2KO

Kobo: https://bit.ly/36pKd6c

Google: https://bit.ly/3zQFurc

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