Surprisingly different than expected. Mysterious and suspenseful, yet really not a story I would have normally picked.

Story is about next door neighbors, Emily tries to be a good neighbor to Alisha even though her husband the doctor wants to keep his wife hidden from view.

The doctor is obsessed with making history and fame for a medical break through which requires many tests in his laboratory in the back yard.

Will Emily be sorry she secretly became friends with Alisha? Will the Doctor succeed with his medical research? Will you ever want to be a good neighbor again?

Paging Dr. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! Cuckoo? Line 1!

Something strange is going on in the home of Dr. Amit Burman and his sick, recluse wife, Alisha. They have top-notch security, CCTV and plastic film on their windows.

Dr. Burman has a very sick wife, a medical degree, a bad attitude, a secret shed and an unnatural interest in cryogenics. Hmmmm, I wonder what he's up to?

Their neighbors, Ben and Emily, are curious about all of the secrecy. Emily, in particular, is relentless in her nosiness. She drops in on them even though she clearly isn't wanted, spies and takes pictures and videos from her bedroom windows and barrages Alisha with personal questions.

When Emily goes missing a few weeks later the mystery really begins...

Just how sinister are Dr. Burman's activities and how far was he willing to go to keep them secret from his pesky, nosy neighbor?

Thank you to Lisa Stone, Avon Books UK, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

How much do you know about the couple next door?

When Emily and Ben move in next door to Dr Burman and his wife Anita, they are keen to get to know their new neighbours. Outgoing and sociable, Emily tries to befriend the doctor’s wife, but Anita is strangely subdued, barely leaving the house, and terrified of answering the phone.

When Emily goes missing a few weeks later, Ben is plunged into a panic. His wife has left him a note, but can she really have abandoned him for another man? Or has Emily’s curiosity about the couple next door led her straight into danger?

I enjoyed the book but I wasn't blown away by it, the story was, at times, unbelievable and I couldn't take to any of the characters, having said that I was very drawn to it. It was a very dark read and I did like the final unexpected twist.

I would like to thank Avon Books and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads. 4 stars

Gripping and compelling, this was the sort of read that blew me away and kept me thinking even when I wasn’t reading it. Highly recommended - well plotted and executed. Will reread.

An amazing intense thriller that starts right away!
I was into it from the start and didn't want the story to end!
Fast paced, good twists, interesting characters, really well written! You keep turning the pages as fast as you can to see what's coming next...

I can't wait to read more from that author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was definitely a different kind of thriller. This doctor was so delusional in his believes and the things he did where all kinds of crazy. I got goosebumps reading, but I just couldn't put the book down. if you want to read something new and original, this is your book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Lisa Stone for my ARC in return for my honest review.

I have read Lisa Stone before and find her writing compelling and the storylines clever and out of the ordinary. This did not disappoint. Emily and Ben live next door to a doctor and his wife and despite Emily’s best efforts they do not wish to be friends. The Burman family had CCTV and Perspex at the windows to stop anybody approaching and seeing in the house.

Emily watched Dr Amit Burman spend night after night in his shed at the bottom of the garden wondering what he was doing and why, even on Christmas Day he was in there. Emily is on extended maternity leave and her husband, Ben, tends to ignore her musings, putting them down to gossiping.

Despite her knockbacks, Emily eventually befriends Amit’s wife, Alisha, and discovers a secret and Alisha tells her the reason Amit spends all his spare time in the shed. However, several things happen locally and to Emily and she begins to think that there are problems within the Burman’s family environment.

At times I was horrified but I was intrigued all the way through. This is a fast paced, clever read. Highly recommended.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Spookkeeeeeeeee
Emily and Ben move in next door to the Burman’s, Dr Burman no less, a respected anaesthetist and his ‘terminally ill’ wife
Many secrets are waiting at the Burmans, Dr Burman for one is obsessed with cryogenics and has his own experimental operating theatre in the garden!, plus hidden children with genetic diseases and the like, there is much more than meets the eye going on next door!!!
The book starts quite medical and technical but this passes and it turns into quite a grim, claustrophobic menacing horror/psychological story
Dr Burman is insidious, a foul and evil creature ( yep that bad ), his wife although felt really sorry for is as weak as water....thankfully Emily and Ben are great and I loved Emily’s insistent nosiness that got her into next door, although she did come to regret it!!!!
Theres a scene where the good ( bad ) Dr pretends to be a relatives patient on a ward which is super chilling and you want to stop him doing what he intends on doing but of course you cant!
The ending is well done and builds the story ( and the reader ) up to a frenzy of a finish or so you think.....and then after a reflective epilogue another chilling added few pages that will unsettle you
A good dramatic ( if implausible at some levels ) story
7.5/10 4 Stars

An intense, thrilling read with darkly disturbing elements and sinister undertones that compels the reader to read and read until the very end. It follows two sets of neighbours and their varying view points as the story unfolds, growing in intensity with every new chapter. Em has since the very first time she saw her neighbour going to and from his shed felt something off about him and has avividly watched a f documented his comings and goings. Reaching out to his wife at every opportunity trying to strike a friendship hoping to maybe learn more. That proves mote difficult than she expected and things are definitely more wrong than she thought. Amit has a dark purpose and is steadily working towards that goal, growing more unhinged by the day. You will not want to put this down! Definitely a five star read that will have you on the edge of your seat hoping for a satisfying conclusion!

I admit that at first I didn't think I would be able to finish this book. It involves an aspect of medical research that I personally have problems with, I'm aware that it happens in today's world but it's nothing I want to read about. I felt like the beginning of the book tended to drag in some places and i found myself struggling to keep reading. About midway through the book, there were a few surprises and twists that grabbed me and all of a sudden, I couldn't put it down!! Needless to say, the second half of the story is surprising and full of twists and turns and pure evilness. If you love mystery, suspense and books that leave you with questions like "Who can I Trust?" Or "How can Someone be so calculating and evil?" than this should be on your TBR shelf! Thank-you to Netgalley, Goodreads, Avon and Lisa Stone for a ARC and the chance to read this book in exchange for a honest review. Review will be posted at Amazon, Goodreads and Kobo

The Doctor, the third novel written under the pseudonym Lisa Stone, is a refreshingly original domestic thriller and a thoroughly wild and addictive ride. I couldn't get through the pages rapidly enough; there was so much more to the plot than a bog-standard family drama and that made it a real winner. The story revolves around two couples who are neighbours on the same street — Emily and Ben, Amit and Anita. Anita is suffering from a terminal illness and Amit, who feels as though he cannot live without her, takes to researching the possibility of using cryogenic's to preserve her body until she can be awoken. This takes a very sinister turn when the new neighbours begin to ask questions.

This is an expertly plotted thriller with a fascinating medical/science background and is gripping from first page to last. There were plenty of twisty surprises throughout and a rare and constant feeling that something ominous was about to happen. It is a nail-biting tale with great, relatable characters and enough intrigue and mystery to keep you guessing right until the chilling conclusion. It was a little improbable at times but given I was completely absorbed and entertained this was of little issue to me. Above all, it highlights the extent we will often go to for those we love. Recommended. Many thanks to Avon for an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/HarperCollins Publishers for a copy of this book is exchange for an honest review.

According to the synopsis Emily is supposed to go missing at the beginning of the book but it’s closer to the end of the book. This was a bit of a letdown as you keep turning pages expecting her to disappear. She actually spends most of the book trying to figure out what is going on at Dr. Burman’s house. She comes across as a housewife with way took much time on her hands.

Nothing was very surprising in the book; you pretty much saw what was coming at you. The interesting part was the main character, a doctor and all the details surrounding cryogenic freezing showed that the author did a lot of researched and it was really felt through those details.

The ending could have been put differently, less predictably.

This story is about a Doctor who works as an anaesthetist who's conducting his own experiments. De Burman looks after his sick wife, Alisha. It's quite clear that all not as it seems in the Burman household. He is quite obsessed with his interest in cryogenic research, freezing humans until a cure can be found for their illnesses, then brought back to like and cured. Emily and Ben are there neighbours. Emily is quite intrigued about the strange coming and goings around her neighbours. Emily tries to make friends with Alisha and slowly chips away at her resolve, and eventually Alisha lets her into her home. But Emily is shocked at what she finds.

It's a true saying that you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and that's true to the contents of this book. Not exactly what I was expecting. The dDoctor is quite a creepy character. There is a lot I would like to say about this book but it would contain too many spoilers. There are plenty of twists and the subject matter has been well researched. It's well written. Another book I could not read quickly enough.

I would like to thank Acon Books UK and the author Lisa Stone for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Doctor by Lisa Stone is hard book for me to get my thoughts down on. I did not hate it nor did I love it. It is a strange book with a unique story. I struggled to connect with the characters, none of them had much going for them and the story was far fetched and hard to believe. Certain actions seemed far too easy and in reality could not happen that way. In saying that though it was a quick read and different .

Emily and Ben live next door to Dr Burman and his wife Alisha. Emily is on maternity leave and tries to make friends with Alisha but she is very guarded and doesn't leave the house a lot. She seems afraid of everything. Behind closed doors the Doctor is abusive and controlling, not allowing his wife to have any sort of a life. She has a chronic illness and he is experimenting in his shed with cryonics, freezing bodies to come back when medical advances have the cure. He is not a nice person at all, having no limits to how far he will go for his research.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review from NetGalley and the publisher! Thank you for my chance to read this! Wow! This book kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end! A true thriller! The characters were captivating and I really couldn't guess what was to come in the end! Definitely want to read more from this author! Thank you for the chance to read and review this!

Gripping, unputdownable. Emily befriends her next door neighbour who is terrified of her controlling doctor husband.but is Emily putting her own life in danger. A fast pacey novel that keeps you on tenterhooks until the final page

To be perfectly honest, the reason I decided to read this book was because of that little blurb from Katerina Diamond, who is one of my favorite authors. Unfortunately, I was not gripped immediately by The Doctor – or at all, really.

First of all, I need to point out a little pet peeve I have with the synopsis, which is that the name of the doctor’s wife was not the same as in the book. In the book, her name was Alisha, not Anita, so either the synopsis is wrong, or it was changed after the ARC was done. Also, Emily doesn’t go “missing” until the latter half of the book and the reader knows where she is the whole time. I expected it to be more of a mystery, but while Ben doesn’t know where she is, we know everything that happens and I felt it took away a lot of the tension.

Alisha has a chronic disease and her husband, Amit, is obsessed with the idea of cryonics, which involves freezing her body when she dies until medicine has advanced enough to cure the disease, when she can then be brought back to life. Alisha won’t consent to signing up with the agency that does this, so he decides to teach himself the process and will do it to her himself. In the mean time, he’s emotionally and physically abusive to Alisha to make sure she’s too scared to leave the house or accept the friendly advances of their neighbors, Emily.

I thought the book was much, much longer than it needed to be. The plot advanced very slowly and I never really felt the characters were developed that fully, either. The quality of the writing left a little to be desired for me, as well. It felt like a first or second draft and could have used a lot more editing and polishing. I was also really disappointed with the “twist” that was promised. It was barely a twist at all and left no real impact.

Overall, The Doctor just wasn’t for me. While it had an interesting angle with the cryonics plotline, it never really lived up to it’s potential. I never connected with the characters and thought Amit was a pretty weak villain. I was originally going to give this two stars, but once I actually started to write this review, I realized I don’t really have anything positive to say about it, so it’s only getting 1 star from me.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 1 Star

Wow, this book was fantastic. It was fast paced and kept me reading. I just couldn’t put it down until I finished it.
It was such a different story to others I’ve read and I would love to read other books by this author.
My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for letting me read this ebook for free in return for an honest review.

Emily and Ben, along with their toddler son, move next to a very peculiar couple. Dr Burman locks himself in the shed every time he comes home from work, and his wife, who suffers from a fatal illness, doesn't leave home and always looks frightened. What is the couple next door hiding? Can they be dangerous?

I honestly had very high hopes for this book, and plunged into it in very high spirits. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. The plot was not interesting enough and the characters weren't sufficiently well built and it was difficult for me as a reader to relate to any one of them. The story escalated in a very unnatural and strange way, there didn't seem to be enough research into technology and health as would be good in this type of book. Moreover, the end verged on the point of cliche.

On the bright side, it was a short read and quite fast-paced.