I really like Tony Parsons Max Wolfe books, but this was dreadful. Very silly plot, unbelievable characters and seemed unfinished. Read more like a film outline than a novel. Disappointing.
2* is generous.

I’ve enjoyed a couple of books by Tony Parsons and The People Next Door, a standalone thriller, is genuinely creepy and intense. He takes an ordinary situation and builds it into a developing drama, with paranoia and fear affecting a young couple. It’s a theme that’s been explored before; young couple, new home, next door neighbours with secrets and a house with a history. But I can’t think of another book where it’s been done quite as well as this.

I bought into the characters quickly. They’re engaging, but then I started to wonder. Who was hiding what and why? It’s very well paced with p,entry of tension and twists and it kept me reading. Well written and very satisfying as a domestic noir. Loved it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

A some what odd read that was quite hard to get into and not as smooth as previous books from this author. A little disappointed by the ending.

An absolutely brilliant read. It was gripping and kept you guessing to the very end. Fast paced and the characters were intriguing all with a story to tell. Lana and Roman were a fascinating couple who had newly arrived at the Gardens. There were so many twists and turns. I was a little disappointed with the ending which I felt was a little abrupt.

I’ll never look at a picture-perfect village in the same way again. A beautiful bucolic idyll turns nasty with bones under the swimming pool and disappearing wives - is this Stepford with a little too much strychnine in the chilled Chablis, or something even darker? Couldn’t put it down, brilliant.

Really enjoyable book

Simple premise with a couple changing circumstances and not getting what they expected.

Very twisty and I didn’t expect a lot of it.

Suspend reality and enjoy!

I usually enjoy a book by Tony Parsons but unfortunately not this one. The plot was ridiculous and the characters were caricatures, not well rounded and not particularly likeable. Sorry but this was not up to usual standard.

I enjoyed this book although it was a slow burn. The concept was great abs the story as ever expertly crafted and executed. I’m a huge fan of this author and he didn’t disappoint. A very satisfying read and one I would definitively recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

I loved all the Max Wolfe books and was disappointed when the series came to an end but the man can certainly write and this was an excellent standalone that thrilled, entertained and even shocked throughout. I won't provide spoilers but everyone has a past and a history and the author has provided an original plot and story about what happens when things come back to haunt you.

Hmm not sure how I feel about this book to be honest. I did enjoyed the overall idea and some of the turns were really well done and unpredictable. But I couldn’t get close to any of the characters or found anything that made me say wow. It’s a well written story though and I’m sure many readers will enjoy it more than I have .

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

The People Next Door by Tony Parsons

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Lana and Roman Wade have fled the city for a little corner of paradise, exchanging their flat with its unhappy memories for a small honey-coloured house among the rolling green hills of Oxfordshire. Their new home, set in a residential Close known as The Gardens, is their dream and their new neighbours are charming.
So why is Lana feeling so uneasy?

Lana and Roman may seem like an attractive, popular couple. But they are also a couple with a secret; a secret buried in the life they have left behind, a secret they have shared with no-one.

But their new neighbours - these charming, affluent men and women in the Gardens - have secrets of their own.
Terrible secrets; unimaginable secrets that include the apparently happy family who lived - and tragically died - in Lana and Roman's new home.

I was disappointed by this book. I just couldn't get into the plot and for me it just seemed that there wasn't much of a purpose to what was going on. This is truly a case where a brilliant beginning was spoilt by an unsatisfactory ending.

Rating 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Tony Parsons for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Tony Parsons but this book was terrifying! It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted. It’s dark, gripping and ridiculously intense!

Oh! Tony Parsons what has happened? I absolutely loved My Favourite Wife but just could not get into this one. I found the characters shallow, the story quite formulaic and it really didn't grab me as much as his previous books have done. I hate giving up n a book but I'm afraid I had to this time. Sorry! However, I am grateful to Netgalley for the chance to read and review it

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Uk for a copy of “ The People Next Door” for an honest review.

Over the years I’ve read many journalistic pieces by Tony Parsons, mainly in NME , but I’ve only started reading his novels in the past few years.. I’ve found his books to be really well written , with really strong storylines.
I enjoyed this book until about two thirds of the way in , and then I thought things became a little too far fetched, and the ending a bit abrupt.
On the whole I’m glad I read it but , for me it isn’t as good as his previous couple of books.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. Good in parts, bit slow at times. I can’t say that I particularly liked any of the the characters. Some even got on my nerves a bit. Having said that it was a decent psychological thriller with an ending full of suspense. However, after waiting for the conclusion it did feel a bit rushed.

I had only previously read Tony Parsons early work which I am a huge fan so this different genre was going to be interesting.
The book was tense, thrilling and fairly unputdownable!
I know he has written books in series so I will seek these out.
The style and subject matter may be different but the author knows how to hook you in and keep you there.

I’ve read many novels about preppers and those that believe the end of the world is nigh but this is a story of modern day suburban preppers who take it a bit too far.

Lana and Roman move to the quiet village with what seem like idillic neighbours but are they?

I really enjoyed the start of the story and following their stories but Lana became annoying and some of her decisions were simply hard to understand. Roman sounds like the GP we all wished we had but could their relationship seriously survive what they go through?

However the book is very well written and addictive page turning chapters.

Roman and Lana have moved into their dream home, away from an unnamed incident in their previous house. Are their neighbours all they seem? Or is there something rotten at the core of their Cotswolds idyll? What are they preparing for and what has happened there? a family annihilation, a missing mother. Is Lana losing her mind or is she on to something? Who can she trust? The atmosphere is claustrophobic and uneasy. A gripping read.

To be completely honest this book creeped me out a bit. I enjoyed reading it and even though at some places I found it dragged a bit, I still kept going only to find out how it all would wrap up. Great read, highly recommended.

The People Next Door is a dark, chilling psychological drama that had me gripped from the outset. I found the section around Lana being medicated almost claustrophobic in the fear it raised in me. My thanks to Netgalley for a thoroughly good read.