A compulsive debut thriller about motherhood, obsession and how far we’d go to protect the ones we love. “Every curve, every twist takes you further down the rabbit hole. Sharon Doering has written a crackling debut!” Samantha Downing SHE IS STILL MISSING Five-year-old Ava Boone vanished without a trace six months ago. No witnesses, no sightings or arrests. But Grace Wright just moved in next … no sightings or arrests. But Grace Wright just moved in next door to the only suspect the case had: quiet, middle-aged Leland Ernest.
Recently divorced, Grace uprooted her two small children to start again and hopes the move will reset her crippling insomnia. With whispered neighborhood gossip and increasingly sleepless nights, Grace develops a fierce obsession with Leland and the safety of her children. Could she really be living next door to a child-kidnapper? A murderer?
With reality and dream blurring more each day, Grace desperately pursues the truth – following Ava’s family, demanding answers from the police – and then a body is discovered…
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I am gasping for breath–what a terrific book. SHE LIES CLOSE is a masterclass in voice, a psychological tour de force, and one of the most original stories I’ve ever read. Doering’s talent leads the reader on a page-turning non-stop obsessive journey–but also skillfully weaves in true emotion and laugh out dark loud humor. Do not miss this!
A relatable, if unreliable, heroine, darkly funny, and engrossing, this thriller asks how far you’ll go to protect your child.
This is a domestic drama with some psychological suspense mixed in. As a debut novel, it’s not too bad, but it also has some loose strands that really annoyed me. The stream of consciousness, for example, of Grace Wright, was hard to follow and sometimes seemed totally off topic, not tying into the story until much later. The story itself was about motherhood and protecting your children at all costs. It was also about innocent victims, wrong assumptions and relationships that may or may not lead to anything. The book was okay, and I recommend it to those looking for a book that doesn’t ask much of you.
I checked out a copy of this book from my local library and was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
I have been so addicted to this book over the last few days, staying up way later than I’d planned in order to keep reading. SHE LIES CLOSE follows Grace, who recently moved with her two young children next door to a man who is the suspect of a child abduction case. As Grace begins to worry about the missing child and obsess over the man’s proximity to her own children, she loses herself to anxious thoughts, possible hallucinations, and wildly violent dreams. And then a body turns up.
I can’t overstate the excellence of the voice in this book. It is razor-sharp, darkly funny, and begins with this line that I will never get over: “My mind is a snow globe in the hands of a toddler who’s shitfaced on apple juice.” The prose continues to be just as fresh and engaging throughout the rest of the book. The story itself is a delicious slow burn with Sharon Doering doing a masterful job of making us both fear and doubt each new twist that comes. She layers on the tension, the dread, the sense of foreboding, dealing out creepier and creepier details like a hand of cards we’re afraid to hold. I also love how she explores in vivid, terrifying ways the relentless anxieties of motherhood, showing us that caring for and deeply loving children can both strengthen and cripple a person. I highly recommend this eerie psychological thriller!
I did enjoy this book and I would recommend it. Saying that, I thought parts of the book was slow and kept repeating scenes. I also was surprised at some of the twists! Again, I would recommend this book.
It’s pretty clear that this author’s writing does not appeal to everyone. It’s quite disjointed and all over the place, with plenty of rambling and inner dialogues happening at the same time as the character is speaking. I’m not sure if that’s because the narrator is on Adderall and slowly becoming unhinged or if the same style would be applied to a different character. I hope it’s the latter because it’s very hard to follow and makes the story almost a chore to get through. The narrator is Grace, a mother of two young children who has recently moved into a neighborhood and discovered that her next-door neighbor is a suspect in a child’s disappearance.
We follow Grace as she grows more paranoid and possibly delusional by the minute, yet somehow she manages to hold down her job as a preschool teacher. She’s also allowed certain actions like running a lap around the neighborhood every night while she leaves her children at home in bed. Even after she’s hears about her neighbor. At least one friend and, unbelievably, an officer she starts dating just lets that happen. So she’s not exactly an easy character to relate to or empathize with. Bad things start happening and neither Grace nor the reader know how much she has to do with them or if they are even real.
The actual plot is good but I just couldn’t get past the exhausting narration. A little more breathing room and less emphasis on the single parent who moms-so-hard and this could be a real page-turner.
Grace works as a teacher and lives alone with her two young children. She is divorced from her husband who is a surgeon. She has recently bought a home in what seems to be in a nice neighborhood because she wanted a yard for the children to play in. Not long after moving in, she learns that her neighbor, Leland Ernest is a suspect in a child abduction case. Ava Boone, age 5, went missing some time ago and has yet to be found. While Leland has not been charged with her abduction, he remains a suspect. His nearness makes Grace very nervous.
Grace has big problems with insomnia and sleep for her is so elusive. In addition, she is taking Adderall for ADHD. Many nights find her up reading all kinds of article online hoping to get sleepy, but little helps.
Her 3-year-old, Chloe, is very precocious and Grace is so afraid that Leland may try to take her. In her quest to try and find Ava, she has a lot of crazy stuff going on in her head. Wyatt is 8-years-old and a pretty steady young boy.
As they days pass, Grace becomes more and more centered on Leland and is also having problems such as hallucinations due to her lack of sleep. Can she continue to cope on her own?
Some things are quite humorous as we recognize young children for the real kids that they are. Even the chapter headings are humorous. However, this is a dark thriller with some explicitly written scenes that may tend to shock readers. Do I recommend this book? Hard to answer that. If you are looking for a very unusual read, then you have come to the right place.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This book is one of those that throws you off course constantly and absolutely wows you no end when you finish. I’m a little lost for words right now! I’ve had this on my TBR list for way too long and I got a deep sense of satisfaction when I read that last page. This book is such an immense debut from Sharon Doering and if you love a book which messes with your head a little and makes you question everything, this is the one for you.
Obsession, motherhood and an intense desire to protect is explored so deeply in this book and reading it was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. My views on the main character were so back and forth and how she lives each day was concerning, yet fascinating. This is so much more than the story of a missing girl and when you read it, you’ll understand why. It’s so deep, powerful and detailed, and it’s the ultimate binge-worthy book.
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: 10/13/2020
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This is the debut novel from a new author in the thriller world. This has a stunning and terrifying cover depicting a girl’s hand up against a window. Thank you Sharon for the gifted copy.
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: In this book, 5 year old Ava Boone has been missing for six months. There have been no leads, no arrests, no witnesses. The only suspect was quiet middle-aged Leland Ernest. Grace Wright, a divorced single mom just bought the house next door.
Where do I start? The prologue was so deep and terrifying as a parent. As I went through this story, I was sent in multiple directions. This was a hard hitting thriller that as a parent to a daughter gave me the chills. It took me three days to read this, and each night after reading it I had a nightmare about the book. In my eyes, this was the optimal pace for a thriller. I saw some character progressions that are needed, along with a few twists at the end that I didn’t see coming. This was one of the rare books that was so emotionally disturbing that I had to actually put the book down for a few minutes because the details were very graphic, yet fit the premise perfectly.
Sharon’s writing was superb. She weaved a story with lies, twists, and hair raising details that will shock you to your core. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a phenomenal debut thriller that will hit you in your heart with twists and toy with your emotions.
This book releases on 10/13/2020 so make sure to preorder a copy today!!!!!