Someone We Know: A Novel

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

One of USA Today's top 100 books to read while stuck at home social distancing

"No one does suburban paranoia like Shari Lapena--this slowly unfurling nightmare will have you biting your nails until the end."
--Ruth Ware, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10

The new domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, and An Unwanted Guest, Shari Lapena

Maybe you don't know your neighbors as well as you thought you did. . .

"This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much . . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out."

In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses--and into the owners' computers as well--learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.

Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they're telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?

In this neighborhood, it's not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .

You never really know what people are capable of.

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Published Jun 29, 2021

320 pages

Average rating: 7.24

174 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Someone We Know* is a fast-paced, twist-filled thriller centered on neighborhood secrets, lies, and complicated relationships. Most prais...

Mary Raven
Jan 28, 2023
6/10 stars
I think you should always get an attorney before answering questions at the police station. The twists were fun but it was all improbable.
Mary Pat Holt
Feb 05, 2026
6/10 stars
This book is full of lies, secrets and cheaters! And they all live in the same neighborhood. :/ Very fast paced, lots of twists trying to figure out who did it and even an ending that suggests there is more to come.

Robert and Amanda are the newest couple to move into the neighborhood and all the men seem to be involved with Amanda. She is a tart. Raleigh is the teenage son who is breaking and entering into people's homes and snooping around on their computers. Anonymous apology letters are placed in the some of the victim's houses. When Amanda is found dead, after her husband reports her missing, the tension in the neighborhood increases. Who killed her? Who knows more than they are saying? Could Raleigh have found some clues from his b&e?

A bit far fetched at times. No real likeable characters, but an entertaining read.
Kati
Jan 01, 2026
6/10 stars
3.5⭐️
Bosky
Dec 30, 2025
8/10 stars
Despite the fact that I felt like I've read this book before... All thrillers nowadays start with a murder, whodunnit scenario. It didn't disappoint. This takes place in an upper middle class neighborhood, where everyone is in everyone's business. Lapena knows how to masterfully write a compelling thriller plot that keeps the reader going. Multiple storylines that merge at the end that reveal, whodunnit... The son kills the mistress and the mom kills the nosy neighbor. Though the second murder doesn't really make much sense.
Taya1325
Nov 21, 2025
5/10 stars
This has been my least favorite book I have read by Shari Lapena. I feel like its an unpopular opinion, but there were times in the book it just seemed to drag on, wasnt as fast pace as her other books that I have read have been.

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