Lisa Scottoline | SOMEONE KNOWS

Plot (via Goodreads):

Twenty years ago, in an upscale suburb of Philadelphia, four teenagers spent a summer as closest friends: drinking, sharing secrets, testing boundaries. When a new boy looked to join them, they decided to pull a prank on him, convincing him to play Russian roulette as an initiation into their group. They secretly planned to leave the gun unloaded—but what happened next would change each of them forever.

Now three of the four reunite for the first time since that horrible summer. The guilt—and the lingering question about who loaded the gun—drove them apart. But after one of the group apparently commits suicide with a gun, their old secrets come roaring back. One of them is going to figure out if the new suicide is what it seems, and if it connects to the events of that long-ago summer. Someone knows exactly what happened—but who? And how far will they go to keep their secrets buried?

Review:

Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline is a domestic suspense novel that combines elements of psychological thriller, mystery, and some dramatic family dynamics that made this in my opinion - the I Know What You Did Last Summer for adults. I will say, when I began this one I just felt like I was hovering over this little suburb and witnessing the multiple different story-lines that spiderweb off from a group of teenagers that are all experiencing a believable amount of pressure in dealing with their personal lives as well as something so dark and disastrous that it will come to haunt them for many years later.

I will say, I definitely liked the chapters in the past more than the chapters in the present time and found them to be so exquisitely written and addictive, whereas the chapters in the future didn't feature the same spark that the ones in the past had - but I still was interested as I was so invested in this story, I just couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. Overall, I loved reading these characters as they were mostly all unlikable, but those are the most entertaining ones to read. The contrasts and similarities in the personalities between teenagers and adults was also done effectively and just hyped the story up even more for me.

After what was a slow burning and then brilliantly paced thriller that was emotionally charged and brutally realistic, Scottoline really shocked me with a intense and twisted ending that had some aspects I saw coming and others that caught me totally by surprise. Definitely recommend this one for fans of Desperate Housewives, domestic suspense novels, and those who enjoy reading slow burning mysteries combined with unlikable characters.

Special thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5