By: Kaira Rouda
ISBN: 9781542026116
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date: 01/18/2022
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars + (ARC)
A quiet neighborhood. A lovely home. A promising new beginning. In a heartbeat everything can change in this propulsive novel of suspense by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.
Julie Jones has left her suffocating marriage. With her teenage daughter, Jess, she’s starting over. Their new house in Oceanside is the first step toward a new life. Even if it does come with the unexpected. The previous owners, a pastor and his wife, have left something—or rather someone—behind…
Tom Dean has a bitter hatred for the father who considers him a lost cause, and for the woman who’s moved into their family’s house. The only home he’s ever known. He’s never going to leave. She thinks he’ll be gone in three days, but Tom has the perfect plan.
For a newly single mother and her daughter, a fresh start is the beginning of a nightmare. Before the weekend is over, somebody is going to get exactly what they deserve.
Praise
“Whatever the opposite of family values is, Rouda seems intent on perfecting a genre that enshrines it.” —Kirkus Reviews
"Suspense and thriller readers will be on the edge of their seats for this novel that exposes the dark underbelly of human nature."—Library Journal
“A truly unputdownable novel that had me gripped—and anxious—from the first sentence! Captivating, fast paced, and unsettling, Somebody’s Home is astonishingly good. I gulped it down.” —Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister
“Somebody’s Home kept me riveted from the first page to the last. A gripping psychological thriller you don’t want to miss!” —Lucinda Berry, bestselling author of The Perfect Child
“Somebody’s Home starts like a hurricane out at sea: some wind, some waves, a sense of approaching danger. But the story moves fast, gains velocity, and suddenly you are turning the pages, unable to stop, heart in your throat, knowing that something terrible is going to happen and nothing will stop it. The threats come from all sides, and it’s so hard to know who to trust. The characters are wonderful and complex; the setting feels like the house next door, which makes it all the more terrifying; and the ending nearly killed me. Kaira Rouda has written a terrific, gripping thriller.” —Luanne Rice, bestselling author of The Shadow Box
“With an intriguing cast of characters and a killer premise, Somebody’s Home is a thriller worth staying up all night for. Fast-paced and relentless, Kaira Rouda cranks up the tension with every turn of the page. With unexpected twists and jaw-dropping revelations, Rouda knows how to draw readers close and keep them entranced.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest
“Taut with foreboding from the first page, Kaira Rouda’s Somebody’s Home is an unsettling portrait of an antisocial man, a master of the universe, and the women caught between them. The rotating points of view and incisive, clear writing are sure to keep you flipping the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!” —Katherine St. John, author of The Siren
“Trust your instincts and grab a copy of Kaira Rouda’s Somebody’s Home. In Rouda’s latest thriller, a mother trusts her instincts when she knows the person on her property is threatening her family. But what if the threat is coming at her from all sides and more than one person is hiding a dark secret? A compulsive, fast read, Somebody’s Home reveals what people will do to protect not only their homes but the families within those four walls. A captivating read.” —Georgina Cross, bestselling author of The Stepdaughter
About the Author
Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is an accomplished business leader, entrepreneur, national speaker and internationally bestselling and award-winning author.
A former magazine editor, and society columnist, Kaira won the Stevie Award for Women in Business for creating the first female-focused residential real estate brand, Real Living, and growing the brand to more than 22 states before its sale to Berkshire Hathaway.
Her first book, Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, led to a national speaking tour where she inspired thousands. Turning to a full-time writing career, Kaira has become a USA Today bestselling author, an international bestseller, and an Amazon Charts bestseller. Her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Recent releases, including Best Day Ever, The Favorite Daughter, and The Next Wife have been called “chilling satisfying suspense” (Good Housekeeping), “exceptional” (Publishers Weekly), and “an examination of the darkest betrayals” (Brit & Co.).
Active in the areas of homelessness, food security, and empowering women and girls, in her
twenties, as a volunteer, she created the first walk-in emergency shelter for homeless families in Central Ohio.
Kaira has received numerous awards for her community service, including the national Kiwanis Service to Mankind Award, among many others. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Congressman Harley Rouda, and her four twenty-something children. WEBSITE
Over the Edge
A Prequel to
Somebody's Home
Over the Edge is the perfect accompaniment to Kaira Rouda's stunning thriller, Somebody's Home. In this enticing prequel, we get a tantalizing bite of what drives each of the main characters: hate, passion, ambition, revenge, setting the table for the main course —the deliciously sinister, Somebody's Home.
—Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author
My Review
One of my favorite authors, Kaira Rouda, the "queen" of narcissist sociopaths, evil men, dysfunctional relationships, and families, returns with her latest powerful psychological suspense thriller —SOMEBODY'S HOME.
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LOOK AWAY.
There are a number of mixed reviews, so wanted to take the time to write a more detailed review with my personal takeaway. Ideal pick for book clubs and further discussion.
This time around, there is not one monster, but three! Two different (families) husbands/fathers and an evil offspring son. They are hidden among regular neighborhoods in disguise. Often the darkness and monsters are right in front of us.
Highly creative, intricately woven with strong character development with more plot twists than you can imagine. Highly-charged topics are explored in this family drama of obsession and revenge. Good vs. Evil and dark side of humanity.
Get ready for the wildest ride of your life! What is so scary and haunting about this story, it could be ripped from today's headlines and real-life American families.
GRIPPING, HAUNTING, COMPELLING, UNSETTLING.
What happens behind closed doors and the "sins of the father" come to the surface in this gripping, sinister, and dark thriller.
As Kirkus Reviews quotes and I concur: "Whatever the opposite of family values is, Rouda seems intent on perfecting a genre that enshrines it."
No one can spin a darkly twisted tale like Kaira Rouda! Two families collide for a heart-pounding final explosion.
Rev. Doug Dean, the megachurch leader that is a scum bag and likes to get cozy with and minister to the good-looking vulnerable divorced women for more than Godly advice, if you know what I mean.
He has been kicked out of the megachurch (finally, due to his misdeeds), and now he and his second wife (former Sunday School teacher) Sandi, who tries to look the other way, being the devout Christian she is, move to the boonies and a small church with their younger twin sons to start over.
Rev Doug's older son, Tom (by the first wife), is a nightmare. He had moved to their guest house. The son is more like the dad than you know and is a monster. He has not been invited to move with them.
Poor Sandi finally wises up toward the end and sees her husband is not so godly, nor has he changed. She must figure out how to save herself and her young twin sons from this abusive dominating cheater and his older son.
Their move involves the sale of the main house and guest house. However, the father did not want the 20 something loser creepy son, Tom, to come along. Leaving him in the guest house for the new owner to contend with. The son is a walking time bomb. He is filled with hatred for his dad. He is supposed to move out per contract with new owners. But does he?
Meet the new homeowner and protagonist, Julie, and her daughter, Jess. Julie came from a poor childhood and always wanted to be better. An aesthetician and office manager who has had every cosmetic surgery imaginable before, she was snagged by the big-time real estate developer and verbally abusive Roger Jones. She is also trying to escape and start over. But not as simple as she planned.
Julie realizes that her fake life with jewels, money, clothes, cosmetic surgeries, fake appearances, and friends and money is not the life she wants for her daughter. She is leaving and moving to the wrong side of Oceanside and has purchased a home with a guest house.
Yes, the house needs work, but she wants to get back to being a mother to her daughter before she goes off to college and to create a different more healthy environment.
The teen daughter, Jess is not so wild or onboard with the new change. She wants to be back on the right side of the track with her friends.
Of course, it comes time for the deadbeat troubled son, Tom to get out, but he will not leave. His dad is doing nothing to help, and the three ladies are on their own.
Mix in a crazy deadly game involving Jess that goes viral, social media craze, and the out of control Tom (son) in their guest house, and some dark web dangerous freak friends and white supremacist group . . . you have one heck of a nightmare disaster!
It all comes down to a dramatic, high-stakes, tension-filled showdown when Julie finds Somebody's Home! Who will be left standing alive, and what lessons will they learn?
Rouda knows how to create conflict and keep it coming! I enjoy her writing because she is not afraid to tackle bold topics. She is a class act!
Jodi Picoult meets Karin Slaughter = Kaira Rouda (with her own winning signature style).
Trust me, Rouda can hang with any TV show, and her latest would make for an excellent movie or series. This time around, it is not southern, like the megachurch TV shows (referenced below) but Suburban west coast Orange County, CA wives, husbands, families.
It is difficult to describe this one but think:
FILTHY RICH: A Southern Gothic family drama in which wealth, power, and religion collide — with outrageously soapy results (starring Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall). A mega-rich Southern family, famous for creating a successful Christian TV network with dirty secrets.
Combine with GREENLEAF megachurch- where their lives are tainted with greed, adultery, and other sins as well.
Blend with: THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY (obsessed with plastic surgery and everything fake).
Throw-in: A wealthy real estate tycoon and vile misogynist (among other things) like Donald Trump, plus rich spoiled teens (antisocial personality disorder often called sociopathy) playing dangerous games.
Add in: Hate online groups displaying neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist symbols and violent actions similar to the raid on the US Capitol—
MEETS "SOMEBODY'S HOME."
My book friends: A LOT OF ACTION in one book with good versus evil. More so on the evil side. Even though this is a fictional account, a critical realistic look at what American families face today. In our homes and neighborhoods behind closed doors.
Kaira has brilliantly showcased and explored the underbelly of domestic society, no matter the social class or gender, evil is hidden in families of the churchgoers, the privileged, educated, the rich, the poor, both young and old.
The title of the book has many meanings and is quite thought-provoking.
Sandi was a little naïve at first (could be Young Shelton's mom), but in the end, she was the true heroine. I think readers will like her and Julie more by the end of the book.
While this novel did not have as much dark, witty humor as some of her previous books (based on the specific storyline), a Top-Notch psychological thriller by the "queen" of suspense.
Fans of Kimberly Belle, B. A. Paris, and Robyn Harding will devour SOMEBODY'S HOME. If you like Diane Chamberlain's The Last House on the Street (Jan 11, 2022) you should read this one.
Highly recommend all her books. Always highly entertaining! Get this on your TBR list for 2022. I would love to know the inspiration behind this book.
Blog Review:
@JudithDCollins
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/of 5 Stars
Pub Date: Jan 18, 2022
Reading experience: I loved SOMEBODY'S HOME! I started it Sunday afternoon and was planning on reading a few chapters and then back to work. However, I did not put it down until I finished it in one day! I should know better when you pick up a Kaira Rouda book, it is unputdownable.
A special thank you to #ThomasandMercer and #NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. Also pre-ordered the print copy.
