A 19th-century row house, vacant for more than 25 years, on a picturesque Brooklyn street becomes the fulcrum of The Other Family, a chilling domestic thriller by Wendy Corsi Staub, the author of more than 90 novels.
The lovely brownstone at 104 Glover Street seems the perfect place for the Howell family--Nora and Keith and their teen daughters, Piper and Stacey--to spend a year after Keith's job necessitates a move from Los Angeles to New York. But they are unaware of the house's violent past: the previous family, also composed of parents and two teenage daughters, were murdered in their sleep a quarter of a century earlier. Piper is appalled, but true-crime aficionado Stacey is intrigued.
Staub skillfully illustrates the ways in which emerging secrets about the murders begin to unravel the family. Fearful her marriage is disintegrating, Nora's anxiety erupts as she becomes distrustful of everyone, including the overly friendly married couple--Heather and her wife, Jules--who live down the street with their children, the same age as the Howells' daughters. Staub's storytelling deftly mines a claustrophobic atmosphere, even on a sunny Brooklyn street. Heather and Jules seem like friendly women, but their controlling nature occasionally registers as sinister, which causes arguments between Nora and Keith. Nora also worries that Heather and Jules are coercing their manipulative son, Lennon, and Stacey into a relationship. Meanwhile, Stacey is convinced a man is watching their house through binoculars.
Staub keeps the suspense churning as this highly entertaining novel reaches its intriguing finale. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer