She Treads Softly: Too Close to Home

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Too Close to Home

Too Close to Home by Seraphina Nova Glass
4/14/26; 304 pages
Park Row Books

Too Close to Home by Seraphina Nova Glass is a highly recommended domestic drama/popcorn thriller. Set disbelief aside and enjoy the over-the-top action.

Regan, Sasha, and Andi are good friends who live in the elite community of Cloverhill Lakes. It seems to be a perfect suburban community - until Regan's car blows up after she loaned it to another mom, Ally, who just wanted to run to get more ice for the community's labor day picnic. Clearly Regan, a recent widow, was the target, but why? The police think it was a prank gone wrong.

Sasha is worried about what her teenage son is involved in while sneaking around town. She's also hiding her support for her ex from her current husband, Ray.

At the same time Andi is dealing with her ex-husband Ray's new wife, Tia, clearly a future HOA president in the making, who is trying to cause problems. When Andi's new husband, Carson, teaches her how to use a gun for protection before he leaves on a trip, it is the second of a series of events, following the initial explosion, which quickly escalate into an over-the-top, twisty thriller.

There is a whole lot of action going on in this well-written, twisty domestic drama which will hold your complete attention throughout. You'll easily set disbelief aside (as several events are over-the-top and poor decisions are made, repeatedly) and keep reading to see what in the world is going to happen next. This is what you expect from a popcorn thriller. The narrative unfolds between the three perspectives of Regan, Sasha, and Andi. The chapters are short, quickly moving the action and point-of-view to the next character, propelling you forward from one crisis to another.

All the characters are introduced at the same time so be sure to pay attention at the beginning in order to keep the different characters separate in your mind. Then sit back and enjoy the ensuing mayhem which follows the initial explosion. Admittedly, the ending is truly over-the-top but so are several other events in the plot, so relish the drama leading up to the dramatic ending. Thanks to Park Row Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.