I love a good thriller and this was just that. A little bit of romance thrown in added to a great read . I hadn’t read any Alyssa Cole but will be picking up her other titles. Highly recommend it

When No One Is Watching is the first book I have read by Alyssa Cole. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading it , but I really enjoyed it. All the characters were interesting and the story was fast paced. It is part thriller and a little romance mixed in. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC.

I went into this book without knowing anything about the subject, genre, or the author. I was immediately put off by the language, but kept reading and was glad that I did. I'm not sure if the opening was for shock value, but I was glad that the use of f*** died off significantly.

The story line was fast paced and thought provoking with a good mix of characters. Because of the subject matter, it would lead to a great conversation in a book club.

My one complaint was the sci-fi ending. Unfortunately, this author took a relevant story line and made it implausible to me. With that said, I doubt that I will forget this book anytime soon.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3390944691

Alyssa Cole has done it again! This book blew my mind. She touches on so many relevant issues that are happening in the world right now and makes it into a gripping thriller with a thread of romance. She is one of our favorite authors and I'm so excited to see her expand into this genre!

Such a fun change of pace from Alyssa Cole! I thought this book was so fun and was thrilled to recommend it to two readers who will love it on my podcast What Should I Read Next. (This episode is currently slated to air on August 11, 2020.) Cole's familiar voice is put to good use in this shocking tale of history, lies, and gentrification. A thrilling read for her long-time fans and new readers alike.

Alyssa Cole's stories are always great, and her first foray into the suspense genre is just as good as her romances! She does a beautiful job of developing fascinating characters from the first page, and manages to imbue humor and suspense into a well told history lesson. Would absolutely recommend to everyone I know!

Why should anyone care about reading this book. Really not sure. I really did not want to read a book on racism or slavery. However, I will finish the book and see how it turns out.
The characters of the book get somewhat confusing when reading about who is talking. One has to be mindful about who the character is in a chapter. I know the chapters are label by the character but as one is reading one has to actual figure out who is speaking in the chapter. This may not be an issue for some individuals but it has for me.

This novel took me a while to get into, but once I did, I couldn’t get back out until the very end.

Sydney has moved back to her childhood home in Brooklyn, NY. The neighborhood was previously a “red zone” or low income/low property value area, but since her childhood, the area around Sydney has exploded and she realizes that a lot of her neighbors are upper class, white people.

Theo and his wife Kim have moved into the home across the street from Sydney. Wanting to be neighborly, Theo tries to get to know people in the area but his wife is the complete opposite; she believes <i>some</i> people in the neighborhood aren’t worth befriending and are beneath her.

The rest of this novel hits hard and fast, especially given real and present issues concerning racial injustices, classism, gentrification, and urban planning.

I encourage you to pick up this novel as you won’t be disappointed. It starts off slowly, but turns into a suspenseful, twisted novel that leaves you thinking.

This was a captivating and exciting thriller novel focused on New York City gentrification. The characters are interesting and complex, while the plot moves at a quick enough pace to keep you interested. Yet while the book was compelling, the ending left a lot of unanswered questions and plot points that were never resolved, such as where Sydney’s mother was buried. The ending felt a bit rushed and could’ve used some rewrites.

When No One Is Watching proves that Alyssa Cole, already popular for her contemporary and historical romance novels, is perfectly capable of shifting seamlessly from romance to thriller and writing an engaging story in either genre. In this gentrification-themed thriller, Brooklyn-born Sydney Green sees her much-loved, close-knit neighborhood begin to change before her eyes, as shops are replaced, condos sprout up everywhere, and neighbor after neighbor disappears, selling their house to the kind of person who heard this was an 'emerging' area. But Sydney, who's barely clinging onto her own present and future by holding onto the past, begins to suspect there's something going on beyond skyrocketing property value and pushy realtors. With the help of a new neighbor, Theo, who has secrets of his own, she dives deep into the paranoia she's been trying to avoid for so long, to uncover the real roots of the community's 'rejuvenation'...

It would be easy to call When No One Is Watching a timely piece of work, except that, as Sydney herself discovers, that timeliness is constant. The issues, and even the outright conspiracies, outlined in this story's twists and turns are anything but new - Sydney draws connections to Dutch colonizers' first forays into stealing land from the New York area's original inhabitants, through the region's, and the country's, entire history. It feels topical - but it's been an ever-present topic.

In some ways, that long history of colonialism, exploitation, and gentrification make for fertile ground for a paranoia-inducing thriller like When No One Is Watching. Are there really connections, a secret corrupt network, is that man you pass on the street the same one you saw at the shop, are you really being followed and watched and spied on... or is it all in your imagination? It's partly due to the extreme plausibility of its premise that the book is able to build tension so well early on.

That being said, it stays in that mode of early, just-developing tension for a bit too long. The pacing feels a bit off, as the story takes some time to exposit some Brooklyn History 101 and explore the budding relationship between Sydney and Theo. The climax, then, crashes in like an unexpected wave - nothing is happening, then suddenly everything is. But if the pacing is uneven, the premise is sturdy. It could be hard to find the balance between thriller-appropriate conspiracy terror shit, and the fact that so much of this is, after all, just ongoing reality. Frankly, I was left with the feeling that one of the story's flaws are that it doesn't go far enough past plausible reality into true outlandish thriller-land. Are the cops and banks and realtors and Lululemon-clad Karens in on it, or is that just....you know, real life? Is this a terrifying secret conspiracy, or is it the entire history of the USA, a terrifying but totally not secret conspiracy? Cole manages to hold both sides in balance, in what is simultaneously a fun, entertaining, and, yes, thrilling read, and a sharply outlined window into some realities of gentrification and racism in the US.

I really enjoyed this suspense novel which is a perfect read for these unsettled times. Sydney returns home after a failed marriage to the brownstone where she grew up in Brooklyn. She is unsettled by the gentrification of her neighborhood, and the disappearance of friends and neighbors she has known most of her life. Bodegas, hair braiding salons and other businesses are closed down and replaced by bland stores that have a bias against the long standing residents. She meets Theo, a hipster, who moves into a brownstone across the street, with his wealthy girlfriend and develops an immediate dislike for him. An uneasy alliance forms when they begin to work on a project together and discover the hows and whys of the "rejuvenation" of this African American neighborhood, and discover the forces and people behind it. Very fast paced, this story was able to help me understand some of the many injustices Black Americans face everyday. Would definately recommend.

Alyssa Cole has made an great leap into the thriller genre with When No One is Watching. This book perfectly showcases her snappy dialogue and sassy female characters.

Sydney Green is a woman on the edge, battling to keep her mother's home in a historic black Brooklyn neighborhood while all of the people she has known her entire life are leaving in droves and the neighborhood is being gentrified almost overnight.

Is stress causing her to go crazy, or is there a nefarious plot afoot?

When No One is Watching is a suspenseful thriller about the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood, told in alternating passages by Sydney, a black woman whose family has lived in the area for years, and Theo, a white newcomer. Sydney has seen a growth of condos, increase of for sale signs, and the disappearance of many of her neighbors. Theo helps her with research for a walking tour highlighting the history and contemporary life of the area. Along the way they discover sinister events with ties to current issues of racial injustice, showing how people of color are targeted and feel unsafe in their own neighborhood. The work is well-written, covers important issues of social justice, and is hard to put down. The only weakness is the bizarre, unbelievable ending.

Wow, I hadn’t been this moved by an ARC since My Dark Vanessa. While that explains the ground work for how a predator grooms his subjects, this outlined how years of oppression and systemic racism abuse Black people. It’s an infuriating story because it’s rendered so realistically and in such a paranoid slow burn that when the pieces fall into place for the story it’s both a shock and completely expected. I look forward to more people having the opportunity to read this book because it’s very timely and special..

Enjoyed the storyline but this was difficult for me to finish. The plot was confusing at times and the writing did not seem consistent.

Yowza. Just like a good horror movie, everything starts slow and peaceful (if a little suspicious). Then the pace picks up, and the pieces keep falling into place, and it just catapults toward the ending! Funny, and frustrating, and timely, this book was not at all what I was expecting. I wish I'd had a little more time with some of the side characters, but it was enough for the story to make sense.

When No One Is Watching pulled me in and kept me turning the pages from the start. Sydney and Theo, the main characters, had good chemistry and ‘real’ conversations and the people in the neighborhood treated each other like family(making them very likable).

Although a fictional story the characters reference and explore many historical truths and the displacement of black residents from their homes and neighborhoods.

I gave it four stars because the ending felt rushed and was a little unbelievable. Overall, a good read and I’d recommend purchasing when released in September. Thank you to NetGalley and Alyssa Cole for the advanced copy!

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole is set in a neighborhood in Brooklyn that’s slowing being gentrified. Sydney is a long-time resident and Theo is one of the new people who have come to “better” things. Or is he? As people begin disappearing with explanations that are less than credible, Sydney isn’t sure whether Theo is friend or foe. Alyssa Cole has created a story with lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing - just when you think you have it figured out, you’ll be surprised.

4.5 stars rounded up. Deeply creepy, and I knew that going in (which is important: I adore Alyssa Cole's romance novels and this is not a romance) so I was in the right mood for it. Once I started reading, I found it hard to put down (word to the wise, I don't recommend staying up late to read something this unnerving). The ending is a little abrupt, yet it's satisfying and serves the greater point which is more important to me, hence the rating. This novel feels eerily timely in the summer of 2020 (racism, police brutality) while simultaneously the historical aspects of the book illustrate the enduring cycles of economic and physical violence. The creeping dread and uncertainty about who can be trusted/what is real reminded me of The Woman in Cabin 10. When No One Is Watching is unsettling in the best way and I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

I was delighted to receive an advance review ebook from the publisher as part of an online book club.

It is difficult for me to put into words how I feel about this book. I did not connect with the main character at all. I think the hardest thing was her lingering negativity. I think there is hardly a moment where she isn't negative. As for the plot, I saw the "twist" coming about 5 pages in. The rest of the plot seems far-fetched and the ending is extremely unresolved to me. It just isn't the type of book I would recommend to anyone.