There are many characters in this book, mostly because each family living on the cul-de-sac is featured separately then as they interact. It's hard to keep straight at first. The character growth and development is decent, especially for such a character-heavy novel. This was my first time reading a Joy Fielding novel. In the author's note she mentioned that this was her 29th novel, so I have a lot of reading to catch up on!

Cul-De-Sac by Joy Fielding is a recommended psychological thriller.

Right at the start we know someone living in one of the five houses on the quiet cul-de-sac in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, will be dead, shot by another resident. What resident from one of the five homes is going to be responsible? Maggie and her husband are currently separated and have two children. Maggie is scared and paranoid after a frightening incident which propelled the family to move from LA to Florida. Julia is an 84 year-old widow whose grandson is staying with her while her son is trying to talk her into moving to a retirement community. Sean is unemployed, drinking heavily, and lying about going to job interviews while Olivia, his wife, is doing well in her return to the job market. Nick is an oncologist and Dani, his wife, is a dentist. They have two sons. Nick is controlling while Dani seems to be giving the other neighbors the cold shoulder. Aiden and Heidi are newlyweds. Aiden suffers from PTSD and his mother, Lisa, is the controlling, shrewish mother-in-law from the abyss. They all have secrets and fears. And everyone owns a gun.

This is akin to a closed room murder mystery, where we are looking at a small group of people and all their problems, while knowing one of them is going to murder another one. The characters are all caricatures of a kind of person. It is successful in this closed-room plot element. You do have to set disbelief aside several times and approach the novel as an often over-the-top melodrama.

They are all dislikeable characters, most of them extremely so, with the exception of Julia who is a rational, sensible woman. Maggie is the one character who experiences growth. There are going to be several characters whose actions and problems may anger, disgust, and exasperate you. There is abusive behavior and an assault which actually sickened me and I almost set the novel aside at this point. I did go on to finish it and the denouement is satisfying. Fielding makes it clear that we know everyone in the novel has a gun. She apparently wants to equates this to danger and carelessness, which is a nonsensical and objectionable presumption to apply in such a broad general way, especially considering the actual events in the novel and the reason for the lethal force, the use of which most readers will applaud. (And in light of the fact that we all have knives, which can also be weapons.)
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and submitted to Amazon.

We know from the prologue that someone who lives in the five houses on Carlyle Terrace is shot and killed. For the rest of the book, author Joy Fielding teases the reader with plenty of reasons to think it could be any of the residents from any one of the houses on the cul-de-sac.

What I enjoyed most about the book was Fielding's skill in layering her clues and our knowledge of each member of the five families. The characters were all sharply drawn. Most of them were sympathetic (possibly excluding the mother-in-law). Every page held vivid reminders that most of us are just muddling along against odds that outsiders would never guess.

As a result, the keen suspense was also quite natural and believable. I didn't find a thing that felt artificial or contrived.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an advance readers copy of Cul-de-sac.

There are five identical two-story homes on Carlyle Terrace, a small tree-lined cul-de-sac in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Nothing too noteworthy about the street. It isn’t part of one of the many luxurious gated communities located throughout the area. But on a July evening, someone is going to be shot and killed. The specter of death looms throughout Joy Fielding’s latest domestic thriller, Cul-de-sac.

This small street is filled with a multitude of family problems. Maggie, with husband Craig and their children, moved to the area to escape a threatening situation in LA. She now carries a gun everywhere she goes. Her husband can no longer handle her paranoia and has left the house. Sean has lost his job while wife Olivia’s career is thriving. He turns to alcohol to drown his frustrations. Nick is a highly respected doctor married to Dani, a successful dentist. The seemingly perfect couple has their own secrets. Eighty-four year old Julia’s son wants to put her in assisted living. When her troubled grandson comes to live with her, he is more interested in stealing from her than anything else. And Heidi is unable to enjoy married life with Aiden as she tries to deal with his meddlesome mother and his PTSD. Each household is troubled. Each household has a gun inside it. Fielding does a fine job telling the stories behind each locked door keeping you guessing as to who will be the one carried off in a stretcher in the end.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Joy Fielding thriller. I remember them being very intense and Cul-de-sac is no exception. This thriller has descriptive scenes of domestic violence and assault that are very disturbing, so it’s not for everyone. The book begins with a prologue that lets the reader know that someone is going to be the victim of a fatal shooting on the Palm Beach Gardens cul-de-sac. The remaining chapters unfold over a few months from May to July in the Florida suburbs and introduce us to the five families who live there, all of them keeping secrets.

The reader gets to know each family from multiple points of view and the book sets up the events that lead to the shooting. Although everyone has access to a gun and there are plenty of motives, I came pretty close to figuring out what would occur. In spite of that and for several unlikable characters, I enjoyed the book. There are a couple characters who are shown early on to be villains in the story, but I’m pleased that most of the characters show growth in the few weeks from the beginning to the end of the book. I also enjoyed the detailed epilogue updating us on the lives of the main characters a year later. Although it doesn’t have the same depth, the book has a few elements that remind me of the popular Big Little Lies. If you liked that book, I think you will enjoy the latest by Fielding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an advance copy of this ebook. The book was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Another summer read that was unputdownable! There are five homes, five families, living in this Florida cul-de-sac. Each family experiencing challenges, successes, fears, and failures. As often quoted in the book, from the Shadow, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?"

The characters are believable and, by the time the book is finished, there will be friendships made, broken, and a murder. A quick read that will leave you guessing about what happens next, wrapping up with an amazing ending. Recommended for adult readers who enjoy suspenseful realistic fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joy Fielding, and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Living on a Cul de Sac can be a wonderful experience. Unless all your neighbors are harboring vicious secrets that will end up getting someone killed. Who will it be? Dani, the quiet dentist with an alleged saint for a husband? Maybe Maggie, who is so paranoid that she carries a gun wherever she goes? Perhaps Sean who has been living a lie and doesn’t know how much longer he can do it. One night will change everything in this neighborhood.
Cul de Sac by Joy Fielding is a domestic drama that delivers engaging characters and explosive secrets. Joy Fielding is one of my favorite authors and I’ve been reading her since her first book, See Jane Run. Now, 29 books later, she still has what it takes to make me gasp and finish her books in a day.

Cul-De-Sac tells the story of the residents of a cul-de-sac, as the title of the novel would suggest. What is different about this story, is the death comes at the end, after you have already read the whole book. The cast of characters is pretty diverse. A separated couple with their own issues, a married couple with domestic problems, a set of newlyweds under the thumb of a mother in law and an older lady living independently. The story delves into the details of their lives, after alluding, in the beginning to a death.

In the end, I really did enjoy this book. The characters were diverse, and each household, in their own way, really had their own problems. I really didn't know who, in the end, was going to be the one to die. It was very difficult to figure it out, because each set of residents did have their own issues and reasons for "getting rid" of a family member. The writing style was engaging, and after I figured out who everyone was, it was much more of an enjoyable read. There are SO many characters, it was difficult to differentiate in the beginning who was who. That got easier as the book went on.

Overall this is an enjoyable read, especially to those who like domestic thrillers. Although we aren't "solving" a murder, it was a slow build to a death in the end. Definitely a different read, and refreshing in the genre of domestic thriller.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How well do you know your neighbors? What really goes on behind closed doors? In this case, there’s a lot of messed up people with intense situations-liars, cheaters, thieves and more. Right from the start, you know someone is going to die from a gunshot wound, and the entire book is trying to figure out who did the shooting and who the victim is. Like a twisted game of clue, or what I picture Desperate Housewives being like (I’ve never seen it so it’s just a guess 😂) Each house has its own set of problems, and there are lots of characters to keep up with, but it is done well and I could definitely see this as a Netflix series.
Thanks to Ballantine. Books and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review

A seemingly perfect street with dark secrets. Every house tells a different story. Each chapter tells you a little more about each family and their shocking secrets. Who’s going to end up dead though…

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Random House for gifting me a digital copy of the latest thriller by Joy Fielding - 5 stars! I have been reading her books for decades and have loved them all!

A quiet cul-de-sac, just 5 families. But the book opens with a shooting and someone won't survive the night. Each family has their own issues and secrets, with plenty of motive and opportunity. There's Maggie and her family, who fled from California after a scary incident. Elderly Julia's grandson moves in with her with questionable motives. Heidi and Aiden are newlyweds; Aiden suffers from PTSD and a controlling mother. Sean lost his job and Olivia is now the breadwinner which isn't working well for Sean. Nick and Dani are both doctors who keep to themselves.

We learn about each of the families in alternating chapters and you'll be questioning lots of people. Some you'll love and some you'll love to hate. This is just a fast-paced thriller that proves once again that you never know what goes on behind closed doors!

What is this the year of the neighborhoods gone naughty? So many books with this theme lately.

Asshole men, weak and passive women, and a neighborhood where everyone's locked and loaded does not make for a good book for me.

Here's the thing: I am anti-gun. I don't like them one bit. I have no desire to own one and no desire to ever shoot one. When I hear people start spouting about their 2nd amendment rights I head in the other direction. Simply put, guns aren't my thing.

However, I do realize guns are other peoples things and I'm okay with that assuming they are RESPONSIBLE gun owners.

This book right here based in a neighborhood in Florida is a place where everyone has guns so my first reaction is just....blech! Yet this book is also very anti-gun or I assume anyways because every character in this book is unstable. Not sure if her point was that all gun owners are belligerent assholes or panic stricken weaklings but that's how it came across to me. So as an anti-gun girl this didn't sit right with me but for a pro-gun person I don't think this would sit right with them either. It all got a little too heavy handed.

I will say that the last 25% did have me flipping the pages. I did guess who the victim / perpetrator was early on in the book and was proven right. This one particular storyline just made it very obvious to me. Most everyone in this neighborhood is unlikable except for Julia the 80-something year old resident. She was one cool lady and definitely a bright spot in this book for me. It was well written as Fielding has been at this writing gig for many years and I think so many people are going to love this. My issues are from a completely personal standpoint and will likely not bother other readers. My verdict: Take a spin around the cul-de-sac and watch the fireworks fly! 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my copy.

My gratitude goes out to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced ebook of this title. Fielding was my first introduction to thrillers and I continue to read hers (now at 29) because she never disappoints.

This one highlights the neighbors in the five houses of Carlyle Terrace in Florida. Each of the inhabitants holds secrets that may or may not destroy them. In the beginning we’re told someone is killed, but not who and not who the killer is. Everyone, it seems, has a motive.

This title begs to be read in one sitting. The characterization is top notch as is the description of the cul-de-sac and who is watching who this week.

Most everyone also owns a gun for one reason or another, also marking them as potential suspects in the killing.

Thriller aficionados will be delighted with this new release from Joy Fielding.

CUL-DE-SAC By Joy Fielding
Thriller fiction
384 Pages

In her newest book Joy Fielding brings us to the neighborhood of Carlyle Terrace,  a cul-de-sac with as many neighbors as there are problems in each house.  We have 5 families living in this particular cul-de-sac:
Husband Nick and wife Dani,  both Dr's who seem to have the perfect life but what the neighbors don't see is what happens behind closed doors
Olivia and Sean- Sean who loses his highly successful job and struggles to get a new one. Olivia goes out and happily gets back info the workforce for her family but Sean can't shake the feelings of failure of not providing for his family.
Maggie and her two children,  Maggie paranoid by a past crime she witnessed learns to get on with her life after Craig left her.
Julia Fisher and grandson Mark- Julia's son pressuring her to move into a retirement home,  Mark still young and unsure about his life. They are actually the lesser of these problem families.
Heidi and Aiden- Aiden a veteran who suffers from PTSD and mommy issues, mom a total controlling psycho, Heidi struggling to make her marriage work with her interfering MIT, Aiden doesn't help situation w/MIT. 
I am a huge Joy Fielding fan and waited impatiently for this new one. It did not disappoint!!!!  It is filled with Ms Fielding's way of drawing you into the stories surrounding the main story and keeping you glued to it until the end.  I love Joy Fielding's style of writing and the way you are shocked by the twists at the end every time!!!!  I highly recommend this book.

** 3.5 Stars **

Thoughts: For the most part, each chapter follows a different family and their (mostly) independent storyline. At times it was hard to keep the families and their storylines straight. But after a few paragraphs into each chapter, I was able to get back on track. Besides following five different families, this book is pretty linear. There are no “jaw-dropping” moments. It’s just a good family drama.

Brief Synopsis: Secrets and lies are abundant on this middle-class cul-de-sac in Palm Springs, Florida. The neighborhood is comprised of five houses with each family fighting their own private battles.

Thank you to Joy Fielding, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Set in a Florida residential community, in a cul de sac lives five families who all seem perfect on the outside but are the complete opposite on the inside. Written in multiple POV's, we are not left without any detail of what is goes on in each household. We have the separated couple, two married doctors, an old lady, the successful wife and not so successful husband, and the young newly weds. Everything seems so perfect until the neighbors start to get to know each other and they start to notice certain things about each other.

I grew very attached to a few characters and rooted for the best outcome for everyone... well, almost everyone. Luckily, Fielding did not leave me unsatisfied. The ending was absolutely perfect. Knowing where everyone ended up, after one tragic night, really helped me connect more with the story and it's characters. We all received closure.

In the prologue of this psychological thriller we are introduced to the families who live in the five houses on Carlyle Terrace, a cul-de-sac in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. We are also told there will be a shooting one night in July. The story then goes back to early May and we learn all about what’s going on in those five houses. As we discover each family’s secrets, we wonder if they are the ones who will be involved in the shooting. The author does a great job of keeping us guessing until the very end.

My main complaint with the book was that the story of one family involved spousal abuse, both physical and emotional. It was was quite graphic and it seemed like there was a lot of it. The emotional abuse extended to a child at times, so be prepared. Also, everything was so neatly wrapped up at the end all that was missing was the bow.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Cul-De-Sac is the story of the people who live on Carlyle Terrace in Palm Beach Gardens. There are five houses on the horseshoe shaped road. They all seem happy on the surface but there are hidden problems in each of the homes. Maggie and her family have fled from California to start over. Nick and Dani are a successful oncologist and dentist who are hiding secrets within their marriage. Sean and Olivia are struggling with life after Sean lost his job. Aiden and Heidi are newlyweds dealing with PTSD and a meddling mother-in-law. Julia is an elderly woman and a recent widow. Add to this, several homes have easy access to firearms.
This is a book that I hated to have to put down. I was interested in the families and their problems. There were some issues that I thought were obvious. But there were others that I didn’t see coming. Cul-de-sac is a book that I am happy to give five stars.

In Cul-de-sac, Fielding has brought us a psychological drama giving us an in-depth look into the lives of five families living in a residential area of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. At first glance it seems these people are living a perfect life in their quiet cul-de-sac. But in the sultry summer heat of July, something bad is about to happen to someone living here.

The reader learns quickly that there are problems lurking inside these homes. Single mother Maggie suffers from PTSD from a previous trauma in her life which has chased husband Craig away from his family.

Neighbors Nick and Nora are well-off with careers as an oncologist and a dentist. However, behind the façade of their seemingly perfect life lurks something ugly.

Then there is the elderly widow Julia whose grandson is living with her. Julia is my favorite character whose wit and sense of humor continually infuriate her only child. He wants to move her to retirement home where she has no intention of going.

Olivia and Sean have recently switched roles when Sean lost his prominent position and Olivia went back to work. Sean is now playing househusband and quickly spirally downward into drinking and lies.

Newlyweds Alden and Heidi are not living the newlywed dream with Alden’s evil mother running their lives. Alden loves his wife, but Heidi is at her wit’s end and has had enough.

The recurring theme in this book is that everyone has a gun, so someone is going to die.

Although this story is told in multiple POVs, I had no trouble following along, and in fact, devoured it, wanting to know what was going to happen. What a great, fun read for me living in south Florida to read in July! Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I gave it four stars!

Cul-de-sac is the latest book from Joy Fielding. Ms Fielding's cul-de-sac has 5 houses on it and this story involves all the residents and their problems. Easy read with some really likeable characters. I want to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an early copy to review.