Let me start out by saying that I have pledged to read author's I have not either heard of or read, before. I am a sucker for a great cover and I was really captivated with The New Neighbor's cover. I skimmed over the synopsis and saw that the author is not yet one I have heard of so I gave it a whirl and hit request!

I am so glad I did.

Carter Wilson was able to weave together a well orchestrated novel with a unique premise . A man buries his wife and hits the lottery on the same day? Talk about a catch 22.

This allows Marlowe the opportunity to move himself and two children into a mansion. With wide eyes and hope, Marlowe believes this move will award him and his children a fresh new start. That is until weird and spooky things begin to happen....

I really enjoyed this book and really felt involved in the plot. I was left in suspense and I really had no idea what was going to happen. The conclusion is satisfying and brings everything together.

This is a novel you don't want to miss!

The New Neighbor starts off with a very intriguing premise. Unfortunately, it starts to fall flat pretty quickly. I think it had a lot of promise but the writing was choppy and not getting to the point.

Also, the letters sent to the main character and the reluctant advice from the Mexican groundskeeper and former maid just got plain silly. I don’t necessarily look for believability in a book but I was not able to suspend disbelief for this.

The children were actually well-developed characters. The father who’s from somewhere else and then moves somewhere else because he saw the word.. Bury? I don’t know. I was not able to finish this one. It had a lot of promise but it waited too long to give context and explain, for example, the closeness to the lawyer. It got a bit frustrating to me and I ended up quitting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read The New Neighbor in exchange for an honest review.

This was was fab. I really liked the story and the Dark creepy nature of the book. Likeable and realistic characters too. Xx

I loved this book! It was a story I’ve never heard before which definitely kept the suspense going! Loved it and glad I read it despite some of the other reviews.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the gifted eARC. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me…it was too much of a slow burn and I had a really hard time staying interested.

Carter Wilson has written yet another unique and suspenseful thriller with his latest novel, The New Neighbor. Although this standalone has a connection to his previous novel, The Dead Husband, you can read this one first and not feel completely lost. I have yet to read The Dead Husband and don't feel like I missed anything but I will be reading it to add to what I know from The New Neighbor.

Aidan Marlowe, or just Marlowe to his friends, has recently become a widower. Just before his wife is to be interred Marlowe discovers he has won the Powerball lottery. Losing a loved one is traumatic enough but add in another life changing event like suddenly becoming a millionaire and it's no surprise Marlowe breaks. He decides the only thing to do is to move away with his seven year old twins. He's compelled to move to a huge house in a town called Bury.

Right off the bat you know this is a bad idea to say the least. I was already scared for his children, I wanted him to try to keep it together for them even if he had to uproot them. But as someone who lost a parent at a young age and witnessed another parent be broken by grief, I can honestly say the portrayal of Marlowe's breakdown is pretty accurate. It certainly doesn't help that his life has been affected by the death of his brother years before.

Soon as they arrive there is already a mystery surrounding the previous owners and there are some people that don't want Marlowe living there. He gets sent letters signed by 'We Who Watch' and it just makes him want to dig in his heels and confront them once he finds out who they even are. Everything is making him more stressed and paranoid, the constant drinking doesn't help. He starts losing pieces of time, not remembering anything and can't trust his mind. Basically, Marlowe is a mess!

The New Neighbor is a dark and tense thriller. It keeps you wondering the whole time which is the bigger threat, outside forces or Marlowe's own mind? Despite Marlowe being a slightly unsympathetic character, you will root for him and hope he can get his act together. After all, grief is a powerful thing but love is stronger.

Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

This was an interesting, albeit somewhat bizarre read. The story centers on Marlowe, who finds out he won the lottery while at his wife's funeral. He moves his family from Baltimore, MD to Bury, CT because he felt that he got some kind of sign to do that, and ends up buying a mansion with a dark past. As soon as they arrive, it becomes clear that someone is watching them, while at the same time Marlowe becomes obsessed with what became of the family that lived in the house prior.

The book was creepy and read fast, with short chapters. Marlowe was a likeable character, though he clearly was dealing with some major issues. I was actually expecting a huge twist at the end that never happened, though the twist that DID happen fell a little flat for me. The last quarter of the book felt a little more fantastical to me than the first 3 quarters and I wish it had ended differently. It also left some loose ends unanswered.

Overall, it was a fun read and a bit of a twist on the traditional lottery winner story. I think it's worth a read for those who enjoy psychological thrillers. I'm thinking about picking up another book from this author. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want more from Carter Wilson. His style was the standout of The New Neighbor for me and the premise for his psychological thriller really got my juices going. Imagine the very best and very worst things happening on the same day… what would they be for you? How does winning millions and burying the love of your life stack-up? Yep, that’s what happens to poor Aidan Marlowe in The New Neighbor. And because he’s a good, superstitious Irish–American, he figures there is meaning to the timing of the two events. And that leads him to uproot his two young children and shift to a mega-mansion in the small town of Bury. But the move doesn’t go so well. Aidan is struggling with grief and demons from his past. And someone is watching him and his family… someone who knows everything about them, including their secrets. And that someone isn’t going to stop unless they get what they want, or Marlowe stops them. Like I said, the style hit the mark for me. The characters and characterisation were up there too. And the whole "be careful what you wish for" thing really churned as I read The New Neighbor. Highly recommend the read.

Imagine if your wife dies. Then at her funeral you discover that you won several millions though the lottery. What an emotional day.

To be honest, I thought it was a weird plot device to have him discover it AT the funeral - it could have been that evening or something, right?

Ok, back to the book. So you decide to uproot yourself and your children. They just lost their mother, and now you want to move them away from the home they know and their friends. What a great idea... NOT

So right away I am struggling with liking this guy.. THEN he moves to Bury, CT. Why? Because of the name Bury - and he just buried his wife. I kid you not. He is not dealing with a full deck.

So at this point I am torn between thinking this book is really stupid, OR this has some real potential because this guy obviously needs therapy. .

So they move into a mansion and furnish it from scratch. Why? Because they can I guess. Then the father starts receiving these threatening notes. And the mystery builds form there.

There were some great twists. But some of them felt like the author just thought "Oh le'ts throw in another twist" - they didn't all make sense, or make for an improvement to the plot.

Yet I kept reading... Why? It was fast, easy read. And I wanted to know who was doing this, damnit..

I finally got to the end and was it worth it?,.,, sigh.. Not really. This book was entertaining, but it did not grab me and it actually made me roll my eyes a few times. It was just ok.... 2.5 stars rounded to 3.

I do want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review (obviously).

Aiden is at the funeral for his wife when he happens to look at his phone and realizes that he has won the lottery. This enables them to start a new life in a new house without a wife and mother to his twins.
But someone know about his winnings and about his secret in his past and then he starts receiving the letters and slowly we learn of the secrets he has kept hidden.
I liked the idea of this story, but the writing often confused me and I had to re-read some pages. Then the ending wasn't what I expected, it wasn't a surprise ending, but rather another confusing finish.
Thanks goes to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The New Neighbor by Carter Wilson was trippy! All the strange things happening, and having no idea who you’d trust, kept the suspense high and next events unpredictable!

When Marlowe wins the lottery on the same day as his wife’s funeral it’s a struggle to figure out if it was a blessing or a curse. Marlowe decides to move him and his two kids to a new town for a fresh start, but there’s a very bizarre feel to this new huge home and strange letters start arriving. As the letters get more threatening, Marlowe is determined to figure out if they have to do with the family who previously lived in this mansion (who all mysteriously disappeared) or if someone is after his money… and willing to do whatever it takes to get their hands on it.

As the story begins, Aidan Marlowe is burying his 34-year-old wife and that's when he sees the text with the winning lottery numbers - the numbers he has played every week. After the $60 million windfall, which he can't help but think came at the cost of his wife's life, Marlowe moves his 7-year-old twins to Bury, New Hampshire.

Once they move into the house, Marlowe receives personalized, threatening letters. Someone knows everything about him. The letters are signed "We Who Watch". Even the large house seems threatening to him. As he learns more about the house's history, he learns that the last owner and three family members had previously disappeared.

The story line was rather good - a lot of twists, not always necessary. More Linwood Barclay than Stephen King, I would say. The chapters are short, so it's a quick read - there's always time for just one more chapter! 3.5 stars.

This was a great read, in the beginning, but I felt it fizzled a bit, I almost went ahead and DNF, but was able to get through to the last page! I think had it kept the story going the way it started, it would’ve been a heck of a read, but with it fizzling, it just didn’t wow me. I would give it 3-4 stars, because the beginning was that awesome! Would recommend, even though it fizzles, I still think it’s beginning will bring in reader enough to finish and enjoy!

I just read "The New Neighbor" by Carter Wilson. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book is about a widowed man named Marlowe who, after the loss of his wife and winning a lottery, decides to move himself and his seven year old twins to a new town to start over. What follows is a mystery involving threatening letters demanding money and strange goings on in the new mansion he has bought which contains mysteries of its own.
Marlowe is a likeable character but he is full of self-loathing and there were times I really wanted to yell at him. In trying to figure our what is happening to himself and to his family he spirals out of control and seems to spend alot of time self-sabotaging.
There are a few twists along the way and the story proceeds at a good pace which kept me interested thorughout. I liked the relationship he had not just with his children and father but also with his lawyer Maya.
What I didn't like was that the mystery of the family that lived in the mansion before him never got solved. For spending so much time talking about this family, I was surprised at the way the book ended, without much resolution.
In the end, all the main characters (Marlowe included) receive some closure and seem on the mend.
I felt the need to read each page slowly and pay attention to detail so that I fully understood what was happening.
A good book, with some unresolved plotlines. I feel the book could have been more satisfying had the mystery of the previous family that lived in the mansion been resolved more adequately.
Happy Reading!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book had lots of promise but sadly it was a bit of a miss from me. Hard to follow in some places and dragging in others. It had promise but did lose me.

I’m a big fan of shows like How the Lottery Changed My Life and My Lottery Dream Home so anytime I see a book that has winning the lottery as part of the story, I’m immediately intrigued.

Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. I had a hard time staying engaged. It started off great but I list lost interest and I didn’t love the ending.

Three stars from me!

It took me a minute to decide how I wanted to review this book. I am torn.... On one hand it started off with a promising story line of the widowed main character with a dark past winning the lottery and moving into a house filled with secrets and I was excited to read how the story evolved and then it just fell a little flat...and got flatter. At times it was a choppy, broken read as the main character delved deeper into madness and the story line was hard to follow along at times. By about 50% I thought about putting it aside but didn't for whatever reason, by 80% I decided to keep truckin' along ready to move onto my next read and contemplating about which book to pick off my shelf. By about 90% my attention was held to see it through and find out how the author was going to wrap this all up (he didn't) and by 100% I still had so many questions....but at that point I didn't care enough to go back and to try to figure it out.

As my first book of 2022 I was a little bummed it was this one but there's always more to read. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Aidan Marlowe dreams of hitting the Powerball lottery. Determined and superstition, he has been playing the same numbers for fifteen years with no luck.

On the day of his wife’s funeral, Aidan is struggling to cope with the loss of the love of his life, the mother of his children, and suddenly winning the lottery.

The newfound money gives them endless opportunities and is a new beginning for him and his kids. Aidan and his kids purchase a new huge home, in a new neighborhood where they can try to move on with their lives.

However, this new home comes with an attachment; a stranger who is watching them, waiting. This stranger knows exactly who Aidan is and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. The sketchy stranger lurking outside was so creepy. I loved the thrill ride!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my goodness... if I get any new neighbors I hope I don't think of this novel! It is so creepy and suspenseful I couldn't put it down. Excellent writing and wow... the characters were out of this world. A must read!

This latest book by Carter Wilson starts off with Aidan at his wife’s funeral. While at the funeral, he finds out he’s won a $30 million lottery ticket. Can you imagine? Aidan and his 2 twins move to a big house in Bury, NH and strange things start happening. This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.