I enjoyed this fast paced spy thriller. There was plenty of action and lots of suspects. It was hard to guess who the final guilty party was and the author kept you wondering if the main character was crumbling under all of thr stress in her life or on the right track. Is it really true that so many employees for the CIA live on the same street? Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. If you like, spy thrillers it’s worth reading.

There were some great spy movie moments in this book, but the story felt predictable. Also, for someone working in counterintelligence, Beth Bradford seemed to miss some really obvious questions and warning signs about the case she's working on. I guessed the identity of The Neighbor about halfway through the book and stuck with it mostly to see whether I was right.

The twist in the last few pages felt a little forced -- like the book was trying too hard for a major "aha!" moment to catch readers off guard. Also, the fact that the majority of the book was told in first person and then suddenly switched to third person toward the end didn't feel natural. I got more of a sense of "we need to wrap up the story about these characters" rather than an organic progression of the plot.

The story spent a lot of time on Beth feeling sorry for herself, drinking wine, and thinking about how everyone else was wrong and no one would believe her. I was hoping for more from this book, especially considering it was written by someone actually in the field. Nevertheless, it was a fairly enjoyable read. Anyone wanting a regular spy story will probably like this one.

The book open as Beth Bradford and her husband Mike are unpacking their youngest child at college. They return to their home on a cul-de-sac where they watch the movers pack their van to put their belongings in storage, while Beth and Mike move into a rental. However, Mike tells her that he is not moving into the rental with her - that he wants out of the marriage, and will be living elsewhere. On top of these 2 major stressors, Beth is removed from her job at the CIA, where she is hunting an Iranian intelligence agent (The Neighbor) who recruits American spies, and is reassigned as a training advisor. She watches the new owners via cameras installed in the house and becomes obsessed with them and with all the changes in her life, becomes unhinged and an unreliable narrator in the story.
I loved the fast pace of the book, and the short chapters that lead me to read just one more chapter, and maybe just one more - so that I finished it in 3 days. The author developed fully defined characters, settings and situations. However, the flimsy and frequent accusations and speculations about who The Neighbor could b brought my rating down a notch. The reveal was a BIG surprise twist for me, but the epilogue spoiled it as I really thought The (New) Neighbor was unrealistic-and the person so tapped was not worthy of the role.
I thought that some of the things that Beth did in pursuing The Neighbor were a little impulsive and unethical, and I doubt if a 15 yr CIA operative would go down those paths. Some of the action was far-fetched, and the situations toward the end were too contrived.
Still, The New Neighbor was a worthwhile book, with plenty of twists and turns, secrets and spies.

Wow, this book reads like a CIA action packed movie! It is fast paced with lots of twists and tension and EVERYBODY IS A SUSPECT! Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available for purchase on August 26, 2022.

What seemed to be a fast paced espionage type thriller,
this book actually had too many twists and turns that made it a bit too much to follow.
And like the Cul-de-sac that the story mostly took place on, the ending ....
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Ballantine and the Author Karren Cleveland for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Karen Cleveland, the publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book! The story follows Beth in hopes to finding the new neighbor to protect intelligence from Iranian intelligence. The story had a gripping plot, but remained a bit slow moving to me. It kept my interest and was enjoyable, but not one I would come back to. Overall, definitely 4/5!

Stayed up late to finish this one!

Beth Bradford, CIA analyst, knows that something is wrong in her neighborhood. She needs to follow her instincts and investigate everyone she thought she knew to figure out what is going on, all while pretending to NOT still be doing her old job.

I found the plot and characters completely believable and it was super fun to watch the story unfold. Perfect for anyone who wants a psychological thriller that is not full of violence or sex, but is still full of everything else that made "Gone Girl" or "The Girl on the Train" a hit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A close knit neighborhood in a DC suburb, close to CIA headquarters where their are strong ties. Beth Bradford is a analyst and facing many obstacles…empty nester, divorce, selling a much loved home and losing a position she so loves and had focused so much of her life on. To all her friends, she seems to be coming unhinged, paranoid. But Beth knows she can solve this and believes the woman who bought her house is the person she’s been searching for with ties to Iranian Intelligence. When the search for the New Neighbor and Cul-De-Sac comes to a major threat for the CIA, Beth realizes her neighborhood is a perfect place to insert a spy and needs to uncover who, not only for National security, but also to prove she is still at the top of her game.

Interesting premise, enjoyable story. Slowly unwinds, and really leaves you thinking. Very plausible situation, scarily so. What skeletons are in your neighbors closet, or your closet?

Thanks to Ms. Cleveland, Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

This was a good book. Do you ever really know people? Beth is downsizing now that her last child is gone to college. Her employer and husband are downsizing more than she planned. But after working a case for years, she can’t let it go. After some stops and starts she finally puts most of the pieces together and discovers, everyone lies. Even those closest to her.
The twist at the very end was shocking. Was the author hinting at another book with these characters?

I didn’t realize this was more of a spy thriller than the usual thrillers i’m used to. It was still interesting nonetheless and enjoyed the mystery to it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ballantine books and the author for an e-ARC of this book which published 7/26/22 and is OUT NOW!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫/5. There were parts that I found to be predictable and some of the twists felt forced. Almost as if there were too much of it. I did however, find myself wanting to uncover who The Neighbor was that I was flipping through the pages quickly to get to the end. I did enjoy this novel and recommend it if you’re not into the usual gory murder type thrillers!

Can you ever really know who lives in your neighborhood?

If you are looking for a solid thriller/mystery with lots of twist and turns I would definitely recommend The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland.

CIA analyst Beth Bradford has lost her marriage, home and now her role on the team that is tracking down an Iranian spy known as The Neighbor. When she receives new information that The Neighbor could be closer than she thinks, she takes on the search herself and starts to realize that even the people you think you know the best may be keeping secrets.

I flew through this book as I was trying to piece together the clues as to who The Neighbor could be. Cleveland has a complex cast of characters and suspicion was running rampant! With short chapters, this was an easy read that kept me engaged as I was wanting to ignore all others and just read! This was the first book I have read by this author and I’m glad that I picked it up!

I love a good slow burn novel, but unfortunately this one was a bit too slow for my taste. The characters and the plot just didn't gel for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had to DNF this book and I wish I didn’t… the book started off slow and it kept going down that path… The plot was interesting but not enough for me to keep going :(

This book was quite different from the neighborhood thrillers that I usually read, but I enjoyed all of the crazy twists, as over-the-top as they were.

Beth Bradford is a CIA analyst who appears to have it all, but her world suddenly comes crashing down after dropping her son off at college. Her house has been sold, her husband has decided he wants to end their marriage, and to make matters worse, she has been removed from a case that she’s been working on for fifteen years. Now a woman named Madeline has moved into her cul-de-sac home, and though she seems to be taking over what once was Beth’s perfect life, she suspects Madeline has ties to Iranian intelligence. From the moment Beth jumped to this conclusion, everything spiraled into a tangled web of suspicion where no one is to be trusted.

Overall, I thought the book was quite enjoyable and definitely intriguing at times, though the plot seemed a bit far-fetched. I did find the twists at the end surprising. I had my own suspicions, but the manner in which they panned out was still shocking.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

2 stars

I honestly really didnt care for this book. it wasn't anything spectacular for me. It took me a few days to read and I had a hard time picking it back up when i put it down to go do something.

It was really slow going and seemed a little just off to me. I didn't like the main character and the fact that she has so much going on, being an empty nester, getting a divorce and selling her family home. To add to it she is being removed from the case she has been working for almost a decade. It just felt like too much and it wasn't for me.

thank you to netgalley and Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 3.5 stars for a story that teases right to the end.

The cul de sac is full of families who work at the Agency as they call it, CIA that we call it. They raise their kids, have wine and fun together, but do we really know those we are close to?

Beth and hubby Mike bring their youngest off to college and come home to finish packing up their home as the movers are due to arrive. It turns out it is not just their home, but their lives they are packing up. Spoiler alert** Mike announces he is moving out, but not with her, which is not exactly a shock that he wasn't happy, but that he would leave just as she thought they'd have time to work on their relationship.

Going off to work, she learns she has been demoted off the case she has worked on for 15 years. She knows bits and pieces of the new intel, but is prohibited from learning more. That makes her decide to figure it out for herself. Who is the Neighbor? What cul de sac are they referring to- hers? What about the new family who moved into her house? Is Madeline the new neighbor in more ways than one?

At times it seems like she is seeing proof where there isn't any and it's obvious that some feel she is losing it or has already lost it with her allegations. Stick with it until the end. It's worth it.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The narrator and hero, Beth, is both likable and unreliable. Like the characters she interacts with, we readers never can be sure whether to believe her and her claims about what’s going on. Conversely, we never can be sure she isn’t just about to “crash and burn” and lose absolutely everything. All of which adds to the tension of the

3.5 stars, actually.

My first thought when I finished this book? Thank goodness the story doesn't take place on a bigger cul-de-sac. If there'd been more neighbors to accuse, I don't think I could have made it to the end.

You see, CIA counterintelligence agent Beth Bradford has long been on the trail of a spy nicknamed "The Neighbor" - a person who has been recruited by an Iranian uber-spy solely for the purpose of recruiting others in and around the D.C. area (reminiscent of the popular TV show, "The Americans" starring Kerry Russell and Matthew Rhys). On a day-to-day basis, Beth lives a relatively normal life with her husband Mike; the last of their three children just took off for college and the empty-nesters are packing up to leave their beautiful but too-big home on a cul-de-sac near the Langley military facility where she works. Like Beth, at least one person in her half-dozen or so neighbors' families has ties to Langley operations, and they've all formed a close friendship over the years.

Until, that is, Beth's house is purchased by a youngish couple sight unseen, and clues turn up that suggest The Neighbor has ties to a cul-de-sac. Other clues lead Beth to suspect the wife may be the person she's been looking for - but out of the blue, she's unceremoniously yanked off the case and reassigned to another facility teaching new CIA recruits.

To say that doesn't sit well with Beth would be an understatement; instead of letting others take over "her" investigation, she begins a relentless obsession with proving herself right - even if she has to tromp on legal and ethical boundaries to do it (over and over again). Each time she finds a new target - the one who she's certain must be The Neighbor - her cycle of angst begins all over again, and her efforts to confirm her suspicions threatened to cross the line into silly. Very soon, I grew weary - especially since fairly early on I'd pretty much figured out one "twist" and had a pretty strong feeling about another (I was right on both counts).

Those issues, though, didn't keep me from being just as eager as Beth to unearth the truth - keeping me glued to the pages all the way to an end that's far more complex than either of us could have imagined. Overall, it's a fast-paced story that was fun to read - one I think many readers will very much enjoy. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release copy.

Book Review: ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏʀ ʙʏ ᴋᴀʀᴇɴ ᴄʟᴇᴠᴇʟᴀɴᴅ ⭐️⭐️

Feckless female on parade. 🤦🏼‍♀️

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Beth is going through a lot - empty nest, marriage dissolving, loss of a coveted work position, but she’s convinced she is solving her case locating an elusive Iraqi intelligence operative called “The Neighbor” even though it’s no longer her case. Beth uncovers nothing but mystery in her quest to find “The Neighbor”, but perhaps “The Neighbor” is closer than she thinks…

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I’m disappointed because of my biggest pet peeve (my review readers know this) - weak, inadequate, female protagonists. I felt soooo disconnected from Beth. At 40% I was already 100% annoyed with Beth - how she was hired or worked for the CIA is beyond me. She holds no patience, no common sense, is inept, impulsive, and totally irrational - and I understand her life is upside down, but it’s the cliché of clichés: women are ruled by emotion. This woman is too “emotional” to do her CIA job. (Sigh)… so yet another “professional” woman who doesn’t act like a professional under emotional stress (Unless “nitwit” is a new profession?)

The book had so much potential, opportunities for red herrings, a great wealth of characters to make it a guessing game of possibility, but the frazzled, off-kilter Beth made me feel like I just needed a muscle relaxer and a shot of Jack to get her anxiety away from me.

The book salvaged a star and stayed in the “just ok” category because Cleveland does tell a good story, it’s just not for me.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📚𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery/Domestic Fiction

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: If the feminist pet peeve of mine doesn’t bother you, you’re good!

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: Those who abhor weak female protagonists.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for knowing how I roll and appreciating my honesty.

Thank you to @randomhouse and @netgalley for the eARC. The cover for this one is super spooky, so I was excited to read this one!

Beth Bradford starts of the book sending her youngest child off to college. She’s having a bit of empty nest syndrome, but is trying to take it in stride. She and her husband are selling the house they raised their children in and are moving on to the next stage of life.

Only, she’s dealt a mental blow upon arriving home. Then, when she goes to work she’s dealt another blow. As a CIA agent, Beth’s biggest case is taken away from her…the case she was planning to immerse herself in more deeply to avoid her empty-nest pangs.

This one was…good. It was what I’d call fine. I was a bit annoyed with Beth in many parts of this book, but I was also annoyed with other characters as well. If you’re a serial thriller reader then you’ll probably like this one, but not necessarily love it. Solid 3 stars for me.