3.5 Write What You Know Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
Karen Cleveland took the idea of " Write What You Know" to heart and decided to do just that. As a past CIA analyst, she could take all of the "special circumstances" she knew about and weave them into an intriguing idea of what someone would do if their long-term life all of a sudden took a very different turn.

Beth Bradford thought her life was on track. She was married for many years, living in the perfect house on a cul-de-sac with neighbors who "got" her as they all happened to work for the CIA, and a son who is off to college. With the "empty nest" happening, the couple has decided to downsize and sell the house.

What wasn't expected was a chain of events that causes Beth to be shocked to her core. Her husband informs her he is leaving her, and she is pulled from the case she has worked on for years, tracking a terrorist subject known as The Neighbor. Nothing is making sense to Beth and causes her to do the unthinkable...

She decides the new woman, with her family who moves into her house could very well be The Neighbor, the person she has been tracking... or could it be someone else in her "perfect Cul-de-sac"...

This has many twists, red herrings, insights into the agency, and a push to see what the final answer is.

This one was a bit of a roller coaster for me. It started off strong and then it had a lot of unreliable narrator vibes that I wasn’t loving because I feel like I have read one too many of those lately. But, then just as I was pushing through that, it paid off and started to get really interesting. I ended up staying up late just to see how it ended, and there were twists until literally the very last page. I really enjoyed the CIA aspect. I am not sure I have ever read a book with CIA agent as the main character before. The fact that she was a mom and had this full life with her family and friends on the cul de sac made it even more interesting and not your average spy novel. I believe I read that the author is former CIA, and I feel like that gave credibility to the storytelling.

Beth Bradford is a CIA agent who, in one day, sends her youngest off to college, ends her 25-year marriage, and is unexpectedly taken off her long-term case and transferred to another position in the CIA. This sets up the book for quite a thrill ride with enough twists and turns to make your head spin as Beth navigates her new world to find out who the "New Neighbor" is.

This was an interesting and quick read, despite the somewhat jarring conclusion. I will definitely look for other books by this author and if you like a good, fast thriller, this is a good choice. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed reading The Neighbor. How well does anyone really know their neighbors? Beth has had a wonderful, fulfilling life but now everything is changing. Her children are grown, her husband has moved out, she has been taken off her case that she has been working on for 15 years and she is moving away from her neighbors/best friends. She is going to work her hardest to find out why she was removed from her case and who the neighbor really is. This book is a thriller / mystery with a few twists and turns. A great read!

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review**

3 stars

The New Neighbor is a fast paced spy thriller about CIA analyst Beth Bradford whose once perfect life and career has spiraled out of control just as there is new info on the target she’s been searching for for years, The Neighbor. Who is the Neighbor? How well do we ever know our family and friends? This book will make you wonder about that.

I liked this book but did not love it, especially the epilogue. I knew right away who the new Neighbor had to be and what happened to Beth’s phone but I just found it unbelievable. Also unbelievable was Beth staking out her old neighborhood. The way she acted throughout this book was not normal and I highly doubt she’d still have a job in real life. But I did read this in nearly one sitting. If you’re looking for a fast paced thriller that does border on the incredulous at times, then read this! I think this would be a perfect bead read as it’s a fast thriller that you can get lost in without thinking about the details too much.

A perfect, idyllic cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood with a close-knit group of neighbors. A CIA agent on a mission to discover the identify of "The Neighbor," an elusive Iranian intelligence agent that has alluded her for years. As her marriage falls apart and she's removed from the only case she's known for years, Beth's world begins to spiral. She becomes obsessed with the new owners of her old house, mainly Madeline Sterling, Who is this woman and why her old house? Why was she removed from the case when she has done so much to further it? Will Beth's obsession lead to the total destruction of her career? Or will she finally discover The Neighbor's true identity?

I loved the start of this book. Idyllic neighborhoods always mean everyone has something to hide. It's just a matter of how many people are hiding something. I thought the book was smart and clever but oh man, did it drag on and on! Okay, I get it - Beth is consumed with finding out who The Neighbor is but nothing she does seems to get her anywhere closer to the answer. It's just one more person in between her and the truth. And then another person gets in the way. I thought that there were too many people who kept standing in her way on her quest. Sometimes you need to cut out one or two twists or discoveries to get to the conclusion. Overall, I did enjoy the book but I did not like the ending. I cannot believe that that was the final reveal. A little far-fetched.

I received a digital advance reader’s copy of The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland via NetGalley. The New Neighbor was released on July 26, 2022.

The New Neighbor mostly takes place on a quiet cul-de-sac. Beth is a CIA analyst, and at least one member of most of the surrounding houses work at Langley as well. Beth and her husband have sent sent their youngest off to college. They have sold their house, intending to downsize now that all their kids have gone. That was the plan. Beth is blindsided by being booted off the case she has been working for years (hunting down an Iranian agent known as The Neighbor), then immediately told by her husband that he is leaving. With her world in tatters, Beth catches a glimpse of the woman taking over her home. Madeline seems to be taking over Beth’s entire life, and she seems to have secrets that might tie her to The Neighbor.

Cleveland has a background with the CIA and counterterrorism, which allows her to bring a sense of reality to the intelligence aspects of the story. With Beth being pushed out of her former role in the CIA, Cleveland is able to show us several different aspects of the agency. This added layers of believable complexity to the plot. Throughout the novel, Beth suspects almost every person she comes in contact with of being The Neighbor. Given all of the connections to the CIA in her neighborhood, and the actual questionable things everyone has done, this level of suspicion works. I did find that the shifts through suspects in the last quarter of the book were a bit too fast. A piece of evidence will lead Beth to decide a person is The Neighbor, with an almost immediate reversal based on a new piece of information. For me, this series of flips was too fast. When I got to the end of the novel, I knew who The Neighbor was, but was unable to summarize what things each of the other characters did or didn’t do. Giving the last half of the novel more space would have helped this for me.

I also would have liked to have a better sense of the characters around Beth. She is a woman who has given a lot of her attention to the case she is working on, and is doubling down on that commitment now that her kids are out of the house. As a result, we don’t get much of the characters around her, at least in the current day. We do get to know many of her neighbors in flashbacks to early days in the neighborhood. What is missing is who they all are know. This made it difficult to become invested in the possibility that any of them are The Neighbor.

Overall, The New Neighbor is an interesting blend of domestic thriller and international intelligence. While the novel could have taken more time to move us through the series of suspects, it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you, Karen Cleveland, NetGalley, and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book! This book was just released yesterday, July 26th, 2022.

I read Karen Cleveland’s debut novel, Need to Know when it first came out and I loved it and I have been eagerly awaiting the adaptation being produced and starring Charlize Theron. So I was so excited to read The New Neighbor! Beth Bradford is a CIA Analyst and when their family was just starting out they found the perfect house with the ideal neighbors. Their little cul-de-sac is filled with other members of the CIA but they bond and raise their families together. However, 20 years later, the kids are gone, they are selling the house, and Beth’s husband has left her for his secretary. But the final straw is being taken off her case where she has been tracking The Neighbor. She refuses to let it go and starts investigating The Neighbor on her own. Her investigation leads her back to her old neighborhood asking which neighbor is a traitor to the country?

One thing that I absolutely love about Karen Cleveland’s novels is that she is a former CIA analyst. She gives the books a very real quality! While this book goes at a slow burn pace there is a wonderful build-up and moments of speculation. However, I was not a fan of Beth Bradford. I completely agree with the CIA for taking her off the case. She was not reliable, obviously didn’t follow protocol, and was way too close to the case. When it comes to the ending, it was a little scattered, but I am hoping it leads into a sequel.

I did appreciate the twists. The author is great at leading readers to believe one thing and then changing it all in the blink of an eye. I would love a second book that would focus on some of the other characters and get to know their backstory within the CIA. Overall, a fun spy read!

This is my first book by Karen Cleveland and it won't be my last. The New Neighbor is the best mix of spy and domestic thrillers. When Beth explains her case, your instantly curious, how do they keep evading her for so many years. I was kept guessing as Beth trys to out together all the pieces of the case but also her home life. I loved how many twists and turns it took Beth on. I had no idea what to believe by the end.
I really liked Beth, her determination, her worry for her children, and her fight to not be pushed off the case no matter what. It was fun following along as she spit out every theory she could that made sense. The fast pace had me not wanting to put it down.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for my review copy!

I really enjoyed The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland. Imagine you are just about to be an empty nester. Your last kid is out of the house and you feel like now you can finally give all of your time to your job with the CIA. You can finally have time to work on your marriage. You can enjoy your friendships. And then it all falls apart. Would you be OK?

Beth is not OK. It is completely in character for someone who immediately thinks of how much time they can spend hunting the person they have been looking for over the last decade. Her white whale. Obsession is a funny thing. Would she have been so obsessed with all of this if she hadn’t lost everything? Perhap she could have bounced back from one or even two setbacks. But everything was suddenly just gone. And she wants it back.

I loved how this story kept veering in different directions. I was left trying to put it all together and make all of the pieces fit. The story sometimes got pretty complicated. Nothing is easy when you are hunting The Neighbor.

I have really enjoyed Karen Cleveland’s previous books so I was eager to read this one. I have to admit the subject matter, a CIA agent long working on finding an Iranian spy infiltrating the US, seemed too contrived for me. Beth seemed like a very weak character and the premise of her fixation on Madeline too over the top. It did keep me engaged but at times I struggled keeping all the characters and their connections to the CIA straight. I think if Beth’s prowess as an agent was clearly established before her life was depicted as falling apart the plot would have been more convincing.
Many thanks to Karen Cleveland, Random House, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published spy thriller.

Simply chilling. At first I thought ent was cracking up, or at least short circuiting. Her marriage is in shambles, her career in the toilet, she becomes obsessed with a case she hadn’t been able to crack. She accused most of her former neighbors of being traitorous spies, but is she right? Sometimes the biggest rat is right in front of us……..

Oh boy this is a tough one to review.

On the one hand, I read this in one sitting - literally, did not get up until I finished. It was riveting and kept me interested.

On the other hand, it was A Lot and did The Most and not in necessarily in a good way- my brain hurts a little and I did not vibe with the ending.

Will I recommend it for people who enjoy thrillers? Absolutely. It was fun and enjoyable.

Was this the thriller to end all thrillers? No. It was perfectly nice for an afternoon but I will not be talking about this in 5 years.

Solid 3 stars- enjoyable, fun, just fine. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I received an ARC of this book. This is an intricate story of neighbors, most of whom work for government agencies. Everyone has secrets and suspicions about their seemingly idyllic neighborhood. I really enjoyed the suspense!

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine, and Karen Cleveland for an ARC of this book!**

cul-de-sac (noun):a route or course leading nowhere

Karen Cleveland's latest CIA-laced thriller will take you on SEVERAL courses with suspects aplenty...but can YOU figure out which ones ACTUALLY lead nowhere?

Beth Bradford has built a quiet and simple life...well, as quiet and simple a life as one can build while working for the CIA. She lives in a cul-de-sac amidst many neighbors who are your typical suburban fare: families with kids, albeit ALSO with ties to a certain government agency or two. They've spent many a night hanging out in the street watching their children whiz by on their scooters and bikes as they all chattered away and sipped out of Solo cups filled with wine.

All this is about to change for Beth: her eldest child (son Tyler) is now off to college...and her husband is leaving her. Forced out of their shared home, Beth reluctantly accepts the fact that she is going to be moving and the house and all the memories it held will be out of her life. To make matters worse, she's spent much of her career tracking an Iranian intelligence agent, The Neighbor, but she is abruptly removed from the case.

Feeling adrift, Beth latches on to the couple who move into her old home, spying on Madeline and her husband through the cameras still set up...and finds herself questioning WHY this house? This is a neighborhood simply bursting with operatives...is it just a coincidence that the couple has chosen HER house? And why did she overhear Madeline speak Farsi? Could this New Neighbor and THE Neighbor have some sort of connection? Or were the answers she was looking for under Beth's nose all along?

I haven't picked up a Karen Cleveland book in quite a while, but this one was certainly reminiscent of the last one I read: a spy-tinged thriller. Not my favorite sub-genre of thriller, but I remembered enjoying the other read, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. On the plus side? Short chapters, CIA talk but not TOO much, quick pacing, and some heartbreaking parts in the beginning especially for Beth, as she mourned the life she once had and the family feel that has now slipped through her fingers.

As far as the down side? Well, for someone who supposedly works in the CIA, Beth isn't the sharpest tack. She puts herself in some pretty ridiculous and OBVIOUSLY dumb situations and then acts surprised every time she gets caught. ("I'm printing something classified that I shouldn't be printing on the printer at work. I sure hope nobody comes in before this printer is done printing!" *cue 10 minute long printing session*) However, she knows how to buy and go through burner phones like nobody's business...so I'm not really sure how to reconcile the two.

Cleveland also introduces the (somewhat tired) trope of Female Protagonist Who Can't Be Trusted Because She Loves Wine, so fair warning. For a while during this book I honestly thought my rating was going to plummet because Beth's constant jumps from "well it could be THIS person...no wait, maybe it's THAT person" was starting to be a bit much for me. Maybe I just haven't read this type of paranoid and unreliable narrator in a while so it didn't bother me much, but once some ACTUAL reveals happened, Beth became more tolerable again.

This book is exactly the sort of popcorn, action film-esque summer spy thriller I didn't know I needed for a bit of mindless fun and will hopefully be the same for you...If you don't take it too seriously and have the aforementioned popcorn on hand (or at the least your Solo cup of wine!) I also would like to add one last proverb that might have been a nice intro to this tale:

"Ask about your neighbors...THEN buy the house."

4 stars

Beth Bradford is about to lose it all. Her youngest child is headed to college, her husband is leaving her, and she’s just been demoted at her job. Not to mention that they have just sold their home, the home that her children grew up in. The home located on an idyllic cul-de-sac and filled with precious memories. Beth works for the CIA and has been working on a case for the past 15 years. When that case is taken away from her, she’s not about to let it go. She knows she’s close to finding “The Neighbor”. Is she really, or has she lost it like everyone thinks? Stalking the new owners of her house, she’s sure it’s one of them. Digging in where she shouldn’t be she starts to put the pieces together and everyone on her old street is now suspect. With everyone being a suspect, this book got pretty convoluted pretty quickly and the ending was predictable. While an OK read, it looks like Cleveland might be planning on making this into a series. If so, it’s one that I will be passing on in the future.

In The New Neighbor, CIA analyst Beth is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. She and her husband, Mike, are officially empty nesters once they drop their youngest child off at college. Their beautiful house has sold and they’re downsizing to a much smaller rental house tomorrow. Then, Mike tells Beth he is leaving her.

But at least she still has her engaging job, right? However, Beth discovers that her boss has pulled her off her long-standing case and reassigned her to a teaching assignment that is anything but a promotion. Beth has had enough and decides to search for her elusive target, a hacker trying to break into a government database using a sleeper agent, on her own. Could the sleeper be the very woman who bought her house?

If you like your thrillers realistic with relatable characters, this book is not for you. All the characters here are one-note cardboard cutouts recycled from a cancelled cable channel spy show. The plot is over-the-top unbelievable. Plus, the conclusion was a letdown. The New Neighbor is a disappointment throughout and so is not recommended. 2 stars.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

It’s been a minute since I read a spy thriller and this was fun. I enjoyed how it was a mixture of a domestic thriller as well as I love a neighborhood drama. The first half is much slower than the second, but when it picks it, it *picks* up. You can see Cleveland’s CIA background in her writing. If you’re looking for a blend of thriller genres & tropes than this one is for you!

Alice is reeling from all the major changes in her life, dropping her last child off at college, selling her house where she’s lived for over fifteen years, and her husband leaving, when she is transferred to another position within the CIA. Alice begs not to be taken off her target, The Neighbor, who she’s been tracking for fifteen years and instead sent to teach new analysts, but her wish is not granted. She learns accidentally that there has been movement on her old case and proceeds to continue her own off books investigation. Alice starts to believe that her target may be much closer to home than she first realized.

The New Neighbor is a slow build domestic thriller, in which everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Alice is definitely persistent and stubborn, refusing to give up what she’s worked on most of her life until she solves the case. Full of lies, twists and surprises, I was absorbed into the life of the cul de sac and could not put it down!

Beth Bradford is a CIA analyst who has been searching for an elusive Iranian operative known as the Neighbor. She has identified the Iranian who is running an operation intent on infiltrating the systems of the CIA and NSA as Reza Karimi, but he is extremely careful to keep himself out of the reach of the American intelligence services. She sees a message that there is a new Neighbor, but at the same time, her life is being turned upside down - empty nester time as the child is off to college, the sale of their home where they have been for twenty some years, and her husband tells her he is leaving her. Returning to work after time off for the move, she is also told that she is off the case. But she refuses to accept her transfer, continuing her almost fanatical search but without all of the resources previously at her command. Thus begins nonstop twists and turns as she tries to convince her former bosses that she is so close. As one after another potential “neighbor” is identified, she presses on - is there one or are there many operatives. There are few, if any, likable characters in this story, and our heroine (if you can call her that) jumps all over the place along the way. The writing, which obviously kept me reading, is choppy at best - I just wanted to find out who the Neighbor was. And the ending was unexpected if not far-fetched. Not my favorite book, but I think many will find it a good read.