Happy pub day to The New Neighbor!!

Unfortunately this just wasn’t it for me. There was a ton of CIA and intelligence lingo that was hard to follow but I found myself skimming some parts because I was bored.

I did not connect with the main character in the least and found her annoying. She is going through big life changes such as being demoted from her case at the CIA, her youngest kid goes off to college, and her husband leaves her. But I get sick of the “this woman must be crazy and out of her mind” narrative if she’s lonely and likes to enjoy a glass of wine.

Also, the main character (the high ranking CIA agent for the last however many decades) chose to do sketch thing after sketch thing that I was supposed to believe.

If this “review” seems all over the place, it is LOL - bc this is exactly how the book was - when you finally get to the end and find out who “The Neighbor” is, (after several wrong accusations by Beth), you literally roll your eyes and wonder why you just wasted all your time.

⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be posted on July 26, 2022 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

This was so so great! I couldn't put it down. The plot hit all the right notes: crafty espionage thriller, untrustworthy characters, secrets running rampant, and so many twists and turns. It was such a wild ride and I enjoyed it immensely! I'll definitely be recommending this one (and checking out the author's backlist)! #TheNewNeighbor Rating: 😊 / really liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on July 26, 2022. Thank you Ballantine Books and @randomhouse for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read all the books in the series and enjoyed each one thoroughly. This latest Beth Bradford book required that I pay close attention to all of the details or I would get lost in them. There are a lot of characters and a lot of spy action constantly happening, with unexpected plot twists, some of them not believable but there nonetheless. In this story, Beth has lost all that is important to her…her marriage is on the rocks, her youngest son has left for college and her beloved family home has been sold. All she has to cling to is her job as a CIA analyst and her quest to find an Iranian intelligence operative known as “the Neighbor.” However, even her job is jerked out from under her as she is sent to a new place and a new assignment, with all of her hard work about the Neighbor being given to others or shredded as useless. Determined to find out who the Neighbor is and without the sanction of the CIA, Beth investigates on her own and thinks she has found this super-spy, living in her old house. This is where the plot divulged from possibly reality and I was not sure if Beth was totally sane or not. She pursues the case against Madeline, the new resident, relentlessly and unashamedly insists that her former bosses listen to her case against Madeline. The book is intriguing all the way to the end, but I could not buy into the conclusion. It was not at all what I expected and it was also a bit of a letdown after all of the fast-paced page turning that I did to get there. Beth, the main character, was completely well-developed and likable, although not totally relatable since I don’t really know any CIA agents (at least, not that I know of). The secondary characters were less developed, like well-kept secrets and kind of shady. I decided that was a purposeful act of the author since in doing so, it was hard to guess who the spy actually was. So, good characterization there! I found the book enjoyable and riveting entertainment but not my favorite in the series. I still give it a five-star rating because it kept me glued to the pages to find out what was going to happen to Beth and if she was losing her skill as an analyst just as her boss seemed to think. Fans of domestic suspense, spy thrillers and mystery will enjoy this book and look forward to more from this author who entertains and makes you question the roles of those around you.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Beth’s life is turned upside down. Her last child goes to college, her husband wants a divorce out of the blue, and they have sold their house where they raised their children. On top of all this, Beth goes into work at the CIA and finds she is moved to a new assignment, one that takes her away from a target she’s been tracking for 15 years.

That is the start of Karen Cleveland’s new book and I loved every page. I discovered Karen a few books ago and love her writing style. Her characters work for government agencies and find themselves in trouble from the very first page. I love watching them uncover secrets and fight for what is right. This book will keep you hooked and you won’t want to put it down!

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC! Happy pub day tomorrow! This was a clever domestic suspense thriller. Beth is a CIA analyst whose spent 15 years searching for an Iranian spy know as the neighbor. As Beth’s life begins to fall apart she is removed from the case. Unable to give up, she pursue the case on her own. What she finds will shock you.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed the authors previous books. For some reason, this one seemed to drag on and I had a hard time connecting to the main character, Beth. It took me a long time to finish this and I’m finding that political/government mysteries, for the most part, just aren’t for me.

Thank you to Random House for this gifted copy.

The New Neighbor is a delightful novel that draws you in and makes you care about the heroine, Beth Bradford. Beth has enjoyed her life in her "perfect neighborhood". This is where she raised her children, made lifelong friends and worked in her CIA job. Most the people on the street work for the CIA too in one capacity or another. Suddenly, everything falls apart. Her husbands leaves her, they move, the kids are grown and have moved on, and she is demoted in her job because she hasn't found "THE NEIGHBOR". Madeline, the perfect woman moves in and clues start unfolding that make it seem like she is the neighbor. Madeline makes it her goal to bring her down. Is Madeline truly the neighbor? Is there someone else the Beth is close to who knows the truth? Will The Neighbor ever be uncovered? The characters in this novel are well developed and varied. Beth's character is flawed but you can't help but to root for her. I received an early copy of this novel. All thoughts are completely my own. I really enjoyed this novel.

I found this latest book by Karen Cleveland to be a disappointment. I had a hard time talking myself into finishing it. By the time I did finish, well the ending was for me, " A what the heck" moment, and not in a good way.

Our protagonist, Beth Bradford, works for the CIA as an analyst. She and her family lived in a cul de sac close to Langley. At one time Beth had it all a job, husband, family, nice house. Her marriage ends, her child moves out, the family house is sold and Beth is demoted. Beth has spent alot of time attempting to learn the identity of an elusive Iranian intelligence agent who is coded as "The Neighbor".

Iranian Reza Karimi, a Quds Force commander, has been trying to infiltrate U.S. Security through one of his operatives called "The Neighbor". Beth believes the woman who bought her house is "The Neighbor." She begins to watch the house.

There are some twists in the plot, but overall I found myself not really invested.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC. The review is my own.

I could not connect with this book or bring myself to care. Beth was really hard to take as the driving character and the unreliable narrator/untrusted woman is overdone recently in books so it is a victim of that as well.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

OMG! This book was literally the wildest I have read so far, we meet Beth a CIA agent, she’s also the main character, she appears all over the place and obsessed with the things going on in town. The country is in danger, this is crazy, and am I the only one who couldn’t put this book down, because as untrustworthy as all of these characters were I am still baffled. This author did her thing, this book was most def different for me. Thanks Netgalley the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

What the holy heck was this book?! As I stare at my phone, my eyes stinging having stayed up till almost 4AM the night before leaving on vacation just because I could not bring myself to leave this book.. I am still befuddled by the ending! Like what even?! I’m usually super anxious the night before a trip but with my thinking that either the main character or I was crazy, I didn’t have time to be anxious!

This book was the holy grail of misleading/untrustworthy characters with the main character taking the lead. From the moment we met Beth, we for sure get crazy vibes from her whether it’s intentional or not.. I mean, she for sure put me off house hunting for the near future.

It’s normal to feel some sort of way when leaving a place that’s been your constant for decades, a place where you raised your children, where you and your husband grew old together.. but when all the kids are gone, your marriage is over & you have to leave that home? Well. It’s understandable to be a bit off but when you start spying on the family who bought this house because you still have access to cameras & because you think the woman is untrustworthy? Welllll… you’re leaning on creepy crazy territory. This book has SO many twists and turns that’ll leave you gaping more and more as you work your way through this book & trust me when I say, you do not want to miss out! Especially with that ending 😬

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

How well do you know your neighbors?

Every aspect of Beth Bradford's life is changing. Beth and her husband are sending their third child off to college and just sold their family home in Langley Oaks. They're about to be empty nesters when her husband tells her he wants to separate. Beth decides to do what she does best -- focus on her big case, The Neighbor. Beth has always been devoted to her work at the CIA for the Counterintelligence Center in a division dedicated to Iranian intelligence services. She's been trying to crack her case for the past 15 years, and she decides she's finally going to find out who "The Neighbor" really is. When she returns to work after dropping her son off at college, she finds out there has been a break in her case, but is devastated to learn that she's been reassigned to another department, the Kent School, teaching analytics.

Beth starts to become obsessed with Madeline Sterling, the woman and her family who bought her old house in Langley Oaks. Her gut tells her something isn't right. Beth is motivated to solve this case and bring down "The Neighbor." What Beth doesn't factor in is that all of her friends and neighbors she's known for the past 17 years are all hiding secrets from her and each other. Has she been close to "The Neighbor" all this time and didn't know it?

I LOVED this book! Karen Cleveland kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Beth's character was so well-developed and relatable. Karen Cleveland's writing was excellent and enjoyed the CIA/FBI theme.
I also enjoyed learning that Cleveland is former CIA. I'm adding her other books to my TBR!

I highly recommend this fast-paced, page-turning thriller!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland is a thrilling adrenaline rush as a long-employed and loyal CIA agent, Beth, tries to thwart a terrorist cell that uses “connected” neighbors to break into the United States' highly classified internet system through the use of blackmail. This is not a genre I usually gravitate to read, but it held my attention for two days, and I couldn’t put it down. The story is fast-paced and tense as Beth has to break through security barriers when she is deemed “unstable.” Personally, I thought she was bat-sh%t crazy risking life and limb to solve the riddle of who was The Neighbor. I figured out some of it, but the end has a good twist. Don’t read ahead! #spythriller #espionage #CIA #FBI #langley #terrorism #BallantineBooks #netgalley @netgalley @ballantinecorp #ballantinepress #counterterrorism #karencleveland @karenclevelandwriter
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Press for the opportunity to read this book. Pub Date: July 26, 2022.

#bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader

When Beth and Mike moved into the cul-de-sac it was an ideal location to raise their family. Evenings were spent with the neighbors on lawn chairs watching the children play. The kids are grown now and they are in the process of selling their house. After dropping their youngest at college, Beth thought they would be working to bring their marriage back to life. Mike surprises her with the announcement that he would be moving into his own apartment. This is Beth’s second surprise. She works at the CIA, where she has been looking for the Neighbor, a recruiter for Iranian intelligence controlled by Reza Karimi. The investigation has been on-going for fifteen years but now her access has been denied and she is being transferred to a training facility to instruct new analysts. With her house sold, her husband gone and a demotion, she is determined not to give up on her search for The Neighbor.

Madeline and Josh are the new owners of Beth’s home. They are a young family with three children who fit right in with the neighborhood. One of the communications picked up from Karimi mentioned that his recruit had found a new cul-de-sac. Her first thought is that it refers to Madeline. She becomes obsessed with looking into her background. There is no presence on social media and even though she mentioned that she was a former teacher, Beth can find no record of her employment. Without the resources that were previously available to her, she uses her students and a former co-worker to access files.. What she finds make her question who the residents of the cul-de-sac that she always considered friends really were. Many of them had ties to the CIA, but now she considers them all suspects. Her desperation to find answers has her former supervisor and friends questioning her stability.

Karen Cleveland’s The New Neighbor opens in an idyllic location but she constantly increases the tension as you question the involvement of each of the cul-de-sac’s residents. Karimi’s ultimate goal is to gain access to a worldwide intelligence system. Unless his agent can be found the system could be compromised. Even after the final showdown, Cleveland’s revelation of the newest Neighbor is a stunning twist. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing this book for my review.

3.5 rounded up, I guess - if 3 is average, it's a little better than average.

When Beth is removed from her job at the CIA she goes into a bit of a tailspin. Her husband leaves, her last child goes off to college, and she's demoted to a boring job she doesn't want. Instead, she decides to keep looking for "the neighbor" - a deeply placed spy trying to infiltrate the CIA network. Well.

I guess I can understand not wanting to give up on a project you've spent 10 years working on. And I can appreciate a thriller with twists and turns. However, almost every page felt like a new twist. Being inside Beth's brain was exhausting! As we follow her reasoning from suspect to suspect, each time she's certain she's right as she bends the facts to fit her new suspect, it becomes a bit monotonous and the twists become less effective.

I found myself thinking she was a very unreliable narrator and I began to wonder if the final twist was going to be that it was all a dream, or she was looney tunes. But no, she eventually figures it out. Or does she?

The writing was fine, the characters generally superficial with minor back stories, but there's plenty of action to keep the pages turning. It could be an enjoyable weekend thriller if you're looking for something super twisty that might put your brain in knots. (ha)

Thanks so much to #netgalley and #randomhouseBallantine for the free ARC - the opinions expressed are my own.

New Neighbor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 7/26/22
Author: Karen Cleveland
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.83

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Ballantine Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Beth is moving from the cul-de-sac she’s long called home, and the CIA is removing her from the case that’s long been hers: tracking an elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor. Madeline Sterling moves into Beth’s old house. Beth—who can’t stop watching the woman stepping in to her old life—thinks the new neighbor has something else too: ties to Iranian intelligence. Is Beth just jealous? Paranoid? Or is something more at play? Most of the families on the cul-de-sac are keeping secrets. And they all know more about their neighbors than they should. It would be the perfect place to insert a spy—unless one was there all along.

My Thoughts: This is a slow burn novel, which is not a bad thing, it actually works well for this story. I do not typically like espionage type stories, but I did like this one. Our MC, Beth is unreliable narrator and has flaws, and her suspicions of who the “neighbor” constantly grows, making her hard to establish a relationship with. The characters are well developed and have depth, are mysterious, have emotion, and are creative. The author’s writing style is complex, suspenseful, tense twists at every corner, an element of a spy novel, fast paced at times, and really worked well for this story. I have read other books by Cleveland, so I am a fan. While the conclusion did not work me, overall, I did enjoy this book and would recommend you pick up this Tuesday when it publishes.

Maybe I’ve read too many thrillers, because this one followed a similar pattern. Woman becomes suspicious of everyone, her friends start to worry about her thinking she’s gone crazy, stuff goes down. It would have been better if the stalking, suspicious thing hadnt been done millions of times.

Absolutely loved this book. It sucked me in from the getgo and had me guessing all the way to the end. Did not want it to end at all.

A fantastic suspense novel. Beth works for the CIA in one of its counter terrorism units. Someone is recruiting civilians and putting the country in danger. The author has done a marvelous job with the plot and characters. Figuring who to trust and who is telling the truth is tricky.

In a neighborhood where all the families look perfect, the children all growing up to be stand out adults and the parents all have ties to the CIA, what could possibly be amiss?

Beth Bradford is living an idyllic life; her career is going strong as she works intelligence in the CIA getting close the target she's been working on for the past fifteen years, her children are all moving out, going to college and getting married and her marriage is going as well as she might expect. One by one however her world begins unraveling- she's demoted from the case she's working, her husbands is ready for a divorce and now being an empty-nester is the last thing she wants. She's so close to solving her case however that she begins risking it all to solve it. Her neighbors are all suspects and she needs to get to bottom of it, but shen the intel keeps leading her to the people she's known for years she begins tor reassess her life in a new light.

PROS: very propulsive read, lots of suspects and not usually something I would read (I love thrillers but anything with government I tend to not veer towards) though this was not as heavy handed as most conspiracy/government thrillers. The pace was also good, and it made for a quick read

CONS: there were parts that felt repetitive (lots of mention os sleepless nights, and some of the points were driven a little hard, and It was easy to figure out the culprit) non enough to make me want to stop reading this though.
Overall, really enjoyed this book, the setting, the pace, the angle and the juicy bits about never really knowing who your neighbors really are.