3 for neutral. Unfortunately, this one was just not for me or my at least my mood! Will definitely update if able to finish, but the beginning just didn’t grab me!

I’ve read several of Karen Cleveland’s novels and have always found her work to be engaging and compelling. She knows how to tell a story, knows how to keep me guessing. And because she is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst, I feel like I’m in good hands when she’s walking me through agency culture and procedures.

The New Neighbor has an intriguing premise. Three families, all living on the same cul-de-sac, each home inhabited by one or more government employes, all with sensitive government jobs—and one of them is an agent, known as The Neighbor, who has been turned by a notorious Iranian spy who holds a deep grudge against the U.S. Beth has been working for fourteen years to try to unearth The Neighbor’s identity. Just as she feels she’s getting close, she is suddenly pulled off the case and sent to an outlying CIA facility to teach. At the same time her youngest child has just left for college, she’s sold her house and is leaving her comfortable life, and her husband is leaving her. Talk about upheaval! But Beth has not lost her commitment to unearthing the truth and she continues probing, going around agency protocol.

What follows is a skillfully-woven plot that keeps us guessing. Probably not a good idea to read this book at bedtime because it will keep you turning pages late into the night.

The plot twists are abundant and surprising, right up to the final chapter with a reveal I never saw coming. Really a fun read!

I struggled to finish this one as the opening chapters are just one character going round and round saying that someone is the Neighbor! I really wanted to like this because I've heard such great things about the author, but this one was not for me. I'll try another one by her!

Beth works in counterterrorism at the CIA. Life as she knows it is slowly unraveling. Her youngest child has just left for college. Her husband has told her that the marriage is over and he is leaving. And, probably the unkindest cut of all, she is unceremoniously removed from her team at work, and all her clearances are revoked. All of these changes occur early on in this book, and things do not slow down until the end. It is full of red herrings that keep the reader guessing. With all of the clues and things that may or may not be a coincidence, it is hard to know what to trust. Much like it would be in the real world, Beth does not know what is meaningful versus what is not. Neither does the reader. While I thought there were a couple of plot points that didn’t really ring true, the author is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst, so she would know. All in all, this was a propulsive and entertaining domestic thriller that I would definitely recommend.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. NetGalley neither asked for nor received any editorial input.

I spent most of this book feeling like I was on a chase to hunt down The Neighbor which is exactly what I hope the author intended. I was flying through the pages to find out who it was: this neighbor, no, maybe that neighbor. Maybe even the new family who moved in? A great read that surprised me at the end!

This was a fun and twisty…very twisty thriller. It’s going to be loved by people who love as many twists as a book can offer up! Now I’m looking around my own neighborhood and wondering… I really enjoyed this one. Everyone, and I mean everyone is a suspect. I enjoyed the often funny neighborhood gossip, the drunken soccer moms with high power jobs and the relatable train wreck Beth. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Last child moving out of the house and ready to throw her new found time into her job, only to have her job taken away from her and her husband ask for a divorce. Now she's convinced someone in her neighborhood is out to get her and everyone starts to think she might be a little bit crazy. Some good twists and turns but it drags a little in the middle. Good final twist.

Beth has built her CIA career around stopping The Neighbor, an asset of Iranian Intelligence. She returns from vacation to find she has been removed from the case and forced into a teaching position alongside other aging agents. When she learns there was new evidence, Beth won't let anything stop her from uncovering the truth.

The Neighbor asks the question, do you ever truly know the people you are close to.

Cleveland's latest book is hard to put down, but equally hard to buy into. In her quest to catch "the spy in the neighborhood", the main character (who works for the CIA) jumps from suspect to suspect faster than she consumes a bottle of pinot grigio. The New Neighbor is not a great thriller, but it is an entertaining read. I do feel like Cleveland's books (and I've read them all) are starting to all run together.

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House for the ARC.

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. Don’t get me wrong; I am thrilled that I read it. It’s just that for the first half of the book I really did not like the main character, Beth Bradford. Granted, Beth had a tough break. Just at the point where she and her husband, Mike, were sending their last child off to college and they were free to enjoy some quality time together, all heck erupts. First, Mike announces that they would not be purchasing that new, smaller home as they planned—even though the home they raised their three kids in was already closed. In fact, Mike was leaving her altogether. Then, when she got to work at her office at the CIA, she learned that she had been downgraded from an analyst to a teacher of raw recruits. This, just as she felt that they were closing in on the Iranian spy case that she had been working on for most of the past two decades.

Yea, Beth had a tough break, but as things spun out during the first half of the book, Beth seemed less like a career CIA person than an out of control amateur. At one point, one of the characters said of Beth that she desperately needed a psych eval. I had been thinking that for most of the first half of the book.

Somewhere about the middle of the book, Beth finally found her legs and began to move with strength and intent. What bothered her most was that the “new neighbor” was in the neighborhood she and her family had long called their own. These people were her good friends, her best friends. But only this raises the question of how well any of us knows the people whom we call neighbors.

From the middle of the book onward, the book slowly winds up with the kind of suspense that made it hard to put the book down. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip through the identification of the covert foreign agents. My only disappointment was that the ending of the book seemed a bit hurried with not all threads clearly wrapped up.

I enjoyed the opportunity to read this book and appreciate the opportunity NetGalley and Ballantine Books gave me to read it. As promised, this is my free and honest review.

I love thrillers and primarily read them as my genre of choice but hadn't read anything by Karen Cleveland yet. This didn't disappoint! It definitely put her on my radar and I am really looking forward to sharing feedback because I feel like the majority of my bookstagram friends aren't familiar with her either and I think they will really enjoy it as well.

I wanted to love this book so much because I love Karen Cleveland, however none of the characters were likable. She is chasing a terrorist called the Neighbor, but theres no background on the handler other than he is deep in Iranian intelligence. There were so many twists in the final 1/3rd of the book. I finished because I wanted to know the ending but it left me unsatisfied.

Cleverly written novel of suspense and good onvestogative work. Beth, CIA, moves out of her house on a cul de sac that she has lived on for years. She and her husband seperate and Neth takes up a craY past time of following, lurking, and investigating the new neighbor. A suspenseful and creative novel.

This book kept me on my toes constantly turning pages and suspecting everyone. The writing was compelling and the characters were well crafted. And that cliffhanger ending was everything hopefully we will see more of Beth

Beth and her husband had a picture perfect life. They lived on a cul-de-sac with great neighbors, and they had beautiful children who played with others on the cul-de-sac. Then the last child goes to college, and they are empty nesters. Then her husband decides to leave her, and they sell their home. If that isn't enough, Beth, who works for the CIA is demoted.

All of a sudden Beth, has lost her marriage, her kids, her home and her job. She becomes obsessed with the woman who replaced her. The woman who now lives in her home, has the handsome husband and little kids. Who has the life Beth once lived. She becomes convinced that her "replacement" is actually linked to Iranian intelligence. She makes a good case for it. Is this true, or is she just jealous?

I wont tell you where the book goes from there, because I dont want to spoil, and it gets pretty crazy. I really enjoyed all of the twists and turns. I liked wondering if there was a big conspiracy or if she was just crazy.

The one thing I didn't like is the tone. This had the potential to be dark and scary. Instead it kind of read like a "Hallmark movie". It didn't have that intensity to make it a really great book.

However, I really enjoyed this book and want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC - which did not impact my review.

OKAY LOVED THIS BOOK!!! This is really only the second mystery/thriller I’ve read and it so did not disappoint!

This book kept me on my toes the whole time. There were many times I thought I had figured out what was going to happen and I was always wrong because something else would happen and change the plot again. I loved the main character Beth. Everyone made Beth out to be crazy, but she kept true to herself and always stood up for what she believed.

One of the hidden messages to me throughout the book is that nothing is as perfect as it seems. Even the people we thought we trusted the most can be someone we don’t even know.

Highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a good mystery/thriller. This book will be published July 26, 2022!

A taut counter-terrorism suspense thriller that has you trying to turn the pages faster than you can absorb the story. When Beth Bradford is demoted from her CIA Analyst position to that of a trainer of new CIA recruits, not only is she incensed, but determined to continue her investigation into who the “new neighbor” is in her old neighborhood. I couldn’t read this book fast enough to reach the incredible ending! I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own. #TheNewNeighbor #NetGalley

When I first chose this book to read, I wasn't quite sure if I would like it or not. I thought it would involve more military references.which it did not. Instead it is more intelligence agencies - spies!!! This book really surprised me with it's clever twists and turns. I was intrigued throughout the entire book and was even more caught off guard with the ending.
The author, Karen Clevelend, definitely did a great job with the characters and the plot was not dull. A few times I felt the story took some pretty far-fetched turns, however, it is not real, so fair enough. Or, could it be? In this day and age, who really knows what modern cloak and dagger looks like?
This book should appeal to most adult readers who enjoy a good thriller.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

THE NEW NEIGHBOR by Karen Cleveland

Life in a safe, peaceful, neighborly cul-de-sac could actually be dangerously balanced on a slippery slope. How well do we know those around us? This twisty thriller, with its serious dangers, spies, sabotage and subterfuge, had me reading intensely, concerned for the very nice families on a quiet street. It still has me thinking about the twists and betrayals even after finishing it. Are we safe? Could we ever be completely sure?
A terrible aspect of these conflicts is the ongoing mistrust of one another, with suspicions crippling future operations and relationships. We’d do anything to protect those we love, wouldn’t we? . . . but what if those efforts endanger even more people?
Life was simpler in the Dick and Jane readers* . . . or was it? Idyllic appearances can be deceiving.
*(In my thoughts because I just reread THE BLUEST EYE).
*Use the children . . .

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the ARC kindle book the following is my review and opinion. Karen Cleveland is a new author to me. I am a fan of thrillers and this book delivers. In fact, there are so many twists and turns that I feel as though I have just gotten off a thrill ride at an amusement park.
Beth Bradford and her lawyer husband Mike have raised their two daughters and son in a home they loved in the outskirts of Langley, Virginia on a "cul-de-sac" (oh, you will read that word a lot). The story starts out with Beth and Mile taking their youngest off to college. They have sold the home because it is too big for just the two of them. And so the adventure started and the lies began to be exposed. What for years looked like the perfect place to live, with the perfect families as neighbors, slowly the truth is revealed. Fasten your seatbelts you are in for a real thrill ride.
I am not a fan of the ending of this book. I do see how Karen Cleveland has left the end open for a series though.