The New Neighbor was my second book from the author and I was very frustrated by the length of time it took to get to the climax of this book. This story is about Beth, a CIA agent who lives on a culdesac and is struggling at work so much so that she gets told she needs to pull her life together and until she does that she is demoted. Once this happens, her marriage suffers and she becomes on edge and soon becomes obsessed with finding someone named “the New Neighbor” and she begins watching for them constantly. This book was very annoying. I nearly have up on it several times, but I was grateful to #Netgalley for this arc so I did want to make sure I read it and reviewed it. So thank you for this Arc.

This was a pretty good mystery thriller, even though it felt like the main character was far too inept to be a seasoned CIA agent. The author blames it on a double whammy of empty nest and sudden divorce, but it didn't ring quite true to me. Then I found out the author is ex-CIA herself so now I'm concerned that all CIA analysts are like this?
But otherwise, it was a riveting read that I finished in 24 hours and it keeps you guessing and guessing and guessing. I would definitely read another Karen Cleveland novel and look forward to her next one.

Beth finds out that she is being removed from a CIA case that she has been trying to solve for long time. Her family life is failing with her separation from her husband. Her life seems to be falling apart. Beth just can't give up on the case to find out who the 'The New Neighbor" really is and what damage they are causing to the CIA.

Beth soon learns that Madeline Sterling is moving into her old house in the neighborhood where she just left all of her friends and memories. Beth just can't shake the feeling that someone in her old neighborhood knows something about the case that she is trying to crack. She begins suspicious activity in the neighborhood after she moves out. The neighbors catch on and begin to think that Beth has lost her mind.

The author keeps the reader engaged through twists and turns. The reader will eventually find out who the "neighbor" was and exactly what harm they caused.

This is my first by this author and will not be my last.

This is a very well written edge of your seat book. It will keep you turning the pages and scratching your head until the very end. I was taken by surprise and that does not happen often. Well done.

This book is great and possibly one of the best in 2022..

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Random House for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Beth is a CIA agent who lived on a quiet cul-de-sac with her husband. They have 3 kids and have just dropped the youngest off at college and are getting ready to move to another home. She and Mike are friends with everyone on their cul-de-sac and they all have jobs with the CIA in some capacity or another.

The day she drops her son off at college, she goes into work to find out she's been pulled from a case she's been working on for years; she's looking for The Neighbor, an Iranian Quds Force commander. When she returns home that night, Mike tells her he wants a divorce. Her life is now officially in turmoil.

She decides to look into recent transmissions received by The Neighbor and discovers there is now a New Neighbor. She begs to suspect everyone but everyone also think she's going crazy.

It was a bit of a slow burn with this book and then it picked up. I enjoyed the book overall but felt the ending was a bit rushed and not very plausible. However, I will read her other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine publishing for the advanced copy of the new neighbor, this was my first Karen Cleveland book but certainly will not be my last. This was a very fast paced book. I tore through this book on 2 days. Beth is CIA, she is also an empty nester that has just been taken off a case she has been working for 15 years. We see Beth slowly unravel as she starts a new chapter in her life, Beth is having a very hard time letting go. She is watching Madeline the woman that has moved into her old house, her old neighborhood and her friends. Beth thinks Madeline may just be the “the neighbor” a spy she has been trying to catch all these years.

Rounded up from 2 1/2 stars. This is the first book I read by this author. I was intrigued by this fast-paced novel that was part domestic story, part spy thriller. Parts were unbelievable, especially the protagonist's actions and tidy ending, which was unexpected but a bit unsatisfying.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine and the author for the opportunity to read this eARC.

An Ending I Did not See Coming!



Cleveland’s book begins with intrigue.
Beth Bradford is a well-respected CIA analyst in counterintelligence related to Iran. She’s tracked an elusive target for over a decade, named, “The Neighbor”. Beth and her attorney- husband, Mike, live in a McLean, VA suburban cul de sac, with several neighbors, who also have ties to the CIA.
The Bradford’s are empty-nesters. The last of their three children just left for college, so Beth is eager to immerse herself in her work, to find the unidentified target that she has pursued for so long. Then suddenly her life is turned upside down. She is pulled off the case, her husband wants a divorce it’s all a hot mess. Which made for a great story.
Beth is reassigned to the Kent School, to teach and train newly-minted CIA hires. Beth feels blindsided and banished. She drives home in a daze. Beth moves to the rental home that she’d planned to share with Mike, after the sale of their beloved house. Reeling from all of the changes, she tries to digest the abrupt implosion of her life and career. Cleveland does an excellent job of conveying the unraveling of Beth, who is now solely-focused on uncovering the secrets of “The Neighbor”, despite not having the same access and resources that her prior position allowed

This was a quick read for me. I love a great thriller and the ending of who is actually “the Neighbor is something I did not see coming.

Oh my! What a disappointment this was as I have loved her previous books. I guess everyone is entitled to a bad book now and again.

Thanks for sending this book to me and sorry I couldn't have liked it more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Karen Cleveland at her best. This is a good old spy story that you don't see so much of anymore. CIA, Iranian spies, lives torn apart, the plot goes on and you can't put it down.

Holy crap. Was this my favorite read of 2022!??!

This was twisty, unexpected, and so freaking addictive! I finished this in one sitting and couldn’t believe how good it was. I am completely obsessed by this story. Such a cool concept and had NO idea what the final twist was going to be. Every accusation Beth had I was fully on board with it and was feeling the same way. That final twist wasn’t what I was expecting at all. What an amazing read!

Amazing, 5 star read! This novel is fast paced and absolutely impossible to put down until your turned the last page.

A new author to me, and an interesting book. I did think that there was too much repeating of things going on. Beth thought at first one person and then the other, then her whole neighborhood was into being spies. Maybe they were, maybe not. Not saying. But she was really beginning to sound a bit paranoid. I thought that I had discovered who the "big boss" was about seventy percent in, before Beth came to the same conclusions, and I was right, but there is a twist that I did not in any way see coming. I was not instantly drawn into this book, and I had no problem putting it aside to read another, but I did persist and finish it and it turned out pretty good in the end.

Interesting story and wanting to know who the neighbor really is. I appreciate al the twists and turns. At times the main the character Beth was frustrating or the new neighbor Madeline seemed a little rigid or not willing to listen at times.

Beth Bradford works for the CIA, as do most of her neighbors. After Beth and her husband Mike send their last child, their son Tyler off to college things begin to fall apart in Beth’s world. They’ve sold their home, Mike is leaving her, and she’s just been taken off on of the most important cases she’s been working for years, and sent to teach (where all agents are sent for their careers to die). Beth is determined to still work her case by any means necessary and she believes the woman who moved into her old home may just be “the Neighbor” the terrorist she’s been after. Beth will go to any lengths to figure this case out, even if everyone around her thinks she’s going crazy.

I liked the suspense of this book, but the main character drove me crazy. I get that Beth was supposed to becoming unhinged, but it was extreme to the point that it made me question how this could be a CIA Agent making these kinds of blunders. The storyline was good and did keep me guessing I just wish the main character was more likable.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC (less)

This book had me hooked from the very beginning! I like to go in completely blind when reading a new book so when I first started it I was thinking it would be a typical domestic thriller ao after the first chapter I was like woah wait a minute this is different! Lots of twist and shock with in this novel! I loved it!

Beth Bradford has it all. A perfect home, the model husband, the ideal neighborhood, three healthy, happy children, and a career she loves, Beth is riding on top of the world—until it begins to crumble right before her eyes. Her CIA career in the CIC is forcibly taken from her, including the case on which she has spent the last fifteen years of her life, her home sells, her last child goes off to college leaving an empty nest, and her husband announces he is leaving her. All at once the illusion of her perfect life shatters. She becomes obsessed with (and basically stalks) the new woman that moves into in her old home, the one who is young, in love, with three young children and living in Beth’s old neighborhood, becoming friendly with Beth’s neighbors. Whether it’s paranoia, fact, or jealousy, Beth neither trusts nor likes her. Of course, that close-knit group of neighbors all have ties to the CIA, know almost everything about each other, and are keeping plenty of their own secrets. It certainly would be the perfect neighborhood for a spy to be planted from Iranian Intelligence, looking to access U.S. Government IT secrets. Beth believes by observing a series of specific clues, that Madeline, the new woman living in her old house, is the one she has dedicated her life to finding: The New Neighbor.

Karen Cleveland knows how to write a head-spinning, all-engrossing, incredibly powerful psychological thriller, and “The Good Neighbor” does NOT disappoint! It’s an addictive, page-turning read, and I was riveted by the story and beautifully written prose throughout. The reveal is mind-blowing; I thought I had it figured out, but I way way off base with my guess. The ending is another stunner, and the character involved is someone I would have never guessed—a character not even in the back of my mind—and I hope there will be a sequel to pick up where the “The Good Neighbor” left off. I was glued to my seat from start to finish (good thing it was a comfortable chair. You’re in for a wild ride—so make sure you pick a comfortable spot as well). It’s one of the best novels I’ve read this year by far, and I would gladly have given more than a five-star review had it been allowed. All thriller fans should read Karen Cleveland’s books; I cannot recommend her and her work strongly enough.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Karen Cleveland, and Ballantine Books/Random House for the ability to read and review this novel.

“The new neighbor” isn’t what they seem. Who can you really trust? This isn’t the cookie cutter suburban neighborhood it looks like from the outside. This CIA thriller will have you asking many questions. I don’t usually read government thrillers but this was fantastic. I will definitely be reading from this author again.

My honest review is freely provided in return for the kindness by NetGalley and the publisher in providing me with an advance copy.

In pursuit of an intelligence threat to the US, Beth realizes the target is very close to home. There’s a little inconsistency with Beth’s behavior given her profession — a veteran CIA officer needs more depth. I would’ve like to have seen a more complex mystery, but the story premise is good. The mystery unraveling with the different tangents was compelling, and her personal situation with a touch of gaslighting worked well with the story.

The writing is very good, and it kept me turning the pages. I consider this a light read and give it 3.5 stars rounded up.

☆☆☆☆
This is my second book by this author. The first one was five stars so the bar was set high. This one didn’t quite live up to my expectations but it was a suspenseful thriller with a clever plot.

BOOK QUOTE:
“There are bears out here. Coyotes, too, and snakes. It’s why we never let the kids play here alone. Hundreds of acres behind our home, unspoiled, untouched. In my mind, this was where predators lurked. The cul-de-sac itself was safe, a refuge, a haven. How very wrong I was.”

Beth and her husband live on a welcoming cul-de-sac where they raised their children. Everyone knows each other, their kids play together and they frequently sit outside chatting and drinking. Sounds like the perfect place to live and raise your children!

Their youngest child has left for college so they’ve decided to sell and downsize. The move isn’t the only major change in Beth’s life. When she reports to her job at the CIA, she’s been reassigned and removed from the case she’s spent years on. Searching for an Iranian intelligence agent called “The Neighbor”. Upon returning home to finalize the move, she finds that her husband has seized this opportunity to leave and start a new life, without her. Talk about a bad day!

Now that her life is empty, Beth can’t let go of the case she worked so hard on. As she pursues The Neighbor, every one of her old neighbors on the cul-de-sac becomes suspect.

The characters were so life-like, it was easy to become invested in their lives. I didn’t want any of them to be guilty!

Thanks to Ballantine Books and Karen Cleveland for providing this gifted ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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