Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: September 5, 2023
New father, Adam, lost his job unexpectedly and is now struggling to adapt to his life as a stay-at-home Dad. Not only that but his wife, Sarah, has changed since the baby and the two of them are quickly losing what they once had. Desperate for something, anything, to change up the doldrums of Adam’s life, he catches a glimpse of his new neighbour, Ali, in the window and after she performs a quick striptease, he finds a new obsession. Until the night he looks for Ali and finds Kemp, Ali’s extremely obsessive and overly creepy ex-boyfriend, stalking outside Ali’s house. And then Ali disappears……..
Tim Lane’s second novel, “The Neighbours We Want” is a psychological fiction novel that focuses on obsession; obsession with sex, obsession with possession, and, of course, obsession with power. Sarah, Adam, Ali and Kemp are all obsessed with something, and their interconnected relationship is so twisted you can’t help but keep reading.
All four characters play a narrative role, with each chapter being told by one of the four neighbours. There are also a few chapters told by Kemp’s mother, who also happens to be Sarah’s principal. Still with me? If you can keep up with who the characters are, who they’re married to, who they’re sleeping with (not necessarily one and the same) and what their motivations are, then this book is worth sticking around for. The plot is right up there with a soap opera storyline (or a soft-core porn, but with limited sex) so it’s chock full of drama and intrigue and will keep you engaged.
I did not connect to any of the characters but I felt invested enough in them to continue reading to see how their storylines played out. Lane reveals the plot slowly, teasingly almost, pulling the reader along for a guessing-game of a thrill ride. The ending is exactly as expected and I was happy about it, as no questions had been left unanswered.
Lane is a new author to me, as I have not yet read his debut novel, “Rules for Becoming a Legend”, but I’m interested enough to keep my ear to the ground for any of his future works.

"The Neighbors We Want," by Tim Lane is a drama that describes the story of Adam and Sarah who have recently had a baby and feel all the complicated emotions and exhaustion experienced by first-time parents. Their relationship is further complicated by secrets they keep from eachother. So, when Adam becomes obsessed by the disappearance of Ali, his neighbor from across the street, he and Sarah come to make progressively more troubling decisions that not only affect their work lives but also their marriage.

Unfortunately, I found the characters all so unlikeable and deeply flawed that the book felt more like a slog than a page-turner. As a result, the outcome was neither surprising nor particularly satisfying. It is not a book that I would recommend.

Nevertheless, thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

I did not finish the book as I found the explicit nature of it somewhat unnecessary and not something I enjoy.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the book.

Great synopsis but didn’t enjoy the book itself, DNF at 25%. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some but it just wasn’t for me.

This book was challenging for me to read but definitely kept my attention.

Adam and Sarah are burnt out first time parents who are drifting apart, both finding other things/people to entertain them. Neither of them are likable (AT ALL) in my opinion, although I can relate to being a sleep deprived parent just trying to make it one day at a time. Evie and Crispin are some of the weirdest characters I think I’ve ever read and just totally over the top. Ali is the most normal but even she’s written a little bizarre too.

I struggled to read this because the timeline jumped all over the place. I could not keep up at all with where I was in the story at times. Each chapter is a different character but there is no time reference so half of the time I didn’t even realize we had went in the past until I was almost done with a chapter. I didn’t love the writing style either, it was confusing at times and I feel like a lot of unnecessary words were added that didn’t add value.

The plot was original enough that it kept me interested enough that I genuinely wanted to see how it would end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

A dark suburbia read telling the story of a stay at home dad that becomes obsessed with the life of his next door neighbor, thus putting himself and his family in danger. Scary and thrilling at the same time!

DNF. I liked the premise, but the execution was not doing it for me. Characters too one-dimensional and I just couldn't connect with the story.

....... no. Just no. I dont know what I just read but It definitely wasn't a thriller. I dont even know why it's a book to be honest

Enjoyed this book. It’s told through alternating perspectives and differing timelines. For a good portion of the book you’re left wondering what the crime was, but it’s satisfying once you get the conclusion.

Interesting characters that I could not connect with because I found them all unlikeable. The story is told in multiple POV. The MCs are a husband and wife who are struggling being new parents. This struggle causes them both to act out in ways that were disconcerting to read. The side characters are no better and the way they intertwine is strangely intriguing. A boss's son and her employee. A boss and her employee and a husband and his neighbor. Strange bedfellows but interesting company.

What a strange read this was. I’ve seen a few people posting about this book but hadn’t really read any reviews before reading so had zero expectations.

I found it so confusing how the writer wrote in various tenses, there was very little dialogue I felt like there wasn’t actually much of a storyline. The characters were so dislikable, and I found keeping track of who was who difficult (it took me a while to realise Kemp & Crispin were the same person).

I feel like the book is less a thriller and more a domestic suspense. There is not a lot of character development. I kept reading, hoping something big was going to happen to explain everything and it never came. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something was missing for

Thanks to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the ARC.. First by this author, but I was not disappointed. 4 stars. The writing was great. A bit different, but i got it and appreciated it. Solid quirky mystery.

ARC releasing 9/5/23. don’t know how to blurb this because there was no plot? I didn’t know what I was reading any of the time and I don’t know what the point of it was. This was not a psychological thriller as promised. Waste of time.

Every character in this book was pervy and ick. I was NOT a fan of the characters whatsoever. They were all self-absorbed, cheating on each other, staring at each other in windows, and otherwise messed up. The writing was kind of stilted/had a strange quality which I mightn’t have minded if there was a plot or some enjoyable characters but it just piled onto the weirdness. I was bored, which was somewhat surprising given that there is a mystery of some sort, but there’s no suspense at all and I didn’t care what happened to any of them. I actually wish they all died. Ugh. Ew. Just thinking about these people makes me uncomfortable.

This is a 2.5 that but I’m so skeeved out I’m rounding down. Sorry! Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books.

This was just too bizarre for me and wasn’t anything like I had anticipated. Not really a psychological thriller or even a thriller at all … just a cast of strange characters with even stranger habits. Not for me; maybe for fans of Hitchcock? Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This was a little bit too weird for me, the pacing too the writing felt off and I couldn't fully get into the story it was just a stream of consciousness with every character being super weird in their own way. The plot and characters just did not work for me sadly.

💭Thoughts:
This book is weird. The author writes the story almost completely in stream of consciousness. There is very little dialogue. I felt like I was stuck in a very disturbing interior monologue.

I feel like the book is less a thriller and more a domestic suspense. I sadly, just didn’t connect to this story. All of the characters are terrible people and for reasons unknown. There is not a lot of character development. I kept reading, hoping something big was going to happen to explain everything and it never came. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something was missing for me.

One aspect I f the book I did enjoy was that it took place in Portland, Oregon. Lots of references to places I love visiting, including Mt. Tabor. I did laugh a little when the author refers to Portland a “small suburban town.” It’s not, especially not in the neighborhood where the events take place!

This story had potential, but sadly the lack of character development and missing plot points made it a miss for me.

The title of this book, The Neighbors We Want, only really makes sense once you’ve finished reading it, ass all of its nuances play out.

The book is a brilliantly written portrait of depravity beyond my personal realm of imagination and far too unpleasant for my taste,. Although I read the whole book, difficult in and of itself because it’s almost completely narrative with very little dialogue, I was truly disgusted by it. Perhaps there are readers who like to watch people sink to the core of their depraved fantasies. I’m not one of them. I wanted to take a shower once I was done with these characters.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book and read it over a period of a few hours. It was, as others have said, a little weird, but I like weird! I also would consider it more domestic suspense than thriller. I also thought the synopsis didn’t accurately tell me what the book was about (all the way down to describing them as living in a small suburban town when it appears they were actually in Portland, OR). The story centers on Adam and Sarah who have recently had a baby and feel like they are losing themselves and each other through the big changes to their family. Sue to this, they both so stupid things related to the neighbor across the street and Sarah’s boss’ son; these storylines converge.

I thought the characters were well written and, though they made bad decisions and often treated each other horribly, I felt that I could at least understand where they were coming from. I wouldn’t say I LIKED any of these characters but I do feel like I GOT them. I thought the ending of the book was satisfying and an appropriate way to tie everything that happened together.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read eBay may be a letdown if you are looking for a thriller, but is very satisfying as a domestic suspense. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the plot, hard to get into. Storyline didn't flow well. I did push through and finish and I enjoyed the ending.