Lisa Unger is a staple in the thriller/mystery world and this book did not disappoint! I love every new book she releases. This book has it all. It has mystery and it has horror like qualities. I highly recommend this one for those looking for something comparable to Rosemary's Baby. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger in exchange for my honest review.

“I believe…that you are the author of your life. That you write your own story. That you are the hero and the villain and everyone else.”

Lisa Unger’s books always come as a pleasant surprise where I find myself questioning every single character and still being largely wrong in the end. Especially when you add in the paranormal element that’s embedded into the story from the beginning in a fairly subtle way.

The creepy vibes were perfected throughout this book, from the doorman to the neighbors to the ghosts living in your new apartment building. And you can’t forget the dual timeline that keeps you on the edge of your toes, trying to learn what happened to Willa in 1963 and if it has anything to do with what’s happening to Rosie in present day.

“Bad things happen everywhere, all the time. That’s life, unfortunately. But remember, good things happen everywhere, all the time, too. And you won’t be punished for enjoying them.”

I was completely enthralled in this story from start to finish. Lisa kept me guessing, questioning everyone, and trusting no one. I even questioned the main character for a while, even though we largely only get her POV to begin with. Lisa Unger has become one of my favorite thriller authors over the years and I cannot wait to continue reading her backlist as well as to see what else she has in store for us.

“New York City, as much as I love it, is an assault, a daily punch in the face.”

Read if you like:
- Paranormal thriller
- Creepy, gothic vibes
- Distrustful characters
- Dual timelines
- New York City setting

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me at 50%. I was looking forward to the atmospheric/spooky apartment building storyline but sadly this was too slow and I didn’t like the characters much. On to the next one!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an ARC via NetGalley

*rated one star because I can’t submit this review without a star rating

This was just not it for me, I tried really hard to get into it but I had to DNF at 40%. It just did not hold my attention and did not live up to the hype. I usually am a sucker for thrillers and love how they keep me at the edge of my seat, but this just felt a bit flat. I had high hopes from Her other works. Maybe one day I can come back to it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I thought this was a pretty good book. I think it had a good twist. The switching back and forth between characters was a bit confusing, but got to where it needed to be in the end.

What could be better than inheriting a rent controlled apartment in a gorgeous historical building? It’s just the break that Rosie and Chad need as he works on getting his big break in acting and they focus on starting a family together. Rosie also decides that living in the Windemere is the perfect place to live while she writes a book on the building’s history. Just one thing – Chad inherits the apartment from his rich eccentric uncle, and his cousin isn’t so happy to have cut out of her father’s will.

The trouble doesn’t end there. The Windemere has a number of additional eccentric residents – Chad and Rosie are by far the youngest tenants in the building. There have been mysterious deaths and there are ghosts lurking around every corner. As Rosie digs deeper into the history of the building, strange things keep happening. And Rosie starts to worry there’s a curse she needs to escape.

The New Couple in 5B is an entertaining page turner. I enjoyed the characters that Unger developed. The book had a very Every Murder in the Building meets the Cecil Hotel vibe that I was all about! This book is out now!

At first, I thought please not another Rosemary’s Baby and I was going to put it down.
But, I did not put it down and it was a great read. The writing was amazing, the build up near the end had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
Great Read!

I have read several other boks by this author, and I have enjoyed them, This one was decent, and I enjoyed the fast pace and engaging storyline. I would recommend this one!

Lisa Unger definitely has a wild imagination! So first vibes of this book made me think of Rosemary's Baby. Then about half way thru it took a more of a psychological thriller. I definitely didn't guess the ending!

This was a rather disappointing read that dragged on for way too long. It felt like a lot was happening when in reality really nothing was.

I enjoyed this book for a few reasons. The first was that it was creepy! There were elements of paranormal that I (shockingly) actually enjoyed. I definitely wouldn't classify this as a ghost story though so don't let that put you off if paranormal stories aren't your thing. They aren't mine either and I still enjoyed it. Secondly, I loved the setting of an old luxury apartment building where death after death occur. I was intrigued by the plot and some parts manage to surprise me, while others felt so glaringly obvious I assumed I must be wrong. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this one and seeing how the pieces fell into the place at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm, this concept had so much potential. I found myself easily reading through but the plot and characters left me wanting. A 3 star from me.

This book was full of twists and turns from the very beginning. There wasn't as much paranormal as I thought there would be. The building was full of people that were not trustworthy which made it hard to figure out what was happening. I would recommend to anyone that like psychological thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I wasn’t really a fan of this. I’m not sure why I even requested it to be honest. Just wasn’t for me.

The New Couple in 5B felt so different from Unger's previous stories but still had that same intriguing writing style that drew me in from the beginning. I really enjoyed the various horror-like elements throughout this story and it really reminded me of Riley Sager's Lock Every Door, which I also loved. If you've read and enjoyed Unger's previous work I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my review copy!

4 stars. I really liked this book it kept me on edge the whole time. I ended up doing audio and think they helped me understand the story. I liked the spooky house elements

Disappointing mystery thriller.

Chad and Rosie Lowan are over the moon when they inherit a luxury apartment in the historic NYC building known as the Windermere. Soon, however, the atmosphere takes an ominous tone and Rosie begins to fear that there are unhappy ghosts that linger in the apartments, the halls, and the basement. Horrible things have taken place in this building. Suddenly, people they know are dying and Rosie is afraid she might be next.

This was overly long and repetitive with a dual timeline and the one thing I cannot tolerate in my crime fiction -- the supernatural. I did not care for any of the characters and even though the author dangled a lot of red herrings, it was quite predicable and the outcome no surprise. Rosie was annoying and the others quite stereotypical in their roles as friends, husband, and relatives. I listened to the audiobook as I read along, and I found the narrator very irritating with her attempts at doing all the voices though she seemed to channel Rosie's angst and histrionics appropriately. In short, this requires dealing with the slow pace and all the melodrama while suspending disbelief at every turn of the page.

Although I am grateful for the advance copy of the e-book ARC, I can't recommend this unless you enjoy those aspects of this story that I do not.

2.5 stars

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (But full disclosure, I read a library copy because the text was funky looking!)

This is one of several vacation reads that I really wanted to like but fell flat. I don’t know if it’s me or the books - maybe I’m in a rut, maybe they’re really all just meh. Our protagonists here are Rosie and Chad. He’s an actor who’s just one great role shy of his big break (or so he keeps insisting), and she’s a true crime writer. When Chad’s uncle dies, the couple ends up inheriting his fabulous apartment (instead of his own daughter, and yes she DOES take that quite personally). Rosie is thrilled because the building itself is sort of infamous and would make a great subject for her next book. I think what drew me to this initially was the Only Murders in the Building vibes, but it’s just not as fun.

Although there have apparently been multiple mysterious deaths at the Windermere over the years, the story we focus on in the flashbacks is that of the couple who lived in the apartment before Ivan (Chad’s uncle).Willa and Paul were also a married couple (I think in this case HE was the writer. She was a dancer). Although they’re trying to get pregnant just like Rosie and Chad, Willa was having an affair. There are quite a few flashbacks and honestly they left me quite bored. We know what happens going in - the husband kills her and then himself. And also in that same time frame, a child fell down the elevator shaft and died. But we know all of this very early on thanks to Rosie’s research, so going back and seeing all of this through Willa’s eyes just didn’t seem necessary (I guess it’s so the reveal of her lover’s identity has more impact? Meh).

Rosie also thinks she’s seeing ghosts - particularly the little boy who died. This isn’t really dealt with - like…were the ghosts real? Was she just imagining them? I don’t mind a supernatural bent, but it felt out of place here. I think there’s just too much going on - we’ve got the literary world and couples’ drama and ghosts and cold cases and current murders…it’s all just too much. And as other reviewers have mentioned, it felt like a slog.

I loved the twists in this book. They were not unpredictable, but still well done. I liked the use of the supernatural elements, and how the stories for previous tenants were told in back stories that wove through the stories of the main protagonist, Rosie Lowan, and her husband Chad. How all of the parts of the backstories of the other tenants in the apartments were exposed and how they ultimately all came together at the end was well done. Plus that ending twist, which was the one that was easier to see coming I think, still was a good final act for the book.