Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for an advanced reader copy of We Are Watching in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 2nd book I've read by Alison Gaylin and I wasn't disappointed.

Conspiracy, suspense and a whole slew of suspicious characters!

A well paced and tense thriller. The accident that killed Justin almost destroyed his wife Meg and their daughter Lily, who are struggling mightily with their grief. But then it turns out that it might not have been an accident and that Meg's past is coming back hard at her. Who could imagine that a book you write at age 15 can warp others into destructive and horrible ways. Ways that see them harassing and threatening Meg claiming that she's, among other things, a Satanist. No spoilers from me but know that this is a sleigh ride. Thanks to the publisher for the arc. Sympathetic protagonists in Meg and Lily and an unfortunately plausible scenario made this a page turner.

Paranoia on all sides keeps this thriller tautly paced. What happens when watching turns deadly? And who can you trust when the conspiracy goes back decades? Fast-paced entertaining read.

"Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car sidled up beside them, the young men inside it behaving erratically. The Russos’ car went off the road, and Justin didn’t survive the accident.

Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after returning to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and vandalizing the store. They are obsessed with a young adult novel tiled The Prophesy, which was published 20 years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced the book predicted a plague, and social media posts link it to Satanism. People are sure it heralds the apocalypse. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on its author...Meg.

As the threats turn more violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin's death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save herself and Lily, she must get to the root of the lies fueling these people to come after them—and find a way to face them head on."

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Meg Russo and her husband are driving their daughter, Lily to college when they get in to a fatal car accident that claims Justin's life. 3 months later, Meg and Lily are being targeted by a group of conspiracy theorists who are obsessed with a novel Meg wrote when she was a teenager. The believe it portends the end of the world and if they can "kill the demon" COVID will end.
Quick read, very suspenseful.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this digital e-arc.*

Thanks to William Morrow for an advanced copy of We are Watching by Alison Gaylin.

This psychological suspense wasn't quite what I expected and was the first time I've read an Alison Gaylin book.

Meg and her husband Justin were driving their daughter to college when a car next to them full of men is behaving weirdly towards them, which caused an accident where Justin died. Meg and Lily are dealing with their grief when more weird things start happening and they become the target of a conspiracy theory.

This was such a unique and wild plot but not quite for me. I was weirdly bored through the middle of the book waiting for more to happen, but when it did it was out there.

Well that was an emotional roller coaster and also gave me nightmares. In a good way? This book is absolutely terrifying because it can actually happen and honestly, probably has somewhere.

This is a psychological thriller centered around a cult, obsession, Satan and conspiracies. I couldn’t put it down or stop thinking about it. I also was getting nervous being home alone 🤣

We Are Watching releases January 28th so take the day off and binge this crazy novel! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

In We Are Watching, Meg and her family are targeted by a group of conspiracy theorists. Meg’s dad has always thought they were being hunted, but it’s not until Meg’s husband dies suddenly and odd things start happening to her and her daughter that she starts to see that maybe her dad wasn’t being overprotective.

This was a thriller, which kept me engaged and entertained, but the conspiracy theory stuff isn’t really my cup of tea. Once I was completely involved in the story, I felt I was reading it just to finish it. But if conspiracy theories are your vibe, this might be a good one for you!

I don’t know what I went into this one thinking but it was not at all what I thought! A refreshing story that had a little bit of adventure to it!

Wolves are out there! Waiting for doomsday on 12.12.22, led by the Bronze Lord.

Meg (Magnolia) Russo is driving her 18-year-old daughter, Lily, to Ithaca College with her husband Justin, by her when their car is approached by another vehicle filled with skinheads taking photos of Lily. Meg snaps and realizes she is about to lose control of the car. When something is terribly wrong. Why are they going off the road? What’s happening? The airbags deploy too late and their car flips. The accident takes Justin’s life, leaving a traumatized mother and daughter struggling to move on. Meg suffers from back pain, and Lily takes a gap year. Meg decides to reopen her bookstore, which she ran with her late husband. On opening day, a strange woman makes a scene. Bizarre and terrifying events start happening: vandalism at the store, police harassment of Lily, threatening messages, and deepfake videos released on an anonymous site. Meg begins to think her estranged ex-rock star father, Nathan, might have been telling the truth all along. He had warned her about people targeting him for a song he wrote called “Pearly Gates,” which allegedly contains satanic messages hidden in the lyrics. As a secret ritual, the watchers cut off one of their fingers, they lurks around and gathering information. They could be anyone: a neighbor, a friend, someone you’ve known for years. Meg is determined to protect what’s left of her family. She’s already lost her husband and is ready to fight to protect her daughter, even at the risk of her own life. But what if the threat is already too close to stop?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

In the world we live in, everyone knows about how certain groups can be with their ideology. That is what makes this book both believable & equally scary! We all know groups who will read conspiracy into the most mundane of things & we also know those groups are capable of taking action that puts the lives of others in danger!

Description
From USA Today bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award–winning author Alison Gaylin comes a slick, riveting, and all-too-plausible tale of psychological suspense where a mother is desperate to protect her family as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists.

Sometimes the world is out to get you.

Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident.

Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy, which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author...Meg.

As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on...before it’s too late.

The story is compelling and immersive with suspenseful twists. This was a good read with a fierce ending.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I WAITED FOR ANOTHER BOOK FROM THIS AUTHOR BECAUSE THE LAST BOOK I READ FROM HER I WAS HOOKED.
You know how sometimes the second book of the author or the other books that they have written does not really live up to the hype of the first one you have read or they made? Well, guess what this one really lived up to the hype that I felt when I first read her work..
I really cannot wait for people to read this one because Allison Galen really knows how to get the readers’ attention and make the readers scream to these fictional characters. SHe has. A way of making the readers interact with the characters.

What is the saying? "Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." Or something like that. It could be the subtitle for this story of a holdover from the Satanic Panic of the 1970s. I know this book is fiction, but through the whole thing I could easily see it taking place thanks to so many conspiracy theorists and the prevalence of ridiculous online influences. So many times I mentally screamed at the main characters to do things to protect themselves, and I spent a majority of the book cringing wondering which of their friends would be the one(s) to turn on them. The more I read from this author, the more I want to read from her! I love her inventive and engaging stories and fleshed out characters that feel all too real!

Conspiracy theories.....I mean, we are living in it, currently. As we wait to swear in again the worst president of all time, we are surrounded by people blind to the truth. We Are Watching takes those conspriacies and adds the human element.

Meg and Justin are driving their beloved daughter to college when their care goes off the road, killing Justin. Straight-forward and tragic. Well, maybe not. As Meg recovers from Justin's tragic death, she is assaulted by people spewing hate on social media. Why are they doing this, what is causing this hatred?
---
This is the story of what happens when people will believe anything. It's unsettling and uncomfortable to read...and it's excellent.

Alison Gaylin has written a banger of a story that will leave readers unsettled and that's exactly the point.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this excellent thriller.

Meg Russo and her daughter, Lily, have returned home and re-opened their family bookstore whilst still reeling from the auto accident that killed her husband, Justin. They were taking Lily to college when a group of men started stalking, racing, and photographing them - Meg lost control of the car and Justin died. Picking up the pieces, Meg is back at the bookstore where she's confronted by odd and angry patrons. Whilst these events are occurring, Lily has started a relationship with a boy who has her digging into her past. She uncovers a dangerous conspiracy theory, with her family at the center. Alison Gaylin is one of my most favorite authors - she is so true to her characters in developing them - and then throwing in the perfect twists and turns! In "We Are Watching", she cranks up the paranoia and conspiracy theories to high marks. A wonderful read! Thank you to William Morrow for an advanced reader of this book - the opinions expressed are my own.

I couldn’t put this book down! We Are Watching was suspenseful and twisty with three well written protagonists. After the loss of her husband in a tragic car crash, Meg is attempting to pull herself out of her grief and building a new normal in her life. She’s trying to build a stronger relationship with her college aged daughter Lily and her paranoid and reclusive father, as well as get back to her job running a local bookstore. But as she begins having weird interactions with strangers, she uncovers a dangerous conspiracy theory, with her family at the center of it.
Props to Alison Gaylon for crafting such a creepy atmosphere of paranoia. The feeling of being watched and not knowing who to trust was woven into the story from the very first chapter. I enjoyed all three of the main characters and seeing their troubled family dynamics from each other’s sides.
I think most creepy of all was how plausible this plot feels. In this age of social media, “fake news”, and now deepfakes and AI, this story felt like food for thought. How can we know what’s real? How can we convince others what’s real? And how dangerous can the consequences be when we blindly trust the internet?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to read this because I enjoyed another of the author’s books, The Collective, which was very disturbing. We Are Watching made it look like a children’s book.

Meg’s husband dies in a horrible car accident and she blames herself, because she was driving. Soon after, Meg and her daughter Lily realize they are being targeted by an online community of conspiracy theorists who think Meg’s dad, a famous bassist, is a Satan-worshipping warlock. The things that are happening to Meg and Lily get crazier and crazier, and they don’t know who they can trust. There are a lot of profoundly disturbing things in this book, like live-streaming murders.

The thing that bothered me most about this book wasn’t the deranged actions of the conspiracy theorists, but the way they blended into the community and seemed like normal people. The group reminded me of QAnon and it was horrifying to see how easily they believed in the conspiracy and acted as if they were the ones who would save the world. I have a renewed empathy for the victims affected by these terrible lies, in our real world, today.

One thing I hoped would happen, but didn’t, is a reconciliation between Meg and the guy who came to fix her window. I like to think he wasn’t part of the conspiracy and that he would understand why she acted the way she did. But, alas, we’ll never know!

You know that feeling of someone watching you? Imagine feeling like that for every hour of every day.
Meg, Justin and their daughter Lily were on their way to take Lily to college when tragedy struck. A car pulled up beside theirs on the highway and the men inside were acting odd. Next thing they know, Meg had lost control of the vehicle and Justin didn’t survive the crash.

A few months later, Meg is pushed to re-open her local bookstore that her and Justin owned together. Not long after the re-opening, people begin targeting both Meg and Lily. As the targeted events continue, they discover that this group of people is obsessed with a book called the Prophesy that Meg had written 30 years earlier.. These people believe the book predicts an apocalyptic event. There are social media posts/videos that connect both the book and Meg’s father to Satanism. Therefore, they must seek revenge on Meg since she wrote the novel.

Through all of this, Meg and Lily begin to wonder if the car accident was more than just an accident….

This was my first novel by Alison Gaylin and it definitely will not be my last. I had a hard time putting this one down. As I worked my way through the story, I felt like I was watching a movie unfold in my mind. The author creates such beautiful, realistic imagery that I felt like I was right there, submerged in the story. It was like I could feel the feelings the characters were feeling as they felt them. I remember my skin crawling a few different times.

This was a unique storyline that I really enjoyed! I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this advance copy of We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin. I read Gaylin’s The Collective when it came out and loved it, and I was very excited to receive her next work.

One thing that Gaylin does so well is introduce these “wtf” plot lines that seem so far fetched, yet somehow rooted in making the reader think “okay, that could absolutely happen”. In this one we’re following married couple Meg and Justin, and their daughter Lily as they’re involved in a motor vehicle crash, and details begin to emerge that it may have not been an accident. This one touches a lot on conspiracy theories and how quickly things could spiral. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Collective, I found it to be very fast paced and I just wanted to keep reading.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this review. We Are Watching releases soon, January 28, 2025!

We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin is an unique, interesting, thrilling story about a conspiracy that wrecks the life of Megan and her daughter Lilly. It is fast paced, intriguing, and difficult to put down. You don't know who to trust or who has joined the conspiracy. It is a great psychological thriller that I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, Willam Morrow, and The Scene of the Crime Early Readers for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.