This started out very slow for me but half way thru it picked up. I wasn't sure where the story was going for a long while, that bothered me but the writing was good so I kept with it. The second half was very intriguing and put together. Definitely worth a read if you like slow burns.

This is a fast paced twisted mystery. Great audiobook read. This did not go in the direction I thought it would.

We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin is a tense and unsettling psychological thriller that keeps readers on edge from start to finish.

Gaylin masterfully weaves together suspense, paranoia, and unexpected twists, making it difficult to predict what will happen next. The characters are well-developed, with complex motivations that add to the story’s psychological depth. The eerie atmosphere and the exploration of privacy, manipulation, and voyeurism make this novel feel disturbingly relevant.

While the book is gripping, I’m giving it four stars instead of five because some plot points feel slightly rushed, and certain twists, while shocking, could have been better fleshed out. However, it remains a thrilling and thought-provoking read that fans of psychological suspense will thoroughly enjoy.

If you love dark, twisty thrillers with a unique premise, We Are Watching is definitely worth your time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for making this audiobook available to me. This was my first time reading anything by Alison Gaylin, and I look forward to finding more! My favorite thrillers are ones that are entirely plausible. This is a fast paced thriller that was so hard to walk away from. The main character's whole life is flipped upside down by a group of conspiracy theorists who believe that in order to save the world, her family has to die. People she thought she could count on turn out to be anything but, and her estranged father may have all the answers. This was a great way to start off my 2025 reading!

This was an interesting book that went somewhere I wasn’t prepared for (as I almost never read back cover copy).

It was well written and had a lot of reveals to it that were surprising but I find the premise seemed a little too far fetched for me. I don’t mind a conspiracy theory and I can see things escalating similar to the way they did here BUT I think it was too thin to get to the level it did in this book. Too much to suspend my belief.

However, if it can look past that I think you’ll enjoy the thrilling and sometimes wild and dangerous aspects of this book.

My rating: 3*

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Thanks to NetGalley for this gifted copy, all opinions are my own.

This story starts with a tragic accident and a small family learning to live with the loss. They own a bookstore in their tiny town and it feels like they will be ok until strange things start to happen to Meg and Lily. Ominous references to Meg's father's band from long ago that supposedly contained secret messages of satanic practices that all came from the one hit song from the old band. Meg thinks her reclusive father is paranoid. Lily thinks her mom is hiding more than a book she wrote as a teen. And. possibly the whole town is out to get them. Missing fingers and chanted numbers escalate to kidnapping and murder in this un-put-downable thrill ride. As it turns out, everyone is watching!

Whoa, this was a crazy intense read! I don’t want to give anything away but wow I really enjoyed this one. It started out with bang…and tragedy…the main characters don’t get a break until the very end… and really, I’m still thinking about it and wondering about them.

The world can be a scary place, and it is unbelievable how easily people will read something and believe it. Or they blindly follow along and just assume what they are following is the truth… This is a paranoid, cultish, totally engaging read!

This is the first book that I have read by author Alison Gaylin and it was a thriller that kept me wanting to know more!

Meg and Justin Russo were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College when a bunch of skinheads swerved into their car causing Meg to lose control of the car. Justin is killed in the crash.

As mother and daughter try to rebuild their lives, strange things begin to happen. They quickly figure out that the fantasy book that Meg wrote as a teenager and her musician father's song "Pearly Gates" are at the center of conspiracy theories circulating about their family.

Was Justin's death an accident or something more sinister? Are they in danger?

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the advanced digital copy of the audiobook for my review.

I highly recommend this title and the audiobook was very well done by Jennifer Pickens.

So many things are frightening that aren't monsters and made up creatures, chief among them are our fellow humans. Antisemitism, conspiracy theories, cults, stalking, self mutilation, murder, and wildly unchecked mental illness all in this book and more believable and scarier than most boogeyman stories.

This was well-paced book, intelligent, and taut, with realistic characters and reactions to extreme circumstances. It creeped me out while also keeping me immersed, unable to put it down. I'd recommend this to any fan of thrillers.

This was one audiobook I couldn't stop listening to. WE ARE WATCHING was fantastic! I had never read/listened to a plot line with conspiracy theories, online cults, and deepfake videos all rolled into one creepy story. I love suspense and Alison Gaylin brought a whole cast of characters in with secrets that haunt the main characters, Lily and her mother Meg after Lily's dad Justin dies in a car accident. The main characters have no one to trust from beginning to end and i was left still questioning whoI would trust in the story. Thank you NetGalley!

This was a great audiobook and just what I was looking for. The narrator was good and tensions were high throughout the book so I flew through it in about 24 hours. I am somewhat choosy about thrillers because I don’t like murdery plots so I was very excited to jump into this fresh and blood free plot.

Meg Russo published a book when she was 15 and many years later the events in the book start happening in real life. A group of conspiracy theorists are convinced she’s the spawn of a devil worshipper and responsible for all the bad things happening in the world. There were definitely moments in the book that I rolled my eyes but props to Alison Gaylin for creating such a creepy and unfortunately somewhat believable story.

After a car accident kills her husband, Meg starts wondering if the accident was caused for another reason. Did it have to do with a book she wrote when she was a teenager that some people believe is a prediction of the end times? Why are she and her daughter being followed and her bookstore vandalized? I did feel it was repetitive at times but it did keep me entranced. Jennifer Pickens did a good job as narrator.

3.5 stars.

✨I really enjoyed the fast pace of this book and the plot that was centered around a conspiracy theory cult. What I struggled with was the plausibility of the narrative. I think it just required too much suspension of belief for this reader.

✨ With that said, it was an entertaining read, and I did enjoy it. I was on the edge of my seat for sure.

✨I paired the audio version of this book with the print and did enjoy this immersive style of reading. The audiobook narration by Jennifer Pickens @jenwrenpickens was really engaging and held my attention throughout.

Alison Gaylin does an incredible job of diving deep into specific, dark, subjects and creating the most tense atmosphere where the reader can’t get enough information fast enough. As she used the dark web in The Collective, this book explores issues of satanic practices, conspiracy theories, and ill uses of social media to keep the pages turning. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to guess what was really going on and I was wrong every time.

The tension was brought to life with the great performance by Jennifer Pickens

I love Gaylin but there was too many plot lines to follow in this story. The conspiracy part took away from the rest of the story. I did have a great pace but it wasn't enough for me to save the story with so many distractions and unnecessary details.

I loved the daughter, mother, grandfather storylines and how they twined together. Also enjoyed the sadly realistic cult online followers and in-person attacks. I couldn’t put this down and it’s one I won’t soon forget. Loved the ending!!

The tone and pacing of We Are Watching was well done. I felt the suspense the characters were feeling as well as the anticipation and anxiety. However, the synopsis felt pretty far fetched for me and I found myself frustrated with the storyline and characters.

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 HarperAudio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Thank you for the opportunity. Here is my video review. https://youtu.be/5EohfqWD94Y?si=xaK_jhwotGvO-Bxq

Title: We Are Watching
Author: Alison Gaylin
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Jennifer Pickens
Publisher: HarperAudio Adult/Harper Audio
Genre: Mystery Thriller. Cults
Pub Date: January 28, 2025 –
should have been 12/12/ 2022
My Rating: 4.3 Stars
Pages: 336

Wolves are out there! Waiting for doomsday on 12.12.22, led by the Bronze Lord. They have a mantra: “They are watching. They are armed. They will triumph.”
But are these people real, or are they the figment of a delusional old ex-rock star’s imagination.

Story starts when Meg (Magnolia) Russo and her husband Justin driving their 18-year-old daughter, Lily to Ithaca College. Both Meg and Justin are excited about Lily’s choice as they meet in Ithaca. Meg was attending Cornell and Justin Ithaca College. They met their senior year when Meg took a class on the other side of town
(As a High School Counselor and College advisor I visited both of the colleges they are completely different and yes are on the opposite side of town – both on hills facing one another!)

Back to story- Meg is driving and is rattled by another car filled with skinheads taking photos of Lily. Meg over react and loses control of the car. Justin had unfastened his seat belt to get something from the back seat and is the accident is thrown from the car.

The accident takes Justin’s life; both Lily and Meg are traumatized. Lily takes a gap year,
Even with therapy they both continued to deal with the ache of losing him.

Lily turns to pot and Meg decides to reopen her bookstore “The Secret Garden’ which she and Justin owner and loved.
On re-opening day, a female customer makes a scene, dropping books in the children’s section then making a scene for other customers to witness. She shows her fingers: one gone, three left, meaning Justin. The three left behind are her father, Nathan, daughter Lily, and herself.
We learn more about Meg’s father and things get stranger and stranger.

This is author, Alison Gaylin's fourteenth novel. I have read and loved the others I read.
The profanity didn’t seem as excessive in the others. In this case, I wish I could have bleeped out most of it –however – this story had me hooked!
Additionally narrator Jennifer Pickers was great in performing the characters!!

Things are indeed bizarre, and they get strange and then stranger. I love thrillers and there is also a desire to try to figure out whodunit – in this case who are the "finger missing 12 12 2022 bad guys.” I did have my suspicious but sure didn’t have details.

I know I am weird- I have a low tolerance for profanity but find reading an off-the wall story about cult groups an entertaining read.

Want to thank NetGalley, Harper Audio Audio/Harper Audio and William Morrow for granted me this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 28, 2025.