A thank you to NetGalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 A new book compared to Jordan Peele's Get Out by an author most well known for her regency romance series...Quite the juxtaposition, so how could I resist. That said, while I finished this 2 days ago, I'm still sorting my thoughts about it, which means it's rather difficult to review. It's so sinister, so disturbing that it left me feeling a little ill (so did Get Out) that I almost didn't finish it (same with Get Out.) The rich timely inclusion of history was welcome and thought provoking, the gentrification, depressing - especially since it's all too real. It's not horror in the traditions sense although it's certainly horrific. Perhaps realistic horror is more apt, which gives it it's serious creep factor. My only quibbles were that the progression of the story at times felt a little disjointing and the pacing out of sync. Definitely a solid read and certainly would make for an interesting book club book.

The scariest part of this one is that I can see it happening. That is a horrible truth to be able to say about a work of fiction. Alyssa Cole’s WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING is a well-written thriller that not only kept me on the edge of my seat, but also folded in a wealth of historical information that was interesting and eye-opening.
This was an unexpected read for me and I appreciated the way Cole crafted the story and its characters. There were some unexpected twists, and I finished the book wishing for just a little more. It is also a novel that will have you thinking about it long after you finish.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.
#WHENNOONEISWATCHING #ALYSSACOLE #WILLIAMMORROWPAPERBACKS #SCENEOFTHECRIME #THEBOOKCLUBGIRLS

This was like a weird mix of get out and some other science fiction horror movie. I was super confused who I was supposed to be focusing on most of the book as it was jumping around way so much to all these different characters. A lot of it was unbelievable and a little bit in the beginning was really hard to read in regards to some racism to the point where I actually stopped reading it the first time but heard such good reviews I decided to pick it back up. Wouldn’t recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The description of When No One is Watching is that it a thriller that is Rear Window crossed with Get Out. This intrigued me and I was happy to get a gifted copy from William Morrow for review.

Sydney Green has returned to her childhood home in Brooklyn after her own marriage has ended to help out her ailing mother. She is putting together a historic tour of her neighborhood to highlight the black history and is begrudgingly assigned a new assistant, her new neighbor Theo. He has moved to the neighborhood with his girlfriend, but their relationship has headed south quickly. As Sydney and Theo work on putting together the history of their neighborhood, they start to notice strange things happening. Why are long time neighbors suddenly disappearing? Why are people trying to “gentrify” and change the neighborhood?

I don’t want to go too far into the plot and ruin it for everyone, but I was RIVETED by this thriller and couldn’t put it down. I loved that it made you question both Sydney’s sanity and Theo’s motivations. I wasn’t sure who to believe. The final part of the book was terrifying as it seems like something that COULD happen – especially in 2020.

I liked that When No One is Watching took a hard look at gentrification and what it means to a neighborhood. It is a very timely read. I really liked the character of Sydney. She had to make hard decisions during a trying time, and she defended her own. She was a strong woman. I would LOVE to see When No One is Watching turned into a movie. This book was truly an original story and kept me guessing all of the way through the end. I need to check out Alyssa Cole’s romance novels and keep her on my radar for her future books. I loved it.

Favorite Quotes:
“People bury the parts of history they don’t like, pave over it like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan.”

“Most of my childhood was spent blundering in the wake of my mother’s turbulent decisions.”

“I lean back into it and we watch that shit burn down.”

“The thread goes on and on, but almost every entry is more or less the same thing; marginalized people disappearing.”

Overall, When No One is Watching is a timely thriller that looks at the dark side of gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood.

Book Source: Review Copy from William Morrow. Thank-you!

This is a thriller that builds very slowly. At the end, you realize that they were many clues, but they are subtly placed throughout the novel.
Sydney has recently moved back to Brooklyn from Seattle after her divorce and is living at her mother’s house. Her mother is very ill, and Sydney has a hard time dealing with this, and with the mounting bills. She is getting lots of calls from creditors and keeps putting them off. People keep wanting to buy her house, but she doesn’t want to let it go.
Meanwhile, Kim and Theo move into the neighborhood, along with other white families, pushing out the black owners. Stores are disappearing, and homeowners seem to go missing as well. There is a new hospital being built in the community, although the residents have opposed it.
All of these changes and worry over her mother are weighing heavily on Sydney. Although she doesn’t want to, she finds herself doing some research on the history of the neighborhood and is using Theo to help with her research. What they uncover is more sinister than you can imagine.
The novel builds and builds until reaching a tense conclusion.
I enjoyed the novel up until the last few chapters which I felt were an unlikely. outcome, just not all together believable. Other than that, I did enjoy the book.
Thanks to The Book Club Girls, Harper Collins, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.
#WhenNoOneIsWatching #NetGalley #Edelweiss #AlyssaCole

This novel of the gentrification of a Black Brooklyn neighborhood by an unethical corporation is filled with historical info, corrupt, powerful white people, and evil medical experiments. Starts out slow to introduce the reader to the characters and then greatly speeds up the action towards the end. A well-written thriller incorporating many racial issues in an intriguing, eye-opening story relevant to our times.

Publisher sent me opportunity and teaser, it sounded thrilling which I had not read a good thriller in some time. I had to read this book.
"Rear Window meets Get Out" "Read It!"

Like writing style and flow of book. Kept me interested and reading irregardless of happenings around me.

Gentrification of Brooklyn neighborhood becomes sinister.
Struggles are band-aids over band-aids over band-aids -
you no longer know what wounds or scabs are underneath.

I like the writing style and flow of book, I took notes that I want to remember and reflect on.

I feel like now is the perfect time to read When No One is Watching, a thriller that focuses on gentrification and systemic racism in a way that is very eye-opening and relevant. As a white woman, I had to check myself and my reactions to some of the events in this book, because there were a few moments of that ingrained denial I feel a lot of us have, where we immediately think, "No, that's not how that would happen", or "Well, that's just ridiculous." Because these things can and do happen. These things might be ridiculous, but that doesn't mean they don't happen and aren't a real problem. I will admit that it is hard for me to keep my privilege in mind in a lot of situations, and this book helped me to confront that. Early in the book, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish reading it. I felt like Sydney was too abrasive, too aggressive, too intense. But I sat with that feeling for a bit, and realized I was feeling that way because I was uncomfortable with things being pointed out. Everything Sidney says and does is out of a desire to help her neighbors, to keep her neighbors and neighborhood safe. There is nothing abrasive or aggressive about that - when no one listens, you have to make them. The further into this book I got, and the more twists and turns that appeared, the more invested I became in these characters and their stories. I was firmly in Sidney's camp and wanted nothing more than for her to win her fight. My heart broke when hers broke, my anger flared when hers flared. This is a very important story and book, and I am glad I read it, because it forced me to confront my own shortcomings in a way not many books have. I gave this book 3 stars, not because it isn't important and not because I don't think people should read it, but because I feel like it fell apart a little bit toward the end. So many things are crammed into the final few pages that it almost felt like a separate book. I think maybe some of the initial build up could have been reduced in order to give the end more time and space to evolve and be more fleshed out. I was left with a few questions that are kind of bothersome not finding out the answers to, and I think that comes from rushing to the end. But again, that in no way negates the importance or impact of this book, and I absolutely recommend it for anyone looking to confront their own ideas, and for anyone looking for a good thriller.

Eh... I’m not sure what all the hype is about this book. I finished it but it was not my favorite. I didn’t enjoy the pace and the ending was pretty exhausting. Maybe next time.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

DANG! Alyssa Cole can write thrillers that chill! I have been a long time fan of Cole and have read her back list and recommended her books to hundreds of readers. I now get to recommend her to a whole different audience! Thriller readers can rejoice!

I really liked the writing style, but billing this as a thriller gave me some unrealistic expectations. It takes a while for anything to get actually get exciting/foreboding and for me it was a bit too long. Though the setting and historical details were fantastic! If you're in the mood for a very slow burn psychological twist, be sure to grab a copy of this one.

There's no beating the premise of this book, which is basically that there is a vast conspiracy to steal from Black people one of the most valuable commodities in America that can help build Black wealth, community, and sense of belonging — property. Except wait ... there <i>is</i> and always has been such a conspiracy in America, and the historical record supports this. That history, which Alyssa Cole sprinkles throughout her thriller both to bolster the plot and educate the reader, makes this book much more than a light read. I learned a few things, and was felt compelled to read more, sometimes just so the learning could continue.

Here's the set up: Sydney Green lives in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn in the brownstone owned by her mother since she was a kid. Except the speed with which her neighborhood is changing is accompanied by a strange series of unfortunate events befalling the longtime Black residents just as more and more white people move in. Sydney, having just left an emotionally abusive relationship is bruised, insecure and hiding a secret that has her justifiably paranoid, so the neighborhood goings-on have her second-guessing herself even while she grows more certain that something is very, very wrong.

Theo, Sydney's neighbor, is one of the gentrifiers, only he isn't "to the manor born" like his girlfriend Kim, and actually notices his Black neighbors. And what's more, he likes them as neighbors, not as the pesky holdovers that Kim and some of the other new white residents see them as. True, Theo "notices" Sydney more than he does anyone else on the block, but that becomes less of an issue when his relationship with Kim seems to be going south. Through a series of unexpected, and later, unsettling events, Sydney and Theo are thrown together and begin to unravel a much more nefarious plot than either of them could have imagined.

The concept of this book won the day for me, as did the author's humor. I laughed out loud more than once at her wry observations, and smiled quite often.

**SPOILERS AHEAD **

My small quibbles were as follows: there were moments, however where the white characters felt like caricatures, while the Black characters (even the minor ones) felt multifaceted and complex, and had backstories, even if they made brief appearances. And the root of the conspiracy, once uncovered, was still a little murky; and its breadth and reach a little fuzzy. "We have the media and the police on our side," one of the villains crows ... but the "we" was a little unclear. I didn't expect a tidy wrap-up, but the ending felt a little chaotic, with Sydney and Theo going on a Rambo-esque rampage which resulted in an unlikely standing down of the forces of evil, unlikelier still if they have law enforcement and the media on their side. Could be the author is planning to revisit the Sydney-Theo duo, or ... and this is my preferred interpretation, she's telling us that these issues of race and property ownership and wealth-building, and gentrification, all remain unresolved.

Recommended for those who like domestic thrillers.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: I got both the galley and audiobook from Netgalley, so I read some parts and listened to others. The narrator is perfect for this project. Well done.

Set at Labor Day, this story about the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood could not be any more current (there's even a fictionalized Central Park "Karen" — Bodega Becky).

What begins as a domestic drama before turning into a psychological thriller, detouring into romance, and taking the off-ramp in fourth gear to horror, is not for the faint of heart.

It's an in-your-face read that might get under your skin at the beginning and make your skin crawl by the end (if not earlier but from bed bugs, before "the web of conspiracy" reveals itself).

Dual narrated, in colorful language and jargon by black, 30-year-old, affably pugnacious Sydney Green whose life is "a spin out on a slick road," and by white <del>Brad</del> Theo who feels "the crushing stress of [his] life falling apart," they're like opposite ends of the same stick. Both depressives have a keen self-awareness and are concealing their pasts, adding an element of suspense as we readers get their backstories piecemeal.

We also get a crash course in Brooklyn history.

The author packs so much (so compactly!) into the book that is meticulously plotted, circling back to every detail in the storyline.

I saw the twists coming, but not past the exit sign; and after reaching the action-packed conclusion, I didn't want to leave Gifford Place, or, more specifically, the longtime residents of Gifford Place.

tl; dr: Not your garden-variety (npi) thriller. A disquieting, gripping, unforgettable story with the most realistic characters you'll find in a contemporary novel.

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Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for an advance reader copy.

Born and raised Brooklynite Sydney is shocked to see the gentrification changing her neighborhood before her eyes. She sets out to create a walking tour of the neighborhood very unlike the ones she currently sees - one that focuses on the Black and Native history of Brooklyn, and the real stories of the community there. But as her neighbors start disappearing in increasingly suspicious circumstances, she finds a more sinister root to the changes on her street.

There's a lot that this book does right. The creeping social horror is gripping and very atmospheric. There are plenty of twists and the ending was totally wild. But it took a while to get to the actual "horror" part of the narrative, making it a bit of a slow build. But definitely a good addition to the social horror genre. And I would love to see it adapted for the screen!

So many of the books I've read remind me that history keeps repeating itself. Alyssa Cole's latest novel is no exception. It really brings home what we continue to witness happening in too many communities. Unfortunately, it's a history that we shouldn't be proud of. I appreciated learning more about the topic of gentrification. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for the advance copy to read and review.

The scariest thrillers are the ones that feel like they could be true and When No One is Watching fits right in there. .It's very contemporary and filled with events that could be happen in the current environment. I loved the two lead characters. It got creepier as it went on and end was a surprise.

I love that at 13% into this book I said, "Kim is the worst," because wowzers did we go on a journey.

To contextualize this review, I am a white woman who rarely reads thrillers, but loves Alyssa Cole. I haven't seen Rear Window so I can't speak to that part of the Get Out x Rear Window comparison, but the Get Out threads in here are very clear. This book definitely feels like it's in conversation with Get Out and I really liked both the movie and this book.

This book is about Sydney who is putting together a historical tour of her neighborhood motivated, at least partially, out of spite that the Black people who built New York and made her neighborhood what it is keep getting erased from the narrative. Incidentally, the brownstone tour also erased the bad deeds of the Important White People who lived there too. Anyway, so Sydney is working to put together this tour while massive gentrification is starting to happen. My freshman year of college my university started this Clean Up Sunnyside initiative (or something, it had a slogan) and it was unrecognizable by senior year. This is moving at a pace even quicker than that. Literally, one day there's a corner store bodega with a cat and the next day there's a place that might as well be Whole Foods. It's confusing and overwhelming and also, is something happening?? That's the vibe of this book.

Meanwhile, Theo is a white dude living with his ex girlfriend in the brownstone they bought together. Kim keeps talking about "them" and "those people" with a Michelle Obama portrait in her living room. -_- Her white fragility pops out constantly and Theo's just bumbling along not quite getting it. He winds up volunteering to help Sydney with the tour and y'all, there's so much history in this book. That was one of my favorite aspects of the book because I think Alyssa Cole does a great job weaving it into the story and never overwhelming you. (It does however make you very ready to believe a lot of conspiracy theories. Are they conspiracy theories if they're true?)

A romance develops between Sydney and Theo, but this book is DEFINITELY not a romance. Theo is not a romantic lead. Alyssa even said in her Instagram Live with Katrina Jackson (which you should totally watch) that Theo is not a romance hero because if he was this book would be a romance. She also said that messy people deserve love too and like, thank you, Alyssa, bless you. Please never leave us.

One of the best parts of this book for me is truly the community aspect. I think that community is so vitally important and it's really hard to come by sometimes as an adult and to trust when you've found it. Sydney grew up in this neighborhood, but she left when she got married, and now that she's back, she doesn't quite seem to know how to lean on other people. But the other people care about her anyway and I love that.

In terms of whether or not this book is scary, my answer for you as the biggest scaredy cat is not helpful. The scariest part of this for me is knowing how much of this could happen today, right now, and how we would dismiss it because it sounds too out there. Parts of this book made me think about what's been going on in Portland and that is a large part of what made me anxious. That said, the end especially gets really creepy.

I feel like I could keep talking about this book, but this review feels really long already. So, just know, I think this book is really great and thought provoking and I have a whole lot more feelings about it. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy and I'm sorry for being such a chicken about reading it that I waited until I had both the physical and audiobook to read it. :)

I wish that I enjoyed this book more than I did.. I'm a fan of thrillers, but I admit to being picky about them and this one didn't work for me, as whole. I did like certain parts, like the bulk of the story that built to a crescendo and a puzzling mystery to work out, meted out piece by piece while we are basically figuring out the story with the narrator. Ultimately the slow beginning (I need thrillers/suspense to move quickly... a plodding story is hard for me to grab onto) and confusing crash ending marred my opinion of the book. I do see that I am in the minority so I'll chalk it up to me being a picky reader.

Not really the psychological thriller that it was hyped to be or maybe I have had enough of unreliable narrators. I'm always hesitant to post a less than favorable review, but this book just wasn't for me. It was slow to start and I didn't care for the main characters. Thank you to The Book Club Girls and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was incredible, so intense and gripping. I'm looking forward to sharing the author's writing process with our newsletter.