Sydney is happy to be back in her childhood neighborhood but it's not the same anymore. New developments and residents have changed the feeling of the street. The longer she stays in her mother's house, the more she realizes this "revitalization" may be more sinister than she thinks. When No One Is Watching is a dark and suspenseful commentary on the gentrification of people of color neighborhoods. From the start, Cole drops the reader in a racially awkward situation making the reader feel uncomfortable and threatened. Throughout the book, readers will question whether the situations and experiences of Sydney and Theo are imaginative or real; giving the atmosphere a Twilight feel. Cole presents two perspectives that give balance to the argument of how gentrification is seen. Sydney is an African American woman who is fighting for her family home and in the process has secrets she is keeping which drives her more and more toward mentally disorientated. Theo is a white male who buys one of the brownstones on Sydney's street. Throughout their interactions, both of these points of view clash and melt together, giving a robust and rounded point of view for the reader. The pace of the book fluctuates and at times can feel too slow, while other times (such as the ending) rushed without giving the reader time to process. Yet, Cole delivers a visceral and bone-chilling commentary on contemporary race issues that will have the reader questioning their everyday interactions.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sydney Green, a black woman, grew up in the same house in Brooklyn she is currently living in. She has known the neighbors for years. But some of her neighbors start to move, without telling anyone. And white people move in. Theo, who has moved in to the neighborhood befriends her. Sydney is wanting to give a walking tour of the neighborhood, that highlights the historical black community, and Theo offers to help her research. But can she trust him?
The very beginning of this book did not capture me, and I spent the prologue thinking, “What am I reading?” But then a few chapters in, I got it. This is a powerful book, especially in these times, with racially driven events.
This book made me sad, mad and scared. The author did a great job in inspiring all emotions. I enjoyed learning the history of Brooklyn, things that I was never taught. The thriller part was definitely in the last few chapters, but it didn’t feel like it was thrown together. It was well planned out.

What can't Alyssa Cole do? I've been a fan since her Off the Grid series, and where a lot of the best romance writers write well in one mode, maybe historical romance or contemporary, I've yet to read a book of hers, no matter if it's set in the Civil War era or, as When No One Is Watching is, in a menacingly "gentrifying" present-day New York, that doesn't work. Highly recommended!

After a messy divorce, Sydney Green moves back to the Brooklyn neighborhood in which she was born and raised in order to help her ailing mother. But Sydney starts to notice strange things about the neighborhood that she holds near and dear to her heart. New condos are popping up everywhere, new businesses are replacing the old. For Sale signs litter many of her neighbor's front lawns. Some neighbors have seemingly disappeared in the night without a good-bye.

Upset by the seeming erasure of the history of her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sydney sets out to curate a walking tour that will highlight the place she calls home past and present. Highlight the fight it has taken for her neighbors to hold onto their community. Along with her unwitting new neighbor Theo, as they begin to research, they'll discover a sinister layer to the gentrification of Sydney's beloved neighborhood. Is it all undue paranoia from the stress of seeing things change? The question still remains: where are her former neighbors going when they disappear?

I've been hearing about this book for months and I finally had to dive into it. I know it's a departure from Alyssa Cole's previous romance books. So fair warning, this is a mystery/thriller through and through.

It was also soooooo timely. The way that Alyssa Cole ties together history and the erasure of Black history in the name of gentrification and profit is done so well. I always feel like I'm constantly in a state of learning and this book definitely put things into perspectives that I had not fully considered before. Reading an ebook was particularly helpful because with every historical reference that Alyssa Cole brought up I was easily able to do a search from my tablet and get more context. It's accurate to say that I have been thinking about the overarching issues that this book brought up (outside of what is relevant to the story itself) since finishing. While this book may fall in the "fiction" category its overall message is seated in truth and facts.

As for the story itself. I really loved how Alyssa Cole slowly unfolds everything. Things start out a bit questionable - yes, new people are moving into the neighborhood, and all the same uncertainties come up in facing an unknown - and then it just begins to spiral - people are seemingly disappearing, and are replaced by families that seem rather Stepford on the surface.

Sydney is our main narrator. I think it's safe to say Sydney, at first, seems a little unreliable. It's majorly hinted at early on that things are not entirely as they seem for Sydney. She's still healing from a divorce. She's thwarting calls for her mother from debt collectors. Stress gives her sleepless nights which in turn give her anxiety and possible hallucinations. Whatever is, or isn't, happening in the neighborhood is just another layer of stress for Sydney. It's easy to see that she may be jumping at shadows. Regardless of everything, I liked Sydney from the start. As things start to boil over you begin to really root for her to come out on top because she's not really a woman given to irrationality or overreactions. She's a strong women who despite what is happening on a personal level, she wants to fight for her home. The problem is not knowing who she can trust.

Counter to Sydney's point of view we have Theo who is one of the new neighbors. Theo represents, to say it bluntly, the kind of stereotypical white male. He doesn't realize his privilege regardless that he himself doesn't come from affluent background, he's still able to move more easily through society. When he and Sydney begin to work together on her tour of the neighborhood, his eyes begin to open and he sees that there's a definite bias when it comes to what gets written in the history books. Theo, too, is a bit of a wild card. By his own admission he has secrets. Secrets that he really has no intention of revealing. I found it a bit more difficult to warm up to his character probably because Sydney herself keeps questioning his motives. I understand that this tactic was used as a way to up the suspense and to make Sydney's isolation more deftly felt, but it's one aspect of the story that I wish had figured itself out a little bit sooner because the back and forth was getting a bit too repetitive.

I don't really want to say much more because I don't want to ruin anything. Suffice it to say, it is a timely story that's thrilling and suspenseful. It'll cause you to take a good look at the community in which you live and the history of the place you call home.

A tense and horrific thriller about gentrification, its insidiousness, the people it displaces, and the people/entities/forces that drive it forward. The story burns quietly at the beginning before ending in a blaze.

Alyssa Cole is such a beloved author that I'm worried that I'm going to be attacked for not liking this book. At least the bonkers ending, which I was expecting there to be one, made me give it three stars instead of two.

I've never liked Alyssa Cole's romances. The male lead always irritated me to the point where I was wondering 'what does she see in him.?' I was hoping since this was supposed to a suspense novel that I wouldn't have the same problem. Nope. The guys is a mopey loser and she uses him, by her own admittance, as an emotional punching bag. There is too much romance and it would have been such a better book if there was none.

This could have been a better book in a lot of ways: more scenes of the supporting characters, no POV of the male lead, less of the historical lessons, and more of the feel of the community as a whole. I understand what Cole was trying to do when she stopped the story to tell me the history of gentrification but if you really want me to feel the impending doom of the community I have to fall in love with it.. Just giving me bare facts makes me go 'That's sad' but have no real connection, The place has to be a living, breathing character who is dying.

But maybe Alyssa Cole's fan will love this because they like her romances and just didn't like because I'm not a fan of her romances.

This review is based on an advanced copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

As a big Alyssa Cole romance fan, I was super excited to read her thriller debut, and it blew me away! Amazing commentary on gentrification (specifically in NYC/Brooklyn), a compelling protagonist in Sydney, and Cole's signature sharp, engaging writing. Such a page turner, and sure to be a big hit with fans of thrillers/horror like Jordan Peele's Get Out, etc. Looking forward to seeing what Cole writes next!

Being a big fan of Alyssa Cole's romances, I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one. But there was no need to worry as Cole knocked me off my feet. This one is part thriller, part horror, and all social commentary on the evils of gentrification. The book slowly unravels as Sydney becomes more and more distrustful and suspicious about what exactly is happening in her beloved neighborhood. The writing is excellent, balancing the humor with the horror and historical lessons on Brooklyn. This is a must read for anyJordan Peele fans!

Longer review to come!

Sydney lives in Gifford Place, a historically Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, in her mother's brownstone. But she is increasingly aware of the appearance of new, mostly white neighbors, and the parallel disappearance of Black residents whom she has known for years. Her mother is ill -- and receiving increasing numbers of strange phone calls from an agency. Meanwhile, the new white residents seem inclined to ignore the neighborhood's history -- in fact, determined to erase it. As Sydney works to develop a neighborhood tour that contradicts the white narratives, strange things happen -- but is she imagining them as a consequence of her depression? What can one woman do?

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, despite being a big Alyssa Cole fan -- and there was a point early on at which I thought that it might have been intended as a didactic primer for white readers -- though it surprised me that Cole would write so specifically for that audience. But as I went on, I realized that while there are elements of the novel that fit that goal, it's so much ,more than that. I'm being cryptic, because this is definitely best read unspoiled -- but I'm tremendously impressed with how Cole blends key points about how gentrification happens, and how it hurts people, with twists and turns that make for a genuinely horrifying thriller. In the process, she makes a compelling argument that the effects of gentrification and so-called "urban renewal" are just as much a part of the romance genre -- and just as worthy of stories -- as more familiar tropes.

I've read many of Alyssa Cole's romance novels - which I love, but this was my first of her mystery/suspense.

This book... THIS BOOK. It had me at equal parts enraged and frightened. Enraged by what was happening to the residents of Gifford Place, and frightened because it honestly could have been ripped from the headlines. I could not put it down, and I am still in shock several hours after finishing. I haven't had this visceral a response to a book in a very long time - I need to know what happened after the Epilogue!

I can't go into my thoughts without spoilers, so just let me say this is a very timely read, and will make you think twice about everything you thought you knew. Very well done!

This one was unfortunately a bit tough for me, mostly because it wasn't very "thrilling".

Sydney is a spunky black woman who is watching her neighborhood become gentrified. She can tell there's something a bit suspicious going on, but doesn't quite know what it is. Through her research for a tour she wants to conduct, she (and Theo) figure out the mystery.

Theo is one of the people who has recently moved into the neighborhood with his horrible girlfriend. He starts to get close to Sydney, and that's as much as I'll say about Theo.

I found this story to move very slow, and I honestly wasn't that invested in what the mystery was. I didn't find the reveals all that interesting. The writing was decent, though!

Personally wouldn't read again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alyssa Cole, and HarperCollins for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“People bury the parts of history they don’t like, pave it over like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan skyscrapers. Nothing stays buried in this city, though.”

The last 15% of this book had me *so* anxious. I read the last part in a single hour because I absolutely couldn’t put the book down. The scariest part about this book? So many things that happen in this book can and have happened in real life and it’s not that much of a stretch to believe that the rest of it could as well. The beginning of When No One is Watching starts off a little slow, but the more clues that Sydney and Theo put together and the more clues that the readers put together there is a great build-up of suspense. They lead to something sinister and deadly.

There is a lot of history talked about in this book, much that I didn’t know, but unlike other books it doesn’t drag down the story. Everything Sydney and Theo uncover adds to the mystery and what they’re working to uncover. I really liked Sydney and her determination to keep her mother’s home, keep her community together, even when she feels like some of the stuff might be in her head. Theo, I liked less, but he was still a great character. He became more interesting when his full past and actions were revealed, honestly.

This is my first Alyssa Cole novel and I feel like it was a great book to start with. When No One is Watching deals with a lot of tough topics and it really stood out to me in the thriller genre. I highly recommend.

I enjoyed this one! When No One is Watching takes the concept of gentrification and gives it a sinister meaning. Residents of a predominantly Black neighborhood are being replaced by wealthy, white people. But it seems like there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

I thought the writing was so clever and witty. My only criticism was the pacing, it felt a bit slow for most of the book and then it felt like all of the plot happened towards the end.

Overall, though, it was a fun read and one that I enjoyed and would definitely recommend!

Let it be said that I'm an Alyssa Cole superfan, and her foray into thrillers is thrilling! People complain about the pacing of the novel, but I didn't mind it because I found the development of the characters so compelling, if not thrilling or tense. Sydney and Theo are genuinely complex, and their dynamic is too. For me the slow-paced beginning was not extraneous. It was the setting up of all the dominoes. It's hard to discuss plot points without getting into spoiler territory, but the book makes some great points. Knowledge of history is vital; it might literally save your life! Also, those in power aren't eager to give it up, and they are nimble. The connections from 17th c. slaveholding to today's societal ills are very strong.

The one thing that keeps this from being a five star book for me is the gun violence. It's hard to articulate, and probably very personal, but I just wish there had been another way. It kept me from feeling as satisfied as I wanted to.

I do believe this is the first time that I have read a book where the focus was on gentrification. Yes, I had to look the word up, but as soon as I did, I was able to recall news stories of how this has happened time and again in history. One source online refers to it as an "inverse of white flight".

I have read several of Alyssa Cole's romance novels, so to take on a thriller that focused on such a serious subject was of great interest to me. In this story we have dual points of view, that of Sydney and Theo, who were as different as night and day. However, they each are affected by what is going on in her Brooklyn neighborhood. Still saddened by the loss of her mother, whom she still called Mommy, and is very close to her best friend Drea. The pair have a secret that, if revealed, could ruin their lives.

The neighborhood is disappearing. Developers are making it very difficult for residents to keep their homes. Drea works for the city, so she is able to keep Sydney apprised as to the plans that are in play. Despite this advantage, however, things become quite intense and even dangerous, and more than a bit sinister at times.

Theo was a mystery, a man who came from a very dark past, and who would have no qualms to going to any extreme when it came to Sydney. As every other chapter in this story came from his point of view, there was no doubt as to how vigilant he became when a pattern of events began to form a complex mystery.

When gentrification happens, people move out - one way or another. Sometimes, developers offer a pretty penny for their homes and property, or they find another poor area to settle. However, as Sydney and Theo began to see, some of Sydney's neighbors are disappearing. Something dark and deadly is happening and they won't stop until they sort matters out.

How chilling! With Sydney being black and Theo being white, they might seem unlikely allies when it comes to working together to make matters right. Will they get too close to what is really going on, thus placing their very lives in danger? What about the secrets they both are keeping? Will that be enough to upset anything stronger that is growing between them, going past camaraderie and becoming much more?

What a remarkable book by Alyssa Cole! It was a multi-layered story with enough twists, danger and more to keep me completely drawn to what was going on in the book. Also, when an author with a proven track record at writing romance, often with couples who have interracial relationships, who delves into a new genre, I must say I have nothing but respect for her.

I admit to having to work a bit harder with this review because I read two books by Cole back to back - How to Catch a Queen and this book. When No One is Watching. The two books could not have been more different. So, I loved the challenge of composing two comprehensive reviews back to back as well, albeit months in advance for her romance in a new series, Runaway Royals. Having now read quite a few romance titles by her, I loved the change of pace with a thriller novel, and certainly hope there will be more from this genre by her.

Many thanks to William Morrow Paperbacks and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Novel about gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood. I love Sydney and her determination to keep her mother's home.

You guys, this book!!!! So this is a social thriller, with a little romantic subplot thrown in. I loved both Sydney and Theo, and you really get a lot of build up in the beginning about who they are, and their neighborhood. I am going to be honest and say that the pacing of the book is a little off. I feel like not much happened in the beginning, other than you are getting to know the characters, the people of the neighborhood, the neighborhood app where some side stuff is going down. Then stuff starts coming together some, and then everything happens right at the end and you are like OMG OMG! And then it is over.

Like any good thriller, the plot of the story really has you thinking about how this can and does really happen! And that is quite scary. Gentrification of a neighborhood isn’t always a good thing. This book shows you to follow the money to uncover the power. It also talks a lot about injustices that some black communities endure.

Bottom Line: Everyone needs to read this. It was hard to put down and left me thinking a lot.

**I received a copy of When No One Is Watching from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Some spelling errors but regardless I LOVED this book! Gave me major "Get Out" vibes and kept me on my toes.

When No One Is Watching kept me on edge per page. This is likely one of the best suspense thrillers I've read in a long time.
Sydney is a young Black woman living in her mother's Brooklyn brownstone in a neighborhood she grew up in. Lately in the midst of gentrification, beautiful days in this neighborhood is turning ugly. Living with her own demons, she notices changes in the neighborhood. Long time neighbors are leaving their beloved homes and new neighbors move in and show who they truly are.
One neighbor, a white guy name Theo, is dealing with a girlfriend who barely notices he is there. He has issues, too, but settles them whenever he encounters...and watches his neighbor, Sydney. Things start happening and it brings the two neighbors together. does a brilliant job weaving the suspense and background of Sydney, Theo and supporting characters. I put this on the levels of Jordan Peele with throwbacks of Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling. I read this in two days and that's only because I had errands to do and everyday life to deal with, even in the midst of a pandemic.
I highly recommend When No One Is Watching!

Intriguing. Riveting. Chilling.

These are the words I have to describe this book.This is my first Alyssa Cole read and I was not disappointed. The story is riveting, engaging, and thought provoking. The subject matter is important and relevant in today’s world.

I went in with no expectations of trying to figure out anything. I wanted to start and see where the story took me and took me it did! One wild ride. Strange and unexplainable things were happening and nothing was making sense. The more she looked into things the more she put herself in danger.

This book had me on the edge of my seat towards the end. It really had my pulse racing. Many twists I didn’t see coming and appreciated. After I was done I kind of sat there thinking wooooow. Mind blown. It’s safe to say this author has a new fan.

The writing is excellent as well as the characters. Wonderful and engaging read from beginning to end. I will look into other works by Miss Cole. I highly recommend this book! I give this 5 stars.