Well, it is 1:37 in the morning and I just finished listening to When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole. The book was read by Susan Dalian who was sharing the story through the eyes of Sydney Green and Jay Aaseng who shares the story from her neighbors Theo’s perspective. I enjoyed both of the narrators, but felt that Susan Dalian had a perfect throaty quality to give voice to Sydney who was Brooklyn born and raised. It rang through as an authentic voiced and a voice that I wanted to continue to listen to.

I found it very fascinating to follow Sydney and Theo through the maze of clues. Alyssa Cole kept me on my toes as a reader. I learned a great deal from this book even though it is a work of fiction. So much of what was written required me to think things through and to see it from an alternative perspective. Alyssa Cole did a wonderful job leading you from wondering if something was really going on, you question the reality right along with the characters through to a satisfying conclusion.

I have read a few of Alyssa Cole’s romances and between that and the premise for this book I knew I wanted to read it. I am happy to say that I greatly enjoyed it even though it was not a genre that I usually read. I loved Stephen King’s The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon because I never knew if it was the psychological toll of being lost in the woods or if there was something truly out there. I had the same feeling as I was reading this book and I personally feel this is the mark of a gifted writer when you have to question if it is truly happening or something psychological is going on. I highly recommend this book.

When No One is Watching was a mesmerizing book. I was completely hooked. I heard it pitched as Get Out meets Rear Window, and it delivered on that promise. The story is told from dual points of view, and I appreciated that it used two narrators to reflect that. When No One is Watching integrates Black history, the problems of gentrification, systemic racisim, and classic thriller moments. It's dual points of view gives us an unreliable narrator. The twist and turns of the plot were very reminiscent of the best of Hitchcock's films. Overall, I loved it! I'll be recommending it to everyone.

Fascinating premise. The duel narrators added a lot of depth to the story and the pacing kept me on edge of my seat. In true Cole fashion there’s a bit of romance, but wow is it not the focus. This story has a slow eerie build, and once the pieces fall into place its unreal.

No seriously, it loses me once things get too serious. It’s just so chaotic!

But I still recommend. The writing, the characters, the history. It’s worth it.

Sydney has recently-ish moved back in to the brownstone in Brooklyn that she grew up in after her ex-husband turned out to be a gaslighting control freak. But things aren't kosher in Gifford Place, and Sydney's anxiety is through the roof: there is more crime than ever before, her longtime neighbors are up and moving after money-draining experiences happen, a new pharmaceutical company is moving in to the old hospital, and more and more white folks are moving in and driving up the property taxes. RACIST, white people-- and Kim, Sydney's across-the-street neighbor, is one of them. But with the Labor Day Block Party coming up, Sydney has to focus any energy she can muster up researching the history of Gifford Place's Black people. When Kim's (white) boyfriend Theo agrees to help Sydney research, Sydney doesn't expect much. But then more and more suspicious things happen around Gifford Place, and soon Theo is the only one Sydney can trust-- or can she?!?!

This psychological suspense builds slowly: you think it's just Sydney and some paranoia and stress-induced anxiety, but then WHAM-BAM! We are on roll! Give this to your mystery lovers who want something a little different than you're average murdered-woman-of-xyz that's popular right now.

I listened to the audiobook version, and it is well done. There are two actors, one male for Theo and one female for Sydney, which I always appreciate when the narration is split like in When No One Is Watching.

If you have an older/more mature teen reader who doesn't mind genre-hopping and read Pride by Ibi Zoboi or The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera and wants to read more about gentrification, this book might work for them.

Diverse reads:
- Sydney is African-American, as are the majority of the characters in the story. Gentrification plays a huge part.

For those who are squeamish about sex scenes, there is one rather graphic sexual encounter between two characters. Cole's experience as a romance author shines in this scene! *winky face* On the chaste-to-steamy scale, I'd put it at a 6 out of 10.

I have mixed feelings about this one. What I liked was the setting and the main character, Sydney Green, and what she was trying to accomplish. I liked that she was a strong, black woman who was trying to make a difference in her community and bring to light the foibles and misconceptions of her white neighbors. I also loved the narrator and found her voice easy to listen to overall. I found the first half to be ok but wordy and wandering at times. The second part was too far-fetched to me and was unauthentic. Still, this was a worthwhile read and left me with a lot to think about.

Wonderful telling of gentrification in Brooklyn, where the newly white residents are plotting to usurp all the brownstone houses from the long term and rightful owners who are African-American.

I thought this book was a thriller? I'm on chapter 12 and nothing 'big' has really happened. When does the suspense start???? So far it's just a story about a girl trying to save her neighborhood. I sure hope it gets better but it's more than half over so I won't hold my breath. The narration is good and the story is OK but I was expecting a thriller, not a 'story'.

This thriller revolved around a conspiracy that is entirely and completely unrealistic. But it’s also utterly plausible. Sydney is dismayed to find that her Black Brooklyn neighborhood is speeding toward gentrification, with familiar faces being rapidly replaced by new white neighbors who complain about the local bodega and flinch when the neighborhood teens walk by. Soon she begins to feel that there’s more at work than simple coincidences as friends and neighbors sell out and move away one after another, seemingly overnight. Can she possibly be right or is she just descending into paranoia?

The audiobook featured two narrators: Susan Dalian as Sydney and Jay Aaseng as Theo, Sydney’s new white neighbor and possible friend. Though the pacing of the novel was slow for the first half and way too fast for the last quarter, I was riveted throughout by their voices, which conveyed the passion and confusion of their characters.

Overall, this was an imperfect novel that was still engrossing and impressive.

The audio on this was fantastic! Both narrators brought the characters and the story to life in a way that I don't think I would have gotten reading the print copy. I will say that, while they were both great, Sydney's narrator, Susan Dalian, was amazing. Sydney has been through a lot and she has a lot of anger and resentment at times, and Susan captured that perfectly.

From the prologue, this book is so real and honest. It is an OwnVoices title and it shows. For about the first half, When No One is Watching reads as a sometimes slightly eerie tale of an old Brooklyn neighborhood - home to long-time resident, Sydney and newbie, Theo - undergoing an "upgrade." Gentrification, at its worst. Sydney is rightfully angry, and suspicious of some of her new white neighbors. Theo, one of those white neighbors, is a bit clueless, but tries to be helpful. He goes out of his way to participate in neighborhood activities planned by the old residents, the real neighbors. This brings he and Sydney together as they plan things and research history of the place.

Then things take a wild turn and you finally understand why this book is being hailed as an amazing thriller! It is so worth the wait and I was blown away by the twists and the reveal of what's been going on that you don't even see coming! I loved every minute of the ending of this book. It's wild and takes so many turns that you will feel dizzy!

If you would love a raw, honest book about racism, what "gentrification" is from a black POV, and what it's like to see black history appropriated and twisted by white people with a super shocking horror-esque underlying plot, this is for you!

Sydney is working on starting a tour of Brooklyn because the tour guides she sees going through skip over black history. She's been living in the neighborhood since childhood and has seen many of her old neighbors pushed out of their homes by overassertive real estate agents. Disturbing things keep happening around Sydney, and they could be related to the skyrocketing value of her property. Sydney is liberal with her cursing, so if you do not like books with strong language this book is not for you! Her fierceness and Susan Dalian's flawless narration of her character make her a delightful character to listen to.

Theo has already broken up with ex-girlfriend Kim when the book begins, but their homeownership means they're still living under the same roof. He is disgusted by her racism and "concern" for the neighborhood when black people are just going about their business. He decides to become more involved in neighborhood meetings to make amends for Kim's bad behavior. At his first meeting, he meets Sydney and offers to help her with research for her tour. Theo's attraction to Sydney is obvious, and it appears she may find him appealing as well.

A series of suspicious events keep happening in the neighborhood, spiraling out of control. Racism is rampant among the new shop owners and homeowners, shocking Theo. Sydney and Theo confide in each other and try to figure out what is going on with the shady corporations involved in the neighborhood's demise.

The beginning of the book is a slow build and the action really starts in the last quarter. There are several twists that make you begin to doubt the motives of even the people you're rooting for.

This novel is recommended for those looking for fiction reads that incorporate the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Although fictional, the plot is all too plausible and timely.

Susan Dalian and Jay Aaseng are great narrators -- Dalian perfectly captures Sydney's sass and Aaseng has great delivery for Theo's dry humor. They are both narrators I would listen to again.

A breathtaking novel, one which everyone should read, whether you usually gravitate toward thrillers or not. Alyssa Cole has established herself a groundbreaking voice in the thriller genre. I am so very impressed, I cannot wait to read more from her!

Sydney, a young Black woman has left a failed marriage behind to return to Brooklyn, and the home where she grew up. But her old neighborhood is being gentrified, one by one her old neighbors disappear, only to be replaced by wealthy white couples. After overhearing a walking history tour of her neighborhood that only tells the story of the elite and powerful white people that lived in her neighborhood, Sydney decides to start her own tour group to tell the story of the real people that lived on her block. She acquires the unlikely help of one of her new, white neighbors, Theo, and the two begin their research. But it’s not long before they realize that something sinister is amiss, maybe all Sydney’s old neighbors didn’t pack up and move away after all….. This story is all the more chilling for its unexpected twists and turns and Dalian’s take no prisoners delivery of Sydney is dead on

Sydney Green brought beautifully to life by Susan Dalian, recently divorced, returns home to Gifford Place Brooklyn a multicultural, predeminantly African American and Caribbean community, to take care of her ailing mother. On a walking tour, Sydney finds that her community is changing and has become heavily gentrified especially after VarenTech Pharmaceuticals purchased a longtime closed psychiatric hospital that looms hauntingly over the community. Sydney decides to fight the erasure of people of color, in her own way by giving her own walking tours highlighting the history of people of color from the Indigenous people to Black immigrants. Unemployed Theo, played brilliantly by Jay Aaseng, is a new white resident who moves into the community with his spoiled quasi girlfriend looking for a place to put down roots. Sydney and Theo formally meet at a community event where Sydney is cajoled into accepting Theo's help with the research for her walking tour. What they discover through their research has the potential to put their life in danger and destroy this community. The book had all of the elements of a good thriller but at times the villains felt less nefarious people and more like a caricatures. The plot was good and I really enjoyed the history presented but when it came to applying the racist history and housing policies such as redlining or sub-prime lending into the storyline, it felt surface. I wish Cole would have spent more time intricately weaving together how the system used these racist policies to inflict maximum damage on the community into the plot. Still this was a really fun romantic thriller with a twist on the ending that I really loved. I would definitely read more of Ms. Cole's thrillers in the future, which should only get better. The audio was excellent, I highly recommend listening to the book on this format. Again high praise to Jay Aaseng and Susan Dalian performances, they brought life to Sydney and Theo, they portrayed various characters with immigrant accents which includes Middle Eastern and West Indian, and they each did them justice. I rate this audio When No One is Watching 4 stars.