The Good Neighbor is another twisty, scary and thrilling read from R.J. Parker. Hitting a deer on her way home, Leah stops at a house on the deserted road and encounters a handsome and charming neighbor, Martin Tate. Something feels off to Leah-even though she's initially charmed by Tate. The next day, after the AA helps her home, Leah discovers the neighbor is murdered. Except the neighbor is a woman and no man lives in that house. What ensues is a horrifying game of cat and mouse. If you are looking for a suspenseful, scary thrill-ride of a book pick this one up! You will not be disappointed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I really enjoyed this one! Had a really great premise and storyline. Kept me guessing and seemed fast paced in my opinion.

I loved the premise of it to know that in the dark, rainy night after an accident Leah knocked on the good neighbor’s door and Martin Tate answered and helped her, all to realize the next day that the owner of that house had been murdered. It was a woman.

Parker’s story started with a lot of steam but slowly fizzled out as it was all about Leah doing what the killer wanted. The motive of the first kill was not clearly defined, but after the encounter with Leah, he seemed obsessed with her. That was the core of the entire book.

I generally liked things kept hidden in the plotline which made it fun to discover. This had everything out in the open. Cops were in the first section of the plot then were chopped out.

Characters were not fleshed out, each one was given a set of bad things they had done. And that was where they remained. An obsessed killer, a guilted-out wife, a straying husband. But humans were more complexed than that.

The book had potential but remained on the same level in the plotline. Only those who loved weird obsession would love the book. It is extremely fast paced with short chapters, so could finish it in a couple of hours.

Although it took me a while to get to in my TBR pile, I really enjoyed this book! Creepy and chilling. I'd think twice now before knocking on a stranger's door. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I'm finding this book tricky to review to be honest. Bits of it, yes I found creepy and believable. Others less so.
A young woman crashes her car into a ditch after hitting a deer on a dark road late at night. She knocks on the door of the nearest house. Yep, all okay so far. Would you actually enter the house, alone, at night? I suppose if there was only a landline available to use then, possibly. I found this unlikely in this day and age, especially when the man in the house knows he really shouldn't be there and the reason he actually is. I don't want to give spoilers to the story for those who are yet to read this book but suffice to say I think it highly unlikely that he would have even opened the door, let alone invited another person in and risk exposing the events of the evening.

Once I had that doubt in my mind I'm afraid various other elements of the story also became more and more implausible and I often found my mind wandering into the realms of considering what I thought would have actually happened in real life. I know it's fiction but there's only so far I can stretch it before I stop enjoying the story. Then the latter part of the story with Leah's neighbours, husband and Uncle Tom Cobley and all getting roped in...nope. You lost me completely and I pretty much skimmed to the end.

Sorry, not one for me.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This started off fantastically but soured fairly quickly for me. We are introduced to Leah Talbot on a dark curvy road where she strikes a deer with her car. With her car inoperable and a dead cell phone she walks to the closest house for help. Martin Tate answers the door and is very kind and gets the help she needs.
Things get a little weird at this point and just unbelievable. We then dive into a case of murder, obsession and predictability. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters in this quick read that really didn't have me thinking about plot twists or hidden agendas. Mine you there is one aha moment at the very end of the story but it just wasn't enough for me to love this book, For me it was just okay and would only recommend this to someone who needs a fast read that doesn't involve much detective work on the reader's part.

I really, really enjoyed this book! It was gripping from the start and kept me captivated throughout until the very end! Fantastically written! Would definitely recommend.

A really good read. Well developed storyline, interesting characters.
A page turner.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing access to this book.

This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Omg! It’s fascinatingly riveting page turner makes you anxious, sit at the edge of your seat squirming but you cannot help yourself and you turn the pages a little faster to pump the full adrenaline into your veins till you feel better the crush!

The majority of the action in this book takes place in less than 24 hours which adds to its fast paced writing. The seemingly innocuous meeting one night leads to a trail of mayhem. This book is well written with credible characters and although there is a lot of horrific bloody scenes, they are not described in too much detail and much is left to your imagination. Strangely I didn’t dislike Martin Tate and I found Leah Talbot a bit irritating - which doesn’t really fit with the storyline.

Thank you to the publisher, and to Netgalley for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Leah Talbot hits a deer going home and has to knock on a neighbour’s door to use the telephone. When she returns the next day to thank her neighbour, she finds out there has been a murder. And the resident of the house, a woman who lived on her own with her dog, is dead.

It turns out her nice neighbour is a serial killer, who is now coming after Leah and her family, and Leah finds herself having to fight for the ones she loves.

This is fast paced novel that takes the premise of a serial killer/stalker to another level. Part of the novel can be grizzly and not for the feint hearted, and you wonder sometimes what Leah was thinking about in how she behaved. Surely, she would have been better to ring the police and let them to deal with it.

If you keep that thought silenced, which I just about managed to, then you will enjoy it as all Leah did was hit a deer on the way home and ask a neighbour for help.

The Good Neighbour is a gritty blend of domestic drama and disturbing thriller. Leah Talbot, 30 and her husband, Elliot live under the same roof but lead separate lives. Leah is out one night when she hits a deer on a deserted road. Realising her car has been damaged, she notices that the large house on Plough Lane is illuminated and heads towards it hoping there is someone home. There is and it's Martin Tate who is extremely obliging and helpful, making phone calls for her and generally being hospitable. When Leah knocks on his door the next morning to offer her thanks she finds his place swarming with the police. A murder has been committed and the female occupant of the house is dead.

This is an impressive thriller and the twisted, wicked plot is brimming with drama, action, revelations and exciting developments. R J Parker weaves a creepy, unsettling and atmospheric tale with a plausible premise that could very easily happen in real life. Chilling and very well written.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from One More Chapter Press via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

It started off so well then dropped off and got unbelievable at times. Not for me this one. It had so much potential too.

“The Good Neighbor” unfolds like a line of dominoes, one is pushed and then one by one, each of the others goes tumbling into the next. The events are unstoppable, destructive, connected, and inevitable. Leah Talbot was in an accident; an animal jumped in front of her car. She was not to blame. Her neighbor was kind enough to let her use his phone to call a service truck. Surely he was a good neighbor. Events are logical, natural, even expected; however, when the owner of the house, a woman, is found murdered, things for Leah become illogical, unnatural, and definitely unexpected. Who was the man she had spent part of the evening with? A murderer, a polite, considerate executioner?
R. J Parker unfolds the story mostly from Leah’s perspective, but flashbacks let readers know what she does not. The timelines eventually converge in a terrifying manner. Events spiral downward at a frantic gripping pace, and readers do not whom to believe. The line between good and evil blurs, the choices become untenable. Is there a way for Leah to get things under control, or are the circumstances unwinnable?
“The Good Neighbor” is a story filled with comprehensive geographic details, complex thought processes, and gloves, always a fresh pair of surgical gloves. I received a review copy of “The Good Neighbor” from R. J. Parker, One More Chapter, and Harper Collins Publishers.

Not for me. Too much death and destruction. Too much menace. Too many things just too unbelievable. Too many things never really explained. An author trying too hard to cram so much in and losing the real heart of the story in the process. I wanted to get caught up in it and care but I never did.

Leah Talbot is driving home late one night and crashes into a deer. She walks over to a nearby house for help and meets Tate, a man who is kind enough to help her make it home safe. The next morning she decides to go over to the house again to thank Tate, but to her surprise she is greeted by the police instead. A murder has taken place in th house and as the investigation unfolds, Leah's life is turned completely upside down. Not only Leah herself, but everyone close to her are suddenly in danger.

"He isn't who you think he is..."

Okay, this is a tough one. I had a good time reading this book, but it didn't have me on the edge of my seat like I've seen many people say in their reviews. It started off so great and had me hooked immediately, but then some things started to feel a bit far-fetched and silly. I don't know, I think I was expecting a bit more from this one... Or maybe I've just seen too many thrillers/horror movies in my life and can handle the suspense and creepiness better than others? I absolutely loved the gruesome and vivid level of detail used to describe certain scenes, though.

Now, time to discuss the characters. There were definitely moments where I was internally shouting at Leah to not do certain things, which had me a little frustrated sometimes. I just didn't fully understand some of the decisions she made.. That made it hard for me to feel sorry for her (and Elliot) at times. And even though Leah is the main character here, I didn't feel like I knew her by the end of the book. I guess I was just hoping for a bit more depth and character development... The same goes for Tate, even though there is some explanation about why he's doing what he's doing, it just didn't feel like enough of a reason to me.


"Nobody deserves to die like that."

I enjoyed the writing style and appreciated the short chapters, which do pack a lot of tension. At the end of each chapter I was curious to see what would happen next even though I'll admit I definitely saw some things coming. But then there was a plot twist at the end that I wasn't prepared for at all. For me, that certainly made up for some of the more predictable parts. I do wish they'd added just one more chapter at the end for a bit more closure, though...

All in all, if you love a fast paced, creepy stalker-y, cat and mouse chase type of thriller, then definitely give this one a shot!

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter and R.J. Parker for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“You forget. I've seen you with blood on your hands."

Overall rating: ★★★

The Good Neighbor
By: R. J. Parker

This is my second book by R. J. Parker, and I may be a fan. Although I didn’t rate this title as high as the last one I read, The Dinner Party, I enjoyed it very much.

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR is a story of a woman named Leah, who stumbles upon something sinister unknowingly while in search of help. And although Leah knows what the right answers are, she repeatedly answers them incorrectly. She is NOT following her intuition.
Or is she?

This has been done before, and I wish something were going on here that felt slightly different.

I thought this book was crafty and energetic. The premise of the story was intriguing and alarming. Some passages raised the hair on my head. However, the characters' behaviors were extremely unplausible and quite rhetorical, which turned me off a bit.

Looking back through his catalog, I feel like he has a lot to work with, lots of interesting books with interesting titles. I will add him to my authors to follow on Goodreads and Amazon and suggest you do as well.

If you liked THE GOOD NEIGHBOR, I recommend THE DINNER PARTY!
Both are available now-

3/5 Stars

Thanks to netgalley and publishers for an advanced galley in exchange for my review!

What a mind-numbing, spine-chilling, riveting thriller! Gosh, this book is sure to give you nightmares!
I absolutely loved every bit of the story. The suspense is mind-blowing and kept me on the edge of the seat. Well-developed characters and excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended!

I liked this thriller, although I did think it got daft in parts, and at the end I wasn't sure what time it was, and there were a couple of things that weren't explained. I liked the cat and mouse parts. It was quite chilling!

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!