Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for this eARC in return for an honest review.

This book is centered around 5 families that live in the same cul-de-sac. Things may be picture perfect for some of them, or perhaps neighbors may seem snooty, or a few have odd behaviors but it runs deeper than that. Way deeper. Things are not as they appear in this cul-de-sac. It even ends in murder.
Keeping up with multiple Povs was a bit challenging in the beginning but once I was got a hang of it I flew through this book. Although all of the storyline were good there were some that I couldn't wait to read about. I would recommend reading this if you like or want to read a family suspense novel.

Joy Fielding is one of those authors I’ll always read. This is her 29th book and has her trademark ability to create a twisty story with interesting characters.
In Cul-De-Sac, she takes us into the lives of neighbors in a middle class development in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. There are five houses in this cul-de-sac and they all look very neat and nicely maintained from the outside. Over the course of the novel, we learn, of course, that everything isn’t what it seems from the outside.
All five families have two things in common - their lives are not happy ones (for a variety of reasons) and there are guns in each of the households.
This is one seriously dysfunctional cul-de-sac and most of the characters are really not that likable. You know from the prologue that there’s a shooting one night and Ms. Fielding does a good job of building the suspense about who’s actually involved in the shooting.
It’s a light mystery, and I liked the structure of the book, with the multiple POVs developing the storylines for each of the families. This did result in a lot of characters and it took a while to get them all straight. While I didn’t necessarily like all of them…I was interested in their stories.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the early look at Cul-De-Sac in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published August 10, 2021.

I just reviewed Cul-de-sac by Joy Fielding. #Culdesac #NetGalley

This was my first book by this author. I enjoyed her writing style - very easy to read and conversational. There were a lot of characters to keep track of (and many are unlikable!) but I was surprised at the end by who the killer was.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book. The characters were not likeable, some of them just frustrated me. I was waiting for one that I could root for and never got there. It was also very tricky to keep all of the characters straight. I will say however that the premise was so promising and I felt like the plot was being set up, but it was a miss for me regrettably.

4.5 rounded to 5!!!

This was a compelling story! Lies, lies and more lies. The story is told in multiple POVs, which, I love! I really enjoyed the character development throughout the story. I didn’t like them all but was definitely intrigued by their stories. I was grabbing for my Kindle any time I got a chance. The story begins by telling you someone dies. That didn’t discourage me at all. Normally, I’d be trying to figure out who did it, but instead I just sat back and soaked up the drama! There is so much drama in a small Cul-de-sad with only 5 houses! There are some really dark stories weaved within as mentioned in other reviews. So beware of that if you have any triggers. Other than that, I say go for it, It was really good.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for my honest opinion.

#CulDeSec #NetGalley
An excellent novel.
Maggie, the perfectionist wife, or Craig, the husband who can’t quite live up to her expectations? They’ve packed up their two children and fled their life in California, hoping for a fresh start in Florida, only to find the demons of the past hovering on their doorstep. Maybe it will be Nick, a highly respected oncologist, or his wife, Dani, a successful dentist, both with well-kept secrets of their own. Or Julia, an elderly widow, whose troubled grandson has recently moved in with her, introducing unsavory habits and even more unsavory acquaintances into her formerly quiet existence. Then there’s Olivia and her husband, Sean. Having lost his job at a prestigious advertising agency, Sean is depressed, resentful of his working wife, and drinking heavily. He is also prone to increasingly violent fantasies.
And what of the newlyweds, Aiden and Heidi, whose marriage is already on the rocks, due to Aiden’s reluctance to stand up to his intrusive mother?
Very suspenseful and brilliant. I wasn't expecting that ending from it.
Loved it's characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

Cul-de-sac by Joy Fielding was such a good read, I finished it in one morning. Going back and forth between 5 different families who live in the Cul-de-sac, I couldn't wait to find out where each families' story would go. As someone who is curious about my neighbors, this was a great read for peeking inside the lives of the people who live in a neighborhood and proves that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and every family has their own secrets and flaws.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

I have mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately, I gave it 4 stars because it was compelling and I did want to find out what happened. The story opens with the sound of a gunshot, and you'd think that you'll be able to figure things out because there are only a few families living in this cul-de-sac, but everyone has so many secrets that it's impossible. Each family has their own problems and I have to admit - when I first started reading it, I wasn't sure I would stick with it because everyone is extremely unlikeable, except a couple of the kids, but they start to grow on you, and ultimately, I was very interested in the outcome. A good mystery.

I’ve always been a huge Joy Fielding fan and have never been disappointed by any of her books. Her latest takes us to a Florida neighborhood and intimately explores the lives of the 5 families that inhabit the cul-de-sac. Each family is dealing with very difficult issues, which include domestic violence, alcoholism and PTSD. Fielding deftly handles these issues with both sensitivity and heart. The characters are well-drawn and though there many lives explored in this, it was very easy to keep them straight and I felt like I jumped into the intertwining lives of all of them. This is a must-read for fans of Diane Chamberlain and Liane Moriarty.

This is my first Joy Fielding book! Can you believe it? I am from Toronto...same as the author...and it is no secret I love supporting Canadian writers. I really liked this book. I wouldn't call it a thriller...it is more of a neighbourhood domestic drama. Fielding provides a clear sense of place, I felt like I was in Florida with the heat and humidity. I also felt like a member of the cul-de-sac, or maybe more like a voyeur into the residents lives.

Readers should know that there are many triggers here...they include but are not limited to...rape, domestic abuse, gun violence and PTSD. All of it was for plot reasons and felt very real while reading it. Along with the difficult subject matter, the characters are often infuriating. Secrecy is a main point, but WOW these characters are poor communicators, especially the adults. I found their lack of growth and their responses to each other confounding at times. I really hated Nick but LOVED Julia. All in all a great way to spend a rainy afternoon and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Fielding's work.

Read this book in ONE day! Propulsive read. Strong character development. I highly suggest this book.

On the positive side: this has a soap opera aspect that is kind of fun, featuring on five different sets of neighbors who live in the same cul-de-sac. Most are couples (there's one couple with an interfering mother in law, one joint working couple, a guy hiding a secret from his wife) and one older woman and her children and grandchildren. Told through multiple POVs, this story takes place right before the annual neighborhood Fourth of July BBQ. We know from the first chapter that there will be a shooting. The story takes place in Florida and all the characters own guns.

On the negative side, for me this had too many POV characters and the entire thing (characters, setting, plot) felt thin and underdeveloped to me. The book was mostly dialogue (I'm noticing that feature in a lot of books written during the pandemic and wonder if this was as well).

Overall, this one just didn't draw me in the way I'd hoped.

I wish books came with trigger warnings—or perhaps I should know that "domestic suspense" is code for "the wife gets violently raped repeatedly in this one." As someone who's spent significant time in Palm Beach County, and in Palm Beach Gardens in particular, the geography of this book made my head spin (there's an entire stretch of Hood Rd. that Fielding just... omits completely??). Also there's barely any suspense since a. you know from the set-up that someone will be shot and killed; and b. the second you meet the characters who ultimately get shot/do the shooting, you know exactly what's going to happen. For that I say: poorly paced. Would not recommend even if one is a domestic suspense fanatic.

This was a very engaging story, from beginning to end. Each of the neighbors story was interesting and had a nice resolution at the end. Having said that, this was also not the thriller/mystery story I'm usually drawn to. It felt more like a drama than a mystery. I liked the story enough to finish it. I did not love the book because I did not see any memorable surprises or twists. As the reader I knew all along what was happening. My favorite character was Julia, the grandmother. It took a giant heart like hers to trust and forgive what was done to her by one of her loved ones. Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author, for an advance copy of this book.

Joy Fielding's Cul-De-Sac is a great story about 5 families living on a quiet Florida street. Of course, each family has an issue. My favorite character is Maggie, who evolves from a recently separated, very paranoid woman who has "lost her spark" to a strong, supportive friend ready to take on the world again. Other families on the street are out-of-work Sean who is hiding secrets from his wife Olivia, Heidi and her new hubby Aiden who is really, REALLY attached to his mom and is also dealing with flashbacks from his military service, Nick and Dani the doctor/dentist power couple who are hiding things behind closed doors, and Julia, whose son thinks she needs to move out of her home and into a senior living facility.

I loved getting to know the characters in this book and watching their relationships with each other develop, and I loved the different points of view from which the story is told. Something that nagged at me, though, was the subtle yet constant allusion to gun ownership in a negative light. A huge negative for me, and the reason for 3 stars, was an abusive relationship throughout the book as well as sexual assault. Readers, beware; this may not be the right book for some readers, and that is ok!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cul-De-Sac is a great thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, turning pages in anticipation of what would happen next. How well do you really know your neighbors? There are only five houses located in the cul-de-sac, but everyone has secrets that they are trying to keep--from abuse to cheating to stealing, just to name a few. Someone gets shot. Who? And who is the guilty party? The storytelling and magnetic characters will grab you and keep you moving along, following the twists and turns to determine who did what and why. This is a great read—one that I wanted to finish but hated to finish. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Everyone was shocked when gunshots rang out that night in their quiet neighborhood. After all, it was such a nice community. A family friendly community where they played games of catch on their front lawns and held cookouts in July. But should they have been? After all, everyone has secrets..
Wow! What a read! This book dives into the stories of five neighbors. As you will find, their lives are filled with secrets, complex relationships, and deception. This book will definitely keep you guessing at who caused the shot that night. However, this book was also hopeful in some ways. It showed that even the most desperate of situations can be overcome with truth and compassion. This author told these stories in such a masterful way that I could not put this story down. I highly recommend and cannot wait to check out more of Joy Fielding’s work.

Thank you to the publishers at Random House - Ballantine Books and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Cul-de-sac.

Cul-de-sac takes place from several different points of view concerning the five families living on this small street. Each family is hiding a secret of some kind, and eventually, that secret is going to blow so wide that it results in a gunshot going off in the middle of a hot July night. Now we just need to figure out the who and the why.

Maggie is struggling with a dark past, one that forces her to carry a gun, avoid strangers, and eventually pushes her husband away. Sean has been out of work for a year with zero prospects on the horizon and eventually takes up day drinking and lying to his wife on the daily. Dani appears to have the perfect life, with her two young sons and her doctor husband. But all is not what it seems. Julia lives alone at the age of 84, but that changes when her grandson moves in with her. And Heidi and Aiden are a young, newly married couple, living with a third wheel, Aiden’s mom.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this story. While there are a lot of characters, most of the main characters are easy to identify (Maggie, Dani, Sean, Julia, and Heidi, for example) while many of the others have smaller roles to play. The chapters are short and easy to read, and Joy Fielding does a great job of building up the suspense! Which of these families is poised to blow up? Which can make amends and move past their issues? Find out in Cul-de-sac, out August 10!

I really enjoyed this book. The beginning was a slow build. However by the end all of the characters come to life. I feel like I know each of these people personally! Definitely glad I read it!

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?” Is the old motto from the Shadow. Well, it applies here. What a wild story! Everyone in this story has secrets and everyone is pretending to be something they’re not. The cul de sac only has five houses, but, oh, what a wild assortment of folks live there. The chapters alternate between the various neighbors, which helped to keep moving the story along at a brisk pace.
We know from the very first chapter that someone dies but we aren’t told who dies or who kills them. As we get to know them, it would appear that anyone could have been the victim (hell, there were a few I would have gladly shot) and anyone could have committed the crime.
This is just pure entertainment. It’s the kind of story that should be opted as a mini-series for Amazon or Netflix. I heartily recommend this for when you need something really fun.
This is Joy Fielding’s 29th book but the first of hers I’ve read. It won’t be the last!
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.