This would be a very different review and rating if the main character had been remotely bearable. I could not stand Beth at any point in the story. I love the idea of a CIA book with a woman at the helm investigating her instincts about a new neighbor, but not a single piece of the plot outweighed the character. Be prepared for twists on twists on twists that will give an unearned ending.

**Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the eARC**

This book was not for me. I sadly had to DNF the book at about 40%. I found myself avoiding reading it. The CIA terms were poorly explained and left me confused. I didn't understand the premise of the story and found Beth to be annoying. Due to this, I could not finish the book. I don't do this often and feel bad for leaving such a negative review.

Beth always thought she had the perfect life. A loving husband, three wonderful children, a beautiful house in an idyllic cul-de-sac surround with great neighbors, but now her life seems to be falling apart. She’s moving, her husband is leaving her, and she’s being forced off a job she’s obsessed over for 15 years: search for an Iran spy known only as The Neighbor. How well did she ever know her neighbors? Has everything in her life been a lie? I enjoyed the heck out of this book. This was a smart, intense, thriller with excellent characters and one heck of a twisty plot. And the ending? Wow. Thanks so much to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Karen Cleveland’s excellent thriller The New Neighbor.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-new-neighbor-karen-cleveland/1140572963?ean=9780593358023&bvnotificationId=001c59aa-0dd0-11ed-a034-0e16cd083b09&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/214165786

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📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 320 / Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers

CIA analyst Beth Bradford has spent her career chasing down an Iranian sleeper agent known as The Neighbor. And just when both of her children are grown and out of the house and her husband has left her and she literally has nothing to do but pursue The Neighbor, she’s suddenly pulled from the case right when new information has surfaced. Information that has led her to her own neighborhood and close group of friends. Could one of them actually have been The Neighbor all this time?

I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller! It kept me guessing all the way to the end.

This CIA thriller isn't that thrilling but has a nice twist.

CIA analyst Beth Bradford has it all, or so she thinks. Now, not only, she is facing an empty nest and a divorcee, the CIA is removing her from the case that’s long been hers. She has spent decades tracking an elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor. When Madeline Sterling moves into Beth’s old house. Beth can't stop watching the woman stepping into her old life. Is she The Neighbor? Or is it someone else in her neighborhood? After all, most of the families on the cul de sac have some tie to the CIA and they all have secrets. Beth won't give up until she proves to the CIA she can solve the case.

I enjoyed Keep You Close as the book was engaging and kept you guessing, (only the ending is disappointing) but this novel was something else. This plot is easy to figure out. While there is one twist at the very end, I called the Neighbor from the very beginning. I found the book uncomfortable to read from secondary embarrassment. Beth is so obsessed she goes off half-cocked on everyone in her neighborhood. And it was painful to see herself embarrass herself in such a manner. No wonder people thought she was mentally unwell.

But unlike Keep You Close, the ending to The New Neighbor doesn't involve some magic fix. Karen Cleveland creates an organic ending for the characters that make sense to the plot. I loved the twist at the very end which made the book anything special. I would never have guessed where the author was going. I also like that there is some unfinished business that might lead to another book that might be more interesting. The conflict between those characters is better than in the majority of the book.

This wasn't my favorite story but the twist was fun. I also like the back and forth between the main character and the woman who movies into her house. But the secondary embarrassment made the majority of the book uncomfortable for me.

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland is the third book I have read by the author. I really liked the first one I read. I disliked the second. The New Neighbor is definitely in the same category as the first. I enjoyed the book and thought it was a fun read. The book reminded me of what Shonda Rhimes would make into a CIA/FBI themed television show: Over the top characters and coincidences, but as addictive as candy.

While I am not sure Beth's age was ever specifically said, I got the impression she was in her late 40's or early 50's. That in itself is makes this book unique as leading females are rarely in that stage of life. Beth's youngest child has just left for college. Her family home of the past 15+ years has just been sold so she and her husband can downsize. Marriage unexpectedly falls apart. All Beth has left is her job as a CIA IT investigator. And suddenly, even the project she has been assigned to and immersed by for the past 15 years is reassigned away from her and she is relegated to teaching CIA courses.

The one thing I hated about the book was Beth's obsessive tendency toward her case and the woman who now lives in Beth's old house. It made her seem fully unhinged and at times made it difficult to root for. And I really wanted to root for this underdog, unusual lead!

Overall, I can't imagine this story could happen in real life, but its written in such a way I could totally overlook my disbelief and just have fun with it.

Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5

Do you really know who your neighbors are? This book is suspenseful with lots of twists and turns. A skillfully-woven plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. I did however find the protagonist, Beth, really annoying. She's obsessive who basically accuses everyone of being "The Neighbor". Overall, it was an entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Karen Cleveland for an ARC of "The New Neighbor" in exchange of an honest review.

Don’t start The New Neighbor, by Karen Cleveland, on a busy day. You are going to want to read and finish this with as few stops as possible. The protagonist is smart, troubled, tenacious, and dangerous. The pacing is unrelenting, the plot spiraling down to darker and darker space. I loved the contrast of suburban moms and dads drinking wine on their driveways and counterterrorism. This is a thoroughly diverting and fun quick read. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing -Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was truly a pleasure.

This book combines my 2 favorite things- neighborhood domestic drama and CIA/FBI thriller. I really enjoyed this one! Twist after twist with an ending I for sure did not see coming, my only gripe is Beth acted incredibly dumb for a CIA agent at times. I just chalked it up to her being under a lot of stress from her personal life. I liked the action and this was one I had trouble putting down!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine and Karen Cleveland for an ARC of this story!

3.5 Write What You Know Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
Karen Cleveland took the idea of " Write What You Know" to heart and decided to do just that. As a past CIA analyst, she could take all of the "special circumstances" she knew about and weave them into an intriguing idea of what someone would do if their long-term life all of a sudden took a very different turn.

Beth Bradford thought her life was on track. She was married for many years, living in the perfect house on a cul-de-sac with neighbors who "got" her as they all happened to work for the CIA, and a son who is off to college. With the "empty nest" happening, the couple has decided to downsize and sell the house.

What wasn't expected was a chain of events that causes Beth to be shocked to her core. Her husband informs her he is leaving her, and she is pulled from the case she has worked on for years, tracking a terrorist subject known as The Neighbor. Nothing is making sense to Beth and causes her to do the unthinkable...

She decides the new woman, with her family who moves into her house could very well be The Neighbor, the person she has been tracking... or could it be someone else in her "perfect Cul-de-sac"...

This has many twists, red herrings, insights into the agency, and a push to see what the final answer is.

This one was a bit of a roller coaster for me. It started off strong and then it had a lot of unreliable narrator vibes that I wasn’t loving because I feel like I have read one too many of those lately. But, then just as I was pushing through that, it paid off and started to get really interesting. I ended up staying up late just to see how it ended, and there were twists until literally the very last page. I really enjoyed the CIA aspect. I am not sure I have ever read a book with CIA agent as the main character before. The fact that she was a mom and had this full life with her family and friends on the cul de sac made it even more interesting and not your average spy novel. I believe I read that the author is former CIA, and I feel like that gave credibility to the storytelling.

Beth Bradford is a CIA agent who, in one day, sends her youngest off to college, ends her 25-year marriage, and is unexpectedly taken off her long-term case and transferred to another position in the CIA. This sets up the book for quite a thrill ride with enough twists and turns to make your head spin as Beth navigates her new world to find out who the "New Neighbor" is.

This was an interesting and quick read, despite the somewhat jarring conclusion. I will definitely look for other books by this author and if you like a good, fast thriller, this is a good choice. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed reading The Neighbor. How well does anyone really know their neighbors? Beth has had a wonderful, fulfilling life but now everything is changing. Her children are grown, her husband has moved out, she has been taken off her case that she has been working on for 15 years and she is moving away from her neighbors/best friends. She is going to work her hardest to find out why she was removed from her case and who the neighbor really is. This book is a thriller / mystery with a few twists and turns. A great read!

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review**

3 stars

The New Neighbor is a fast paced spy thriller about CIA analyst Beth Bradford whose once perfect life and career has spiraled out of control just as there is new info on the target she’s been searching for for years, The Neighbor. Who is the Neighbor? How well do we ever know our family and friends? This book will make you wonder about that.

I liked this book but did not love it, especially the epilogue. I knew right away who the new Neighbor had to be and what happened to Beth’s phone but I just found it unbelievable. Also unbelievable was Beth staking out her old neighborhood. The way she acted throughout this book was not normal and I highly doubt she’d still have a job in real life. But I did read this in nearly one sitting. If you’re looking for a fast paced thriller that does border on the incredulous at times, then read this! I think this would be a perfect bead read as it’s a fast thriller that you can get lost in without thinking about the details too much.

A perfect, idyllic cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood with a close-knit group of neighbors. A CIA agent on a mission to discover the identify of "The Neighbor," an elusive Iranian intelligence agent that has alluded her for years. As her marriage falls apart and she's removed from the only case she's known for years, Beth's world begins to spiral. She becomes obsessed with the new owners of her old house, mainly Madeline Sterling, Who is this woman and why her old house? Why was she removed from the case when she has done so much to further it? Will Beth's obsession lead to the total destruction of her career? Or will she finally discover The Neighbor's true identity?

I loved the start of this book. Idyllic neighborhoods always mean everyone has something to hide. It's just a matter of how many people are hiding something. I thought the book was smart and clever but oh man, did it drag on and on! Okay, I get it - Beth is consumed with finding out who The Neighbor is but nothing she does seems to get her anywhere closer to the answer. It's just one more person in between her and the truth. And then another person gets in the way. I thought that there were too many people who kept standing in her way on her quest. Sometimes you need to cut out one or two twists or discoveries to get to the conclusion. Overall, I did enjoy the book but I did not like the ending. I cannot believe that that was the final reveal. A little far-fetched.

I received a digital advance reader’s copy of The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland via NetGalley. The New Neighbor was released on July 26, 2022.

The New Neighbor mostly takes place on a quiet cul-de-sac. Beth is a CIA analyst, and at least one member of most of the surrounding houses work at Langley as well. Beth and her husband have sent sent their youngest off to college. They have sold their house, intending to downsize now that all their kids have gone. That was the plan. Beth is blindsided by being booted off the case she has been working for years (hunting down an Iranian agent known as The Neighbor), then immediately told by her husband that he is leaving. With her world in tatters, Beth catches a glimpse of the woman taking over her home. Madeline seems to be taking over Beth’s entire life, and she seems to have secrets that might tie her to The Neighbor.

Cleveland has a background with the CIA and counterterrorism, which allows her to bring a sense of reality to the intelligence aspects of the story. With Beth being pushed out of her former role in the CIA, Cleveland is able to show us several different aspects of the agency. This added layers of believable complexity to the plot. Throughout the novel, Beth suspects almost every person she comes in contact with of being The Neighbor. Given all of the connections to the CIA in her neighborhood, and the actual questionable things everyone has done, this level of suspicion works. I did find that the shifts through suspects in the last quarter of the book were a bit too fast. A piece of evidence will lead Beth to decide a person is The Neighbor, with an almost immediate reversal based on a new piece of information. For me, this series of flips was too fast. When I got to the end of the novel, I knew who The Neighbor was, but was unable to summarize what things each of the other characters did or didn’t do. Giving the last half of the novel more space would have helped this for me.

I also would have liked to have a better sense of the characters around Beth. She is a woman who has given a lot of her attention to the case she is working on, and is doubling down on that commitment now that her kids are out of the house. As a result, we don’t get much of the characters around her, at least in the current day. We do get to know many of her neighbors in flashbacks to early days in the neighborhood. What is missing is who they all are know. This made it difficult to become invested in the possibility that any of them are The Neighbor.

Overall, The New Neighbor is an interesting blend of domestic thriller and international intelligence. While the novel could have taken more time to move us through the series of suspects, it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you, Karen Cleveland, NetGalley, and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this book! This book was just released yesterday, July 26th, 2022.

I read Karen Cleveland’s debut novel, Need to Know when it first came out and I loved it and I have been eagerly awaiting the adaptation being produced and starring Charlize Theron. So I was so excited to read The New Neighbor! Beth Bradford is a CIA Analyst and when their family was just starting out they found the perfect house with the ideal neighbors. Their little cul-de-sac is filled with other members of the CIA but they bond and raise their families together. However, 20 years later, the kids are gone, they are selling the house, and Beth’s husband has left her for his secretary. But the final straw is being taken off her case where she has been tracking The Neighbor. She refuses to let it go and starts investigating The Neighbor on her own. Her investigation leads her back to her old neighborhood asking which neighbor is a traitor to the country?

One thing that I absolutely love about Karen Cleveland’s novels is that she is a former CIA analyst. She gives the books a very real quality! While this book goes at a slow burn pace there is a wonderful build-up and moments of speculation. However, I was not a fan of Beth Bradford. I completely agree with the CIA for taking her off the case. She was not reliable, obviously didn’t follow protocol, and was way too close to the case. When it comes to the ending, it was a little scattered, but I am hoping it leads into a sequel.

I did appreciate the twists. The author is great at leading readers to believe one thing and then changing it all in the blink of an eye. I would love a second book that would focus on some of the other characters and get to know their backstory within the CIA. Overall, a fun spy read!

This is my first book by Karen Cleveland and it won't be my last. The New Neighbor is the best mix of spy and domestic thrillers. When Beth explains her case, your instantly curious, how do they keep evading her for so many years. I was kept guessing as Beth trys to out together all the pieces of the case but also her home life. I loved how many twists and turns it took Beth on. I had no idea what to believe by the end.
I really liked Beth, her determination, her worry for her children, and her fight to not be pushed off the case no matter what. It was fun following along as she spit out every theory she could that made sense. The fast pace had me not wanting to put it down.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for my review copy!

I really enjoyed The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland. Imagine you are just about to be an empty nester. Your last kid is out of the house and you feel like now you can finally give all of your time to your job with the CIA. You can finally have time to work on your marriage. You can enjoy your friendships. And then it all falls apart. Would you be OK?

Beth is not OK. It is completely in character for someone who immediately thinks of how much time they can spend hunting the person they have been looking for over the last decade. Her white whale. Obsession is a funny thing. Would she have been so obsessed with all of this if she hadn’t lost everything? Perhap she could have bounced back from one or even two setbacks. But everything was suddenly just gone. And she wants it back.

I loved how this story kept veering in different directions. I was left trying to put it all together and make all of the pieces fit. The story sometimes got pretty complicated. Nothing is easy when you are hunting The Neighbor.

I have really enjoyed Karen Cleveland’s previous books so I was eager to read this one. I have to admit the subject matter, a CIA agent long working on finding an Iranian spy infiltrating the US, seemed too contrived for me. Beth seemed like a very weak character and the premise of her fixation on Madeline too over the top. It did keep me engaged but at times I struggled keeping all the characters and their connections to the CIA straight. I think if Beth’s prowess as an agent was clearly established before her life was depicted as falling apart the plot would have been more convincing.
Many thanks to Karen Cleveland, Random House, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published spy thriller.