I've read most of Cleveland's books, and I've always enjoyed them. She is one of my go-to authors, and this book reminded me why! It hits points that will appeal to many readers: unreliable characters, tons to secrets, and numerous twists and turns to keep them actively engaged. I enjoyed sleuthing things out with Beth to try and figure out who "the Neighbor" was, and, like her, I was wrong on multiple occasions! The short chapters make the pace just right. Cleveland's background as a CIA analyst adds to the detailed realism of her characters and storyline.

The New Neighbor had some highs and lows for me. I loved the pace of the book and some quirky characters. I always love having more than one option in my brain for who the “mole” will turn out to be. But I had trouble believing Beth was some kind of super analyst and that she would just be dropped from the case she has been working for years. I honestly thought we were going to find out someone was drugging her or she had a brain tumor. I would recommend as a beach read but not as a true representation of how the CUA works.

First off, I absolutely love any book from Karen Cleveland. She never disappoints. This is a very clever read. A thriller about the CIA and the perfect family. Beth is an analyst for the CIA, who is on the hunt for "The Neighbor", an Iranian agent. Beth is suddenly reassigned and her husband leaves her. Although she isn't supposed to, she desperately wants to find The Neighbor.

Then, here comes Madeline, A new woman. Beth feels like Madeline is taking over her home, careen and her husband. Beth has this feeling that Madeline has something to do with The Neighbor, but does she?

A digital ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Ballantine Books. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Beth, a counterintelligence agent at the CIA, has been working on a case for years to find out the identity of The Neighbor. Now she is being sent to teach the new analysts - essentially a demotion. Her youngest son left for college, she is downgrading and selling her home and husband just told her he was moving out. All of these life changes happening at the same time lead people to look at her as though she is having mental issues.

This is a very, very slow beginning but once it picked up speed it was worth it.

Things I didn't like:
* I didn't like how Beth just slipped into memories of when she moved into her house, her friends in the cul-de-sac, her life with Mike. I found it distracting and seemed to interrupt the flow.

* I realize that she is an analyst for the CIA but after working there for so many years, she seems almost like rookie. She lost the people she was following, she got spotted a few times while on a "stakeout", she got caught searching for information.

Things I did like:
I did like the storyline. I wasn't really sure how I would feel about an Iranian spy network infiltrating the US agencies, but I found it very interesting. Although Beth seemed obsessed with the new people that moved into her home, and the case she was taken off of, the storyline of finding out the identity of The Neighbor was really good. It did keep me guessing and I was surprised at the very end.

For whatever reason, this one grabbed me and held me and I had a tough time putting it down until I finished it. I honestly can't explain why. It wasn't brilliantly written. The characters weren't particularly enthralling or captivating. But something about it came together in just the right way that made it absolutely work for me. There were a ton of twists and turns that continually kept me guessing throughout - maybe that's what held my interest so well. I had a number of theories throughout the book that just kept getting shut down, forcing me to start over again with how I thought it was going to end (I did finally figure it out prior to the ending, which was actually pretty satisfying). So yes, I really did enjoy this book. But no, I can't entirely explain why.

I was addicted to this uniquely plotted, twisty book. The premise was nothing like what I have read in the past and I was glued to the pages! With twist after twist, how could you not be hoping that Beth, a CIA analysist, figured out “The Neighbor”. My jaw hit the floor when “The New Neighbor” was revealed, as you will not see it coming!

If you like neighborhood thrillers, CIA/FBI thrillers, or a traitor/spy/espionage thrillers definitely pickup this book!

As this was my first by Karen Cleveland, I will definitely be checking out her other books!

***** Many thanks to Random House Publishing - Ballantine, Karen Cleveland, and NetGalley for the gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

My review will be posted to Instagram (thriller_book_sisters) on 7/27/22.

Beth has chased "The New Neighbor", a radical terrorist that wants to break into the CIA database, for years and as all her children have now left the nest, she thinks she will finally be able to crack the case! Unfortunately, Beth is facing more than just the empty nest syndrome as her husband is leaving her, she is selling the home where she raised her children and then she is suddenly pulled from the case and moved to a teaching position! Beth knows she's close to finding The New Neighbor and continues her investigation and makes some surprising discoveries about her neighbors and friends...or does she? Is Beth suffering a mental breakdown as everyone is accusing her of or is she finally on the cusp of solving the case she has worked on for years?

The New Neighbor kept my heart racing with suspense and the surprises came with every turn of the page! A few parts of the book were a little far fetched to make the story work which always bugs me but overall, I had a hard time putting this book down!

Thank for Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for am honest review!

I just discovered my newest go-to author!!! Great book - well written, nicely paced, lots twists and turns and an ending that begs for the next chapter. I stayed awake reading this one - without regret.

This honestly wasn't my favorite. It was a very slow burn and hard to make it through. I wanted so badly to like it but Beth just made me mad most of the time. The ending was not satisfying at all.

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland is a twisty thriller! I liked that it kept me guessing throughout the book—like almost too much so that it made things a little unbelievable—but I could not guess who the real spy was. There aren’t many books that I legit get to the end and go, “Wait, WHAT?!” Fast paced, couldn’t put it down because I kept being given new clues.

There were so many twists and turns, and that aspect did keep me on my feet. I enjoyed the neighborhood spy aspect. I did feel the ending was a bit predictable, however. It was a fun and entertaining read overall.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Beth is a CIA analyst living an idyllic life on a quiet, suburban cul-de-sac, and she's been working tirelessly to uncover the identity of an Iranian intelligence agent known as "The Neighbor." While at work, "The Neighbor's" identity remains a mystery, at home, Beth knows her own neighbors (many of them CIA themselves) inside and out.

Or does she?

When Beth's life is upended in more ways than one, she's left questioning everything she thought she knew about the people on her cul-de-sac and even within her own four walls.

What ensues in "The New Neighbor" is an entertaining, espionage-centered domestic thriller, with Beth at the center as our unreliable narrator. While I love a good domestic thriller and somehow never find myself growing bored with them, the espionage/CIA theme in this one didn't hold my interest the way I hoped it would. This plot, once the stage is set and the story gets moving, delivers twist-after-twist and some stressful suspense as Beth works to uncover the identity of "The Neighbor" and protect the people she loves most.

Ultimately, I had to suspend belief more than I would've liked with the big twist here (how on earth? Why? Who, again?), and I never found myself totally bought into Beth's identity as a revered CIA analyst. She read as paranoid, case-obsessed, and said the words "neighbor" and "cul-de-sac" more times than ever would have been necessary. I was entertained throughout but can't say this read was terribly remarkable for me.

Beth is a CIA analyst, after sending her son to college, it is time for her to say goodbye to her home on the cul-de-sac. After arriving back in office, she is told she will no longer be working on her case on The Neighbor, an Iranian intelligence agency. Beth knows she hasn’t made as much progress as she should’ve, but that’s only because The Neighbor is extremely secretive and hard to even get information on. Madeline moves into Beths old house, and her life is seemingly perfect. Beth believes Madeline has ties to the Iranian intelligence, it can’t be a coincidence that she moved in right?

In my opinion, this is definitely a slow burn type of book. I did enjoy reading it and it kept my attention till the end, but do wish it was a bit more fast paced. Overall thought this was a good book and the writing was easy to follow, so I enjoyed it!

Beth has everything she's always thought she wanted in her perfect cul-de-sac with her family and close-knit neighbors. Finally ready to be empty nesters, she drops her son at college to get back to work and realize she's been taken off the case she's been working for 15 years. To add insult to injury, she gets home to find her husband is leaving, although she isn't surprised by this revelation.
The next day as they close on their home and move to start new beginnings, she's taken aback when she meets the new neighbor taking her place. Is she really just jealous that Madeline has what she USED to have or is she truly hiding something that could crack the case Beth has been on all these years?
This was a quick read packed with challenges and the overall question: how well do you really know your closest friends?

Beth is a CIA agent and for the last seventeen years or so, she has been on the case of The Neighbor, an Iranian intelligence terrorist. Beth has been working tirelessly to figure out who The Neighbor is. and she finally feels like she is getting close to figuring it out. And then, suddenly, she is removed from the case with no explanation as to why. Seventeen years of hard work, and now all of her clearances are removed.

But that doesn't stop Beth. She comes up with creative ways to figure out how to get the information she needs to keep tracking The Neighbor. Her life is falling apart anyway; she is an empty nester who is also facing divorce and moving from the home she has raised her three children in. What does she have left to lose, aside from her career?

This is the second book I've read from this author. I found this book was a slow burn and a little confusing. I did enjoy the idea behind the story and following Beth in her attempt to figure out who The Neighbor was, but I thought the parts where the CIA lingo and descriptions were dense to be confusing and at times over my head. I do appreciate that the author is a former CIA analyst, so I have no doubt that a lot of the protocols in this story are fairly true to real CIA protocols. Personally, I had no idea what some of it meant, and I'm not sure if it's just me, or if any civilian who is not familiar with CIA terms would be confused and lost. That is my biggest issue with this story.

I also felt that the reveal of The Neighbor was kind of.... impossible, yet predictable. I'm pretty sure every character in the book was a culprit at one point, and it kind of made the story drag on and after about the fourth person being ruled out, I figured out that everyone would be ruled out until the very end. That kind of ruined, though a harsh term, the ending for me because it wasn't as shocking knowing that I would finally find out who The Neighbor was.

Overall, this book held my attention and I did want to find out who the culprit was. I think there should have been fewer suspects to make it a bit more shocking at the end. There were times the story felt repetitive and slow, but it also had me drawn in enough that I wanted to keep reading to find out the resolve. 3 stars, thought more realistically 3.5. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes CIA type thrillers.

My Thoughts


Talk about some major plot twists, I was sucked in immediately.

Beth Bradford’s character captured my interest from start to finish with her situation, her particular theories and most of all with the fact her job allows her access to certain secrets us normal folks can’t hope to get the truth of.

Living with the same people for as many years as Beth and her family do in their particular neighborhood cut-de-sac it would be easy to assume they all knew everything about each other, not the case as it turns out over the course of this story.

As promised there are many secrets, even lies uncovered, there is an element of mystery and over all it is a quick easy read from start to finish.

The many twists and turns this story takes manage to finally come together when The Neighbor is revealed but until then they can be somewhat frustrating at times to follow but necessary as well.

I enjoyed the character, both main and secondary, the buildup and final execution when all comes together at books end.

In fact loved this story!

[EArc from Netgalley]
On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Karen Cleveland wrote one of my favorite thrillers, so I was excited to get my hands on her latest book! Super fast read and I didn’t guess the twist at the end. Need to Know is still my favorite, but this was fun.

This was a lot more technical than I expected. I didn't realize the author is former CIA in real life and writes about the CIA often. I don't find Feds particularly interesting. I was just there for the drama and it felt like Desperate Housewives meets CIA. It just didn't work for me. Lots of characters with complicated jobs and lots of technicalities and lingo that I don't know. It was well-written if you're into that kind of thing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

I didn't plan on reading this book in one sitting, but I just couldn't put it down! This is a little tricky for me to rate because I think people who are very interested in how government agencies work (e.g. CIA, FBI, NSA) will really enjoy this book, but others who aren't as interested might feel slowed down by the substantial technicalities of these characters' jobs. The story largely takes place in a cul-de-sac neighborhood, which adds to a very atmospheric and almost claustrophobic buildup to the climax. In the first few pages, I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be so funny if ___ was the main plot twist lol" and then IT CAME TRUE – which usually annoys me whenever that happens, but nonetheless I enjoyed the journey it took there. Our main character becomes so paranoid that it had me second-guessing the motives of every single character, including herself, which kept me on my toes the whole way through. I was a tad unsatisfied with the ending and thought there were a couple significant holes, but overall, this was a very fun read.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I really enjoyed this thriller. Some thrillers that take place in neighborhoods can be too much. This kept me guessing til the end and would highly recommend this book or author.