The New Neighbor is a thrilling espionage novel that will leave you guessing until the very end. The book starts off a little slow, but soon becomes a page turner. I like how the author built the story, layering in the clues so the ending, while surprising, didn’t come out of nowhere. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a good spy novel. I also felt that the author had a lot of authority on the subject of the CIA. I learned quite a bit.

With a thrilling plot and a compelling cast of characters, The New Neighbor earns an easy five stars from me. What is it that I love
so much about it? I love everything.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy.

This book was sooo good! Very hard to put down and impossible to figure out - the hallmarks of a great book. Beth was a bit annoying as a character to me, but she was going through a lot at one time. I loved her tenacity though! As I think about it, Beth's neighbors were all really nice, but I did not love Madeline (and perhaps you are not supposed to) or Beth's husband. The plot was interesting and engaging... nothing like some CIA related intrigue to keep you involved in a story. I think Cleveland did a great job of telling this tale and I look forward to reading other books she has written.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Where to even start with this one...there were elements I thoroughly enjoyed, but man oh man, there were others that made me want to scream with frustration.

Here's a quick summary first: Beth Bradford is a CIA analyst and she's spent most of her career tracking down a guy named Reza Karimi and his recruit The Neighbor. She's caught other recruits over the years, but this one has always evaded her. At this point, all three of her kids are out of the house, her marriage is failing, and the family just sold their home of many, many years. Basically, Beth is going through a lot and has failed to catch The Neighbor all this time, so she gets taken off the case and moved into a teaching position at the CIA. She absolutely hates this and puts her entire career AND life in jeopardy by continuing to search for The Neighbor and Reza Karimi.

First of all, I had trouble believing Beth could even be a real CIA analyst - I feel like she made so many mistakes and did so many questionable things. I'm personally a little turned off by the untrustworthy/unstable middle-aged woman bit in some of these books. I felt like Beth was just having a mid-life crisis this entire time. Some of it could've just been fixed with a little bit of therapy. I could've also done with a little less of the she needs mental help and is unstable shtick throughout because not every passionate woman is unstable,

Don't get me wrong, the book delivered some great twists and turns. Some that I did not see coming at all and others that were kind of obvious. But those twists and turns weren't enough to turn this into a 4- or 5-star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine for sharing this eARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure if I would like this book because I don't normally care for "police" books; however, I was pleasantly surprised. It was nothing like I expected and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great read! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Will definitely look for more from this author!

At the beginning of this book, I took a guess at who was ‘the Neighbor’. I was sure I was right. Then as my reading went on, I thought it was someone else, then maybe my first guess, then another someone else, then my first guess, etc., etc., etcetera. You get it, right?

This was a great page-turner that kept me guessing and very engrossed in its many twists. There were, however, a couple places where I thought, oh, that would never happen. I’m not sure if all the CIA and FBI stuff was on the money, but it worked for me.

The New Neighbor has a great pace, great story, great characters, and a great ending. Can you tell I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was such a page turner! I read this one in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. The way the author has you wondering if Beth has lost it, and then throws the different twists and turns into the storyline to keep you guessing is absolute perfection! I cannot recommend this book enough and if I could give more than 5 stars I absolutely would!

Paranoia, secrets, obsession, twists and turns! This thriller has a lot for lovers of CIA thrillers and mysteries to sink their teeth into.

Beth, a CIA analyst seemingly has it all. Husband, children, home on a cul-de-sac with great friends and a case she has been working on for 15 years: trying to track down the Neighbor. Beth and her husband Mike have began to prepare for a change, moving off the cul-de-sac to a smaller rental until they find a smaller permanent home. What Beth doesnt realize is that this isnt the only change. Her husband leaves her, she is demoted off the Neighbor case when it is seeminlgly heating up. The family who move into her old home on the previous cul-de-sac peak her interest, or should I say obsession.

Beth, facing all these life changes decisdes to continue to work The Neighbor case alone. Although the unraveling of the mystery is entertainng, albeit slow in the first half, Beth is not a character I wanted to root for. She was too obsessive at best and down right annoying at worst. However, the authors clever ways of unraveling the story kept me reading even though Beth had me rolling my eyes several times.

The second half picks up and the twists and turns make it hard to put the book down. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I realized I was wrong. Again, Beth was really annoying, but push past that. This book was wel written and will keep you guessing. I will definately be picking up other books by the author. Happy Reading!

3.5 stars

Beth Bradford a CIA operative is moving from her home. Madeline Sterling moves into her old home and Beth believes the new neighbor is an Iranian intelligence agent. Is the new neighbor a spy or not? By the time I finished the book, which is gripping at times, I didn't care one way or the other. There is a lot of CIA jargon in the book, but the plot felt familiar and just didn't hit me as something original and really compelling.

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

“I’m not The Neighbor,” she says. “But someone on this cul-de-sac is.”

I am a recent fan of Karen Cleveland and her latest book did not disappoint. CIA analyst Beth Bradford has been taken off a plum intelligence assignment and suddenly reassigned to a more mundane task, losing all of her clearances. The same day, her husband announces he wants a divorce. They sell their house and Beth becomes obsessed with the couple who has bought it. Down the road of paranoia, we go. Sure, you have to suspend belief at times but it sucked me in.

If you love a CIA blackmailing thriller, you must read this book!! I thought I had it all figured out but it kept on twisting and turning. I couldn’t put it down and WOW the ending!!!!! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher of The New Neighbor for and ARC of this book!!!!

I LOVED this book. The pacing, the story, the twists - I couldn’t put it down and was sad when it ended! I need more books like this!!

When I first read CIA, I thought this might be an espionage thriller, but thankfully a solid mystery! Another advance read by @netgalley and a new author for me #karencleveland. The lead character runs through a myriad of suspects, but I didn't guess the guilty party nor the twist at the end.

Beth and Mike Bradford are living large in McLean, VA. He’s a doc (don't quote me on that detail) and she’s a CIA analyst (on the Iran desk). They’ve raised 3 kids on the cul-de-sac. Got great neighbors who also have various positions ‘in government’ including the CIA cuz it’s nearby; they’ve all become like family. Beth and Mike's two older girls are out of college and on their own. Their son is heading out for UVa. Beth and Mike are empty nesters now and preparing to sell their home and downsize. Little does Beth realize just how much they will be downsizing.

For example, About the time of closing on the house, Mike tells Beth he’ll be moving into his own place, preparing for a life without Beth.

If that isn't enough, the Agency has made potentially career-changing decisions for her. Beth has been an analyst tracking mostly attempted incursions by the Iranian security agency into the security apparatus of the US. She’s been successful at it, too. She knows her Iranian counterpart and has been able to stay one step ahead of him, but one case, The Neighbor (a recruiter for Iran), has her and others stumped. She’s been trying for years to get a lead on The Neighbor. Cryptic notes are about all the CIA has, like 'use their children.' As a result, the higher-ups in the Agency think maybe Beth has lost her touch and demoted her to a teaching position at The Kent School – the CIA's school for rookie analysts.

Beth has a hard time accepting things. The pending divorce. Her demotion. Being told stop looking for The Neighbor. Now living alone, she develops a healthy case of paranoia to compete with her own self-loathing about how life has shit on her.

To maintain some sanity, she carries out her own clandestine search for The Neighbor that eventually narrows down to what she (and the reader) believe were her friends on the cul-de-sac. Staking out her old haunts becomes commonplace. And what’s a little breaking and entering amongst old long-time friends. Maybe a little harassment of the young couple who purchased her old home is a sensible endeavor.

And all this goes on for probably 75% of the book. I rarely put a book down once I’ve started. I figure that the author has put a ton of work into the book and if I start, I owe it to the author to finish. I’ll admit to having thought about quitting on a few occasions only to continue thinking the story has got to develop some teeth. Beth really wasn’t a character that made me want to care about what happens – she groans, she gripes, she fuses, she moans. The last 15-20% of the book does, thankfully, rock as Beth comes to realize the proximity of The Neighbor. My only hope is that a sequel won’t tread all that tired, old ground. But that’s just me. I can see some readers lapping up Beth’s descent and subsequent rebound. Not me.

The jacket blurb says that the author is a ‘former counterterrorism analyst’ an NYT best-selling author of three other (CIA and FBI) books. Her first book, Need to Know, has been optioned to Universal Pictures and is rumored to have Charlize Theron playing the lead. All her books focus on a strong female lead. The descriptions all sound interesting (particularly You Can Run). I just hope the lead for any of those other books isn’t as whiny and paranoid as Beth Bradford.

Wow, what a roller coaster ride this book was. The story was about a CIA agent who is dealing with a lot of changes in her life. She is selling her house, her husband leaves her, her children have all grown up and left home and now she gets removed from an investigation that she has been working on for years. One that she just cannot give up on. The story twists and turns as circumstances point to first one person and then the next and then the next. And when the villain is finally revealed, well, what a shock. I would highly recommend this book.

Readers will know from page one that everyone who lives on this cozy McLean, Virginia cul-de-sac and works for "government" is involved in the Iranian intelligence plot. Who is the New Neighbor--the person behind recruiting Americans to provide information to Reza Karimi? Author Karen Cleveland provides a page-turning thriller through Beth, a CIA intelligence officer who sends youngest child to college, sells her home, finds out her husband wants a divorce, and is demoted to a teaching position. Good engaging story.

Beth Bradford lives in a great cul-de-sac where almost everyone has ties to the CIA. Beth has been working on a case for a long time, trying to find out who "The Neighbor" is.

As Beth is getting ready to sell her house, she finds out her husband is wanting a divorce, and she is getting taken off the case that she has poured her heart and soul into. She has no idea why and no one is willing to tell her.

To make maters worse, there is something strange about the couple who has moved into her old house. Beth is starting to suspect she might be "The Neighbor"!

Beth decides to work on the case on her own time. What she finds out is worse than she ever imagined.

Read this one! You won't regret it. Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book!

When a former CIA agent writes a book, you know you are going to get a lot of subversion and twists and turns and this book will not disappoint. NOthing is what it appears to be. Neighbors are a tricky sort to begin with-don't offer sugar, stay in your lane!! After reading this, I'm sure I will be.

I loved this mystery. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. I removed one star just due to my lack of knowledge about CIA/Iranian intelligence. Some of those topics were a little confusing to me, but overall was a great story. Thank you NetGalley, Random House (Ballantine Books) and Karen Cleveland for the opportunity to read this in advance for my honest opinion.