I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was not what I expected. It involves a CIA agent who has worked on a case for a long time and believes that she is close to breaking it. Then she is transferred. She continues her work and interviews a myriad of suspects.

This book here was a wild ride from start to finish!! I absolutely loved it and the twists it gave. Just when you think you have it figured out nope right till the end it keeps you turning.

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland is a superb read. With tight plotting and great characters. A read well worth spending time on.

I started and finished this book in less than 24 hours- not because it was short, but because I couldn’t put it down. You need to read this. Great suspense, a few moments when you think you know what’s going on, and who the “bad guy” is, only to be masterfully swept in another direction. A+

The New Neighbor is an exciting read. This story opens with Beth meeting someone near a boulder with an x drawn in chalk. Then the story goes back to the beginning when Beth and Mike and their three young children move into a cul de sac. The house is perfect and the kids are soon riding their bikes with neighbors young children. The parents set up their folding chairs and share a bottle of wine while they watch their children play. Most of them work for the near by CIA in different departments. The real excitement begins with Beth working to find a terrorist called The Neighbor that has eluded capture for 15 years. Great character development. There were several unexpected moves that surprised me. I enjoyed Karen Cleveland's writing.
I received a complimentary advanced reader's copy from Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

This was such a good thriller! I was hooked from the first chapter, trying to figure out the secrets behind the neighbor. At certain points in the book I really questioned if I was dealing with an unreliable narrator. Pacing was great and it had me questioning everything right until the end!

Loved how this story started off. I would have much rather it kept going as a story of life opposed to the spy and espionage plot. The writing style was great, but it was just a little far fetched for me. I like a story that’s a little more believable. I would definitely read more from Karen Cleveland. Over all a 3.5 star read for me. Thanks @netgalley for approval of this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this AMAZING book!
Beth Bradford, an CIA cybersecurity analyst that has a perfect life! Family, house, perfect neighborhood is trying to bring down Iranian forces that are threatening to infiltrate the CIA.
Secrets, jealousy, and paranoia all comes together to this exciting story!
Karen Cleveland is amazing in her writing style! I couldn't stop reading!
Thank you

This was a pretty slow start for me and I almost gave up on it a few times. The gaslight, slightly hysterical female protagonist is just wearing and not enjoyable to read. It did pick up and get more interesting but I don't think the payoff really was there for the ending and I'm not sure I'll continue to read this author.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley and the publisher to provide an honest review.

This book wasn’t one that I would typically choose with a government backdrop but it definitely kept me interested. There are points in the book that you just want to shake the characters eyes open, and you think you know what’s going to happen. And then it’ll take a crazy turn you don’t see coming. The ending also left a surprise that could lead to a sequel should the author choose. Great read!
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to review this book

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland
This is one of those books I wish there was a good editor. There is an interesting, spell binding story here but it is ruined by white wine and for much of the book a somewhat hysterical protagonist. Beth from the CIA, has spent over 15 years trying to find “The Neighbor” a spy within the CIA who so far has no done anything to disrupt the CIA. She is suddenly transferred, just as her youngest goes off to college which she hopes means she has more time to focus on this “Neighbor” when she is transferred out of Langley to some campus where she no longer has secret clearance and is no supposed to teach new agents how to fill out forms. She and her husband Mike sell their home in a beautiful cul-de-sac where all the ladies would gather on lawn chairs drinking white wine and watch their kids grow up. At the same time as they are packing up their house, her husband leaves her. Not a good day.
Somehow, she thinks the people who are buying the house, might be “The Neighbor” who is under the control of the Iranians. So, for the bulk of the book, she rails against the CIA, who begin to think she is crazy. Ultimately, she does save the day but not the month. As she does thwart the plan to corrupt the software of the CIA, many of her neighbors in the cul-de-sac will go to jail as pawns bribed by The Neighbor. I will not spoil who this is but as the book ends there is a no twist in the plot. Stay tuned for Neighbor II.
As I mentioned there is a good story here but the lead character is just to drunken hysterical and the rest of the establishment is just written as to daft to see anything Cartoon movie ? Maybe. The book needed a guiding hand.

Interesting story! I was torn between 3 and 4 stars - some unique aspects but nothing extraordinary.

The main character was a narcissist who was trying to move on with her career as her marriage failed. With adult children, she threw herself into work! This caused her friends and co-workers to see her as over ambitious and later, as delusional. Lots of twists in the story with an unexpected ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Very clever and a great opening. A thriller about the CIA and a "perfect" family/wife/career woman. Beth is an analyst for the CIA on the hunt for "The Neighbor" an Iranian agent. But she is reassigned, her husband leaves her and she is desperate - though she isn't supposed to - to find The Neighbor. When a new woman moves into her recently sold home, Beth feels as if Madeline is taking over her world, husband, career, home. Everyone in Beth's former neighborhood works for the CIA and Beth can't shake the idea Madeline has something to do with The Neighbor. Loved the characters in this one. Fast paced, clever and original. I love spy stories.

*Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

I had to give this one 5 stars. First, I’m a sucker for anything FBI/CIA related, and the neighborhood setting was so fun and fascinating. I couldn’t put it down, and have such a strong visual of life in Langley Oaks.

This book is fast-paced with an unreliable main character (she reminded me a bit of Carrie Mathison in Homeland). She is obsessed with her work, especially after being pulled off the case and “demoted” for no reason. She leaves no stone unturned in trying to track down a traitor known as The Neighbor, so much so that you begin to wonder if she’s truly the crazy one.

It kept me guessing until the very end (and the epilogue is 🤌🏼 chef’s kiss).

Out 7/26! I’m off to go binge more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, for this advanced reading copy. This ARC was provided to me in exchange for my honest review.

Beth, a CIA agent working in counterintelligence, has been working to try and find "the Neighbor" for 15 years. Then, when her last child leaves for college, she sells her family home, her husband announces he is leaving her, she also gets kicked off the case and demoted to teaching new recruits. Adding salt to her wounds, she learns that there is new information on the "Neighbor" case. She cannot stop herself from trying to find the person behind it all and continue her work on the case. Her friends and family are concerned about her as she makes nonsensical accusations and she is convinced that the woman who purchased her home of 17 years is "the Neighbor".

This is a wild ride into the work of espionage! I loved that as I was reading, I too started to question Beth’s sanity just like her friends, family and coworkers. The twists and turns throughout the book are surprising and kept me reading until the late hours of the night. I just couldn’t put it down. The New Neighbor was an excellent read, and I really enjoyed it!

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59731400-

This is a compelling mystery that grabbed my interest right from the beginning, and never let go. It's a quick read with a lot of twists and turns, and a frighteningly believable glimpse into a world of espionage and counter-espionage set right here in suburban America. Written by a former CIA analyst who clearly knows the ins and outs of that agency, as well as it rivalry with the FBI, the story centers on Beth Bradford, a female CIA analyst who's been searching for years for an Iranian agent who appears to have infiltrated the inner circle of the CIA with a goal of compromising the agency's intranet, a goal that, if achieved, would open up the agency's most top-secret data base and destroy America's security networks. Beth returns from a two-week vacation to find herself removed from her office and transferred to a CIA training center that's become a dumping ground for analysts who have outlived their usefulness. Her long search for the agent code-named The Neighbor has not only been taken from her, she's also being denied access to all her own work products and the information she's gathered over the years in the search. Beth becomes convinced that she knows the identity of The Neighbor, and is obsessed with proving it both to regain her status in the agency and to insure the security of her country.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC of The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland.

While this genre is not usually my cup of tea, I must say that I might just be reading more of it in the future. Beth is a strong, powerful female character that shows the stress that life brings still happens to everyone including her, a CIA agent. Just after dropping her last child off to college, her husband informs her that he is leaving her. Going to work to clear her head she finds out that the case she has been working her entire career is not hers anymore and she is being demoted. She refuses to let that stop her and delves into dangerous territory.

This was a heart stopping suspenseful book that had me begging for more and guessing until the very last page. I loved the female lead and everything this book brought to the table. This being my first Karen Cleveland book, I can now say it will not be my last.

Wow! This book was insane. I loved reading about what goes on behind closed doors with the CIA and this book makes you wonder what goes on that we’re all oblivious to. The twists and turns just kept coming and even though I kind of saw the ending coming, there was a ton of details I didn’t expect! If there was ever a sequel I’d definitely read it.

The New Neighbor held my attention right from the first page. I love a good spy suspense book and this plot was full of twists and turns. Beth was a great female lead and I found myself following every clue as to the new neighbor's identity, right along with her.  Beth hit many stumbling blocks along the way but managed to get around most of them.

This is a fast-paced book with more twists and turns than a roller coaster! Beth has no idea who to trust or who is what they say they are, after seventeen years of friendships Beth has no idea now who is telling the truth. I finished this book in two days because I simply needed to know who The New Neighbor is. With its jaw-dropping conclusion, this spy novel did not disappoint.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the copy of The New Neighbor. This is a fast-paced read that really kept me guessing. Beth was an interesting main character. I’m not sure she was a very believable CIA agent, given how she kept jumping to conclusions and accusing people. She really made the accusations of her mental unsoundness seem possible!
When the story started coming to a head it got exciting, but not really plausible. Then the “One Month Later” and the epilogue were odd. I found them both unsatisfying.
But this is an interesting story, and if you are willing to suspend belief you will like this book. I will be trying other books by this author.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.