This book wasn't quite what I was expecting and a spy thriller isn't my usual genre, so I was definitely surprised at how much I loved this. One of the best fiction books I've read recently!

Right from the beginning, it captured my attention and I ended up staying up all night last night to finish it because I just had to know what happened. Towards the end, there were so many twists that totally surprised me!

The pacing was perfect, tension built up to the ending, there was a point to everything that happened and it kind of read like a good movie. Although the main character (Beth) sometimes made decisions that had me cringing, I was still sympathizing with her and rooting for her throughout it all.

Side note: the flashbacks gave me Desperate Housewives vibes and I liked that, haha.

Even if you're like me and spy thrillers aren't your jam, this is still worth a read - I promise. Also, someone please turn this into a movie! :D

4.5 creepy stars

I have become a fan of Karen Cleveland, so I jumped at the chance to read her newest book. This one kept me turning the pages and suspecting everyone, just like I like it!

Beth is a CIA analyst living in a neighborhood near Langley with lots of other CIA employees, all raising their families and working for their country. Now things are at a crossroads as Beth and her husband drop off their youngest child at college. They’ve decided it’s time to sell their house and look for something smaller. There are changes for her marriage and job too and soon Beth wonders what happened to her perfect life.

Beth can’t let go of her old case even though she’s been forced to move on. She starts to investigate on her own and soon her job is in jeopardy and maybe even her life. All these changes have led her to have too many drinks and we aren’t sure if she’s imagining things or if someone is watching her.

This one kept me guessing and was a quick read. It made me think more about how much I share with my neighbors! Just like her last book, this one ended with a cliffhanger ending so I’m wondering if I’ll get to read more about Beth, the CIA, and her family.

I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. The author did a fabulous job bringing the protagonist to life. I could imagine how she felt having her personal life fall apart and her professional ability questioned, resulting in her removal from her life's work at the CIA. Her clandestine investigation leaves her suspicious of everyone and being treated as unreliable by both her colleagues and friends. There are many twists and turns, and I found the ending completely unpredictable. I thought this was a unique and scary story, and I highly recommend it.

Like Karen Cleveland's previous books, The Neighbor will keep you guessing until the very end as a CIA analyst hunts for a traitor!

CIA analyst Beth Bradford is at a crossroads in her life. Her daughter is off to college, her marriage is ending, she’s selling her family home and the CIA has kicked her off the case she’s invested so much time in. Beth has the feeling that the woman who moved into her old house is up to something, something to do with the case Beth was kicked off. In a neighborhood full of CIA “spooks”, everyone has access to secrets and intel and Beth isn’t sure who to trust. Is she imagining things, or is something sinister happening right before her eyes

How well do you really know your neighbors? Beth Bradford, a counterintelligence agent for the CIA, has spent much of her career focused on Iranian Quds Force commander Reza Karimi, and thwarting his efforts to gain access to the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS). Karimi cannot operate in the US directly, but he has an access agent, The Neighbor, who recruits other agents, who provide intelligence that makes its way back to the Iranians. The efforts of Beth and other counterintelligence personnel to discover the identity of The Neighbor has been unsuccessful, but with her youngest child going off to college, Beth is hoping she can refocus her efforts and finally uncover the identity, especially as recent intercepts suggest that Karimi may be getting closer to his goal. However, when she returns to work, earlier than expected, she discovers that she has been reassigned to the Kent School, the training school for intelligence analysis, and that the FBI has been brought in to assist in the search for The Neighbor. Before having to leave the Counterintelligence Center, she sees the words, "The Cul-De-Sac" on the white board, and recognizes that it is part of the latest intercept.

Although Beth is off the case and has been denied all access, she cannot let it go. She lives on a cul-de-sac, although her and her husband have sold their house and the closing is only days away, ten minutes from Langley and all of her neighbors have some connection to the CIA. Her home is being purchased by a young couple named Josh and Madeline, and Beth quickly becomes suspicious of Madeline, convinced that she is The Neighbor, or at least a recruit. However, her former boss and coworkers, as well as best friend in the neighborhood, Alice, think she is stressed by her son going to college, the pending move, and, for Alice, the knowledge shared by Beth that her husband, Mike, has left her. The neighbors have seen her "watching" Madeline and Josh and her old house and are worried about her. Beth will eventually discover information that suggests that Madeline is not her target, but that there is suspicion that The Neighbor is one of her former neighbors (which is why she was reassigned -- would she be loyal to her friends in the neighborhood or loyal to her job?). The story focuses on her efforts to gain access to the new information the CIA and FBI have on Karimi and The Neighbor, and Beth's investigations into her former neighbors, which will reveal a number of secrets, and amply demonstrate that Beth really did not know her neighbors well at all.

The story has plenty of twists and turns that will leave the reader guessing. The identity of The Neighbor and the complexity and ingenuity of the plan to gain access to JWICS will likely come as a surprise to the reader. The book ends in a manner that allows for the possibility of a sequel. "The New Neighbor" is well worth reading.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Karen Cleveland did a great job grabbing my interest in the beginning of The New Neighbor, but she lost my interest near the end making it a chore to finish this book. This was an excellent storyline, but the depths the main character goes to find out information is both unrealistic and exhausting. Having a security clearance while in the military, I had a hard time accepting the main character would not have lost her security clearance after her first encounter with the new neighbor. With a few tweaks this storyline could be much more believable.

I really liked this book, with its twists and turns on every other page. The ending even surprised me. Beth, the main character who is a CIA analyst, is working to solve the identity of The Neighbor. She suspects everyone, her neighbors and her husband, and is ruthless in her quest for answers. This is a fast paced book, keeps your interest till the very end.

I love a good action and spy thriller and this book delivered. Beth was an excellent character with a compelling back story. The plot pulled me forward to the ending. I highly recommend.

Beth Bradford is obsessed with the woman who’s family has moved into Beth’s former home in a quiet neighborhood filled with CIA employees..

Is she the Iranian spy Beth has been hunting all these years? Nothing is as it appears in this twisty, suspenseful thriller. Highly recommended. #TheNewNeighbor #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthors

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Beth can't get over that her marriage is over after selling the house. She works for the cia and was taken off a case she worked on for the past couple of years called the neighbor. Could the family that purchased her house be the neighbor. This book kept me guessing.

I went into this book having no idea what it was about. I decided to do a blind read. I was very surprised it wasn’t your run of the mill thriller. It was in so many words, a spy Thriller! And my first one at that! After reading about the author, a former CIA agent, everything made sense! Karen Cleveland sucked me right in the spy funnel! She knows her stuff, that’s for sure!
To begin, the term “Neighbor” is not literal- it’s a word used to describe the person who is feeding information to the Iranians, who Beth, our main character, has been trying to track down for 15 years of her career as a CIA agent.
Beth has a quite a few turn of events take place within the first few pages of this book, last child off to college, husband asks for a divorce, and suddenly, taken off the “Neighbor” case at work. She is asked to leave Langley and go work at the local school training new agents. Desk work=boring.
Beth decides to keep on working the case not so quietly and that’s when things get intense. The new neighbor may be right under her nose, living very close to her and she may have never known it!
This book is fast paced, you keep wanting one more chapter, it’s a relatively short one though, so two days was all I needed to wrap it up! Told between multiple time lines- Fans of Homeland and The Americans will love this one!
Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and @NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

What a roller coaster ride. This book has it all, espionage, divorce, neighbors, friends, children, payoffs, interagencies working together, it has it all.
However, it also got bogged down by one of the lead characters, Madeline. At the end of the book, you really didn't get a feel how Madeline was able to accomplish so much with so little information.
Then the other part that dragged on was Beth. I had to skip a few pages because the character was spinning her wheels and going nowhere.
OVerall, I thought that the book was good, just a little bit long winded when we were in Beths thought process.

Ahh, Karen Cleveland is always good for a mystery/thriller that will suck you in! I was really excited to get this advance copy and was not disappointed... mostly. I will admit, I didn't LOVE the very end, but it did make sense. My only real complaint though is that it didn't last longer. I really enjoy Cleveland's storytelling style and her background in the CIA herself adds to the authenticity for me. Research can take things only so far. I don't often read spy novels, but always look forward to her books! The twists and turns along the way as Beth works to find out who "The Neighbor" is makes for a fun read. I won't spoil anything, but be sure you have a good chunk of time to read. This was certainly a "can't put it down" book for me!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Beth is a CIA agent who worked exclusive to identify the Iran Spy using an American agent called "The Neighbor." She is abruptly pulled from the case and sent toa school. As Beth sells her home the new owner, Madeline, is the new FBI agent on the case to find "The Neighbor." As Beth tries to continue to identify the spy, she comes into serious conflicts. Beth faces emotional problems as her marriage is failed, and her efforts to continue working the case creates working issues as well. All the families in their cul-de-sac is working in some force of the CIA, and Beth's reveal them to all involved in lies and espionage. Be the ending, Beth has learned who is "The Neighbor' but is not believed. The ending has both success and failure, as the use of the Iran Spy uses blackmail and threats to families continue the create more spies.

Wow! You always see reviews that say "I couldn't put it down," well, this is one of them. I kept saying "ok, one more chapter" but I never put it down. It was a long guessing game with twists every chapter. All the way to the epilogue! It's rare that I don't figure out the ending, but this book stumped me.

The first few chapters felt like watching a car crash. The MC was going through it and seemed to be losing her mind. I love an unreliable narrator 🙌🏻 I didn’t know what to believe or who to trust. This pulls you in quick and doesn’t let up. Better than average, 3.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Interesting book regarding a Government job at Langley, Virginia and a neighborhood of like families. Beth Bradford, a CIA analyst, has been working a case for 15 years. She has made many advances in the case over the years but was having trouble finding the “Neighbor” (the name for the person in charge). Beth is pulled off the case because of this lack of advancement and transferred to another position. She went against protocol and kept investigating the case. In her investigation she uncovered many different people that were involved and helped to stop one advancement into the government’s security but wasn’t able to complete her prosecution of the Neighbor because the Neighbor found a way to block Beth. I enjoyed the book but was surprised by the ending. I would recommend this book to others.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book was fantastic!! It definitely kept me guessing all the way to the very end. There were so many good twists and turns through out the entire book that you will not want to put it down! Highly recommend reading as soon as you can get a copy!

Thank you Random House for the ARC!!

I always enjoy a good crime thriller and this was right up my alley. It was very much the same formula that most authors use which was fine with me! This was a nice palette cleanser between some book series that I have been reading.