This was my first book Karen Cleaveland and it won't be ny last, this was slightly predictable but I still enjoyed it. I did think the main character, Beth was a little weak but did enjoy the storyline overall.

I struggled to finish this as the story didn’t really keep my interest. A lot of it seemed unbelievable, particularly the lengths Beth went to as she continued to follow her previous case. Glad I don’t have these characters as my neighbors.

Jaw-dropping. The author mixes the nostalgia of the empty nest, the grief of divorce, and suburban angst with a CIA thriller. An amazing achievement.

This book had lots of red herrings and misdirection that kept me guessing. I thought I had it figured out early and felt so superior for having nailed it. Then I came to find out I had it all wrong. I also loved the way it showcased the inner workings of the CIA in a way that’d I’d not found elsewhere. And it makes me glad that my job doesn’t leave me vulnerable to be targeted for information! Hahaha.

Unpopular opinion alert!

This book is a perfect example of why I'm really bored of Domestic Thrillers and really need to take a long break from them.

A CIA agent who immediately assumes that the woman buying her home is a terrorist that her unit has been searching for, for years. Because she says something in the same foreign language. Does that make her a bigot?

Then she proceeds to jump from assumption to assumption based on her gut feelings. Is this a good representation of a CIA agent? Really?

So many dumb twists that didn't rely on anything of importance.

I feel like I took a 'dumb pill' after reading this one.

Hated it!

3.25 stars, rounded down to 3.*

This is the first book by Karen Cleveland that I have read and I enjoyed the suspense. It is the story of Beth Branford, a CIA operative living on an idyllic cul-de-sac in Langley, VA surrounded by neighbors that have become longtime friends. Her children are all grown and she and her husband decide to downsize. On the day of closing, Beth learns she has been taken off the case she has been working for 15 years, and rather than moving with her to a new townhome, her husband wants a divorce.

Beth can't let go of the potential break in her case, and she becomes fixated with finding which of her neighbors is THE NEIGHBOR, the turncoat she has been tracking.

Some of the tale is clever and other aspects are just too much.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This book was amazing! I’ve never read anything from this author before but I will now. It kept me guessing, who was the bad guy, who was the informant. Highly recommend this suspenseful tale of a typical suburban neighborhood that’s not really as it appears.

The New Neighbor was my second book from the author and I was very frustrated by the length of time it took to get to the climax of this book. This story is about Beth, a CIA agent who lives on a culdesac and is struggling at work so much so that she gets told she needs to pull her life together and until she does that she is demoted. Once this happens, her marriage suffers and she becomes on edge and soon becomes obsessed with finding someone named “the New Neighbor” and she begins watching for them constantly. This book was very annoying. I nearly have up on it several times, but I was grateful to #Netgalley for this arc so I did want to make sure I read it and reviewed it. So thank you for this Arc.

This was a pretty good mystery thriller, even though it felt like the main character was far too inept to be a seasoned CIA agent. The author blames it on a double whammy of empty nest and sudden divorce, but it didn't ring quite true to me. Then I found out the author is ex-CIA herself so now I'm concerned that all CIA analysts are like this?
But otherwise, it was a riveting read that I finished in 24 hours and it keeps you guessing and guessing and guessing. I would definitely read another Karen Cleveland novel and look forward to her next one.

Beth finds out that she is being removed from a CIA case that she has been trying to solve for long time. Her family life is failing with her separation from her husband. Her life seems to be falling apart. Beth just can't give up on the case to find out who the 'The New Neighbor" really is and what damage they are causing to the CIA.

Beth soon learns that Madeline Sterling is moving into her old house in the neighborhood where she just left all of her friends and memories. Beth just can't shake the feeling that someone in her old neighborhood knows something about the case that she is trying to crack. She begins suspicious activity in the neighborhood after she moves out. The neighbors catch on and begin to think that Beth has lost her mind.

The author keeps the reader engaged through twists and turns. The reader will eventually find out who the "neighbor" was and exactly what harm they caused.

This is my first by this author and will not be my last.

This is a very well written edge of your seat book. It will keep you turning the pages and scratching your head until the very end. I was taken by surprise and that does not happen often. Well done.

This book is great and possibly one of the best in 2022..

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Random House for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Beth is a CIA agent who lived on a quiet cul-de-sac with her husband. They have 3 kids and have just dropped the youngest off at college and are getting ready to move to another home. She and Mike are friends with everyone on their cul-de-sac and they all have jobs with the CIA in some capacity or another.

The day she drops her son off at college, she goes into work to find out she's been pulled from a case she's been working on for years; she's looking for The Neighbor, an Iranian Quds Force commander. When she returns home that night, Mike tells her he wants a divorce. Her life is now officially in turmoil.

She decides to look into recent transmissions received by The Neighbor and discovers there is now a New Neighbor. She begs to suspect everyone but everyone also think she's going crazy.

It was a bit of a slow burn with this book and then it picked up. I enjoyed the book overall but felt the ending was a bit rushed and not very plausible. However, I will read her other books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine publishing for the advanced copy of the new neighbor, this was my first Karen Cleveland book but certainly will not be my last. This was a very fast paced book. I tore through this book on 2 days. Beth is CIA, she is also an empty nester that has just been taken off a case she has been working for 15 years. We see Beth slowly unravel as she starts a new chapter in her life, Beth is having a very hard time letting go. She is watching Madeline the woman that has moved into her old house, her old neighborhood and her friends. Beth thinks Madeline may just be the “the neighbor” a spy she has been trying to catch all these years.

Rounded up from 2 1/2 stars. This is the first book I read by this author. I was intrigued by this fast-paced novel that was part domestic story, part spy thriller. Parts were unbelievable, especially the protagonist's actions and tidy ending, which was unexpected but a bit unsatisfying.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine and the author for the opportunity to read this eARC.

An Ending I Did not See Coming!



Cleveland’s book begins with intrigue.
Beth Bradford is a well-respected CIA analyst in counterintelligence related to Iran. She’s tracked an elusive target for over a decade, named, “The Neighbor”. Beth and her attorney- husband, Mike, live in a McLean, VA suburban cul de sac, with several neighbors, who also have ties to the CIA.
The Bradford’s are empty-nesters. The last of their three children just left for college, so Beth is eager to immerse herself in her work, to find the unidentified target that she has pursued for so long. Then suddenly her life is turned upside down. She is pulled off the case, her husband wants a divorce it’s all a hot mess. Which made for a great story.
Beth is reassigned to the Kent School, to teach and train newly-minted CIA hires. Beth feels blindsided and banished. She drives home in a daze. Beth moves to the rental home that she’d planned to share with Mike, after the sale of their beloved house. Reeling from all of the changes, she tries to digest the abrupt implosion of her life and career. Cleveland does an excellent job of conveying the unraveling of Beth, who is now solely-focused on uncovering the secrets of “The Neighbor”, despite not having the same access and resources that her prior position allowed

This was a quick read for me. I love a great thriller and the ending of who is actually “the Neighbor is something I did not see coming.

Oh my! What a disappointment this was as I have loved her previous books. I guess everyone is entitled to a bad book now and again.

Thanks for sending this book to me and sorry I couldn't have liked it more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Karen Cleveland at her best. This is a good old spy story that you don't see so much of anymore. CIA, Iranian spies, lives torn apart, the plot goes on and you can't put it down.

Holy crap. Was this my favorite read of 2022!??!

This was twisty, unexpected, and so freaking addictive! I finished this in one sitting and couldn’t believe how good it was. I am completely obsessed by this story. Such a cool concept and had NO idea what the final twist was going to be. Every accusation Beth had I was fully on board with it and was feeling the same way. That final twist wasn’t what I was expecting at all. What an amazing read!

Amazing, 5 star read! This novel is fast paced and absolutely impossible to put down until your turned the last page.

A new author to me, and an interesting book. I did think that there was too much repeating of things going on. Beth thought at first one person and then the other, then her whole neighborhood was into being spies. Maybe they were, maybe not. Not saying. But she was really beginning to sound a bit paranoid. I thought that I had discovered who the "big boss" was about seventy percent in, before Beth came to the same conclusions, and I was right, but there is a twist that I did not in any way see coming. I was not instantly drawn into this book, and I had no problem putting it aside to read another, but I did persist and finish it and it turned out pretty good in the end.