This felt like a book of two halves.
To start with, the story is a slow-burn, where it builds the suspense and intrigue and then all of a sudden- yikes!

Alison James does it again, another great book! This was only my second book by her, the first one I read (The Guilty Wife) was good with 4 stars but this one was great and definitely worthy of 5 stars!

Jane and Fergus Headley enjoy living in Sycamore Gardens, an affluent cul-de-sac in London. It’s a nice area with lovely built houses, friendly sociable neighbours and Jane thinks it’s a little piece of heaven for her in the midst of busy London. When one of the houses on the cul-de-sac is sold as a lottery prize the neighbours are eager to meet the new arrivals to their street but what they don’t bank on is the mysterious comings and goings of Richard Hamlin, his wife Stephanie and their 9-month-old baby Poppy. There suddenly seems to be a sense of immense unease on the street and Richard and Stephanie’s arrival, with all their secrets and lies, will ultimately end with threatening behaviour, two of the neighbours being terrorized and one being put through a terrifying ordeal that they won’t forget. Sycamore Gardens will never be the same again for anyone who lives there.

Well, this is another great gripping read from Alison James! The characters in this story are written so well, I kept wanting to scream at Jane to leave things well alone, I really didn’t like Fergus and as for Richard Hamlin…. What a thoroughly unpleasant character, so great writing to make me feel such emotion for each character. I thought the writing was very clever in that the story was told in 3 parts from 3 of the main characters and I really enjoyed the way everything meshed together by the end. I found it really difficult to put down and just wanted to keep reading and forget about everything else around me that needed doing.

Overall, a very enthralling good read and extremely deserving of 5 stars. Psychological thriller fans will love this. I look forward to Alison James’s next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alison James and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy. Out now.

A interesting plot, juicy betrayals and lies all in the same neighborhood. It split into different parts with multiple points of view. I give it a solid 4 stars!

A good read
This book is told by three of the characters points of view
Plenty of twists
Would recommend this book
Thanks NetGalley

The drama surrounding new people who have moved into a close intensifies….if you like a thriller you will love it, I couldn’t put it down!!

This book starts off slow, it is told by several different perspectives. To be honest with you, this book didnt blow me away , which is why I only gave it a 3 star. I really appreciated the ending as it tied everything together nicely.

Really good, if a little far fetched. It's interesting to read a book about how well we know the new neighbours who move into the street....and how what we think we know is all wrong. Twisty and turney, this is a good read. Quite far fetched in ways but I enjoyed it.

This was the first book I have read from this author and definitely think I will read more of hers. I would give this one a solid 3.5 stars. This one is definitely a slow burn but it kept me engaged enough to keep reading. I did like the characters and the secrets that kept just unraveling. I will say that I did think the ending was predictable and I had figured it out pretty early on in the book. Overall - good read but don’t prioritize it.

Thank you NetGalley and the pubs for this early read.

This book was quite slow and I almost gave up reading it, but I carried on and I'm glad it I did it ended up being a brilliant read.

I always look forward to reading Alison James’s books and this one didn’t disappoint. Jane lives in London in Sycamore Gardens, a wealthy area with a close knit community. One of the neighbouring houses, worth £3 million is bought by a company who decides to raffle it. The neighbours all wonder who will win the competition and move in and will they fit in with the community. It is won by a young couple with a baby and Jane decides to call on them and welcome them to the community. But she soon realises that things are not what they seem and decides to discover what they are hiding. The story is told from three perspectives to give the whole picture. The first part is told by Jane with the rest full of tension and suspense and plenty of twists. Another enjoyable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A great psychological thriller from Alison James. A mysterious new couple move into an exclusive neighbourhood and seemingly have it all. They seem reluctant to mix with the rest of the neighbours and Jane, a long standing resident, has suspicions that they may not be as perfect as they seem.
The multi -perspective narrative structure James employs keeps this novel charging along at a cracking pace.

This is definitely a page turner. There are characters that I love and ones that I love to hate. This is a great story idea and is well executed. Job well done.

This book felt somewhat familiar, I definitely have read something similar. Good plot, but it was slow and a bit repetitive at times. There were some good twists. A lot of characters made an appearance, some of which added very little to the story. This was a quick read and I like the way the author writes. I was entertained.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

This book is written in four parts and uses perspectives from different characters, which is interesting. You get some answers part way through but want to keep reading to get to the bottom of it all!

Five stars is not enough for this one! Beware, clear you day and snuggle up with this unputdownable twisty thriller!

The book did start off a bit slow for me but then really took off once I reached Part Two. All the plot twists started hitting then and the POVs of Liam and Keren were introduced.

Liam’s showed him to be a real narcissist and that lent a lot of depth to the story and motives. His was the most detailed, explaining the schemes and execution of them.

This was a slower thriller than what I am used to but it still managed to keep me on my toes.

This book started off very strong. I had high hopes that this one will blow me away because the story and everything really catched me at the beginning. But then it started to go very sloooow. I think that the twist in this book is revelead too soon. So the excitement didn't last til the end. But then I'm really picky when it comes to thrillers. I think other people will like this one.

This felt like a book of two halves.
To start with, the story is a slow-burn, where it builds the suspense and intrigue and then all of a sudden- yikes!
Once the twists and drama kicked off, I struggled to put it down and finished it in a matter of hours.
The characters were strong, interesting and on the whole likeable.
I just love thrillers that grab me straight away, and this took a few chapters to do that. But it is definitely worth a read for fans of domestic thrillers.

It isn't often I am so mesmerized by a story that I forego making meals and sleep. But this book definitely did just that. It is so well written and with such thought provoking scenes, that I stayed up way too late to finish it. This is an author I will continue to read.
Thank you NetGalley for providing this copy. The opinion here is solely my own.

Fantastic book!! Keeps you guessing till the very end. Can't wait to see what the author has in store for us next.