The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger An eerie, frightening, and gripping thriller featuring a cast of suspicious individuals, ghost, murders, and an iconic building with a dark past. I imagined Ruth Gordon as Ella and Boris Karloff as Abi, which added to the story's ominous and eerie atmosphere. A very enjoyable book, with so much revealed at the end.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Lisa Unger has provided the reader with an exciting trip through the unfathomable goings on in New York's famous Windermere and its unique inhabitants, including the new couple, Chad and Rosie Lowan. Unger has expertly woven a plot of both the past and the present through the use of an alternating POV and characters who are so expertly crafted and genuine. The reader is immediately drawn to the story that includes, mystery, history, ghosts, love affairs, and ultimately, betrayal.

A quick and compelling read. Unger is one of my new favorite authors!

A classic thriller! This author never disappoints. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book and can’t wait for more!

When murder, the occult, ghosts and a Manhattan apartment building with a history all come together you know the book is going to be a wild ride! As always this author does not disappoint this time bringing us into the sordid history of an elite Park Avenue apartment as Rosie and her husband Chad begin a new chapter of their life together there. However, the people and the building are not quite what they seem and the barrier between the living and the dead seems to be particularly porous here! This was a quick and engrossing read.

This is a classic thriller filled with so many elements that make a thriller engaging including the paranormal, memory tampering, romantic affairs, murder and more. This book had a lot going on- almost too many layers to it, and also I couldn’t stop thinking about it and wanting to see how it all came together. Ultimately I enjoyed it because I wanted to know how it would end which is the mark of a good thriller.

Rosie and Chad Lowan inherit a beautiful apartment in the historic Windermere in NYC from Chad’s uncle. Rosie, a nonfiction author is writing a book about that same building which has a disturbing history of suicides, murders, and ghosts that haunt the halls.
When Dana, Chad’s cousin comes to Rosie with suspicions about Chad’s past Dana ends up dead. The police believe Chad has something to do with her death, and Rosie becomes paranoid and starts to experience some of the evil that lives in the building. Rosie begins her own investigation and what she finds is that no one can be trusted even the one’s closest to us.

This supernatural mystery was fast paced and the story sucked me in. The story though unbelievable was entertaining and I read it in two sittings.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Parkrowbooks for the advance review copy.
Release date is March 2024

4 stars

Lisa Unger never lets me down. This book is another fun fast paced twisty thriller. You never quite know what’s going to happen or where you’re headed. She will forever me a buy now kind of author for me.

Suspenseful and engaging. A fast paced thrilled with an element of horror. The first 25% of the book is very slow but push past and you won’t regret reading this one!

Perfect read for thriller lovers! Fast, twisty, with a touch of supernatural elements. My first from Lisa Unger but now I want to check out her backlist!

This was a…wow. I don’t know how it managed to compile all of these amazing gothic moments with horror, uncanny, fear, and sincerity. Rosie was a stubborn but lovable character and I was on edge the entire time. The different aspects of this thriller were so well woven together. There are the occasional sections from the perspective of Willa in the 60s that added another layer of mystery. It was a dynamic, thrilling ride.

Please don’t start reading this at bedtime. You’re not going to sleep. Please choose to be a responsible reader (or don’t! Your call!)

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions and expressions in this review are my own.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
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A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this unputdownable thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbours turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.

And I thought that I lived in a creepy building…well more honestly, a building full of creeps This book is very unsettling and right on Lisa Unger’s spectrum and in her wheelhouse: weird and unexpected characters, unexplainable things happening and a storyline that will keep you enthralled for hours! It fits perfectly into the bookbag of any lover of great, thrilling reads and I will recommend it far and wide as it is awesome! (I never like the write/say more about a plot like this as it gives too much away!)

Sometimes FREE comes at a huge price .. and what a lesson to be learned.
#shortbutsweetreviews

This book totally freaked me out! It was scary and gripping. I couldn’t put it down! A must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

Very fun to read. The atmosphere was creepy and immersive, I loved the setting so much. Some of the twists really surprised me. Recommended, especially to thriller readers.

While the synopsis is very similar to Riley Sager's "Lock Every Door", the latest Lisa Unger knocks this one out of the ballpark! What a great novel.

I liked this a lot. Kept me guessing even when I thought I had it figured out. I am a fan of Lisa and I was happy to have enjoyed this and her last book a lot. It was a quick read for me and I would recommend.


Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Lisa Unger's The New Couple in 5B has just the right amount of creepy suspense and questionable characters to make this a riveting and jaw-dropping thrill ride.

Chad and Rosie are reeling from the loss of Chad's beloved uncle Ivan when they discover that he left his five million dollar apartment to them instead of his undeserving and now furious daughter. What follows is a series of mysterious deaths and so many suspicious characters that you will find yourself doubting the innocent and trusting the guilty.... and then doubting yourself and what you believe...

The New Couple in 5B is a horror/psychological thriller.

The plot rather closely resembles Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. The similarities were a bit too much for me but it is a chilling read. I enjoyed the addition of ghosts, and the historical aspects of the old building.

You won't trust anyone, which is of course the point.

Fasten your seatbelts for this book.

I really liked the ending of this one! I enjoyed the twists and felt it was pretty similar to lock every door by Riley sagar and the show only murders in the building! The only criticism I have for it is the beginning is sooooo boring. The first 25% of the book is not that necessary to set up and could have been written in half of the pages. Ultimately happy that I pushed through but I heavily considered DNFing

A fun fast paced thriller about strange happenings in the Windmere building. Suspenseful and engaging. An easy thriller to enjoy.

Lisa Unger has written another great thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the very end. As I read the novel, I identified with the main character who didn’t know who to trust. The NYC apartment building and it’s residents gave a strong Rosemary’s Baby vibe which the author intended. Mind-bogglingly excellent reading experience which led to no housework being done today.