The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland @randomhouse @karecleve

 

Secrets, jealousy, and paranoia collide when a seemingly perfect new family moves into a neighborhood with ties to Langley in this gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Need to Know.

Idyllic neighborhood, perfect family, meaningful career. CIA analyst Beth Bradford has it all—

Until she doesn’t.

Now, facing an empty nest and a broken marriage, Beth is moving from the cul-de-sac she’s long called home, and the CIA is removing her from the case that’s long been hers: tracking an elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor.

Madeline Sterling moves into Beth’s old house. She has what Beth once had: an adoring husband, three beautiful young children, and the close-knit group of neighbors on the cul-de-sac. Now she has it all. And Beth—who can’t stop watching the woman stepping in to her old life—thinks the new neighbor has something else too: ties to Iranian intelligence.

Is Beth just jealous? Paranoid? Or is something more at play?

After all, most of the families on the cul-de-sac have some tie to the CIA. They’re all keeping secrets. And they all know more about their neighbors than they should. It would be the perfect place to insert a spy—unless one was there all along.

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a crafty little story. I read this book in one afternoon because I couldn't put it down.
Every time Beth unearthed a new clue it unraveled a few more. And of course, each time Beth tries to warn her old colleagues or neighbors, concern for her well-being is expressed. But Beth can feel she's close to figuring out who The Neighbor is.

When she finally discovers who the Neighbor was, another has taken that person's place.

Beth Bradford's life is going through some major changes. She's just dropped off her youngest at college, becoming an empty nester, and is in the process of moving. When she's hit with other changes she wasn't expecting. When they return to their home her husband lets her know that their marriage is over. She heads into work to distract herself only to find out she's being removed from her case and office.

Beth is a CIA analyst and her case has been to find the elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor.
Madeline Sterling and her young family are moving into her old home and remind her of when she first arrived to the neighborhood.

One clue she manages to see before being ousted from her office leads Beth to believe that Madeline is The Neighbor. Everyone on that cul-de-sac has ties to the CIA and makes perfect targets for the spy.

Thank you so much to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

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