The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
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.
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Karen Cleveland skillfully navigates a web of suspects, challenging readers to discern the trails that genuinely lead nowhere. Beth Bradford, leading a seemingly quiet life in a suburban cul-de-sac while employed by the CIA, finds her world upended as her eldest son heads to college, and her marriage unravels. As she reluctantly relocates, tracking an Iranian intelligence agent named The Neighbor, Beth becomes entangled with her new neighbors, questioning their choice of her former home and discovering unsettling connections that might have been right under her nose.
Having not delved into a Karen Cleveland novel in quite some time, I found this one reminiscent of my last read from her—a spy-infused thriller. While not my preferred sub-genre, the book maintains its allure with short chapters, just enough CIA jargon, brisk pacing, and poignant moments, especially in the initial stages where Beth grapples with the loss of her old life and familial bonds slipping away.
However, for a supposed CIA operative, Beth displays a surprising lack of savvy, consistently landing herself in imprudent situations and feigning astonishment when caught red-handed. Yet, the paradox arises as she adeptly navigates the world of burner phones, leaving readers puzzled about her inconsistent sharpness.
Cleveland introduces the somewhat overused trope of a Female Protagonist Who Can’t Be Trusted Because She Loves Wine, a narrative element that initially grated on my nerves as Beth constantly oscillated between potential suspects. However, with eventual revelations, Beth’s character becomes more tolerable.
This book emerges as the ideal summer spy thriller—a cinematic, action-packed escapade providing a dose of mindless enjoyment. While Beth’s occasional lack of foresight might test your suspension of disbelief, embracing the narrative for its popcorn-worthy entertainment value proves to be the key.
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