The New Neighbor - Karen Cleveland

 The New Neighbor - Karen Cleveland

She read

Publication Date:  July 26, 2022

Beth ’s life is falling apart.  As her third child goes off to college, her house in a neighborhood she loved is sold, her husband leaves her, and she is removed from a case she has been working on for years at the CIA.  Determined to solve that case, she goes rogue.  As clues point to neighbors she had been close to for years, it seems to some that she is becoming unhinged.

This is a domestic story and a spy thriller. Scenes shift back and forth from the present to earlier times in her life and neighborhood.   I thought Cleveland was at her best when describing the breakdown of a marriage.

I have a hard time when women who are supposed to be intelligent and in professional positions act impulsively and inappropriately.  I also find it difficult to believe that a seasoned CIA agent would behave the way Beth did. The more she pursued the case inappropriately, the more annoying she became.  But, of course, since this is fiction, she had to be right.

This is the second book I have read by this author and both have a sub theme of how far parents will go to protect their children.

I vacillate in how I would rate this book.  Despite the annoyance, it was an engrossing, fast read. 

Thanks to #netgalley and #ballentinebooks for the arc.

*** 1/2