THE NEW NEIGHBOR

3.5 stars out of 5

My first thought when I finished this book? Thank goodness the story doesn't take place on a bigger cul-de-sac. If there'd been more neighbors to accuse, I don't think I could have made it to the end.

You see, CIA counterintelligence agent Beth Bradford has long been on the trail of a spy nicknamed "The Neighbor" - a person who has been recruited by an Iranian uber-spy solely for the purpose of recruiting others in and around the D.C. area (reminiscent of the popular TV show, "The Americans" starring Kerry Russell and Matthew Rhys). On a day-to-day basis, Beth lives a relatively normal life with her husband Mike; the last of their three children just took off for college and the empty-nesters are packing up to leave their beautiful but too-big home on a cul-de-sac near the Langley military facility where she works. Like Beth, at least one person in her half-dozen or so neighbors' families has ties to Langley operations, and they've all formed a close friendship over the years.

Until, that is, Beth's house is purchased by a youngish couple sight unseen, and clues turn up that suggest The Neighbor has ties to a cul-de-sac. Other clues lead Beth to suspect the wife may be the person she's been looking for - but out of the blue, she's unceremoniously yanked off the case and reassigned to another facility teaching new CIA recruits.

To say that doesn't sit well with Beth would be an understatement; instead of letting others take over "her" investigation, she begins a relentless obsession with proving herself right - even if she has to tromp on legal and ethical boundaries to do it (over and over again). Each time she finds a new target - the one who she's certain must be The Neighbor - her cycle of angst begins all over again, and her efforts to confirm her suspicions threatened to cross the line into silly. Very soon, I grew weary - especially since fairly early on I'd pretty much figured out one "twist" and had a pretty strong feeling about another (I was right on both counts).

Those issues, though, didn't keep me from being just as eager as Beth to unearth the truth - keeping me glued to the pages all the way to an end that's far more complex than either of us could have imagined. Overall, it's a fast-paced story that was fun to read - one I think many readers will very much enjoy. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the pre-release copy.

The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland (Ballantine Books, July 2022); 295 pp.