When No One Is Watching Review

 Author: Alyssa Cole

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

Release Date: Sept. 1, 2020

Purchase Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble

My Rating: 3.5 Paranoid Hearts

Many thanks to Harper Collins Publishers for an arc of this book.

Synopsis & Author Bio following review.

Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…

Review:

Sydney Green is distressed to recognize the big changes taking place in her Brooklyn neighborhood along with the disappearance of several long term neighbors.  Changes are happening all around her - new condos, stores, new people moving in.  All the changes leave her with a feeling of unease and a lot of questions.  Where are her neighbors who disappeared in the night?  Did they move of their own accord?  Or is something else going on?  Sydney begins a walking community historical tour in a search for answers and soon finds herself joined by Theo, one of the newcomers to the neighborhood.  Together, they explore the history of the area which leads to their growing paranoia and fear.  Can they find answers before they disappear too?

Cole has penned a smart, engaging, well crafted story in When No One Is Watching.  Her characterizations foster a feeling and eerily growing sense of unease.  Sydney is suffering from emotional distress and is psychologically unstable.  Theo appears to have hidden motives and secrets of his own.  While they're both likable, they're also unreliable protagonists driven by their own prejudices and experiences exploring the weighty issue of gentrification of neighborhoods in cities everywhere. The overall aura of unease is what drives this story to the shocking ending.  Recommended to fans of suspense.

 

Synopsis:

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but the neighborhood she loves is being erased before her very eyes. FOR SALE signs are popping up everywhere, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To preserve the past, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour: “Displaced: A People’s History of Brooklyn,” and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block – her neighbor Theo.

But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the efforts to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other – or themselves – long enough to find out, before they too disappear – permanently?

Alyssa Cole is an award-winning author of historical, contemporary, and sci-fi romance. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award’s Best Book of 2017 and the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. She’s contributed to publications including Bustle, Shondaland, The Toast, Vulture, RT Book Reviews, and Heroes and Heartbreakers, and her books have received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Library Journal, BuzzFeed, Kirkus, Booklist, Jezebel, Vulture, Book Riot, Entertainment Weekly, and various other outlets. When she’s not working, she can usually be found watching anime or wrangling her pets.