The New Neighbors
By Simon Lelic
Berkley, 9780451490452, April 2018, 352pp.

The Short of It:

You might have a pre-conceived notion about what this book is about but you’d be wrong.

The Rest of It:

Jack and Syd find their dream home. It’s way outside of their means, but after the open house where couple after couple put in their offers, they toss theirs in as well thinking they don’t have a chance in hell of it being accepted but why not?

Well, it’s accepted.

The house is large and majestic in the way large, neglected homes are. It’s has good bones and potential but Jack and Syd can’t shake the feeling that something is off. When Jack goes into the attic to find the source of a strange smell, he discovers something and from there, one bad thing after another happens.

This was a good story but it’s not all “creepy house” and woo-woo if you get my drift. I think it’s marketed to be that way and in all honesty, the title doesn’t quite fit the story. It took a long time for something to happen and it wasn’t until 100 pages in that I began to really look forward to reading it. This is one of those reads where if you give it time, it does pay off in the end. There are some twists and interesting choices made with character and plot but ones that had me turning those pages. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Source: Copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.