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rebelkiss's review against another edition
3.0
This book didn’t work for me but it wasn’t bad. It kept me guessing and confused. But it also drug a bit for me
bear_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
Carter Wilson has written yet another unique and suspenseful thriller with his latest novel, The New Neighbor. Although this standalone has a connection to his previous novel, The Dead Husband, you can read this one first and not feel completely lost. I have yet to read The Dead Husband and don't feel like I missed anything but I will be reading it to add to what I know from The New Neighbor.
Aidan Marlowe, or just Marlowe to his friends, has recently become a widower. Just before his wife is to be interred Marlowe discovers he has won the Powerball lottery. Losing a loved one is traumatic enough but add in another life changing event like suddenly becoming a millionaire and it's no surprise Marlowe breaks. He decides the only thing to do is to move away with his seven year old twins. He's compelled to move to a huge house in a town called Bury.
Right off the bat you know this is a bad idea to say the least. I was already scared for his children, I wanted him to try to keep it together for them even if he had to uproot them. But as someone who lost a parent at a young age and witnessed another parent be broken by grief, I can honestly say the portrayal of Marlowe's breakdown is pretty accurate. It certainly doesn't help that his life has been affected by the death of his brother years before.
Soon as they arrive there is already a mystery surrounding the previous owners and there are some people that don't want Marlowe living there. He gets sent letters signed by 'We Who Watch' and it just makes him want to dig in his heels and confront them once he finds out who they even are. Everything is making him more stressed and paranoid, the constant drinking doesn't help. He starts losing pieces of time, not remembering anything and can't trust his mind. Basically, Marlowe is a mess!
The New Neighbor is a dark and tense thriller. It keeps you wondering the whole time which is the bigger threat, outside forces or Marlowe's own mind? Despite Marlowe being a slightly unsympathetic character, you will root for him and hope he can get his act together. After all, grief is a powerful thing but love is stronger.
Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
Aidan Marlowe, or just Marlowe to his friends, has recently become a widower. Just before his wife is to be interred Marlowe discovers he has won the Powerball lottery. Losing a loved one is traumatic enough but add in another life changing event like suddenly becoming a millionaire and it's no surprise Marlowe breaks. He decides the only thing to do is to move away with his seven year old twins. He's compelled to move to a huge house in a town called Bury.
Right off the bat you know this is a bad idea to say the least. I was already scared for his children, I wanted him to try to keep it together for them even if he had to uproot them. But as someone who lost a parent at a young age and witnessed another parent be broken by grief, I can honestly say the portrayal of Marlowe's breakdown is pretty accurate. It certainly doesn't help that his life has been affected by the death of his brother years before.
Soon as they arrive there is already a mystery surrounding the previous owners and there are some people that don't want Marlowe living there. He gets sent letters signed by 'We Who Watch' and it just makes him want to dig in his heels and confront them once he finds out who they even are. Everything is making him more stressed and paranoid, the constant drinking doesn't help. He starts losing pieces of time, not remembering anything and can't trust his mind. Basically, Marlowe is a mess!
The New Neighbor is a dark and tense thriller. It keeps you wondering the whole time which is the bigger threat, outside forces or Marlowe's own mind? Despite Marlowe being a slightly unsympathetic character, you will root for him and hope he can get his act together. After all, grief is a powerful thing but love is stronger.
Thank you, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
itputsthebookupontheshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I did not love this one...
The premise sounded so good and like something I would love, unfortunately the story fell short. It was slow paced, drawn out and it just didn't have enough going on. I think the story had a lot of potential, but didn't quite hit the mark.
There were some good parts, and some suspense, I just wish it had just pushed a little more. There were two storylines going on and while I know that there needed to be for it to all fit together, I felt it also took away from the story.
I do know though that some people will absolutely love this one. It's just a preference thing I guess.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for access to a copy of this title.
The premise sounded so good and like something I would love, unfortunately the story fell short. It was slow paced, drawn out and it just didn't have enough going on. I think the story had a lot of potential, but didn't quite hit the mark.
There were some good parts, and some suspense, I just wish it had just pushed a little more. There were two storylines going on and while I know that there needed to be for it to all fit together, I felt it also took away from the story.
I do know though that some people will absolutely love this one. It's just a preference thing I guess.
*Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for access to a copy of this title.
calmcelebration9888's review against another edition
0.5
Ugh this book is so bad, let me count the ways.
First a recap. This book is about a widow who wins the lottery, chooses to move to a town and then starts to get harassing letters. At first they seem to be exposing his childhood traumas but then they turn sinister, demanding money be transferred into an account. Aiden refuses to pay and decided to try and find the person responsible.
Ok where to start? Here I’m warning there will be significant spoilers. The whole story about the people who lived in the house before Aiden didn’t matter to the story at all. It was a damn red herring which makes sense because WTF would someone who knew the previous owners suddenly be coming after this guy for his lottery winnings. Therefore half of the story didn’t even matter.
Side gripes starting here:
- why does Aiden want to be called Marlowe which is clearly a woman’s name. Why is the boy called Bo? Is that Irish? I don’t think so
- OMG the only thing that classifies Aiden and his father as Irish is the 1000 times they say “aye”. That is so damn surface. The author is clearly not Irish and didn’t spend any time learning about how Irish people talk.
- the cameras are too far away and then the cameras are just turned off completely? Cut me a break.
- stop it with the dream filler sequences. They add absolutely nothing to the plot at all. Stop using it as a crutch to add more pages to your book!
And the biggest gripe, unreliable narrator who drinks so much he blacks out on a regular basis and can’t remember that he wrote the damn notes himself? He blacked out whole days and can’t remember that a blacksmith came to his house? Nobody that has this level of mental illness and substance abuse should be caring for children. And nobody ever says anything about it, what because he is Irish? Again, cut me a break. I am so sick of the damn trope of someone who just drinks all the time and has no control over his own actions.
First a recap. This book is about a widow who wins the lottery, chooses to move to a town and then starts to get harassing letters. At first they seem to be exposing his childhood traumas but then they turn sinister, demanding money be transferred into an account. Aiden refuses to pay and decided to try and find the person responsible.
Ok where to start? Here I’m warning there will be significant spoilers. The whole story about the people who lived in the house before Aiden didn’t matter to the story at all. It was a damn red herring which makes sense because WTF would someone who knew the previous owners suddenly be coming after this guy for his lottery winnings. Therefore half of the story didn’t even matter.
Side gripes starting here:
- why does Aiden want to be called Marlowe which is clearly a woman’s name. Why is the boy called Bo? Is that Irish? I don’t think so
- OMG the only thing that classifies Aiden and his father as Irish is the 1000 times they say “aye”. That is so damn surface. The author is clearly not Irish and didn’t spend any time learning about how Irish people talk.
- the cameras are too far away and then the cameras are just turned off completely? Cut me a break.
- stop it with the dream filler sequences. They add absolutely nothing to the plot at all. Stop using it as a crutch to add more pages to your book!
And the biggest gripe, unreliable narrator who drinks so much he blacks out on a regular basis and can’t remember that he wrote the damn notes himself? He blacked out whole days and can’t remember that a blacksmith came to his house? Nobody that has this level of mental illness and substance abuse should be caring for children. And nobody ever says anything about it, what because he is Irish? Again, cut me a break. I am so sick of the damn trope of someone who just drinks all the time and has no control over his own actions.
jillmlong's review against another edition
2.0
This book started off on the right track. A man bury's his wife and finds out he won the lotto on the same day. This book seemed like it would be fresh and new. However, I found the plot to be slow and I wasn't interested because he was such a bad father.
rmarcin's review against another edition
3.0
Although it is a standalone book, I really think that you should read The Dead Husband first because many of the characters in this book are discussed in the previous book. If you don't, you will wonder about the mystery surrounding the Yates house.
On the worst day of his life, Aidan Marlowe buries his wife, Holly. But then, he receives a text notifying him of the winning Powerball numbers -- his numbers. Determined to move away from Baltimore, where his wife is buried, he moves to Bury, NH to the Yates house, a house where the family mysteriously disappeared. When strange things start happening, and threatening letters are sent to Marlowe, he wonders if he did the right thing bringing his twins, Bo and Mags, to live here. People want his money and will harm him if he decides to leave. Everything comes to a tragic head and Marlowe needs to face some truths.
On the worst day of his life, Aidan Marlowe buries his wife, Holly. But then, he receives a text notifying him of the winning Powerball numbers -- his numbers. Determined to move away from Baltimore, where his wife is buried, he moves to Bury, NH to the Yates house, a house where the family mysteriously disappeared. When strange things start happening, and threatening letters are sent to Marlowe, he wonders if he did the right thing bringing his twins, Bo and Mags, to live here. People want his money and will harm him if he decides to leave. Everything comes to a tragic head and Marlowe needs to face some truths.
purple676's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading about the characters but the thriller aspect wasn’t that good and it used a twist I didn’t really like