An instant NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
“I was knocked over by the momentum of an intense psychological thriller that doesn’t let go until the final page. This is a terrific read.” – Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author
*Marie Claire’s September Book Club Pick*
Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable … 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…
Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour 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 push 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?
Featured in Parade, Essence, Bustle, Popsugar, Elle, Shondaland, Marie Claire, Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, Good Housekeeping, Brit + Co, Real Simple, Lit Hub, Crime Reads, Blavity, Ms. Magazine, Hello Giggles, The New York Times, Town & Country, Newsweek, New York Post, Refinery29, Woman’s World, Washington Post, the Skimm, Book Riot, Bookish, Huffington Post, and more!
more
This is a thriller that builds very slowly. At the end, you realize that they were many clues, but they are subtly placed throughout the novel.
Sydney has recently moved back to Brooklyn from Seattle after her divorce and is living at her mother’s house. Her mother is very ill, and Sydney has a hard time dealing with this, and with the mounting bills. She is getting lots of calls from creditors and keeps putting them off. People keep wanting to buy her house, but she doesn’t want to let it go.
Meanwhile, Kim and Theo move into the neighborhood, along with other white families, pushing out the black owners. Stores are disappearing, and homeowners seem to go missing as well. There is a new hospital being built in the community, although the residents have opposed it.
All of these changes and worry over her mother are weighing heavily on Sydney. Although she doesn’t want to, she finds herself doing some research on the history of the neighborhood and is using Theo to help with her research. What they uncover is more sinister than you can imagine.
The novel builds and builds until reaching a tense conclusion.
I enjoyed the novel up until the last few chapters which I felt were an unlikely. outcome, just not all together believable. Other than that, I did enjoy the book.
Thanks to The Book Club Girls, Harper Collins, Edelweiss, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.
#WhenNoOneIsWatching #NetGalley #Edelweiss
#AlyssaCole
What a thriller! I was already a big fan of Alyssa Cole’s romances, but this book showed what she can do with the thriller genre. To say it’s a page-turner is an understatement. It starts off with Sydney, who’s moved back to Brooklyn after getting divorced to care for her sick mom, only to discover the neighborhood where she grew up is growing unrecognizable. Her Black neighbors and community are starting to move away or, more terrifyingly, vanish. White people who don’t care about the history of the area are intent on remaking it in their image. She wants to start her own tour company to showcase some of the real histories, including its roots dating back to slavery.
In the meantime, Theo is one of the white newcomers, but he isn’t on board with being the type of gentrifier his on/off girlfriend Kim is. He offers to help Sydney with her project, but as they research the past, the present keeps getting more and more twisted. I don’t want to say too much more, because this is the kind of book that builds and builds, each new twist echoing and building on the last, and Cole plays up every bit of suspense.
The alternating viewpoints of Sydney and Theo offer fascinating insights into race and privilege and how those play into everything from homes to careers to families, friendships, health and wealth. This book drives home how those are all connected, and that their roots can go far back in ways that extend far beyond any one individual. Yes, Cole serves all of that up while still making this a total nail-biter, where you can feel the fear as if you’re literally there, about to encounter something gruesome.
Even if you’re not usually a thriller or mystery reader, I highly recommend this book. There’s even a bit of a romance, but the core of it is an utterly haunting story that’s hard to put down. While it’s told from Sydney’s and Cleo’s perspective, there are lots of other characters who are done so well, from the villainous to the innocent. I didn’t see the twists in this coming, and they were even more horrific than I had expected. I definitely hope she’ll be writing more in this genre.
Alyssa Cole crushed it with her thriller debut. I’m raving about this book. It’s incredible. She brings, to the genre, her ability to make characters so real, you forget they aren’t actually people. She also paints the most vivid scenes, making me see it unfolding as if watching a movie. Well done! I really hope she writes more thrillers.
4.5 stars
Okay, since this is a thriller, I’m not going to comment much on the plot since you’ll want to experience every little nuance, twist and turn of this story for yourself. When No One is Watching is more than just a thriller, it’s also deals with contemporary issues like gentrification and systemic racism in a way that I felt was thought-provoking.
One of the biggest pluses for this story were the two main characters, Sydney and Theo. I loved how their relationship built from the opening pages. Even though there are some trust issues to deal with, I felt like they were really friends to each other when they needed someone and I found myself wanting more from these two. They made an interesting couple and worked together well when it comes to the exciting conclusion.
I adored Sydney’s sassy mouth (especially how she talks to Theo), her love for the research she was doing, and how she treasured her heritage. I really liked everything about her, including her anxiety issues and the scars that her ex left behind with his words.
And Theo, the “strange white dude with a hero complex” — he was just lovely in spite of his many flaws he admits to. I liked how they both had secrets they eventually spill to each other. Their interactions really carried this story and I kept reading because I wanted to know where they ended up with each other and how they would be impacted throughout the story.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the neighbors. It was heart-warming how the neighbors looked out for and truly cared for each other. I grew up in a neighborhood like that. Those tight connections and the expanded neighbor-family seem to be missing in today’s world and this book reminded me of the value of those relationships.
I did find the pace a bit slow for the first half of the book and the break-neck speed of the last 25% had me breathless and contrasted with the slower pace of the beginning of the story. So much happens at the end, I had to read the last bit twice to make sure I caught all the details. Overall, the suspense of the story did build gradually to an exciting conclusion, so as a thriller, the pacing did work it’s magic to build the tension of the story.
I liked this thriller. It was suspenseful, thought-provoking and I loved the main characters. I’ll be watching for more in this genre from this author.
Loved this book! This is my first Alyssa Cole book and I am a fan. This book was so good. This thriller is so relevant right now! I loved that the protagonist Sydney was a complicated Black woman who is struggling with her mental health, and trying to keep some sense of normalcy in her life. Sydney’s home has alway been in Brooklyn and when she starts noticing her neighborhood changing drastically she decides to start a walking tour to educate all the newbies on the historic culture of her neighborhood. As gentrification starts taking place, Sydney notices her neighbors are up and “leaving for the suburbs”. All of her neighbors seem to be up and leaving without so much as a goodbye which doesn’t make sense to Sydney. As Sydney reluctantly works with her new neighbor Theo on her walking tour they start looking into the historical facts about the neighborhood and find that the neighbors may not have all left for the suburbs as it seemed. This book kept me guessing until the end. My only issue was I wanted to know what happened with Sydney and Theo. It seemed to end abruptly and I wish the author would’ve added a little more to wrap up where everyone ended up. Otherwise it was a great read and really shows how harmful gentrification can be to communities of color.
Thank you William Morrow Books for the ARC of this book.
Alyssa Cole’s psychological thriller, When No One Is Watching came out today. This is one of the most powerful books that I have read this year. I highly recommend it.
It tells the story of a conspiracy to gentrify a historically Black neighborhood in Brooklyn by any means through the lens of Sydney, a Black woman and long-time resident of Gifford Park, and Theo a white man who has just moved into the area.
Sydney has recently returned to Brooklyn after a nasty divorce and to be with her ailing mother. She immediately notices that the neighborhood of her youth is fast changing. Many of the people she grew up with are no longer there.
The changes are neither welcome nor good. Sydney realizes that the Black history of the neighborhood is being erased and decides to document this history in the form of a neighborhood tour.
Theo, who recently bought one of the neighborhood brownstones with his girlfriend, agrees to help Sydney with her research, much to the chagrin of girlfriend Kim. Kim is one of the new white residents who wants to rejuvenate things.
One of the running threads in When No One Is Watching is the use of a neighborhood app where people discuss, complain, argue, etc about everything. Kim and her cohorts have a private group in this app in which they discuss their real thoughts.
The app postings reveal so much about the residents and their motivations. They are a critical part of the overall story.
Kim and her cohorts are indicative of the worst types of white people, those who see their Black neighbors as lazy, incapable of keeping up their properties, thieves, drug users, as lesser beings.
There is a powerful scene where Kim tries to cut in front of Sydney in a store and then acts frightened after being called out for her behavior. Theo is there and says nothing, but this is part of his awakening.
Theo and Kim break up fairly early. They bought their brownstone together and then their relationship fell apart. The reasons are complicated but they are from different economic classes which absolutely plays a role.
As Sydney and Theo work together, they grow closer; they also notice odd things happening in the neighborhood. Well, I should say that Sydney has been noticing things for a bit longer.
The first half of When No One Is Watching reads like a romance; Sydney and Theo get to know each other and develop feelings. While Cole does set the stage for the suspense or thriller plot early on, it doesn’t take off until half way through the book.
Once the suspense plot does kick into high gear, the story gets intense, a bit crazy at times and even explosive. There are lots of WHAT JUST HAPPENED? moments that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
As I think about the pacing of (a slower first half and fast paced second half), I am convinced that it fits the story. The suspense plot is centered around the deliberate gentrification of Sydney’s neighborhood.
The insidious part is that the early signs of the evil haunting the neighborhood are things most white people would accept as normal: Black people move, a Black teen is arrested for drug trafficking, minority-owned businesses close.
So the beginning of the book may seem slow, but it is setting the scene. I, as the reader, understood that racism is what allowed the evil to take hold of the neighborhood and almost destroy it.
But as Sydney’s world seems to be falling down around her, she and Theo decide to take action and to fight back. They also learn about the power of their community in one of the most kick-ass suspense endings that I’ve ever read.
When No One Is Watching is a thriller about how Black people and their history are so often erased for white people’s notion of progress. We see racism on a wide scale from small microaggressions to outright anti-Black sentiment.
This book can be hard to read. There are times when something one of the white characters did seemed perfectly reasonable on the surface, but when examined deeper was done purposely to hurt one or all of the Black characters.
As a white person, I engaged with When No One Is Watching on so many levels. It had me questioning my own reactions to character actions and my own biases; it had me thinking about how our history gets told; and it had me thinking about how inaction can lead to harm.
The suspense plot in When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole is intense and shocking, but well worth it. This book is a stunning read that will hopefully challenge readers, especially white readers, to think differently about gentrification and about how curated our history is.
When No One is Watching is not what I was expecting. I was a third of the way through reading this book and though woah this reads like a slow building romance. I went and re-read the blurb and thought yeah, this says its a mystery/thriller. At over forty percent, the book starts to dive into the disappearances of Sydney’s friends and neighbors before it turns into a conspiracy theorist’s dream. Sydney is a tough, wisecracking black woman who is determined to keep the real history of her community from being white washed and overwritten. The everyday, old faces of her community are slowly being replaced by rich, white people but something sinister seems afoot. Diving into history with one of her new white neighbors, Sydney quickly finds out history has a tendency to repeat its self. Eerie and believable in its evilness, this story becomes a wild ride that leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings about the ending but this book is definitely original if a whole lot of strange. I would recommend for conspiracy lovers but not thriller lovers. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy.
4 stars
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole is labeled a thriller. This is my first Alyssa Cole book, and it does not disappoint. It is so much more. There is a lot of social commentary and could not come out at a more perfect time. We are viewers of what gentrification can do to a neighborhood. I liked Sydney and Theo the two characters who told the story. The story made me mad at times, hurt at times, and also made me chuckle. I do feel at times that the book was rather slow. I found myself saying let’s get on with it. I did not see a couple of the plot twists coming. At some point, I want to read it again. Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Timely and relevant to this summer of social justice, this twisty thriller is perfect for fans of Get Out. Cole’s tale will definitely keep you up at night thinking.
Wow! What a fantastic book! WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyson Cole is not only a thriller but it also has a lot of American history included that was a great source of information. I had no idea that things like this happened on this level so it was very eye opening for me.
I like the main character, Sydney Green. She has a close relationship with her neighbors and they love their Brooklyn neighborhood. They’re in the middle of planning a party at the same time that there are new people moving into the neighborhood and old friends are leaving without a word. Theo (who now lives across the street from Sydney) offers to help her with the planning and she accepts. As they get to know each other, it’s obvious there is an attraction between them. But even though there’s a connection, can they trust each other when it comes to protecting their friends and themselves? I went back and forth on that which added to the suspence and anticipation of the very satisfactory ending. If you’re looking for something that’ll keep you guessing, WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING is a good choice.
Thank you Book Club Girls, NetGalley and Alyson Cole for this advanced copy. This opinion is my own.
Sydney goes home to take care of her mother. She notices the neighborhood has changed. Neighbors she has known her whole life have sold their homes and moved away and condos are being built everywhere. Her community was mainly a black neighborhood now rich white people are her newest neighbors. As Sydney is trying to figure out what is happening, she makes friends with Theo a new neighbor. I enjoyed this thriller and the story it told. It has lots of twists and turns and even some romance. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sydney Green, a black woman, grew up in the same house in Brooklyn she is currently living in. She has known the neighbors for years. But some of her neighbors start to move, without telling anyone. And white people move in. Theo, who has moved in to the neighborhood befriends her. Sydney is wanting to give a walking tour of the neighborhood, that highlights the historical black community, and Theo offers to help her research. But can she trust him?
The very beginning of this book did not capture me, and I spent the prologue thinking, “What am I reading?” But then a few chapters in, I got it. This is a powerful book, especially in these times, with racially driven events.
This book made me sad, mad and scared. The author did a great job in inspiring all emotions. I enjoyed learning the history of Brooklyn, things that I was never taught. The thriller part was definitely in the last few chapters, but it didn’t feel like it was thrown together. It was well planned out.
After a messy divorce, Sydney Green moves back to the Brooklyn neighborhood in which she was born and raised in order to help her ailing mother. But Sydney starts to notice strange things about the neighborhood that she holds near and dear to her heart. New condos are popping up everywhere, new businesses are replacing the old. For Sale signs litter many of her neighbor’s front lawns. Some neighbors have seemingly disappeared in the night without a good-bye.
Upset by the seeming erasure of the history of her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sydney sets out to curate a walking tour that will highlight the place she calls home past and present. Highlight the fight it has taken for her neighbors to hold onto their community. Along with her unwitting new neighbor Theo, as they begin to research, they’ll discover a sinister layer to the gentrification of Sydney’s beloved neighborhood. Is it all undue paranoia from the stress of seeing things change? The question still remains: where are her former neighbors going when they disappear?
I’ve been hearing about this book for months and I finally had to dive into it. I know it’s a departure from Alyssa Cole’s previous romance books. So fair warning, this is a mystery/thriller through and through.
It was also soooooo timely. The way that Alyssa Cole ties together history and the erasure of Black history in the name of gentrification and profit is done so well. I always feel like I’m constantly in a state of learning and this book definitely put things into perspectives that I had not fully considered before. Reading an ebook was particularly helpful because with every historical reference that Alyssa Cole brought up I was easily able to do a search from my tablet and get more context. It’s accurate to say that I have been thinking about the overarching issues that this book brought up (outside of what is relevant to the story itself) since finishing. While this book may fall in the “fiction” category its overall message is seated in truth and facts.
As for the story itself. I really loved how Alyssa Cole slowly unfolds everything. Things start out a bit questionable – yes, new people are moving into the neighborhood, and all the same uncertainties come up in facing an unknown – and then it just begins to spiral – people are seemingly disappearing, and are replaced by families that seem rather Stepford on the surface.
Sydney is our main narrator. I think it’s safe to say Sydney, at first, seems a little unreliable. It’s majorly hinted at early on that things are not entirely as they seem for Sydney. She’s still healing from a divorce. She’s thwarting calls for her mother from debt collectors. Stress gives her sleepless nights which in turn give her anxiety and possible hallucinations. Whatever is, or isn’t, happening in the neighborhood is just another layer of stress for Sydney. It’s easy to see that she may be jumping at shadows. Regardless of everything, I liked Sydney from the start. As things start to boil over you begin to really root for her to come out on top because she’s not really a woman given to irrationality or overreactions. She’s a strong women who despite what is happening on a personal level, she wants to fight for her home. The problem is not knowing who she can trust.
Counter to Sydney’s point of view we have Theo who is one of the new neighbors. Theo represents, to say it bluntly, the kind of stereotypical white male. He doesn’t realize his privilege regardless that he himself doesn’t come from affluent background, he’s still able to move more easily through society. When he and Sydney begin to work together on her tour of the neighborhood, his eyes begin to open and he sees that there’s a definite bias when it comes to what gets written in the history books. Theo, too, is a bit of a wild card. By his own admission he has secrets. Secrets that he really has no intention of revealing. I found it a bit more difficult to warm up to his character probably because Sydney herself keeps questioning his motives. I understand that this tactic was used as a way to up the suspense and to make Sydney’s isolation more deftly felt, but it’s one aspect of the story that I wish had figured itself out a little bit sooner because the back and forth was getting a bit too repetitive.
I don’t really want to say much more because I don’t want to ruin anything. Suffice it to say, it is a timely story that’s thrilling and suspenseful. It’ll cause you to take a good look at the community in which you live and the history of the place you call home.
I requested an ARC of this book, and these opinions are my own.
I’ve read many of Alyssa Cole’s romance novels – which I love, but this was my first of her mystery/suspense.
This book… THIS BOOK. It had me at equal parts enraged and frightened. Enraged by what was happening to the residents of Gifford Place, and frightened because it honestly could have been ripped from the headlines. I could not put it down, and I am still in shock several hours after finishing. I haven’t had this visceral a response to a book in a very long time – I need to know what happened after the Epilogue!
I can’t go into my thoughts without spoilers, so just let me say this is a very timely read, and will make you think twice about everything you thought you knew. Very well done!
This story started out slow, but picked up after the first half and gave some serious chills!
The gentrification of an older Brooklyn neighborhood went deep, dark, and downright creepy as the details emerged, leaving me anxious to learn what on earth was going to happen next! Gaslighting was all I could think when Sydney kept expressing her fears and doubts, while Theo…bless his heart for finally stepping up to the plate! So many secrets came out over a really heinous plan and oh man…definitely recommend this book!
I received an advance reader copy from an Avon books giveaway and this is my honest review.
I’m a huge fan of Alyssa Cole and was so excited to read a book in a new genre for her.
I loved that this story starts out slowly, just a story about Gifford Place in Brooklyn. A historical neighborhood meets gentrification and real estate sharks. We meet our MC Sydney on a historic tour of the neighborhood…which seems to leave out the entire Black history of the neighborhood. Our other MC, Theo, is also on the tour with his toxic/racist fiancé.
Sydney is a stellar main character. She is complex, dealing with hard life issues and we get to see the fear she deals with all the time. Sydney also leads us on an amazing history lesson in Brooklyn.
Sydney has an unlikely volunteer helping with her tour for the block party, her neighbor Theo. He and his Fiancé have all but broken up but are living together (in the home they bought together). Theo is out of work, poor and definitely recovering from a rough childhood/past. I love their connection and their ability to work together. I was routing for both of their characters so much by the end of the book.
Creepy Creepy things begin to happen. What makes it so creepy is that these things could happen in real life. Many of the racist events are examples of what Black people have to deal with all the time. Other things could happen to anyone.
I’ve seen this book said to be like Get Out or something from the mind of Jordan Peele and that is very accurate. I felt so much fear and anger reading the book directed at the real world.
Twists and turns happen throughout the story. Some of them we can tell are about to happen or are happening. The pace picks up and we learn so many things going on around the neighborhood and with the characters. There are many great surprises with the MCs that I really enjoyed.
I didn’t want to put it down! Hoping Alyssa Cole graces us with more thrillers!
Sydney Green starts to notice how her neighborhood is changing, the people she’s known all her life are leaving, and those who own shops are closing. In their place are new neighbors, who are changing the neighborhood culture.
Sydney joins a walking tour, but becomes upset at the lack of knowledge presented and keeps interrupting to add details.
Sydney is divorced and moved back home and barely managing to make ends meet. She is desperately trying to avoid the bill collectors.
Across the street lives Theo and his girlfriend, Kim, although Theo isn’t sure why he agreed to buy a house with Kim because their relationship has been sinking. Theo is unemployed and forced to live in the attic while Kim renovates the house.
When a neighborhood meeting takes place, and Theo shows up, he suddenly agrees to help Syndey with her research that Syndey is gathering so she can conduct a tour based on the history of the neighborhood. As they are thrown together on this project, Syndey doesn’t trust Theo, and strange things begin to happen that are scary.
When the neighborhood garden tended by all the neighbors is confiscated, Syndey feels that she has betrayed her mom and in a moment of weakness when Theo shows up they both share some hard truths about themselves. Several neighbors have disappeared, and Theo swears he’s witnessed some nefarious activity.
Just as Syndey feels that she has someone on her side and that she can trust, she learns something that points to Theo being involved. Thinking that she’s been scammed, she flees back to her place, where at first she ignores Theo’s calls, but after seeing him wildly gesturing in the window she answers her phone. Danger is coming for her, but can she trust Theo after what she learned?
I loved this book! In the beginning, it felt like I was reading about the neighbors and how a predominantly black neighborhood was being forced to change with new development pushing in and taking over everything. Little by little terrifying things began to happen to Syndey where each is part of a bigger picture, that no one bargained for. I enjoyed the part of Syndey and Theo visiting Ms. Candace’s house where she looks after several elderly neighbors. After Theo drinks some very strong tea, one of the elderly ladies, Gracie, insinuates that it may be poisonous and was the tea that killed many slave owners then added that she wanted to make sure Theo could take a ribbing. Theo hoped she was joking. The code word that Syndey and Theo came up with to signify he needed to change direction was: Howdy Doody. It gets used a few times! Hilarious!
I received an ARC from HarperCollins and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.
Brooklyn resident Sydney Green is watching her neighborhood change before her eyes. When she is out walking one day, she runs into her neighbor Theo. They both have shared views of their neighborhood and soon realize that their streets are changing for a reason … a bad one! I was expecting more of a thriller but what I received is a thought provoking, suspenseful story! Sydney has heart and determination making her relatable. Born and raised in a city where she is confronted by change can be devastating. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ebook ARC in exchange for my honest review.
When No One Is Watching is an Alyssa Cole book, and as such, it’s intense, thought-provoking, and drenched in history. The characters are well-developed and I feel like I both know and am related to at least a few people we meet in this clever and relevant tale of gentrification and the uprooting of a neighborhood. As much as the book was gripping, the pace held the psychological and suspenseful aspects of the story at bay until just over the halfway point.
Much like a roller coaster, the story rises to the climax then takes off full speed, whipping around shadowy dark corners and dipping into truths about the American narrative that are so frightening we must rethink what’s ahead on the straightaway for this country’s future. If you don’t mind immersing yourself in the ins and out of the characters lives and backstories–and taking a look in the mirror as you do–then this book is for you. Be warned: you cannot read this with eyes wide shut.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC for an honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins and Alyssa Cole for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Wow!! What a timely release with what is happening in our country now.
I loved the slow build up of suspense in this story. It gave a very clear picture of what was going on within Sydney’s community. I loved her character and again I enjoyed the slower pace that really allowed for great depth and complexity in her and Theo’s character as well
Yes, there is a lot that happens quickly in the end but I thought the author did a wonderful job of showing why that was necessary.
It doesn’t feel like a typical thriller but I feel like that only adds to the enjoyment of the book. It was refreshingly different and I loved the aspects of history in Brooklyn and the redlining.
This is the first time I have read this author and I’ll definitely pick up more from her.